Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tellerian Hawke" data-source="post: 6844553" data-attributes="member: 6790669">Hmmm.. I have arrived late in the conversation, it seems, and I will freely admit that I am too lazy to read all 40 pages of comments. So just let me know if this has already been said.CAVEAT: I haven't played 5th ed. yet. I still play 3rd ed. But I still believe that I can contribute something helpful.So let's get started.Ok, some guy back near the start said that in 5th ed, it's easy to tell if something's magical. This is true, even in 3rd ed. Has everyone forgotten that magical items have to be MASTERWORK, in order to be suitable for enchantment? Is that still a thing in 5th ed? If so, that right there is the first clue; if it's masterwork, you'd better cast Detect Magic, just to be sure.Secondly, a ring stuck on a gauntlet is a BIG red flag, that screams, "I'm a cool magic item, please remove me from this gauntlet!" Plus, the DM described it as looking like part of a set, but not necessarily part of THIS set (of Adamantine armor.) That's a major clue that something's amiss. As a player, I would be SURE at that point to separate the gauntlet and ring from the rest.Another thing that I would have done as DM, since I know that the smith is dishonest, and that he is trying to cheat the characters by omitting the inclusion of the gauntlet and ring, I would have given the character(s) involved in the transaction a Sense Motive check, to notice that the smith looked kind of nervous about something. Is Sense Motive still a thing in 5th ed.? If so, the players deserved that chance.Basically, in my opinion, the OP is in the wrong, not because "gotchas" are wrong, but simply because he didn't allow the players a fair chance to overcome it. And the reason that the DM is obligated to do so is because, no matter how much attention you pay to the DM's exact words when he's describing something, WORDS ALWAYS FAIL to live up to what the situation would actually be in reality. Therefore, in order to compensate for the disparity between mere description vs. virtual reality, GAME MECHANICS must be used, in order to ensure that the CHARACTER has the chance (being actually "in" the game world) to notice things that the PLAYER does not or cannot, being in the real world, and thus one step removed from the character's reality.One final thing, was there a Paladin in the group? And if so, was the smith of evil alignment? Because Paladins won't deal with evil merchants.Was there a rogue in the group, with high-level Sense Motive skill? Same thing, he'd know better than to trade with the smith.Just my two cents.</blockquote>

Verification