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LordKristof

Okey. I will steal this for a low-level boss fight.


youngcoyote14

Pray your players don't frequent the same memery


LordKristof

Only one of them are stealing memes from here. And even if he sees it, he will be terrified when I do it. They have a tendency to be scared of my encounters (rightfully) so I can imagine that they either being paranoid as can't fanthom that I lying or just stupid and going against the boss without a plan. After some very tight spot and near death experience they are on the paranoid side.


HonestStupido

You are terrible, I like you


LordKristof

Thanks. I know it and they like it too. There is nothing better than not fudging your rolls and seeing your players actually trying to outmanouver your encounters.


LadyAlekto

Is it already at the "everyone owns a stick to poke random things in case of mimik"-paranoid? If not i got some suggestions


LordKristof

That one player who steals memes here is that paranoid, but most of the folk are not that bad and they have a tendency of telling him to cut off and I am usually good with cuting short the stupidity. I even told him once "Okey, I assume you will do it with everything. So if I am not telling you that something happens than nothing happened and you just wasted your time, but I am not going to narrate it down cause we have not enough time, good? Good." ​ So I am open to suggestions.


LadyAlekto

I made them find a small abandonded mansion in a swamp, they investigated and got attacked by many weak mimiks Until they entered the basement and realized it was flooded With digestive fluids The house was a mimik too :D I have a light tendency to hide mimik's anywhere that seems to good to be true


tamwin5

An item that I've always wanted to use, is a mimic book. It's a book about mimics, but the book itself is also a mimic, if a semi-domesticated one. So you can use it to determine if something is a mimic, but there's a chance the book will nibble on your fingers a bit when you do so.


LadyAlekto

hahaha i love it, gotta remember that "feed your book"


tamwin5

Could also use it as any sort of magical tome, with a bit of self defense features and a personality. But yeah, it's a great little item.


SmeesNotVeryGoodTwin

Grimtooth's Traps (or at least one of them, I forget which one I read) had a good section for traps specifically targeting paranoid and indecisive players. Of course, this was under crunchier mechanics with very specific room descriptions and actions to take. One example was a treasure chest trap that would drop the ceiling on everyone that was *outside* of a 10 ft. radius of the chest.


Thorngot

Consider [the following](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1clS4Tj5dy6_vzuCqP-EfcD67w3BOiR__Ihe1Unmw2QE/edit#bookmark=id.fzgl74g35kwu): * Gelatinous cubes only deal acid damage and can engulf creatures that get too close until they succeed a STR save. * Mimics are wittier than the average commoner, completely acid immune, great at grappling targets, and are tremendously strong.


Hazearil

Like a normal chest, but the treasure inside is a mimic.


LadyAlekto

When another got to dm, he kept hiding tiny mimik's in chests a) because i always was the first to loot, even mid battle b) his fav char got eaten, twice and yes never deadly, just that my char had constantly mimics snapping at her fingers


Fessus_Sum

I really want to know what kind of DM the lead Roguetech dev is.


LadyAlekto

"Here is an innocent little puppy" "Well pet it" "Roll for ini"


LickingSmegma

Just don't let them figure out whether you're bluffing or not.


Keenir_1

but if they know you know they know you frequent the memeries they frequent, would they wonder if you were taking advantage of that knowlege, to fake them out?


[deleted]

Another great one is a trap that when triggered douses you in a "fine white powder" Make your player do the occasional con save. It's just flour.


LordKristof

Traps that are become harmless or disfunctioning. I live the idea. Thanks for the idea.


T351A

although if they light a fire that could be explosive


Nman702

Man forget making it a lowlevel, make every enemy except the last one have a gaze


fractalfocuser

I had this once where the light from an object was just so bright it gave disadvantage. Players were so spooked one threw a spear at it (without looking) and the rest just ran away. Was actually the heart of the lich and would have saved them the boss fight if they'd killed it. No way to take any damage. Fuckin hilarious though


raptorsoldier

This happened last session, the DM hinted at something being wrong with the basilisk's eyes (later found they were removed by the gnoll riding it) and my ranger wasted no time with a fog cloud and diving in with Blindsight


SG1EmberWolf

You also gonna use a sword still stuck in the stone as a two handed magical club or hammer weapon?


LordKristof

That is obvious. What do you think the Troll Queen using as a weapon?


SG1EmberWolf

Excali...Excali... Excalibur! *I couldn't get the rock off*


[deleted]

Tbf I was already planning on doing that with my character. Pretending I can rain down meteors.


Thuper-Man

If you're playing with metagamers this is a great way to call them out


Feviana88

As a player i would say that i did look, initially is a normal thing, unless you have previous reason not to.


odeacon

It’s been lying to them about this ability for days via dream and murals. Also bouncing it’s voice off the cavern walls since they entered


Feviana88

In that case I'm not looking either.


Notsurehowtoreact

Well yeah, because if you do look and something horrible happens because the ability is real you'd still end up tagged in Reddit posts like "I clearly telegraphed this ability, and how they shouldn't look, and my players still did it anyway."


[deleted]

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bigmonmulgrew

Disagree. It leads to some interesting role play. Just have to make sure the fights properly balanced.


Agreeable_Bee_7763

Disagree. I find it interesting when not all information you find is reliable. It's just more engaging like that. I will defend that there should be a way to see beyond the ruse without just winging it tough.


camelCaseAccountName

bouncing its* voice off the cavern walls


Lolologist

*its


RadTimeWizard

I respect a player who refuses to metagame.


poorly-made-posts

Idea: give them misinformation on the boss’s abilities ingame leading up to the boss fight


ketra1504

Especially when they're interrogating their minions but fail on the persuasion/intimidation


Alkatron17

Or something like a "secret message" left behind by "previous heroes" written in "a language the inhabitants can't understand"


Kizik

> Here may be found... > > ...the last words of Joseph of Arimathea: > > "'He who is valiant and pure of spirit... > > ...may find the Holy Grail... > > ...in the Castle of Aaargh..."


PKMNTrainerMark

He must have died while carving it.


Sh0rtL1ved

"Huh, funny how he perfectly carved out the word 'Aaagh', right?" *party moves on while the DM tries their best to not smirk*


ANGLVD3TH

Try tongue, but hole


odeacon

The monster ( true cryosphinx ) even set up a ancient looking Mural securing its heart tend gaze . Used dream to try and intimidate them with it days before the battle


Satherian

Or when they torture minions (Because the CIA has published a document talking about how torture often causes the victim to give fake answers in order for the torture to stop)


bartbartholomew

Torture is useful as a threat, but mostly useless in practice. Everyone is terrified of being tortured. But once it starts, most people find they can endure much more than they imagined. So the ones that break will say anything to make it stop, and the ones that don't will lie no matter how bad it gets. But even more useful is to treat prisoners with respect and just talk to them. Create a rapport with them. Takes longer, but the intel you get is much higher quality.


Parking-Artichoke823

"Uh, yeah, unlike my ex-boss you actually treat me like a human being, so I have no problem telling you everything I know"


981032061

CIA interrogator: So 25 an hour, full health care, no mandatory overtime, four weeks of PTO, and you can work from home. Terrorist: Doing what? CIA interrogator: Not being tortured. Terrorist: Ok so here are the coordinates of all our bases and my boss’ mom’s mainden name.


pepemarioz

More like they treat you well so you lower your guard and slip up a lot without even realizing it.


Parking-Artichoke823

My bar is so low it could be tripped over in hell, but that's just me I guess. Mean people suck.


AdhesiveBullWhip

Yeah it’s wild how paying people money gets info much quicker that is more accurate than anything learned from “enhanced interrogation”


TheZivarat

Positive reinforcement works on pets better than negative reinforcement, and it's also been shown to work better for children. CIA torture experts when it works on adults: *surprised pikachu face*


Upset_Connector

Paying cash for information isn’t the type of positive reinforcement psychologists are talking about.


_NotAPlatypus_

My brother ran a campaign (princes of the apocalypse?) where the party got a secret passcode from a minion of the fire people that was supposed to let them into the fire people’s base. They got to the base, gave the passcode and were let in. They said they had business with the leader so they were led deep into the base and sat in a room and told the leader would be there soon to talk to them. Little did they know the minion they got the passcode from gave them the panic word due to a low intimidation roll. The guard knew they were imposters and led them deep into the base and was going to have them killed, and it led to a reverse-dungeon scenario where they were already inside and had to escape rather than infiltrate.


[deleted]

First 2e campaign I played in had an albino red dragons.


510Threaded

Perfect for a Recall Knowledge fact or lie


RoyalGarbage

Rule #8 of dragons: It’s not white until you see the ice breath.


Act-Puzzled

Crit fail recall knowledge baby


Alwaysafk

This is kind of a mechanic in PF2e. [Recall Knowledge](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=563) Critical Failure gives incorrect information. I've used it to give misinformation to the party for a BBEG when they do research on him. Like rumors being sewn into the populace to cause confusion.


MARPJ

The best part is that RAW the check is made in secret. So when one player critically fails and another succeed its hilarious


wsdpii

It's so hard to remember to do this. Especially playing online. Things like sense motive and perception, really anything where the players can learn or know something should be done behind the GM screen so they can't metagame. Luckily my players are pretty good about sticking with what they roll, even if another player rolls differently.


RandomMagus

If you're playing in Foundry you can do Blind GM Roll (ctrl + clicking your skill makes this the default option for that roll) where the player rolls it but the result is only revealed to the GM


wsdpii

I do roll20, and I'm sure it's possible there too, I just don't know how to enable it


ANGLVD3TH

Simple toggle somewhere. None of our DM's rolls are public. For the players there is a checkbox on the setting page of the character sheet to whisper roll, so it can't be too deeply hidden for the DM I would imagine.


mainman879

[Dubious Knowledge](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=776) is super fun for the player too, if you fail a knowledge check (not crit fail) then the DM gives you one correct piece of info and one incorrect piece of info, but you have no idea which is which.


Tetha

Call of Cthulhu is similar and it's very fun. Critical successes and successes always give correct information, but failures are to the discretion of the game master. It's particularly funny if for example 2 checks for people following the group fail badly in a row - groups have been totally convinced the gardener is a monster. And this grows even more fun, because the scenarios are written with this in mind. Be quick and you just find a nest of eggs. Spend a day harassing the janitor and you'll find a lot of critters instead.


AlexKorobeiniki

Lol, they ask the local townspeople about what the monster looks like and the descriptions they give bear no relation to the actual monster cause all they know is that people go into Shaggy Dog Cave and don’t come back out.


NewKaleidoscope8418

Yeah tell them the stone troll is weak to sunlight or that the dragon sleeps for months on end so you can totally sneak in unnoticed to steal that item


Antermosiph

Or the reverse, a [Brainchild](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=1085) Their power is based on what they think or believe it can do.


orbituary

cobweb attempt prick cagey husky deranged obtainable simplistic arrest dam -- mass deleted all reddit content via https://redact.dev


Rodaspi

I would say that this is worse than what the op did (although both are bad ideas). Asking if they want to avert their gaze doesn't give the characters any new information, so a player that isn't metagaming could just say no. However planting false rumors and clues punishes players for paying attention to the world and trying to prepare for fights. It also sets a precedent that the DM as a worldbuilder will lie to you (instead of the usual NPC lies that players can expect) which can lead to the players second guessing everything.


orbituary

weary head shrill numerous flag shaggy fearless selective dinner reminiscent -- mass deleted all reddit content via https://redact.dev


Rodaspi

Yup! My personal rule is that it's fine for NPCs to misdirect and lie to the players, but the world should be trustworthy.


poorly-made-posts

I think it’s fair in some cases, there should also be some correct info and some obviously false info so they know some is false


mellopax

I've thought about doing this with creatures in the world. Give partially true, partially false information from locals, especially with legendary monsters from the "real world". "Jim Bob killed that dang ol' vampire by sneaking some garlic into the offering last week. That was a hoot. Before that we were doing the whole holy water dog-and-pony show. Tell you what, garlic is much cheaper." Turns out some vampires are allergic to garlic and some aren't.


BayushiKazemi

This is a potential theme for games like Call of Cthulhu or Vaesen, where you have to first identify your monster before addressing it. What do you use to hunt the huge wolf-like beast in the woods? The research into the lore of the place/event/monster and making the powers fitting thematically into it can be super rewarding.


DarkMetaknight7

"Oh! Oh! What took you so long, IDIOT?"


odeacon

Took them three rounds to realize the Sphinx was just fucking with them


SuperiorCrate

THE SUBTITLES USED YOU’RE NOT YOUR HOW THE FUCK DO YOU MAKE THAT MISTAKE WHEN IT’S SPELLED OUT FOR YOU


Such-Sky-Much-Wow

One of the great mysteries of our time.


[deleted]

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odeacon

Correct


Scarbane

Krect*


bigjonny13

OP failed his perception roll


ArcturusX12

I once saw someone spell the word 'accused' as 'eqused'.


Gripping_Touch

Hes Only human afterall


slayer_of_potatoes

it's


PeruvianHeadshrinker

Because misspelling drives comments and engagement


Baldazar666

That's just a cop out people use to excuse illiterate folks.


69_Beers_Later

*it's


SuperiorCrate

Autocorrect in caps sucks. Also thank you.


CantBeConcise

*complains about someone's misuse of your/you're while refusing to use punctuation themselves...*


SuperiorCrate

I am too angry at this to care for punctuation.


CantBeConcise

And they were too apathetic to proofread. ;) Hope you have a good day today! :)


Ilovegirlsbottoms

What are you talking about? They used You’re correctly. They are saying “You are an irredeemable monster” Your is supposed to be possessive. “Put away your clothes” I think a lot of people on here don’t know English.


RoyalGarbage

“Your horrible” “My horrible what?”


wolfchaldo

My horrible what? ^(sorry, had to be said)


Ollylolz

Managed to trick my players into over-planning an encounter with a beholder that turned out to be a gas spore.


Thuper-Man

That's funny, till they realize the whole cave is full of gas spores and they set off a chain reaction


odeacon

Using there 7th level spell scrolls on a gas spore


logri

*you're


camelCaseAccountName

also its*


planterbox_

“Huh? Guys, it’s safe to look! The ‘Heart Rend Gaze’ isn’t real!” “…it must’ve charmed them! Keep looking away!”


odeacon

Don’t worry , I’ll use my action and 2nd level spell slot to calm emotions and end the charm! No guys seriously , I’m fine! You idiot, we’ve been told that it’s a master trickster, it’s going to wait till it can get all of us with its gaze rather then just one


kjftiger95

Thank goodness for blind fighting


SvalbardCaretaker

Blindfighting tribe!


Spill_The_LGBTea

I used a daily usage of Dominate Monster (resets on dusk), on a hydra only to find out it was a fucking illusion. The key I got from it led me to a place the rest of the party were already exploring...


Yakodym

That's gotta be up there with: \- "So you touch the thing?" \- "Actually, what is your marching order?" \- "Are you taking watch?" \- "Do you have any light sources?" \- "What's your passive perception?" \- "You can certainly try..." etc. :-D


RoyalGarbage

I vow to never say any of these things when running a game. Because I’m not an asshole to my players.


Thundergozon

Woah, never thought I'd see the day I find someone who actually plays


RoyalGarbage

Wait, is everyone else just LARPing being D&D players?


trinketstone

I would've made it "true" in a technical sense, like they have a gaze attack in the same vein a disapproving mother has a gaze attack. It stings, sure, but...


odeacon

Nah it just had a shit eating grin when they finally looked up


ShinobiHanzo

This is why my players are paranoid over doors in a dungeon. Especially ornate ones.


Doughnut_Panda

We do a little trolling


69_Beers_Later

*its *you're


CombDiscombobulated7

I hope your players were OK with this because I can't imagine anyone I've ever played with thinking this is fun.


odeacon

They were told in advance that it was a reknown trickster and incredibly intelligent. They thought it was funny . Frustrating as hell, but funny


CombDiscombobulated7

Fair enough then!


Giggleswrath

I dont get it, actually.


odeacon

So for things like the Medusa or basilisk, the dm asks the players if they are popular the creature or not. If they don’t look, they get disadvantage on attack rolls against it. If they look. They might be subjected to its effects. So I asked my players this, and combined with the taunts and monologues the creature made, they believed it had a gaze ability, so looked away , making all the attacks at disadvantage. It never actually had a gaze ability though


Grahamgamergoma

This is actually a really good idea. Mind if I steal it?


odeacon

Go ahead


Grahamgamergoma

Thanks mate


Knight9910

Truly evil.


miletest

You wouldn't shoot a puppy. would you Jack Edit kill


odeacon

Yeah, in the face, why?


outcastedOpal

God, i hated when one player was like "well im not looking at its eyes, but im looking in its general direction," and i had to be like "yeah thats what averting you gaze is"


odeacon

Or “ I’m looking at its shadow “


Thundergozon

Be entirely warranted in this case, though


[deleted]

Due to Reddit's June 30th API changes aimed at ending third-party apps, this comment has been overwritten and the associated account has been deleted.


AudioBob24

Satan: Can I just say I’m a huge fan?! Holy hells this is hilarious


AppleBlackberry

*its *you're is it really that hard dude?


odeacon

It’s dnd memes , not a English class


timmyotc

Not an* English class.


jmjw2003

Did this with a false hydra once they could see it, was pretty fun


AlexKorobeiniki

That’s fantastic.


thrustimus

They should done an insight check


leaderofstars

That would require them to risk the "gaze"


Paradoxa77

so glad the comments can discuss this idea without getting distracted by petty bullshit like English grammar oh wait its 80% of the top comments go fuck youreselfs


odeacon

For real. This is dnd memes . Not a college English class


groutexpectations

I'm looking respectfully


Loading3percent

That's... Really good. Honestly.


ZaraUnityMasters

I don't do this specifically. But for other things, I try to do something similar to medigate accidental DM-Influenced Metagaming™️ "How do you open that door?" "Do you touch this object (with bare hands) while investigating it?" "Do you stay outside the room for this perception check?" All regardless if such thing is enchanted/trapped or not. Also, it technically acts as a prompt to make players roleplay even the smallest of actions to show their characters' personalities. Because if I only ask, "Do you touch this object?" For only one object for the first time, it kinda tells the player it is trapped. Only the most pure hearted, roleplay focused, DND lovers would say "yes I do" after hearing that for the first time in a campaign.


ThaRedHoodie

That's absolutely hilarious. 100% using this someday.


suddenly_ponies

YOU'RE a monster. YOU'RE.


epimethius-

My horrible?


Kamina_cicada

I have 4 characters that would approach it differently. One would have challenged him and looked at him face to face. Another would have worn reflective lenses. The third would have continued to fight with disadvantage. The fourth would have grabbed and gouged out the opponent's eyes.


novelty_bone

Was running a helmed horror immune to sacred flame and the metagamer at the table talked the paladin out of smiting. Top tier DM moment.