In 4th edition a knwoledge check coudl tell you information on a monster depending on the result.
If they can do it "legally" for gameplay reasons, it might mitigate the "need" to read the MM behind your back if they know there's an alternative.
This is a thing in Pathfinder and earlier versions of DnD too, I still allow my players to do this, if their skills are high enough and the monster is relatively quite known then I don't even require rolls, just passive 'knowledge' checks.
I would recommend that DMs avoid trying to punish players. If you can't get along with the people at your table so that everyone has fun, then don't play with them. But punishing players -- this to me is not something I would do as a DM.
To be honest, I must add... "now." When I was a kid, even in college, yes, I would punish players for what I considered "misbehavior." One guy was always late. I gave him XP penalties. One guy would metagame (we didn't call it that back then, but that's what it was). I would punish him in some of the ways described above. Nobody back then thought it was "out of bounds" for the GM to punish the players.
But I think that now. If the same person who was always late started doing that now, I would have a talk with him. I would explain that he is ruining the evening for everyone else while we wait for him, and he needs to come on time. If he can't do that, we'll have to play without him. This is not punishment... this is having a grown-up conversation with another adult, about a situation that is affecting the entire group.
I strongly urge that DMs avoid the mentality of "punishment" and instead find ways to cooperate with and enjoy playing with their players. If you can't do that (enjoy your players)... IMO, there's no point to playing D&D.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
NOw if all they wanna do is MOnster/door/chest, maybe there's other games for it.
If you can get your hands on some Warhammer/Hero quest boxes for example those are perfect.
There's also the new editions of these games, Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower and Warhammer Quest: Shadows over Hammerhal (those games has a systeme that can run DM-less sorta)
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"Normality is but an Illusion, Whats normal to the Spider, is only madness for the Fly"
Clearly these people don't take DnD seriously so they probably won't care that much if you kill the charters or take their stuff. So you should try to fix this out side of the game or use positive reinforcement
look at this dude. YOU ARE PLAYER 1. you made a post earlier. you are clearly trying to keep your character from dying. also. piece of advice. dont metagame
to everyone else: apologies for the periods.
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“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
Clearly these people don't take DnD seriously so they probably won't care that much if you kill the charters or take their stuff. So you should try to fix this out side of the game or use positive reinforcement
We all know your player one, as GoodBovine said you actually admitted it in an earlier post.
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Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
Clearly these people don't take DnD seriously so they probably won't care that much if you kill the charters or take their stuff. So you should try to fix this out side of the game or use positive reinforcement
We all know your player one, as GoodBovine said you actually admitted it in an earlier post.
Well, if they are player one, that's good. They want positive reinforcement and want it outside the game, and do care about DnD. Ask them why they aren't having fun.
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'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I don’t know if this has already run it’s course, but just my two cents.
First, I would have a serious talk with this group about what you’re all trying to do. Based on the problems you’re having I am guessing everyone involved is in high school or college? I don’t mind admitting my friends and I could be jerks playing games at this age. There was definitely some rigging of Magic decks, some last second Starcraft betrayals, some Warhammer army lists copied from the web. That said, it doesn’t feel like you guys are approaching DnD as a fun collaborative story, but a way to beat each other and win and score points in this way, and the game isn’t really suited for that. Maybe you’d be better off either competing in a game that’s intended to be competitive, or just hanging out in some other capacity.
Second, have you considered TOON? It’s a cartoon themed RPG that you can buy a used rule book for reasonably cheap. My friends and I had a blast with the level of improv and insanity in this one, and it would definitely be a good kickoff for your “may I have an ancient red dragon” player. Yes you may. It eats all of you and your first adventure is a dungeon crawl through its intestines to escape out its bowels.
Clearly these people don't take DnD seriously so they probably won't care that much if you kill the charters or take their stuff. So you should try to fix this out side of the game or use positive reinforcement
look at this dude. YOU ARE PLAYER 1. you made a post earlier. you are clearly trying to keep your character from dying.
I'm just saying what will work best so you guys come up with a better solution.
Most people usually don't refer to themselves in 3rd person.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
Clearly these people don't take DnD seriously so they probably won't care that much if you kill the charters or take their stuff. So you should try to fix this out side of the game or use positive reinforcement
look at this dude. YOU ARE PLAYER 1. you made a post earlier. you are clearly trying to keep your character from dying.
I'm just saying what will work best so you guys come up with a better solution.
Clearly these people don't take DnD seriously so they probably won't care that much if you kill the charters or take their stuff. So you should try to fix this out side of the game or use positive reinforcement
look at this dude. YOU ARE PLAYER 1. you made a post earlier. you are clearly trying to keep your character from dying.
I'm just saying what will work best so you guys come up with a better solution.
I think a full character reset will be good- they lose all their stuff to a thief maybe?
this is a joke. pls dont ban ;)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
Yeah, make dumb actions and metagaming have consequences, like they destroy a property, you could say that It belongs to the local mob, and they come calling.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
Yeah, make dumb actions and metagaming have consequences, like they destroy a property, you could say that It belongs to the local mob, and they come calling.
The behavior of the other players, such as coming on here to this thread where the DM was asking for help in how to deal with them and trolling it, suggests to me one of two things. Either we are dealing with teenage kids who are simply acting their age... or else we are dealing with adults I wouldn't want to play with (because they are acting like eighth graders). In the former case, there really isn't anything you can do -- except wait for them to grow up. In the latter case... I'd run for the hills.
The behavior of the other players, such as coming on here to this thread where the DM was asking for help in how to deal with them and trolling it, suggests to me one of two things. Either we are dealing with teenage kids who are simply acting their age... or else we are dealing with adults I wouldn't want to play with (because they are acting like eighth graders). In the former case, there really isn't anything you can do -- except wait for them to grow up. In the latter case... I'd run for the hills.
Prepare the eject button.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
This is a thing in Pathfinder and earlier versions of DnD too, I still allow my players to do this, if their skills are high enough and the monster is relatively quite known then I don't even require rolls, just passive 'knowledge' checks.
Nature: Regular beasties and humanoid races.
Religion: Undead, Demons, Devils, Fiends, Angelic beings.
Arcana: Magical beasties, creations, Golems.
I would recommend that DMs avoid trying to punish players. If you can't get along with the people at your table so that everyone has fun, then don't play with them. But punishing players -- this to me is not something I would do as a DM.
To be honest, I must add... "now." When I was a kid, even in college, yes, I would punish players for what I considered "misbehavior." One guy was always late. I gave him XP penalties. One guy would metagame (we didn't call it that back then, but that's what it was). I would punish him in some of the ways described above. Nobody back then thought it was "out of bounds" for the GM to punish the players.
But I think that now. If the same person who was always late started doing that now, I would have a talk with him. I would explain that he is ruining the evening for everyone else while we wait for him, and he needs to come on time. If he can't do that, we'll have to play without him. This is not punishment... this is having a grown-up conversation with another adult, about a situation that is affecting the entire group.
I strongly urge that DMs avoid the mentality of "punishment" and instead find ways to cooperate with and enjoy playing with their players. If you can't do that (enjoy your players)... IMO, there's no point to playing D&D.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
NOw if all they wanna do is MOnster/door/chest, maybe there's other games for it.
If you can get your hands on some Warhammer/Hero quest boxes for example those are perfect.
There's also the new editions of these games, Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower and Warhammer Quest: Shadows over Hammerhal (those games has a systeme that can run DM-less sorta)
"Normality is but an Illusion, Whats normal to the Spider, is only madness for the Fly"
Kain de Frostberg- Dark Knight - (Vengeance Pal3/ Hexblade 9), Port Mourn
Kain de Draakberg-Dark Knight lvl8-Avergreen(DitA)
look at this dude. YOU ARE PLAYER 1. you made a post earlier. you are clearly trying to keep your character from dying. also. piece of advice. dont metagame
to everyone else: apologies for the periods.
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
We all know your player one, as GoodBovine said you actually admitted it in an earlier post.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
-Trevor Noah
Current character: Daceth dococeth, moon blessed.
Well, if they are player one, that's good. They want positive reinforcement and want it outside the game, and do care about DnD. Ask them why they aren't having fun.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
You are one of the people causing the problem - so its pretty simple - pack it in or leave. You would already be out of any of the games I run.
But they are giving you a way that will work. Use it, or stop giving bad advice. It will NOT work, as they have said.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
I don’t know if this has already run it’s course, but just my two cents.
First, I would have a serious talk with this group about what you’re all trying to do. Based on the problems you’re having I am guessing everyone involved is in high school or college? I don’t mind admitting my friends and I could be jerks playing games at this age. There was definitely some rigging of Magic decks, some last second Starcraft betrayals, some Warhammer army lists copied from the web. That said, it doesn’t feel like you guys are approaching DnD as a fun collaborative story, but a way to beat each other and win and score points in this way, and the game isn’t really suited for that. Maybe you’d be better off either competing in a game that’s intended to be competitive, or just hanging out in some other capacity.
Second, have you considered TOON? It’s a cartoon themed RPG that you can buy a used rule book for reasonably cheap. My friends and I had a blast with the level of improv and insanity in this one, and it would definitely be a good kickoff for your “may I have an ancient red dragon” player. Yes you may. It eats all of you and your first adventure is a dungeon crawl through its intestines to escape out its bowels.
I highly recommend Toon AND, Hackmaster as well. Sometimes a silly game is just what you need.
Most people usually don't refer to themselves in 3rd person.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
-Trevor Noah
Current character: Daceth dococeth, moon blessed.
I think a full character reset will be good- they lose all their stuff to a thief maybe?
this is a joke. pls dont ban ;)
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
Yeah, make dumb actions and metagaming have consequences, like they destroy a property, you could say that It belongs to the local mob, and they come calling.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
-Trevor Noah
Current character: Daceth dococeth, moon blessed.
@Dark_Dice I like that last post.
The behavior of the other players, such as coming on here to this thread where the DM was asking for help in how to deal with them and trolling it, suggests to me one of two things. Either we are dealing with teenage kids who are simply acting their age... or else we are dealing with adults I wouldn't want to play with (because they are acting like eighth graders). In the former case, there really isn't anything you can do -- except wait for them to grow up. In the latter case... I'd run for the hills.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Prepare the eject button.
Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Oh, and it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.
-Trevor Noah
Current character: Daceth dococeth, moon blessed.
I swear man I told you not to post. The internet will eat you alive