Bagel
Have you noticed your players having their characters prepare for specific situations they think they might have to overcome, or do they just optimize for general performance and hope for the best? For example, the BBEG in my current campaign is a devil worshipping Lich. The players have fought devil minions a couple times now and each time they encounter damage resistance because devils are not easily injured by weapons that are not either blessed or made of silver. The characters are intelligent and have good resources, so I think first thing they'd do when going up against a known foe is research its weaknesses and exploit them. Am I alone in thinking this way?
Comments
Generally PCs I've been with have planned according to things their characters know. I've virtually never encountered player-knowledge based preparation.
It feels like that sometimes, it really does. I wish it were true, though. I would be honoured to be one of thine players.
Wait, your players use knowledge checks? Oh, right... I suppose you're *not* running a campaign where the PCs are allowed the roam the planes, and they're all from the *same Prime Material world* (Also known as Primes - the characters, and half the times, the players as well). And not by design either. They're just obsessed with FR. So no, they don't know about upper planar creatures. They have mad ranks in Knowledge (Forgotten Realms) though. They're getting better at reading my descriptions and figuring out clues, though.
...although half the time, they can't be bothered to read descriptions, and ask me something I just described.
They do intend to keep their standard gear in the party's bag of holding, but I was really surprised at their mis-prioritization of threat levels. Maybe they will refine their strategy before things go down... or maybe they will learn a valuable life lesson. A bag of caltrops and some ranged weapons can go a long way.
Cheers,
-Arsheesh
I'm all about players immersing themselves in the world, thinking the way the characters would, not the way a person sitting on their couch with a game controller in one hand and a printed-out GameFAQ in the other. As soon as I see stuff like that going down, its' Duskreign's Wrath Time.
Like I said, it's the kind of thing I would only use when it became apparent that they were spinning in circles.