this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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Something I got from Spoony which I really liked:
"There is nothing there." -> "You don't see/perceive anything."
Even if there isn't something there, keep the players on the edge and guessing how good their skill worked. And it makes it just a little bit less gamey if the character doesn't have some divine insight that there really is nothing there instead of deciding that their skills just show that there is nothing there and be happy with that - or not.
Of course, extend that to everything. Pull away from the facts of the game and put more ambiguous language in.
I also like misdirection that doesn't result in anything.
"And where are you standing right now?" - "Ok, just checking."
After insight check on an honest npc: "As far as you can tell, he's telling the truth"
"The door seems normal to you."
players proceed to analyze the door for an hour, not realizing if they take the stairs slightly to the left, they'll be taken to the treasure room they're looking for
I've gotten impatient before and snapped "the door rots away from the time you've spent arguing and falls open" which just sparked a few minutes of debating whether the building is sentient and will eat them if they enter the door.
Haha, you just can't win.
Idk this is ambiguous stuff is how you can waste an hour with your players ripping everything off the walls because they think you being unclear is a signifier of something. Like you have to be more clear than ambiguous over all because they are playing a game and unless they are checked out will drill down into it. Maybe you don't mind them wasting an hour investigating a pointless room or doing everything they can on an object because you were vague about it but it's not rewarding for players. Like being vague about a rock is going to have any player take it with them compared to saying "it's just a rock." Maybe you can take those moments and make memories from improv'ing with them but itll get exhausting for both sides after awhile.
The chair in Critical Roll. :D
Chetney's Revenge
It's handy because you can change your mind and retcon something into the scene if necessary.