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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Big J Money" data-source="post: 6809374" data-attributes="member: 70533">These are good example, so I'll start here1) This is an implausible description of a person's roleplaying.  If it's already been stated that a dragon is present, then to say it's not (without explanation, such as the dragon being invisible, or imaginary in the first place, etc, etc) contradicts what was said before.2) Another implausible description.  This could be corrected simply by coming up with a reason why your character might have heard a legend about an Aboleth.3) Not implausible at all as described, but likely cheating (I'll clarify what I mean by cheating below). 4) I'm sure whether I'm understanding this one; what are the implications of it scouting ahead?  That it will avoid danger or be put in harm's way to upset the player?  If it's the former, then it isn't even meta-gaming because it's perfectly reasonable for the party to wish that their druid's companion stay safe.  Again, I might not have understood this.Aside from #4, which I'm unsure of until it's clarified, sure 1-3 can be defined as meta-gaming.  But that isn't what makes them bad.  What makes them bad is that they either create an implausible and inconsistent reality, or they're cheating against the gaming group's sensibilities.Cheating is subjective; it's defined by each playing group.  If I'm DMing a campaign, then my expectations (which I would ask the group beforehand if they are correct expectations) might be 1) that monsters from a particular sourcebook remain secret, 2) that adventure modules remain secret, and 3) that characters will face risk during encounters, and this risk is not to be avoided purely by OOC knowledge (i.e. meta-gaming is fine as long as it's not abused as a method of cheating)However, I might just as easily run a campaign where myself and the rest of the group doesn't care if some of the players have knowledge from a monster sourcebook where I draw encounters from.  In that case, using their OOC knowledge to avoid risks against the monsters would not be considered cheating.</blockquote>

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