• godot@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    “Give me a perception check.”

    “Fourteen total.”

    “You don’t notice anything different .”

    “I get out my shovel.”

    • ono@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      DM quietly raises encounter difficulty in response to metagaming

        • MimicJar@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          It depends on your table, but I disagree.

          If I ask the party for a perception check and they all fail the party should be aware of their choices (in this case, perception is important). If I then surprise them with an enemy they are clear why that happened.

          Alternatively in this case it’s to locate something, maybe they want to spend a luck point, flash of genius, or other similar ability.

        • nocturne213@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Sometimes I ask for perception checks when there is nothing to notice out of the ordinary just to see them squirm.

          • funktion@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            My old DM would do this.

            He would also sometimes hand players little notes: often full of info that their character would know but had to be kept secret from other players.

            But sometimes, the note would be empty aside from a request for the player to not say anything.

            The level of tension when the DM hands out a note to everyone but you is… something.

        • Flambo@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Better still, use passive scores since this is what they’re for. If you want your players to make active checks, give them a narrative reason.

          But I’m also of the opinion that the more you run your D&D like you’d run anything Powered by the Apocalypse, the better it becomes.

    • Thrashy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      One of the reasons why, as a DM, I like the Passive Perception mechanic in 5e. It takes some of the thrill of a roll away from the players, but it gives me the tools to resolve these sorts of situations without tempting the players to metagame.