asking the players to own their moves is as old as the game. used to be that players had to do their own mapping even and woe betide they who step over a cliff that wasn't properly recorded.
There's a difference between owning your move and having the GM force a player to have their PC blindly walk off a cliff like a cartoon lemming because it wasn't marked on the map and the player forgot about it. The PC can see that there's a cliff there and it's the GM's job to remember obstacles and remind players of their presence.
How does this scenario fall in your view of a "gotcha DM".
PC moves down a corridor at full speed, the player does not declare the PC is looking for traps, floor gives way, and PC falls into a pit of poisoned spikes.
You may have noticed that the quote I was responding to did not say "PC moves down a corridor at full speed, not looking for traps, and falls into a pit trap." It said players had to do their own mapping and it was their fault if they walked off a cliff that wasn't properly recorded on the map. That is textbook "gotcha GM."
well, yeah. you didn't ask a conversation forwarding question so they did. it might have been more on point to ask why walking off a cliff and willfully spending 30ft of movement to progress only two squares are not both gotchas. at least roll a will save against self harm because both of those moves would be counter to the desires of of an undistracted character.
How does this scenario fall in your view of a "gotcha DM".
PC moves down a corridor at full speed, the player does not declare the PC is looking for traps, floor gives way, and PC falls into a pit of poisoned spikes.
anyway, my answer to the pit trap: by the book, the character has passive perception. they suffer -5/disadvantage on the check for not going slow. i might tack on a dex save if this is meant to be an introductory trap or if the player prides themselves on being especially agile.
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unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
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asking the players to own their moves is as old as the game. used to be that players had to do their own mapping even and woe betide they who step over a cliff that wasn't properly recorded.
There's a difference between owning your move and having the GM force a player to have their PC blindly walk off a cliff like a cartoon lemming because it wasn't marked on the map and the player forgot about it. The PC can see that there's a cliff there and it's the GM's job to remember obstacles and remind players of their presence.
How does this scenario fall in your view of a "gotcha DM".
PC moves down a corridor at full speed, the player does not declare the PC is looking for traps, floor gives way, and PC falls into a pit of poisoned spikes.
For me, and I'm fairly old-fashioned, it depends on the definition of "full speed." If by full speed the player means running, it's absolutely not a gotcha; if by full speed the player means normal combat movement rate then it might be depending on the PC's passive perception. But in general, that's not a gotcha in my opinion.
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well, yeah. you didn't ask a conversation forwarding question so they did. it might have been more on point to ask why walking off a cliff and willfully spending 30ft of movement to progress only two squares are not both gotchas. at least roll a will save against self harm because both of those moves would be counter to the desires of of an undistracted character.
anyway, my answer to the pit trap: by the book, the character has passive perception. they suffer -5/disadvantage on the check for not going slow. i might tack on a dex save if this is meant to be an introductory trap or if the player prides themselves on being especially agile.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
For me, and I'm fairly old-fashioned, it depends on the definition of "full speed." If by full speed the player means running, it's absolutely not a gotcha; if by full speed the player means normal combat movement rate then it might be depending on the PC's passive perception. But in general, that's not a gotcha in my opinion.