Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dan'L" data-source="post: 5456411" data-attributes="member: 68954">My initial thought when reading the OP's story was that, no, it was fine; not dickish at all.  But what kept niggling at me was this:The whole raison d'etre for this plot diversion was not as a story point, not as a tool to test or trap the *characters,* but as a way to test and trap the *players*??You know what?  It was a dickish thing to do.  I obviously cannot speak for everyone playing, but when I play D&D, I don't do it to be "tested" to see if I'm paying attention; I don't need an "I tested you, and you failed" moment at the gaming table.  I also don't care to be led into a "trap" to see if me or my fellow players meet certain standards for metagaming.  Nor do I care to feel like the purpose of my being at the table is primarily to amuse the GM because he feels that testing the *players* is "hilarious."Now, having said that, you did present it well.  You did make it an extension of the setting, you did maintain the veil of immersion in the story, you did let the various players have their say and do there things, and I'm sure fun was had by many.  But in the end, just because the target of your practical joke may laugh along with the rest of the group and wag a rueful finger at you with an "oh, you scallawag, you got me good this time" doesn't make it any less humiliating for the person who fell prey to the "trap," or that it was any less of a dick thing to do in the first place.  Nor does it matter if the person had it coming.In the end, you essentially did the psychological equivalent of building a door, setting a bucket of water above that door, telling everyone not to go through that door, and then laughing when one of them goes through the door anyway.  The whole thing only existed not only because you created it, but created it for the express purpose of trapping a player.Congratulations, it worked marvelously!  Player Punk'd!-Dan'L</blockquote>

Verification