Random thoughts
Nothing says “Welcome back to reality” like coming back from a vacation in Waikiki to find your computer not turning on.
The omniscient D&D player
I got an e-mail from Jason this week. He has a very knowledgeable and involved player in his D&D party and it has led to many good plot and campaign ideas but sometimes the omniscient player overpowers less knowledgeable players, amd the game in general with (well-intended) suggestions, opinions and ideas.
This was my reply. Please feel free to chyme in.
Working with the omniscient D&D player
One of my players knows A LOT more rules and monsters than I do. One of the things I had to do was create monsters the PCs encounters or change the monsters stats and attack options dramatically to keep him off balance. Sometimes I take one monster and use another monster’s stat block. Use the hill giant’s stat block for an ogre’s, for example. It’s easy to prepare and it keeps your omniscient player in check.
For other rules, especially combat rules, I can suggest using flexible/improvised rules. For example, one of the less experienced players tries to bull rush a monster. Before anyone can say anything about the bull rush mechanics just go with the flow and say “You knock the monster back 10 feet and your ears are ringing from the impact!” Who cares about the actual rules! You might choose to ignore the prone rules too since the monster didn’t get a chance to stay on its feet.
Now if one of your players has strong ideas and strong opinions about D&D and your campaign, well, that’s awesome. To keep from feeling that you and your other players are being overpowered you might want to subvert his ideas - like the Chatty DM does with his subverted tv tropes - that way he thinks he knows what’s coming but whatever he expected goes horribly wrong or at least plays out differrently than expected.
7 Comments
6:28 pm on January 11th, 2008
My ears are buzzing… anyone talking about me???
But a word on my omniscience now. I actually have a very time consumming work where I spend my entire day reading on the internet. It’s so hard to find good content that I decided to become omniscient. Really it’s worth it!!!
And I know what you are thinking on top of that!
7:08 am on January 12th, 2008
I find that my players know so much because they love it. Making the knowledge useless takes that away from them. I’m not sure this is the best possible move. Do they enjoy being kept off balance? Another option would be to add more monsters with class levels to your game. Sometimes that’s easy. Just add n d10, +n to hit, Fort +n, and call it a warrior level n. More or less. Often you can ignore extra feats unless you really want a particular one. In my group I’m lucky: I can use these players as living cyclopedias. Let them help the other players plan their combat actions. Let them figure out the ranges and durations of spells. Tell them were your dragon wants to fly and let them figure how far it gets.
9:29 am on January 13th, 2008
Beware making monsters too different. Having a fair amount of meta-game knowledge (or even previous in-game experience) about monsters is a big boon to players when deciding whether to fight for flee. D&D combat is quick and deadly. Underestimate your opponent enough and you’re likely to get dead fast.
Using the ogre/giant example, my players wouldn’t bat an eyelash at attacking a dozen ogres. A couple fireballs and you’re wrapping up. A dozen giants would be a TPK in about 3 rounds (closing the distance takes a round or two…)
I agree with Alex. Add a few “elite” monsters to every encounter. Every group has to have a leader of some kind, so give him some class levels or extra hit dice. Heck, you can just make up some numbers, rather than spend the time going through the chargen process.
“Hmm, I’ll give him +30hp, +6 to his attack, 1 extra attack per round, +3 on all his saves, and a big freaking axe.” Unless you give them powers way outside the rules, then the players will never know you’re cheating.
I suppose you could even use the hill giant stat block, as long as you make sure to describe things appropriately: “You see 4 ogres, 3 are what you’d expect, but the fourth is significantly taller and wields a much larger club…” That way, they know mostly what to expect, but there is still a question as to how powerful the 4th guy is.
11:17 am on January 13th, 2008
I’ve always wondered why there seems to be such an issue with metagaming. I never have an issue with players that know the game mechanics well. Who really cares if they know that fire/acid can destroy a troll. Maybe they picked it up from bedtime stories or from listening to a Bard in the local tavern.
True, it can make the DM work a little harder to challenge them, but that’s part of the fun of being the DM.
Adding “elite” monsters to an encounter or using something outside to the core rule books are awesome ideas. Check the web. There are lots of creative people out there, who creating new stuff all the time. Most of its free and can be found with a simple web search.
As for stat swapping, it can be pulled off when using similar type creatures. I like Micha’s “larger ogre” example. Who knows what genetic aberrations exist. Perhaps a peculiar parental pairing of just some long forgotten clan seldom seen by mankind. Its the way new content is created. Look at the Drow. They are just a modified class of another creature type.
1:11 pm on January 13th, 2008
In the current DND game that I’m playing in we are having the opposite problem with player knowledge. We are tracking down something that we know is a vampire, but we are having problems finding a way to get that knowledge into the hands of our characters. Out of Game knowledge is one of those things that becomes an issue when you are running “by the book”. I’m a huge fan of modifying things on the fly (which is why I love your suggestion about switching stat blocks Yax), but I think it is also helpful to determine what the characters would actually know about the world. Are they adventurers who would be worldly enough that they know some common magic item styles, or that blue green potions are usually healing potions, or that ogres are particularly vulnerable to fire. If so, then I say a little meta gaming doesn’t hurt the game. If the players are military themed, then I actually let them pause and determine their attack plans, since their characters would have trained and drilled. It all depends on how much the DM/GM wants to let into the game.
4:35 pm on January 13th, 2008
Great input everyone. I was hoping this article would help Jason and I picked up a few things myself from all your comments!
Thanks!
6:10 am on January 14th, 2008
As for in-character game knowledge: I’ve grown really fond of the various Knowledge skills, and we play them by the book. For monsters from monster manuals without little tables I just invent it based on DC 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, etc. To take the vampire as an example: DC 10: Drinks blood (does Con damage). DC 15: Creates spawn. DC 20: Can shape change into animals. DC 25: Gaseous form, etc.