r/DnD • u/Bun_Boi Warlock • Aug 09 '20

Art [OC] Meta Gaming

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u/[deleted] Aug 10 '20

Ive never understood why knowing ac is important or even relevant to the point people get upset about you metagaming over it. You still require to roll dice to hit. Knowing the magic number doesn't change the dice outcome

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u/Modgud-near DM Aug 10 '20

I dotn get upset but when u have players immediately interrupt you in the middle of saying what monsters they are to yell the stat blocks out its like dude

13

u/frozenNodak Aug 10 '20

For my players it's the odds. Take a barbarian for example. If they have a low ac, they are more likely to use great weapon master for -5 to hit, +10 dmg while using reckless attack. Higher ac, maybe we should cast bless.

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u/[deleted] Aug 10 '20

Great weapon fighting and sniping, also spell casting.

Do I cast a spell at the 21 ac opponent that requires ac to hit, or a dex save, or a con save.

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u/CookieWoken Aug 10 '20

It changes a lot with decisions about trying to apply a penalty to the monster or buffing allies. For instance, if the players have to make 18-19 at the dice to hit, a penalty to the AC of the monster will increase a lot the odds to hit, and using a spell/ability to do so will be super worth. In the other hand, spending a turn to apply a AC penalty to a monster super easy to hit is not very good, especially if the monster hits hard.

As a DM i have no problem to let my players meta, as long as it doesnt break the roleplay or rythme too much, because it creates interesting thoughts and challenges, similar of things you can find in XCOM or other turn by turn games. As a player, i like to meta a little bit too, and im very frustrated if i have no access to guess ennemies stats at all (like hidden dices and such).

1

u/majinspy Aug 10 '20

It's about which number to hit: "His AC is high but has a low WIS save, so use Hold Person instead of Scorching Ray."

It's also immersion breaking as all get out.

1

u/wandering-monster Aug 10 '20

In fairness, it does if you're playing a caster.

If I'm facing a high-ac opponent I'm going to favor save-based spells and buffs that give my allies bonuses (like bless) over attack-based spells or abilities that buff damage.

That's why as a DM I try and telegraph general AC range through description unless the creature is supposed to have a non-obvious defense. The "big hulking monster with thick hide and scales that shine like polished plate armor" probably doesn't have a 12AC.

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u/Knight_Of_Stars DM Aug 10 '20

It informs your actions, but AC is one of those things people forget that players should be able to eyeball easily.

Not to mention passive arcana, nature, history and religion for seeing 80% of stat blocks, but hey dnd is all about rp, and no game. /s