That’s kind of important to the story though.

I read once that the earliest edition(s?) didn’t have Rogue as a separate class, that everyone would be searching for traps and such. And when Rogue was added with the explicit ability to detect traps, it caused a crises because suddenly that implied that no one else had that ability.

It’s the cats you gotta worry about.

Main quest? Weird tangent? They’re the same picture!

God you just described my prep in a nutshell. This is how they ended up fighting an orchestra

There are ways. You could, for example, set up a bbeg where that’s his whole deal. The townsfolk are scared of this guy because he has the supernatural power to just kill you, straight-up. Maybe the questline leading up to their encounter involves the players finding defenses or counters or sabotaging his supply of spell components or whatever, such that, if they DO get power-word-killed, it’s because they had ample opportunities to not, and failed to take them.

Except that’s the point, they will not be having fun. Nor will you, nor will any of the other players. Because that setup is not fun. And presumably you’re hosting a game for your friends with the intention of everyone having fun, so it’s best if you find another tact.

Nope, no, that’s encouraging their behavior. Now your player thinks you’re giving them a quest to thwart this bouncer.

You absolutely do not have to RP this. You can say “No.” You can say “Ok, you go off and do that, what’s everyone else doing?”

I’m not one of them, but I empathize with all the GMs that are just sick of dealing with those particular kinds of misconduct that crop up with new players.

This is silly. EVERY system can be exploited, and every group should expect eachother to act in good faith. The difference between systems is what parts are done for you and what parts you do yourself, and every group is going to want a different assortment of those pieces. You’re just mad that some groups get what they want out of DnD. You are the problem person in this image.

I once doodled my Paladin’s full plate as including a chastity belt with a big ol’ padlock

If they promise to be my new best friend they can keep the silver

You gain 20xp and find 10 gold on the joke’s body.

Starbucks is a real coffee chain that exists in the real world. Moondeer and sunfawn follow the same naming scheme, but the players didn’t realize that was what the DM was building to until the big reveal. It’s…pun-adjacent.

De Lancie invited the local bronies in my area to attend an opera he was narrating. I attended and he came and hung out with the bronies afterwards, saying he wanted to thank us for sharing our thing with him by sharing his thing with us. He stayed late after, signing autographs and chatting with people, for so long that I think he may actually have missed his flight. He was a super sweetheart. Maybe he needs to vent about the nasty fans behind closed doors sometimes, but I can’t begrudge anyone that. I recognize that it’s only one data point, but he made the effort to do something nice for us on his own initiative, was incredibly generous with his time, and was kind to me, personally. I will always appreciate that.

EDIT: Also, it was a free event so it’s not like he was trying to sell tickets or anything, and there were less than a dozen of us so I doubt it was a self-serving PR move.

Fantasy Dexter. Actually loves murder, but instead just gets their kicks vicariously by stealing the memories of murderers

I remember hearing blahaj went away

Wait I found a reference to the page…and it’s not actually the right one.

Legally, they can’t send the Pinkertons to rob you, either.