A Player Told Me “That Monster Can’t Do That”
Oh boy... the words that ticks off every Dungeon Master
Today I got a comment on one of my videos by a DM that was kind of frustrated by one of his players looking up monsters or NPCs and then stating the very words that makes every DM get super annoyed, “XX Can’t do that according to the book!”
I hate that.
Whenever I start a campaign with new players, or if I run at the local gaming store, I tell players from the start. Players get Player’s Handbook (or access to the player’s section, game depending). That’s it. DM has the rest. No player should be looking up monsters or NPCs or quoting the book to me. This is my world, with my rules, I have purposely changed things to keep you as players on your toes. Its nothing outrageous, its minor tweaks of things. Changing AC, changing some abilities.. because nothing in every world is cookie cutter.
I don’t like players building tactics off the stat blocks. It’s cheap. The ogre mage doesn’t feel scary anymore if they already know it has 19 HP and can only turn invisible once. I want them to guess. I want them to fear the wrong thing.
The game works better when knowledge is split. AD&D assumed that. DM had the DMG and the monsters. Players worked with what they saw. It made the game more deadly, more edge of your seat and more entertaining. This is how we played in the ‘80s.
And before you say it, no its not, “Power trip, you big meanie!”
This is also why when playing at the table, I want books and paper. I dislike laptops, and electronic devices out. It takes people away from the game and immersion of playing. Now I don’t mind if someone has a tablet or a laptop because of various reasons. Like me, I use a laptop, because my handwriting is so bad due to arthritis in my writing hand, and I cut off the internet while doing so (as a player).
The other part is I don’t want to argue. If a player says “it can’t do that” then I have to either explain or ignore them. Explaining is bad. Ignoring is worse. It wrecks the flow. If they never saw the book, they never think to question. IF a player has an issue with how I am running things, we can discuss AFTER the game in private. I’ve had many talks with players after a game about certain situations, either of my doing or theirs and we always come to a nice compromise.
I know. You can’t expect players in this time period of gaming not to have access to books like in the ‘80s. In fact its so much easier to get a hold of books now then it ever was.
I’ve never had a player leave because of this stance or play style and in fact players have said they enjoy the changes I’ve made because its keeps them guessing and the game fresh.
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