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Brian Modreski
United States
Thornton
Colorado
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For some reason I felt compelled to read through the D&D forums discussing the upcoming 5th edition. I'm not sure why. But, it seems like certain things creep into discussions of the new edition that kept coming up in old editions, and are really all about player attitudes rather than rules versions.
A lot of them start with "My PCs are idiots..."
A lot of them have a very common theme.
A lot of them have been being said for a long time now.
A lot of them are really off base.
Disclaimer: The following discussion applies mostly to the last few editions of D&D, and to a lot of related high fantasy adventure type games. There are lots of genres of gaming or specific games it does not apply to. Read with that in mind.
My PCs are idiots. They don't want to learn tactics. Maybe I should kill them a few times to teach them a lesson.
Ignoring the entire questionable issue of whether not killing the PCs will actually teach them tactics, your PCs sat down to play a roleplaying game not Advanced Orc Leader. It is entirely possible that they want to sit around playing make-believe with orcs and elves and telling cool stories and don't give a damn about tactics.
Much as you are dying to play tough drill sergeant and beat into their thick skulls the lessons that will one day save their life...its not going to. Their lives will never depend on their ability to outmaneuver orcs. Never. And, sadly, if it does, moving little plastic pieces around and rolling dice won't actually prepare them for it.
So what do you, oh poor beleaguered Rommel GM surrounded by a bunch of tactical nitwits do? Do you keep killing the PCs until they start playing the way you want? Or possibly until they get fed up and decide to all mysteriously forget to invite you to future game sessions and accidentally issue a court order prohibiting you from coming within fifty feet of gaming events?
Well, here are two small suggestions:
If you really want a tactical challenge, here's your chance. Underpower your monsters a little from the challenge level you want and rely on your tactical skill to even out the odds.
Or, you could always join in the gleeful disregard for tactical cleverness and come up with personalities that will come out in combat for your NPCs. Have a gnoll that's determined to take over the leadership and so takes reckless chances to show off. How about a fighting group that's been made up of remnants from two past groups and doesn't all work well as a unit? A dragon that's just too egotistical to consider the little humanoids a real threat. Remove your need to tactically enhance your PCs and make some memorable moments in one fell swoop!
Ok, that was long. I promise the next ones will be a lot shorter.
My PCs are idiots! They're only second level and they thought they could fight an ogre. It should have been obvious they couldn't handle that - its twice as big as they are! I should kill them and teach them a lesson.
And whether or not an ogre is a reasonable fight for a 2nd level party can vary wildly from system to system and game to game. If your players haven't been memorizing the monster guide, the may have absolutely no idea what's a reasonable match for them.
But its twice as big. Yeah, well, when they reach 10th level and can take it out with one blow, its still twice as big. When they hit 15th and have sidekicks who can take it out in one blow, its still twice as big. At 20th, when they have pocket-watches that can take it out in one blow, its still twice as big!
My PCs are idiots! That farmer TOLD them that an ogre was fearsome and scary and no one could fight it and they STILL went after it! I should kill them and teach them a lesson.
Yes. And no one has ever made it throug the Fire Swamps alive. One does not simply walk into Mordor. Snub fighters are no good against a battlestation that size.
Heroes getting told that "no one has ever done it" and "you're no match for it" and "you'll die for sure" is standard operating procedure for heroic adventure stories. If you actually want to discourage your PCs, that is NOT the way to do it. Unless you just want to beat it into them that they are never supposed to do anything risky. And then you'll complain when they sit home growing vegetables instead of going to fight the dragon that you actually wanted them to fight.
My PCs are idiots! They got into the fight with the dragon and refused to run when they were clearly over-matched. I need to kill them until they learn to run away.
And, once again we'll skip over the fact that killing them will teach them they should have done something else, of which running only is only one possibility. And it may just teach them that your games aren't much fun.
And we'll move on to talking about the dragon. (Note: Its not an ogre this time. Dragon. This usually gets said about dragons). See that movement score? See how its twice as high as your PCs move? Now see that "Flight" next to it? Did I mention that the dragon knows the area and the PCs don't? And that by the time they know they should run, one of the PCs is down. A friend/blood-ally/relative/lover or who knows what else that they would be abandoning to certain death?
Yeah. Does running away really sound like such a good idea now?
If you want to throw your PCs at tough fights and have them run, you'll need to teach them that its ok to run. Which doesn't mean killing them. And it doesn't mean expecting them to run from something they shouldn't expect to be able to run from. And once you've taught them its ok to run, be ready and happy when they use the option to flee even when you didn't plan on it.
What was the point of all this?
Simply this: your players may not have the same assumptions and expectations about "challenges" that you do. They may not have the same knowledge. You may be missing things that you should have realized.
Next time you want to scream "My PCs are idiots", take a deep breath. If there are six people at the table and you are the only one who thought it was a dumb idea, maybe they aren't the ones being idiots.
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