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DMs are players too (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/rpgmemes@ttrpg.network
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[–] 10 points 11 months ago* (5 children)

I would caution players to think of the logical endpoint of zealously interrupting villians with combat.

Players: "Stop you thugs or face the wrath of-"

DM: "They attack you, sounds like they get a surprise round"

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    That sounds unreasonable. If you're stepping up to known thugs to threaten them with violence, violence is expected by the party. There should be no surprise here.

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  • [–] 6 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    By the rules of the game you can't surprise someone who is aware of your presence, so you're correct.

    That also means you don't automatically get to interrupt a monologue by blasting the bbeg in the face mid-sentence. You need to roll initiative to see if you are able to act before they can respond.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago* (2 children)

    I like this. I mean, the fact that the rules assist the narrative, but they're not the narrative themselves.

    For the desintegrate situation, I'd love for the GM to go something like:

    "As you speak the final words of your incantation, Wizard, a thin green ray begins to form on your fingertip. The villain merely smirks, clicking his fingers. A wave of crimson energy smothers your hand, and your spell snuffs out like a candle. He brushes a piece of dust from his shoulder. 'Impatience. Such a childish trait. As I was saying...'"

    The GM wouldn't even explain what happened, just continue his narrative, and at some point the party would find that one of the nearby minions in hiding had a counterspell ready, for example.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago

    Yeah, absolutely. There are plenty of RAW ways to allow a bbeg to monologue, at least to some degree.

    Of course it's also entirely within the GM's power to just tell the players to let it happen, but it definitely feels better when there's some kind of in game reason why.

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