I remember the day I decided that I was going to be a Dungeon Master. I was reading through my Basic Dungeons and Dragons book, the one with the red cover and the big nasty red dragon who, I was almost certain, was about to eat the barbarian-looking fellow. (My interpretation of that picture should have been a clue – I could relate to, and was rooting for, the dragon over the PC).
Anyways, I got to the part that said something like: “Caution! Don’t go any further if you are not the DM, or lightning bolts will shoot from the sky, burning your eye sockets and consuming your eternal soul.” I knew then, I needed the real power.
Back then, unless a player wanted to face the DM’s wrath, he couldn’t buy a module. If he did, he had to lie about it, and keep it hidden under his mattress along with the issue of Playboy he stole from his dad. While this was great for DMs, the fact remained that it was bad for TSR. TSR needed people to buy its products. If a substantial portion of its products can only be sold to DMs, they’re losing as much as 75% of their potential market.
By the time we got to Second Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, TSR was beginning to get this idea. They began publishing a lot more player-related materials, like handbooks and such. Even so, players were discouraged from knowing too much about monsters and whatnot.
Today, nearly every single product that WotC produces is geared towards both players and Dungeon Masters. They even go so far as to provide hints and tricks about how to defeat bone devils. Gone are the warnings about lightning and eye sockets and eternal souls and whatnot. This is becoming frustrating, because a DM cannot go into a store, buy Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, and expect to run it for his players. His players probably already own the damned thing. God forbid he should try to run an adventure that WotC puts up on their web site, because he can be guaranteed that three out of four players have read that one!
So, here it is. I’m calling on the entire Dungeons and Dragons player community. There is only one way to solve this problem. Players, you need to stop reading adventures. Buy them if you like. After all, we want W0tC to sell product so that they can stay in business. But then, either give them to your DM to run (he’ll probably return them when he’s done) or let them sit on the shelf unread. Once you’ve bought it, give your DM a deadline, say six months, to have the option to run the thing before your greedy little eyes begin to peruse. If he runs it, you can still read it afterwards. If he doesn’t, you can read it then.
At least have the fracking courtesy, if you do buy or read an adventure, to shoot your DM an e-mail so he can scratch that one off the list. He puts in hours on planning campaigns and such, you can certainly give him 30 seconds to send a note that says, “Bought Fantastic Locations: Fane of the Drow today.”
And for God’s sake, stay off the damned downloadable adventures section of the Wizard’s web site.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a rather bizarre mindset. First off, you’re assuming that every single player meta-games. Secondly, you’re attitude simply reeks of “It’s the DM versus the player” thought process. And thirdly, you’re completely leaving out people like me; people who both DM and play on a regular basis.
I’ve ran published adventures before. I like them, they save time. Invariably, someone’s read it before or purchased it, or the adventure is included in a player’s guide (Example: The adventure at the back of the Eberron Campaign Sourcebook). But guess what? My players are playing a character. They can adopt a role, and their character acts as though the player never read that information. It really is that simple.
What disgusts me most is your outdated “DM versus players” attitude. You treat the players like enemies, who are not privileged to your secret knowledge. Does this make you feel superior? Allow me to re-assure you, you are not. Most of the worst DMs share that attitude, and I suspect it stems from a desire to feel superor over others. The game, I am afraid, is no longer about stuffing one’s ego. It’s about having fun.
Wow!
Look, Nathan, here’s the thing.
First, thanks for coming to the blog, and for the post. I am glad to hear your thoughts. I can tell you’ve got strong feelings about this.
Second, you’ve got to understand that I’m all about the democratization of the game. Really, I am. I’m not saying I long for “secret knowledge,” except that I want to give my players a good game, that is both challenging and surprising at times. I can’t do that if they know what is coming next.
When I am playing (on those rare occasions that one of my players does agree to run a game) I know that I personally want to play something I’ve not read before. It is more fun for me if I don’t know what is coming next. It’s no more complex than that.
Finally, I know that not every player meta-games. However, by their own admission, several of my players do. It’s not about me beating them; it’s about all of us being interested in the game, together. I joke with my guys all day long about how it’s “Us vs. Them” (i.e. DM vs. Players), and I do a little sarcastic happy dance whenever there’s a total party kill. But I’ve been gaming with most of these guys for a decade or more, and they know I’m really on their side.
Don’t presume to know my desires; at the end of the day, my only desire is, really, to sit down and have a good time alongside, not at the expense of, my friends.
Hope this clears it up a bit, and thanks again for visiting!
Hey Nathan,
..welcome as well…I periodically check this goofy site and respond and since I game with Mr. BOffo….I am biased ,but I have always found it irritating when players buy modules as well…but if they GM then that cannot be helped….hell, even if they don’t GM it is a free country…having said that, I do believe that it is much easier to have your pc react/act honestly if you don’t know what’s coming up …..and if you plan on playing for at least a long while(before gming again) you should either stay away from reading modules for a bit or at least try to keep your current GM up to date that you stay on top of those things and he might want to either adjust for that or be aware of your knowledge.
YOu can talk all day about how you will role-play your pc and not meta-game the adventure ,but it is much harder to do…I’ve seen all sorts of RP rationalizations for why a pc does or does not do something….and if you know , for example, the Green Devil’s Mouth Portal is instant death then you will in all likelihood avoid it….
as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions….
but in the end if you are the GM and are ok with it, then fine.
There’s been a good bit of discussion on this one over at the Wizards boards:
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=813410
Feel free to comment there as well or instead!
Hey Nathan I would have to agree with shekak67 A player can say they will be able to seperate character knowledge from player knowledge when in an adventure they already read. However I am the only person I know who actually has died performing actions in character knowing that it would probably lead to my death.
Second any player who givin the above situation who willingly alows their character to die either:
1- Didn’t remember the entire adventure and will be beating themselves up when it happens.
2- Never really get attached to a character and think nothing of creating another. (Roll-players)
3- Are actually great role-players.
I would have to agree Players need to stop reading adventures and stop reading Monster Manuals as well. I know that players will complain that Monster Manuals have templates and other useful info for players to use. Well Im hear to say they have Two players handbooks, the spell compendieum, six complete books, Psionics books (if your DM allows them), tome of magic and battle. These are just some and not all books that just the Wizards company has published geared mainly for players. As players you have many opptions and if for instance you want to play a half-dragon or some other template. It should be something a players comes up with as an idea for playing an interesting character not another way to metagame.