Quote Originally Posted by Kardwill View Post
As a GM, you have a perfect, complete vision of what happened, what is happening, what will probably happen, every character, every event, and, most importantly, what is important and what isn't, and how things are connected

As a player, I just don't know what details I'm supposed to remember. I'll remember only part of an information. I'll mix characters and places. I'll forget the description of the villain. I'll forget that you said there is a red carpet in the bedroom. I'll not pay attention to that long list of titles of the sidhe lord because they're probably not that important, right?

- So I won't randomly ask the GM to repeat the complete description of every NPC in the game, just in case it's important. And I probably won't notice that the Mysterious Stranger I just met fits the description of Lord Alexander Ravenwald that I met last game, unless the GM lays it out really thick, or simply says "That guy really looks familiar, by the way." if it's just a hint to get me thinking and check my notes, or "You can't see his face, but he has those long blue-black hairs of the Ravenwald family" if it's important that I remember.

- And when I say I'm checking the walls for secret doors in the bedroom where someone got murdered, the GM, who knows the red carpet is hiding a trapdoor, could remind me of its existence, either in a new description ("you put the painting down on the red carpet in the middle of the rooom") or simply by asking "do you check under the carpet, too?"

- And when I talk to the seelies, the GM could say "The tall sidhe present himself as the Lord Protector of Muir Wood", or even, if I'm not reacting to that name, "Muir Wood... It takes you a few seconds to realise that it may be the same place that the Dancers are about to attack"


The players hear LOTS of things over the course of the game, but only the GM knows what is important and what is "fluff". Reminding the players of some details they forgot is not playing in their place, it's giving them more options.

If a player looks like an idiot, check if they have the same "mental image" as you. 9 times out of 10, they just misunderstood, didn't remember an important piece of information, or didn't see the link between 2 "obvious" pieces of information.
(Like in you example of the barbarian jumping off a cliff, even if they're aware it's 20D6 damage, they may simply not remember that the "massive damage" rule exists at your table. If you stop to tell them "it will be 20D6 damage. If I roll over 50 damage, you'll have to save or die. Do you jump, or not?", it's not a mistake anymore, but an informed choice)
To give an example that did happen to me:

I was a player during a game session where the PCs needed to cause as much confusion as possible at a slave market, so we could take down the slavers.

One of the bad guy factions trading at the market had a massive steam-powered vehicle, so since one of the NPCs with us had both a sword that can cut through any metal easily and a magic rune necklace that makes the wearer completely immune to fire and heat, my PC proposed that the NPC cut into the vehicle's steam engine, as such a thing leaking would cause a lot of panic and noise, and with her heat immunity she would be safe from the danger.

GM told me that my PC would be familiar enough with the technology to know that compressed steam being released in a burst is not just fire damage, but also bludgeoning damage. My PC ended up not informing the NPC of that, since a) my PC had seen her survive worse without issue, including fighting a giant made of metal without any real injury b) my PC didn't particularly care if this NPC died, given in his eyes she was just "that pirate who would be raiding ships and killing people for a few coins right now if she didn't see the treasure we're after as a better payday" c) my PC had already warned her to just damage the engine then get away from it due to the shrapnels if it blew up, and it she was nonchalant about the danger.