If you’ve played any tabletop roleplaying game for any extended period of time, you’ve likely experienced a scenario similar to the following:
The player characters are exploring a ruin when they come across a locked chest in an empty room. Lacking anyone with skill in picking locks, the group’s resident hulking warrior says, “I chuck it against the wall to smash it open!”
The GM the asks, “Are you sure?”
Or perhaps the situation looked like this:
The group is talking to a high-ranking nobleman when the rogue decides they’re going to try to slip some fancy-looking statuary into their pocket while in plain view.
Quoth the GM: “Are you sure?”
Or perhaps someone insults the noble to his face.
Maybe someone instigates violence in a situation where violence would be ill advised.
Sometimes it’s something as innocuous as stepping into an empty room. Everything is quiet. Too quiet.
Player: “I walk in.”
GM: “Are you sure?”
Why do game masters do this?
Communicating Fairness
The thing is, I’ve often seen the dreaded question “Are you sure?” being referred to as something terrifying GMs do just to mess with their players’ heads. Thing is, I suspect the real motive is actually the opposite.
We’re not trying to mess with you. We just want to make sure that you’re aware that whatever happens next is the result of actions you decided to take of your own free will and choice. It’s an attempt to reinforce the concept that this game is fair.
That, and maybe it’s an attempt to warn you not to do that thing, especially if that thing is very clearly stupid.
We know what will happen if you toss that chest against the wall or attack the noble or walk into that room, and we don’t want your character to die. And if they do die, we want to make it absolutely clear that it was your decision that got them there.
GM Instinct
The really funny part is I’m not sure if anyone has ever suggested that GMs should do this as a tactic. I know that in my experience, I just started doing so out of instinct. In the midst of running RPGs for my friends, I’d plan for my players to encounter dangerous situations because that’s what happens in these games. I didn’t want them to die or get upset though. So before they did something either dangerous or stupid (or both), I’d ask, “Are you sure?” just to make sure they were aware it was something they were consciously deciding to do.
No one told me to do this. I’d never heard of anyone else using this tactic before (as far as I remember). I just started doing it, and it turns out that a lot of other game masters do the same, if a quick gander through the interwebs is to be believed.
Weaponizing “Are you sure?”
Of course, many of these GMs realize what they’re doing and decide to weaponize it. A situation could well be perfectly harmless, but interjecting an “Are you sure?” can get players to suddenly question everything they’re doing, especially if they’re already aware that the question is usually an indicator that danger is ahead.
It may be an attempt to reinforce a sort of “poker face” at the table, where the GM wants to keep their motives/plans as inscrutable as possible. However, I’m not sure if that’s necessarily the best way to go about it.
Could be fun if used well, though.
A Better Way (Maybe)
There’s a better tactic that I’d like to suggest. It’s actually not my idea. Rather, it comes from Professor Dungeon Master of the YouTube channel Dungeon Craft (specifically this video at around the 9-minute mark) as well as various people in the Facebook group run by the same. Specifically, you just repeat what the player wants to do back to them, possibly pointing out details that they might not have initially considered (or which you forgot to include). Here are some fun examples:
“So let me get this straight, you want to shatter this box against the wall without any idea of what might hear you in the next room down?”
“So you want to try to slip some valuables into your pocket while this nobleman is looking straight at you?”
“Pause for a second. You mean to tell me you’re going to fight several fish men and their leader by yourself on top of this tower while the bulk of your party is down on the shoreline unable to participate?”
“Okay, so you’re just going to waltz into this room? Just like the last one? The one with the ambush?”
Granted, this is best reserved for when players say they’re going to do something decidedly less than clever. As such, the last example would likely only serve to increase paranoia at your table (which could be its own fun, of course).
It’s also a good method for those who haven’t yet been initiated into what the question “Are you sure?” actually means.
Do You Do This?
If you’re a game master (or DM, referee, loremaster, rabble rouser, or whatever your game of choice calls you), do you use the “Are you sure?” tactic? If so, when and why did you start doing so? I’m curious to see how many people just started doing this out of the blue like I apparently did.
The Astral Wanderer is brought to you by the terror inspired by a simple question spoken out into the void. Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or share this with your gamer friends. All proceeds go toward specialized surveillance equipment for scouting out rooms that are far too quiet. Really.