That’s love players, your DM is trying to save you :)
That’s why it’s important to assess the tone the DM is using when they say that.
Do they sound defeated? You’re probably about to derail away from something planned to something that will have to be fully improvised on the spot, reconsider for sanity’s sake
Do they sound excited? You’re probably about to trigger a really cool trap, full steam ahead
A good DM will also say that to mess you up when you’re about to solve something.
I know a DM that created a fake puzzle room, and asked that for everything. They were in the room for an hour before realizing that the door was unlocked
Lol that wouldn’t work with my party.
*enters puzzle room and reads riddle
Half Orc: I’m gonna open the door.
DM: Doesn’t work. It’s locked
Half Orc: I’m gonna open the door, but harder
I’m going to open the door…with my axe.
Did it worked ?
The big lockpick always works.
I presented my party with a locked door to which they has the key. Took 20 minutes and a chime of opening to get through.
This was not a puzzle. I’m afraid of giving them a puzzle.
Indeed. I often do that kind of trick, just to keep them on their toes :)
Art by @ahdok of course. I am talented but not in drawing anything remotely fun to watch :)
If you have to ask if they’re sure you’ve either not described a situation clearly enough, or you’re giving them meta knowledge of an upcoming complication - and if you need to stop them from triggering a complication you shouldn’t have put that complication there in the first place.
It’s a popular and well known phrase, but it needs to be acknowledged that it’s a crutch to make up for DMing mistakes that are in danger of killing a PC, not a way of protecting them. You shouldn’t get to the point where you need to warn a player they’re about to get their PC killed - if they are taking a potentially suicidal action they should already be aware and have made their decision based on it.
It’s a popular and well known phrase, but it needs to be acknowledged that it’s a crutch to make up for DMing mistakes that are in danger of killing a PC
You say that like if players always did good and reasonable actions even with every piece of knowledge in their hands
Oh, I’m not pretending that even the best players aren’t a bunch of free range maniacs heart, it’s just that it’s rare that a player will actively choose to do something that is likely to kill them - They might set off a chain of events that digs them into a hole and leads to their death over a series of decisions, but if they’re aware of what’s going on they generally shy away from single “are you sure you want to do this” moments with a real risk of causing immediate death.
Since everything that ever happens is always the DMs doing, then yeah every single death is the DMs fault per default.
Now, lets pretend that were talking about a decent DM that isnt trying to actively kill their players, is giving them a good amount of info, but is still playing with death possible and dangers that wont be steamrolled.
From this point, for you, when is it the DMs fault and when is it the player’s fault ?
And the next question is, when would it be appropriate to say the famous saying without it being a DMs crutch to cover “their” “mistakes” ?
