How much info DO you give out? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

How much info DO you give out?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
themaster408
Sep 24, 2008 12:13:07 This can be debated all day. Should you tell them how much damage they did to that elemental?

Specifically though, I'm wondering how RAW it is to tell them exactly what poison or disease they got.

In my game, the PCs fought a mummy. All 3 of them were infected by his slam (Mummy Rot). I told them "you are now infected with Mummy Rot, make a save" when they failed / maintained I told them what it meant (healing effects on you are halved or take 10 damage that cannot be healed).

Was I giving out too much info? I put this under house rules because I probably will continue to give this much info (I didn't tell them how much damage they did when they did fire, simply stated (as I usually do) "ok, so your strike did what again? 11 potential damage, ok..." and then I calculate it.).
However, I'm wanting to know if you actually SHOULD tell them "you have Mummy Rot" or should I only tell them "your healing effects are halved on you due to the mysterious disease the mummy caused you." and then let them figure it out by going to a healer?

EDIT:
Another question, if I should give out some info, but not too much, what about the 10 damage that can't be healed (until they recover or die)? Should I just say "you take 10 damage from disease" and let them figure out that they can't heal past that 10? Do they know an extended rest won't heal them, that they'll have to make another saving throw after an extended rest?
#2
EmpactWB
Sep 24, 2008 12:34:18 "Whenever you affect a creature with a power, that creature knows exactly what you’ve done to it and what conditions you’ve imposed. For example, when a paladin uses divine challenge against an enemy, the enemy knows that it has been marked and that it will therefore take a penalty to attack rolls and some damage if it attacks anyone aside from the paladin." -PHB, page 57.

I'd give the same courtesy to the players, the way you did.
#3
krakenkaos
Sep 24, 2008 14:23:53 As said above, I would do the same with short-term effects like powers or ones that would end after 5 minutes but not with longer lasting things like diseases.

Such as in my game, my PCs had entered some tainted water deep in a swamp without any sort of protection. They swam around blindly till the Fighter decided to open his eyes and try to look around (of course, he couldn't). However, he did contract 'Blinding Sickness'. I told him that his eyes burned when he opened them and continued to do so after multiple short rests and a couple extended rests. In the meantime, I told him the mechanical effects such as blurry vision past 10 squares (I think) and to roll Endurance checks after extended rests but I never told him the name of the disease until the Cleric rolled a Heal check to find out.
#4
themaster408
Sep 24, 2008 21:47:38 thank you for the info. I'll do that, tell them the immediate, but not necessarily everything (and yeah, I had the "they know what happened to them" in my head too).

Thank you both for your responses.
#5
Ra-Tiel
Sep 25, 2008 15:04:53 In my games I handle it the following way:
Description: I paraphrase/describe what the character feels (having fever, heavy coughing, itching blisters, etc).
Mechanical effects: I tell them the whole mechanical consequences of the current stage of the disease (including the DCs to keep, improve, or worsen the condition), but not immediately how much worse it will get or how far the character is from being cured.
Additional information: Things like the disease's name, how many stages it has, and what those stages' effects are are only given out after the party succeeded at an appropriate Heal or Nature check.

So far it worked pretty well, although I must admit that the party wasn't faced with many diseases yet. *Makes note for next session.* ;)
#6
themaster408
Sep 25, 2008 17:41:52 Yeah, they just reached level 2 and decided to go into a magic mirror (a portal) and found a mage in fancy robes. They ran out and instead of running into one they knew was safe (already defeated the imp on the other side), they chose one they had activated and looked in, but didn't GO in. In they went to that dark room with coffins and sarcophagus. Oh, open the sarcophagus, yeah, loot it, that's a good idea.

They could have ran, but they got REALLY lucky rolls on the mummy early on and the mummy kept missing them. They regretted it later when one of them almost died and all 3 of them were diseased.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 themaster408 Sep 24, 2008 12:13:07	This can be debated all day. Should you tell them how much damage they did to that elemental? Specifically though, I'm wondering how RAW it is to tell them exactly what poison or disease they got. In my game, the PCs fought a mummy. All 3 of them were infected by his slam (Mummy Rot). I told them "you are now infected with Mummy Rot, make a save" when they failed / maintained I told them what it meant (healing effects on you are halved or take 10 damage that cannot be healed). Was I giving out too much info? I put this under house rules because I probably will continue to give this much info (I didn't tell them how much damage they did when they did fire, simply stated (as I usually do) "ok, so your strike did what again? 11 potential damage, ok..." and then I calculate it.). However, I'm wanting to know if you actually SHOULD tell them "you have Mummy Rot" or should I only tell them "your healing effects are halved on you due to the mysterious disease the mummy caused you." and then let them figure it out by going to a healer? EDIT: Another question, if I should give out some info, but not too much, what about the 10 damage that can't be healed (until they recover or die)? Should I just say "you take 10 damage from disease" and let them figure out that they can't heal past that 10? Do they know an extended rest won't heal them, that they'll have to make another saving throw after an extended rest?
#2 EmpactWB Sep 24, 2008 12:34:18	"Whenever you affect a creature with a power, that creature knows exactly what you’ve done to it and what conditions you’ve imposed. For example, when a paladin uses divine challenge against an enemy, the enemy knows that it has been marked and that it will therefore take a penalty to attack rolls and some damage if it attacks anyone aside from the paladin." -PHB, page 57. I'd give the same courtesy to the players, the way you did.
#3 krakenkaos Sep 24, 2008 14:23:53	As said above, I would do the same with short-term effects like powers or ones that would end after 5 minutes but not with longer lasting things like diseases. Such as in my game, my PCs had entered some tainted water deep in a swamp without any sort of protection. They swam around blindly till the Fighter decided to open his eyes and try to look around (of course, he couldn't). However, he did contract 'Blinding Sickness'. I told him that his eyes burned when he opened them and continued to do so after multiple short rests and a couple extended rests. In the meantime, I told him the mechanical effects such as blurry vision past 10 squares (I think) and to roll Endurance checks after extended rests but I never told him the name of the disease until the Cleric rolled a Heal check to find out.
#4 themaster408 Sep 24, 2008 21:47:38	thank you for the info. I'll do that, tell them the immediate, but not necessarily everything (and yeah, I had the "they know what happened to them" in my head too). Thank you both for your responses.
#5 Ra-Tiel Sep 25, 2008 15:04:53	In my games I handle it the following way: Description: I paraphrase/describe what the character feels (having fever, heavy coughing, itching blisters, etc). Mechanical effects: I tell them the whole mechanical consequences of the current stage of the disease (including the DCs to keep, improve, or worsen the condition), but not immediately how much worse it will get or how far the character is from being cured. Additional information: Things like the disease's name, how many stages it has, and what those stages' effects are are only given out after the party succeeded at an appropriate Heal or Nature check. So far it worked pretty well, although I must admit that the party wasn't faced with many diseases yet. Makes note for next session. ;)
#6 themaster408 Sep 25, 2008 17:41:52	Yeah, they just reached level 2 and decided to go into a magic mirror (a portal) and found a mage in fancy robes. They ran out and instead of running into one they knew was safe (already defeated the imp on the other side), they chose one they had activated and looked in, but didn't GO in. In they went to that dark room with coffins and sarcophagus. Oh, open the sarcophagus, yeah, loot it, that's a good idea. They could have ran, but they got REALLY lucky rolls on the mummy early on and the mummy kept missing them. They regretted it later when one of them almost died and all 3 of them were diseased.