Game Master tip: The best form of deception

Question to all of my fellow Dungeons & Dragons’ Game Masters (GMs), who does more deceiving - you or the players?

And does the deception – the one you as a GM are providing – come just from your Non-Player Characters or actual information or items the players find within the adventure?

The players, as all of us GMs know, have a “Deception” skill and are asked at times to use it to better understand what they’re experiencing. But so often the deception is tied to what they heard versus what they experienced. Which is a shame because an experience can be the best way to shroud something, at least from a storytelling perspective.

Let me give you an example.

In one of our Heroes B&B Dungeons & Dragons adventures – a dark fantasy called “The Mists of Bones Hollow” – we threw in a small, rather quirky item. Without giving away what the item is - for those who haven’t played the adventure with us - I’ll tell you the aforementioned item is spooky. Spooky enough that most players have an immediate reaction to it. Some won’t come near it. Others have tried to destroy it. More than one player has used a Mage Hand spell to interact with it while keeping 30 feet away!

Hilarious!

And better yet, distracting, which can be deceiving, right? Because the players are focused on one thing while something else – which the GM doesn’t want their attention on – is happening at the same time.

Deceptions as experiences can be a lot of fun, both as a GM and a player.

Throw one in for your next adventure!

Heroes B&B's "The Mists of Bones Hollow" is a dark fantasy Dungeons & Dragons adventure.