The Puzzle Problem Paridigm

[Skarg]

Whether it's a puzzle, combat, or other situation, I like the game to have a situation and I like it to be up to the players and how things happen during play to determine what happens, who figures out what, who dies, what gets attention and what gets ignored, etc.

I tend not to like anything that must happen, or at least not to pretend like it is part of the dynamic play if it really isn't.

If a puzzle really must be solved, then the Gumshoe approach works, but I'd rather the GM be able to play out whatever the players do or fail at and still have an interesting game happen based on whatever occurs.

Originally Posted by hcobb

How about the reverse where a PC has say the perfect spell to deal with a situation but the player doesn't get it. Would you roll against the PC's IQ to suggest back to the player what they're overlooking?

Usually not, but sometimes - it depends.

I estimate each player's grasp of the situation compared to their PC. If there's a glaring difference between what I think the character should probably realize, and what the player is or isn't having the character do/realize, then I sometimes roll IQ for the character to see if the character knows better or worse than the player.

The reverse applies for the IQ 8 character whose player comes up with the answer to some situation using their own high IQ/knowledge/experience.