Anyway getting to my point, my group knows i'm obsessed with Ravenloft, and there going to be roaming the Domains of Dread... How do i deal with them having OOC knowledge about, well everything about the Ravenloft that they've learned ??????
For a start I'd put them in a domain they've never encountered before. Add in monsters or villians that differ from what they've usually fought, i.e. add a vampire with a combination of salient abilities you've never used. Or try a different tactic in the campaign (do you usually run Dark Lords interferring with the party's plans? If so dont have any Lords make an appearence for some time).
Really use their OOC knowledge to your advantage if needed i.e. an arch nemesis has read their minds and is knows what they know and is slowly driving them insane through clever subterfuge. Talk to the Players also about not using so much Metagaming and prior knowledge when in the game.
When all else fails hit the panic button: Put them in the Theatre House with Justin and everything they used to know was just in a play he wrote.
My suggestion is early on put them up against something obvious with obvious flaws and weaknesses and chastize them every time they try to exploit their knowledge. Let them get the feel of playing a rookie and having toinvestigate.
Don't shout them down or belittle them, give them some slack, just emphasise that you know what they know and that their characters don't know jack.
Make it easy on them, sometimes its hard not to mix knowledge. Occasionally when its something they really need to know or feel important let them make a knowledge roll and see if they hard a simmilar legend.
Its still not the same, not having the Secrets of the Kargatane site, but i see alot of the support we gave each other there still about...;)
Make a ghost that looks like a corporeal skeleton but disolves into mist when defeated. PCs'll be scratching their heads about it.
Keep PCs in the dark as long as possible about what they're facing. "Dog Headed men". Not werewolves, wolfweres or gnolls.
Play games with their heads. Have someone lie to them about the history of a realm (the vistani are especially good for this - despite their reputation for trickery IME they only show up to drop clues) or plot line. This bad information can contrast sharply with the cannon history should should seem at first possible on first inspection. If you really feel cruel give them several conflicting version sof this. Players will really tear their hair out trying to figure out if they've been had or you're tweaking your camapaign away from the "official" version.
-Eric Gorman
Originally posted by HvF
Play games with their heads. Have someone lie to them about the history of a realm (the vistani are especially good for this - despite their reputation for trickery IME they only show up to drop clues) or plot line. This bad information can contrast sharply with the cannon history should should seem at first possible on first inspection. If you really feel cruel give them several conflicting version sof this. Players will really tear their hair out trying to figure out if they've been had or you're tweaking your camapaign away from the "official" version.
-Eric Gorman
Actually, I do this all the time. It's not only about defeating OOC, it's just that I feel not everybody in the world knows the things the same way. In fact, most of them don't even know anything at all, so all they know is rumours, so everybody will tell them something different.
In my campaign, I have a haunted house with a ghost. I have given them about 10 different versions of what the people thought the ghost was: a mother that beat her child; a witch; a girl that starved; a girl that starved her mother; a girl that went insane... plus the fahter was: killed, ran away from her demonic wife, went astray in search of money, was killed in the way (they choose).
To be honest, the true story has been told to them, but they'll have to weave through everything they heard and decide who has more credibility to learn the truth.
Also, I had quite a feeling this weekend (last session) when they were trying to understand if a certain flower that came from Borca was poisonous and the murder weapon or not. And one of the PCs says loud and full of confidence: "It's not poisonous! Nostalia told me so!"
tsk, tsk.... why do they always believe everything they're told ?
Plus, the official info they've got (as common knowledge in their domain ) is that Ivana Boritsi is the best and most famous cook in Borca... now, now, I wonder if they'll ask her for a dinner, especially with one of the PCs knowing how to cook and being proud of it....
W.C.
For a start I'd put them in a domain they've never encountered before.
In my campaign, with maybe two or three players knowledgeable of Ravenloft's Core, I started them off scattered across the Continent. Plus, because they nearly ALL wanted to play elf characters, I formally started them off FAR from Sithicus (in Vallaki, Barovia)
