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Now I'm not saying that you should outright yell at your players that they are mindless, mouth-breathing wastes of carbon that would do better to return to the earth they came from (barring some notable examples... IT'S A D20 TO ROLL FOR ATTACK, JEREMY, JUST LIKE THE LAST 30 TIMES YOU ASKED), nor should you send them into endless battles with the dark lord Nelbren's horrid hoards of goblins or into a trap-laden dungeon that makes Sen's Funhouse (the sweet 20fps version on the Xbox 360 release) seem like a good time. That's mean-spirited and doesn't do anything but make everyone feel miserable.
The players, however, should be reminded that you aren't playing the role of a guiding hand through a story (unless you are, in which case why are you reading this? This is not a space for you.), but rather an organic computer which handles the mechanics of the game and controls the men and monsters the players will be facing. Men have brains and can devise tactics, make guesses, and most of all can react to what is going on around them. Some monsters have these attributes as well but less intelligent ones could be vicious, feral creatures that lock on to what they perceive as the weakest prey and react to the threat of the big guy who hit them in the head with a stick the last time they tried to attack him. Creatures do not just need to take their turn, attack, and then wait for the next turn, they should react dynamically to whats going on just as your players should.
That last bit is key. Your players SHOULD be reacting to what you throw at them, what threats or problems they're running into in the world, and what the overall game or general plot of the adventure is setting them up to deal with. Are the players being tasked with traversing a large mountain pass? A good player would prepare Feather Fall or similar anti-fall-to-your-death tools. The last known whereabouts of a missing priest is in an expansive tomb? They should be bringing Holy Water, Alchemist's Fire, and spare blunt instruments in the event of skeletons and other undead creatures. Are there rumors of bandits attacking people at night? Someone better set up an Alarm spell or volunteer to keep watch while the rest sleep. If your players don't do any of these? Fuck 'em.
And that's what I mean by being antagonistic, fuck 'em. My players' failure to plan or strategize is not my problem and maybe when they roll up the next set of characters after a TPK they'll have learned that there are no free rides to the end of the campaign and play a bit more carefully. Too many times nowadays players will just assume that you are a monkey to dance to their tune as they trot their merry way down the yellow brick road and the best way to remind them that this is a tango where both player and DM work together to make something fun and memorable is to create memories. I'm particularly fond of the memories made by someone's 8th Level Fighter standing in the middle of a field waiting for the dragon they just had to harass to land, only to be incinerated into nothing as the scaly beast flew by and took a pot shot with its breath weapon. If you were a giant adult lizard that could breathe fire, you wouldn't fight fair either; That's how you got to be an adult.
Other Ways to be Antagonistic (but not unfairly):
- Is your party's Magic User dressing in a point-ed hat and robes and carrying a staff? Humans and demi-humans (and the non-feral/stupid humanoids) immediately recognize that they could be a threat and go after them first. Would you take a risk with a guy who could potentially shove a lightning bolt up your ass?
Bonus points for parties that recognize this and disguise the fighter as the stereotypical wizard. - Fighter doesn't like to bring anything but his sword because that's all he took feats for (yet another reason I despise feats). Next time there's a group that attacks the party in the forest, make sure its from tree forts and the attackers are using bows/crossbows/javelins. You're gonna learn to bring something, Grabnar.
- Party that thinks anything that isn't offensive is worthless? Teach them that the MMO adage of "the best defense is a dead mob" doesn't work here... by using the spell list against them. There's been plenty of times that a well-used Sleep has led to a knocked out or dead party, or a Darkness ended up being the reason the cultist they were chasing got away.
I don't hate my players, I just want them to become better and step out of the mind prison that video games and modern play cultures have taught them is the proper way. Sometimes, that requires a dead character or a person peeved after a session. Remember that as long as it's never unfair and there's a clear place to point to that shows there were solutions and options to be victorious in the scenario that ended up with a dead character, the player will 9/10 times understand even if they had an initial outburst of frustration. The ones that don't aren't worth my time, nor yours.
