Get out of my mind!

Babbling an the Counter #12 – Pen and Paper

Get out of my mind!

Miscommunication can kill a character. We’ve all seen it on more than one occasion: the player says what the character is doing and the GM can’t comprehend “why” he is doing it. Most often than not it’s because someone didn’t understand something, either the player didn’t express himself clearly or the GM had set the scene in a weird way.

But there might be something else at play here: Maybe the player wants to keep something from the NPCs, and that’s why he didn’t explain his whole reasoning to the GM.

As GM, you should make everything you can to prevent this from happening. You should never use that kind of information to wreck some character’s plan, because all you are going to get is players that don’t want to share their character’s thinking with you.

It’s especially important because it’s an easy mistake to make. If you have the information, you can improve the NPCs behavior, so why shouldn’t you? But, I repeat, don’t do it. Clever characters make better stories, and clever players are happy when their plans pay off.

- The Storeman