You Don't Know What Metagaming Is
Header Image: Gamemastery Guide (2020) by Paizo Publishing / Wayne Reynolds
Recently, I’ve been noticing a (very small) trend of people seemingly not understanding what metagaming is. On a Reddit discussion, a Game Master thought that a new player learning about Attacks of Opportunity is ‘metagaming’ - but it isn’t. That’s just learning the rules of the game.
I’ve seen people on other forums claim that they don’t want their players to learn the game because then it’s metagaming. There was a post about long jumping and how knowing how far your character could jump was ‘metagaming’, or knowing how a spell worked was ‘metagaming’. I hate to break it to some of you Game Masters - none of that is metagaming. In fact, you are just setting your players up to fail with that type of attitude.
What is Metagaming?
Let’s go ahead and go over what metagaming actually is. It is the act of using the knowledge that a PLAYER has that a CHARACTER would not have.
I understand some people’s confusion when it comes to metagaming, a character doesn’t know that they are in a game - so they shouldn’t know the rules for jumping because the character doesn’t know that they exist within a game with rules on jumping. BUT, I’d point out that a character knows how far they can jump. I can prove that by the fact that I know I can high jump and long jump, even if I don’t know the exact measurements.
I know I can jump and hit a 7-foot ceiling with my extended hand. I know that I can jump across a puddle on the sidewalk that is about three feet wide. I didn’t measure any of that, I, as a real, living person, know what I can do because I have had experience in my life doing that.
Now let’s think about adventurers, especially athletic adventurers who do running, jumping, stretches, lunges, sword-fighting, etc. Do you think they have had to jump in the past? Why wouldn’t they know how far they can jump? In this situation, the one who doesn’t actually know how far their character can jump is the player… who has the rules to tell the PLAYER how far their CHARACTER can jump. The rules are not there to tell the CHARACTER how far they can jump, since they already have a pretty good idea since that is just a part of their life experience, but to tell the PLAYER how far their character can since the PLAYER does not have that life experience of jumping with a Strength score of 15 or 8 or 20 or whatever number it is in a fantastical universe with its own version of reality.
Examples of Metagaming
So we understand that metagaming is when a PLAYER uses their knowledge that a CHARACTER would not have. What do these types of situations look like?
A party of adventurers are faced with the task of destroying an undead creature that looks like the black inky darkness of shadow. If they have yet to see the creature themselves or make any knowledge checks, it might be OK to assume that they think they could be fighting a shadow. It would then be metagaming to automatically know that the shadow is resistant to acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder, and nonmagical attacks, as well as being immune to necrotic and poison damage. Or that a shadow has a weakness while in an area of sunlight. Or that the shadow reduces your Strength score by 1d4 every time it hits you.
Another example would be knowing that in the adventure Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (2018) on Jarlaxle’s ship in area J31 is a +1 dagger sticking in a dartboard.
That flesh golems, when your character has never fought one, is scared of fire.
That a tarrasque can be destroyed by a few hundred level 1 wizards casting acid splash on it.
That a rakshasa is immune to 6th-level and lower spells when your character hasn’t learned anything about them or fought them, or knows that they even exist if rakshasas are super rare and highly secretive.
Example of NOT Metagaming
Player knowledge and character knowledge don’t always take the same shape when it comes to the world. A player knows that a fireball spell deals 8d6 fire damage in a 20-foot radius, and a character knows that a fireball spell is very powerful and hits every creature in a large area that is roughly the size of a big room. But that doesn’t mean that the player is using metagaming knowledge when they roll 8d6 for the spell’s damage.
We know that metagaming is only PLAYER knowledge that a CHARACTER does not have. So what are some things that people claim are metagaming, but actually aren’t?
All creatures have an attack of opportunity, and it works (in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition) by leaving a creature’s reach.
That vampires are real creatures and you need a stake to kill them.
Trolls are weak to fire and it ends their regeneration for a short period.
Undead creatures are often weak to radiant/positive damage.
A fireball spell deals 8d6 damage (even though a character doesn’t understand the concept of ‘8d6’ they know it deals a lot of damage).
The fighter can jump a number of feet up to their Strength score if they move at least 10 feet immediately before jumping.
In many of the above examples, you might be confused why they aren’t metagaming, and it’s because of folk tales and stories and general public knowledge. Unless your entire setting is just a bunch of dumb farmers who never share stories about monsters, they are going to spread stories about classic monsters like vampires, trolls, and more. Everyone knows that a vampire is weak to sunlight… but that doesn’t mean they can defeat a vampire.
These stories would be shared heavily, especially in a world where these creatures are actually real, actually take victims, and are a very real threat to the world’s inhabitants. You don’t think that nobody is sharing the fact that trolls are weak to fire when a troll attacked a neighboring village a few months ago? Just because the villagers know to use fire, doesn’t mean that they are going to be able to hold off a troll attack.
How to avoid Metagaming
When you sit down to play a game, it is generally good form to remind yourself that you shouldn’t metagame. Though that isn’t always true, I have known of a few tables where Monster Manuals are open in front of all the players and it is about ‘defeating’ super hard dungeons, with little care for the more narrative ‘filler’ that other tables delight in so much.
How much ‘metagaming’ is allowed at a table is on a table-by-table basis. But generally, you want to only use the information that would be available in the game and your character. If you are unsure if you know something, don’t be afraid to ask the Game Master if stories about a monster would be prevalent or if you could roll to see what information you do know.
You could tell the Game Master you know Plot A and Room B about an adventure, and let them decide how they want to proceed. They may adjust the plot, change the room, ask you not to share that with anyone, or maybe tell you that your character learned such-and-such secret and so your character also has that information.
Play a new game system. My players know a ton about monsters in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition - and while the general information still works in Pathfinder Second Edition, a lot of the mechanics just don’t because they are separate game systems. I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but it is a fun way of having all of this game knowledge, and it doesn’t translate and is a way of experiencing monsters, like kobolds and goblins, all over again as new monsters where you don’t know everything about them.
Be a Game Master’s ally and just not say anything to the table, but try and help steer the rest of the table towards the plot. You have to be careful with this, and it is always best to first talk to your Game Master about your knowledge, but this can help keep the table focused and on task.
Play a character with a high intelligence and a lot of proficiencies in knowledge skills, and then roll those skills and stick to what the rolls represent. When you roll high, tell the Game Master what you do know, and then ask them what of that information your character would know. Though, I would tell the Game Master all your knowledge away from the table, so then the rest of the players are not spoiled with tons of information the player and character didn’t know before.
Just stay silent. You don’t have to tell everyone that a troll is weak to fire AND acid. If the rest of the table is jumping in on the ‘use fire’, then just use fire and ignore your knowledge about acid. You don’t have to act on every bit of metagaming knowledge that you have, instead, you let the table guide your knowledge and you remain silent on what you know.
Metagaming Isn’t That Bad
At the end of the day, I don’t think metagaming is all that bad compared to how some arguments on the internet go. I don’t care that my players know a red dragon is immune to fire, that a lich has a phylactery or soul cage, that a troll doesn’t like fire or acid, or that kobolds are just baby dragons that will one day grow up to bathe the world in fire and rule it with an iron claw. I simply justify this metagaming knowledge by them hearing about it throughout the world. Or I change things. Or I don’t change things and just let them have the win.
Ultimately, it’s a game and we are all at the table to have fun.
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