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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 11th, 2023

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  • my personal rule is to only lay a trap that has clear potential to be discovered in-game, with a context clue, and not an ambiguous “roll for perception” out of nowhere.

    randomly dropping an anvil on a player is a dick move.

    telling players they’re walking through an active construction site of a new smithing conglomerate, with an unfinished forge 10 meters above them, at least sets the tone and let’s them know caution is a reasonable option.

    also sets up some weird intrigue that could easily turn into a sidequest.


  • I had a sort of opposite problem the last time I ran a campaign. my players came into the game super paranoid, probably from reading stories about tricky DMs, and it made my life pretty difficult.

    I did set up traps and misdirection, but only when there were exactly enough clues to figure it out. I learned that the major problem with that method, is that what’s obviously a clue to me wasn’t always obvious for them. so, I was thought of as a tricky DM. then, after I softened up, my sessions looked too easy and obvious.

    honestly, it’s just a really difficult balance. I eventually got it to a good place for everyone, but everyone really does have a preferred level of deceit, and it isn’t easy to cater to a group of 5 with varying levels of expectation