you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

And DMs, if you want to surprise people, do it with plot and stakes, not constant item ambushes.

A good surprise has foreshadowing so the players go "ooh that makes sense. We should have thought of that". If all the corpses in the room look like they died of drowning and there's scratches on the door, it's not a total surprise if there's a trap that locks the door and fills the room with water.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Also, good foreshadowing always creates the possibility that your audience (the players, in this case) will work out what's really going on before you expected them to. This is not a flaw, it doesn't "spoil" the experience. It is, in fact, incredibly satisfying to put a bunch of clues together and then see that prediction vindicated when the twist is revealed.

  • source
  • parent