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From: ncg@ukc.UUCP (N.C.Gale)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Ignorant Players
Message-ID: <5152@ukc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 17-May-85 06:33:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: ukc.5152
Posted: Fri May 17 06:33:47 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 19-May-85 04:29:46 EDT
References: <119@sdlvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: ncg@ukc.UUCP (Nige Gale)
Organization: Computing Laboratory, U of Kent at Canterbury, UK
Lines: 38

In article <119@sdlvax.UUCP> drw@sdlvax.UUCP (drw) writes:
>
>One further point, a DM deciding this approach would also be advised to keep as
>much of the actual statistics ( in the sense of what he gets and when ), from
>the players, and only let them know only what they would really know if they
>were the character. Try and get away from that - look a Hobgoblin, that's
>1d8 + 1, attacking once a round for 1-8 damage syndrome. The less the players
>think they know the more interesting it is for everybody concerned - try for
>some atmosphere!!!

I've long been an advocate of the 'Keep the players in the dark' school of
DMing.
This most especially applies to having a standard Monster Manual, which the
players inevitably browse through at their leisure.

(so if they do an average of ( (1+8)/2 * 8/20 ) damage per round, with us
inflicting ( (2.5+9.5)/2 * 7/20), then we should take  3.25 rounds to kill
each monster, a total of 9.75 rounds, during which we will have inflicted...)

Yawn.
I junked standard D&D long ago.
The players should only know stats about themselves (not one another),
and they should have to assess a monster's power from the description
the DM gives them.

The worst pain in the world is to have one of the players know the rules
better than the DM.
(Page 329, DM's Guide, Paragraph entitled 'Duration', potions of
ssilver teeth last a minimum of 3 turns. Only 1 turn has expired since
Balliorongraby quaffed his. You are wrong.)
If you say, well, there are these certain circumstances that make this
only last for one round, the players get a persecution complex.
But if they didn't know how long the potion was supposed to last for
in the first instance, there is no problem.

-Nige Gale
Advocate of the 'Make it up as you go along' School of DMing.
(I'd appreciate some support, here, Brian)