If your party gets a scroll of a Silence spell in the beginning of the adventure, and later, among other enemies and traps, spellcasters who have to say their spells out loud, sirens, and finally banshees, would you consider that clever, or at least good encounter design?At the same time, if that cucks the bard and the spellcasters in your party who also rely on sound / spells w verbal components? Would you be ok if they actually use it in a sneak segment?I think it's worth discussing how to give players alternative solutions to problems but honestly? I think they'd be too stupid to realize, but on the slight chance they come up with it on their own I think it's better never to hold their hand.Anyways, post stories with this kind of neat interactions if you have some.
>>97327698That's definitely decent encounter design, to have a moment where clear recollection of the sum of the party's capabilities is rewarded.As far as alternative solutions go, I have come to the belief that players should be able to run plans by you, with some kind of mental roll (Int or Wis for d20 stuff, I guess) with how well they roll determining if their character can think of flaws or issues with their plan. They can, of course, choose to ignore the results of this roll and act on whatever plan they want, but the roll should help them, if good.
>Here's mcguffin you'll need to use later, as I've planned.that's not clever, that's railroading
>>97327698Leaving solutions for players is good game design, yeah.I tend to make games that are more open and complex than the standard dungeon crawl myself, so I can't say I actually DO it myself, but it's good where appropriate.Give shadowrun players a macguffin that will solve their problem and they will calculate that a car is cheaper than the macguffin and hit the problem with a truck instead.Then get paid twice on selling the macguffin instead of using it. And then either invest 100% of funds into mechanical upgrades and live in a dumpster, or invest 100% of the money on useless tat and live in a dumpster.
>>97327698Get a job, neckbeardia.
>>97327698Silence does not stop you from talking, only casting.
>>97327698Which system?
>>97327698How do you know the players will choose to go to locations that have those creatures? Why wouldn't they immediately sell the scroll for gold they can use to craft actually useful magic items?
>>97328818>Silence does not stop you from talking, only casting.this is fucking retarded
>>97328818retard.
>>97328102How is giving the players more options railroading? It would have been railroading if the players had no way to tackle an encounter, so they have to take another way or die.
>>97327698This sounds incredibly retarded. Not the premise, but the way you present it. You're seriously asking what the implications of a scroll of silence are?If the players have it available as a resource and it could potentially help them in an encounter, what is the problem? Are you looking to get pat on the back for thinking of this incredible unique thought?
>>97329655Railroading is when you take away agency from your players. Giving them the illusion of more options by giving them only one option to actually handle a threat, is good. This wasn't just random treasure that was found and they later made use of, this is something you specifically gave them very early on hoping that they would hold on to it until the exact moment when they needed it to defeat whatever encounter you designed. This is railroading and it is shit
>>97329673If we apply this logic, any encounter that's not randomly rolled on the spot is railroading, and I don't think you want to say that.
>>97329694Logic isn't your strong suit huh
>>97329694You very clearly have no idea what you're talking about.
>>97329673>hopingThat's not railroading. The entire idea of railroading is forcing a particular outcome. If the party had a choice, they weren't railroaded. In this case, the scroll seems to be intended as a potential solution to the problem, rather than the only and singular way to go about the issue.If the party has a crumbling wall they want to get through, it isn't railroading to leave a pickaxe around at some point in the campaign. The GM providing a solution doesn't fundamentally mean all other solutions instantly evaporate.
>>97328818ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU WERE WRONG IMMEDIATELY.
>>97327698This is good if you consider more options for players as good, but it's also kinda shit if you're treating it as a "skip encounter" button, the trick won't work twice either since the wizard will probably take the spell every time after the scroll is used and it won't feel like they're using a precious resource. >>97329673You are a retard, even if it's mediocre design the players still have a choice, the choice being which challenge they get to skip.
