Playing a game I've read, Help!

[DBecker]

My friend is running a weekly game and invited me to play. This is fantastic, since I just got my APG and want to play one of the new classes. The problem is, he's running ROTRL, which I've read, quite a few times. What do I do? How do I play a character that doesn't metagame, and yet still be fun to play? And playing a different adventure isn't an option, he's dead-set on playing this one, and they are already level 5 or so.

[Alexander Kilcoyne]

I've had similar problems in the past.

Play a passive character, or a very anti-social one so you have little input. Don't play anything with high knowledge skills or a character that enjoys figuring things out.

[Lawdog]

Alexander Kilcoyne wrote:

I've had similar problems in the past.

Play a passive character, or a very anti-social one so you have little input. Don't play anything with high knowledge skills or a character that enjoys figuring things out.

Best suggestion is to tell the DM and see if he has something else up his sleeve. And be specific about what happens in the AP so that if he wants to custom it, he'll know just how much to change. If it turns out he has to change to much, it would definately be better to play another AP. If the DM can't or won't change the AP, maybe you could co-DM?

I just don't see you having that much fun knowing what's going to happen and having to shut up about it. You may make decisions that are better for your PC, that your subconscience makes automatically. You know what's going to occur, you can't undo that.

[Black Fang]

Well, you could just keep your player knowledge and your character knowledge separate. It's a crazy idea, I know, but something that is possible.

[Brian Bachman]

Years ago I had a similar situation. I had just moved to a new area and after a couple of months of searching, had found a good group that invited me to play. Unfortunately, they were running the Desert of Desolation series, which I had not only read, but had DMed before. I ended up not telling the DM and playing anyway, and it was really hard for me not to use the knowledge I had of the adventure to help the party, and very frustrating at times to have to keep my mouth shut rather than propose strategies. It required me to play a very passive character, which is hard for me, and not very fun. In retrospect, i wish I had done it differently.

In retrospect, I wish I had told the DM what the situation was and requested his help in making it work. So that is my advice to you. Best of luck!

[NeoFax]

I do this quite often since I am normally the DM and from 4E RPGA. This is the same as metagaming, such as you the player knows what a Stirge can do, but yet you play the character as if he has no clue. If you have a hard time separating what you know versus what the character may know, you will have a hard time having fun. Also, like others have said let the DM know exactly how much you know so he can make the decision on what, if any, he is going to change.