(Any) Uh oh, SRS BSNS ahead!

[Deth Muncher]

So, what I want to know is what have you done/has happened to you to that indicates to you, in the story, that serious business is at hand.

For example, to use a videogaming example, take Left 4 Dead. Whenever SRS BSNS is about to happen, you get random plot-music that plays at you, warning you. In D&D terms, this might equate to:

PC: Right, so that's the last kobold, then. But why were there so many? What were they here for?
DM: You suddenly feel the air grow very hot.
PC: Oh crap.

[Volos]

PC: Finally, that's the last winter wolf. But what were they doing so close to this cursed mountian?
DM: You suddenly hear a low rumbling and feel the snow under your feet start to shift.
PC: Oh crap.

(My players have learned to become very paranoid of snow based dangers, Avalanches especially.)

[PairO'Dice Lost]

In my last two campaigns, I optimized several caster NPCs for abilities which let them increase casting time for greater effect (maximized empowered electricity-admixed born-of-the-three-thunders channeled sonic blast from a 4th-level slot, anyone?) or cast in group sequences with readied actions for greater effect, all signaled by "he/she begins chanting." After getting burned several times (sometimes literally), the PCs' fourth run-in with a chanter looked like this:

DM: ...and with a roar of pain, the dragon goes limp and falls, dwindling out of sight below you.
Cleric: All right, good job guys. Who's left, again?
DM: On the disk across from you are the three guys in green robes with holy symbols, and to the left are the eight black-armored creatures and the red-robed woman behind them.
Wizard: Okay, three priests, eight more friggin' devils, and an arcane caster. I say we take out the devils first, they've been giving us issues; the rest are probably support, we can leave them for later.
Sorcerer: Agreed. Just say the word....
Cleric: Who's up next?
DM: The lady in red.
Cleric: Good. Rogue, Barbarian, you guys get ready to flank...
DM: Let's see, the lady in red, ah...begins chanting. Next?
Cleric: ...and as soon as y--whaaa? :smalleek:
PCs: GANK THE MAGE!

---------------------------------------------

Another sign I've used is the results from detect X spells, the more colorful the worse for the PCs. From when the PCs were going after the insane necromancer/grafter BBEG when they thought he was a minor villain:

Paladin: How do we know which way to go?
Bard: I have detect thoughts up; I'll crack open the doors, see if I sense anything.
*DM passes Bard the following note*
Behind the second door, in your mind, you hear the most foul, depraved utterances in any and every language known to mortal or fiend. The acts this mind is contemplating would make a solar run away and puke its guts out.
Bard: ...and that's its surface thoughts!?
DM: Yep. :smallbiggrin:
Paladin: What is it? What is it? I detect evil!
DM: The rest of you see the paladin narrow his eyes, jerk back a bit, wobble, and topple to the floor, assuming the fetal position.
Wizard: Sooooo...all in favor of retreat?

[Optimystik]

PC: Finally, that's the last winter wolf. But what were they doing so close to this cursed mountian?
DM: You suddenly hear a low rumbling and feel the snow under your feet start to shift.
PC: Oh crap.

That's no mountain! (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/abomination.htm#xixecal)

[Swordgleam]

I guess I don't have any specific signal. But I think my players can tell when stuff starts happening that doesn't make too much sense in the rules - people glow, that kind of thing. That lets them know that whatever's going down is very plot-related.

[Reverent-One]

In one game a DM friend of mine ran, there was a hint or two we could use to tell something was coming...

DM: You all enter a clearing.
PC's: Everyone, get ready! Something's going to happen.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

DM: In the room are six skeletons...
PCs: Whew... easy breather room...
DM: With red glowing eyes.
PC Meatshield: I SLAM THE DOOR SHUT QUICKLY!!!
PC Caster: I cast Wizard Lock on the door!
PC Cleric: I cast Chain Invisibility from Undead!
All PCs: Whew... that should hold 'em a round or two. Now, how are we going to buff up to deal with this nasty encounter...

Yea... in my games, when it has Red Glowing Eyes... that's a sure sign that the encounter is at least +2 CR higher than the party.

[Zaq]

In the campaign I'm currently playing in, if it's obviously hostile but is willing to talk with you a little bit instead of lunging for your throat, that's a good time to start worrying. It's not universal, but... yeah.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Roll a spot check.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

In the campaign I'm currently playing in, if it's obviously hostile but is willing to talk with you a little bit instead of lunging for your throat, that's a good time to start worrying. It's not universal, but... yeah.

You know, it has occurred to me that in the second- and third-to-last campaigns I've run, the secondary BBEGs have both invited the PCs to a nice dinner and chat ("Terribly sorry, but I have to kill you" in the one case and "Let's at least try to write up a treaty before I turn you into undead, k?" in the other) and ended up not getting killed immediately because the PCs figured a nice guy willing to talk was probably going to defect or something. I'd better mix it up a bit in the next one ("I've called you all here to offer you my surrender!") so they don't start stabbing someone as soon as tea is served....


Roll a spot check.

Heh. I don't find that sadistic enough, so I usually go for "By the way, what's your AC? Oh. Ohhhh, dear...hmm? Oh, no, nothing, don't worry; you were saying?" or occasionally "You see nothing. Perfectly empty hallway. No sounds, no breeze, nothing at all out of the ordinary. Absolutely normal."

[ShneekeyTheLost]

You know, it has occurred to me that in the second- and third-to-last campaigns I've run, the secondary BBEGs have both invited the PCs to a nice dinner and chat ("Terribly sorry, but I have to kill you" in the one case and "Let's at least try to write up a treaty before I turn you into undead, k?" in the other) and ended up not getting killed immediately because the PCs figured a nice guy willing to talk was probably going to defect or something. I'd better mix it up a bit in the next one ("I've called you all here to offer you my surrender!") so they don't start stabbing someone as soon as tea is served....No sounds, no breeze, nothing at all out of the ordinary. Absolutely normal."

Sounds a bit like Emperor Ghestal to me...

[Swordgleam]

Roll a spot check.

The worst question you can ever hear your DM ask is, "Are you wearing a helmet?" Followed closely by, "Hey, how much HP do you have left?"

[Grushvak]

For example, to use a videogaming example, take Left 4 Dead. Whenever SRS BSNS is about to happen, you get random plot-music that plays at you, warning you. In D&D terms, this might equate to:

You know, I'd just use that. I always have my laptop next to the gaming table, so I'd start the boomer music or horde fiddle whenever serious business mode is activated.

And the other players wouldn't even understand. :(

[dsmiles]

I DM DnD, and I don't give warnings.

I could pass a note, but it may say, "Blah, blah, blah, impending doom, blah, blah, blah." Or it might say, "Hi! How are ya'?"

I also roll random dice behind my screen, when the players ask, "What was that for?" I usually respond with, "You'll see," or "What was what for?"

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

[Ormagoden]

DS I do that sometimes too!

I like to roll the dice for no reason. Pick a player and then squint saying nothing. It generally makes everyone uncomfortable lol!

Key signs at the tables I play at are the following:

-Pulling out the dry erase marker.
-Pulling out miniatures.
-Getting the special PC killer dice.
-PC "Ok I roll a spot check. Yes! 22! what do I see?" DM "As far as you know, nothing."
-DM (me) "Can everyone tell me their AC before we begin today? and can I have three initiative rolls please."
-DM "As you walk through the dark corridor you almost loose your footing on the slick copper smelling substance that covers the floor."
-Any NPC "Uh...you go on ahead. I have a bad feeling about that ____"

[Sipex]

I think the word "Suddenly" does it for my team.

[Ormur]

We were trying to contact a rogue druid that might know something about the epic omnicidal BBEG dragon and we finally managed to scry his location with help from the artifact of doom so we gathered all the druids that were high level enough to tree-stride to his mountain.

Party: We teleport right ahead of the druid covenant to the mountain.
DM: (Throws a die) You stand in the slope, on top of the mountain there's a huge storm cloud and you see no evidence of the druids.
Party: They must be on the other side.
DM: Suddenly you hear a loud bang and you see a Colossal black dragon flying away from the other side of the mountain.

[Rasman]

we always know our DM is up to something when he says one of two thing

"Are you sure?" = If you do that, you are probably going to die or really bone everyone.

"You know you could...if you WANT to" = Plot device ahead. At least we know that the wizard is carrying around a bag of devouring now...

[Seatbelt]

My group is a bit more "by the numbers" so when I introduce a baddy they're usually not intimidated. I tend to scare them by telling an attack roll.

DM: I power attack for full. I rolled a 34. Whats your AC?
Player: Lower than 34
DM: alright then

Also the phrase "Make a will save" is generally feared in my groups. It's usually not a save they're going to be able to make, and it will probably not end well for them.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Three I just used in my last session:

DM: Warblade, what's your AC?
Warblade: 38.
DM: ...38?
Warblade: Um, yes...
DM: :smallsigh: ...oookay, then. *rolls dice, muttering* Not a 1. Not a 1. Not a 1. Not a 1. Dammit. Not a 1. Not a 1.
PCs: :smalleek:

----------------------------

DM: ...and as the last one falls, you see a lot of constructs marching over the hills.
Wizard: How many?
DM: ...a lot?
Warblade: No, number-wise how many? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?
DM: Let me put it this way. *starts playing Droid Invasion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzzqKGVDb20)*
Cleric: Ah. That kind of lots.
Wizard: *in Admiral Ackbar voice* Our mage armor can't repel firepower of that magnitude!
DM: No, no it can't. :smallamused:
Warblade: ...we're doomed.

----------------------------

Cleric: I move closer to the gate. What do I see?
DM: As far as you can see, there are only two guards. They don't look all that attentive.
Warblade: Hmm. You guys think they have reinforcements or invisible buddies or something? I mean, just two guards?
Cleric: Nah, they just didn't guard it well 'cause it's out of the way and they didn't know anyone was coming. We'll barely even need to break out the dice for this one.
DM: Right. Um. Er, Wizard? Would you mind grabbing your whiteboard?
Cleric: ...
DM: The big one? And the new box of markers?

For that last one, there wasn't anything more than two guards; I just hadn't mapped or statted out that side of the fortress. Paranoia saves the day again. :smallbiggrin:

[Tyndmyr]

I don't believe in giving them clues.

They should be scared all the time.

[oxybe]

ours doesn't give any obvious hints if it's going to actually be hard or not.

there was quite some buildup against a few enemies recently:
"the colossal wyrm comes roaring out of the magma as it flies towards you at great speeds"
"Orcus laughs as he teleports your ally into an arena where onyx skinned giant is waiting, souls circling around it screaming in pain. the rest of you are at the demon lord's feet by ringside"

you get the point. problem is that wyrm wasn't a "real" dragon, just a big-ass drake (a melee bruiser) and it went down to the fighter & ranger before the rest of us could bother to get to it (though it did the "tordek in dragon's mouth" scene quite well since "get eaten then hack the inside to bits" is one of the dwarf's fave "strategies"). the giant was full-attacked to death in one round.

the only thing we really worry about is if it starts casting a spell. melee enemies either get their strength dropped to 1 thanks to our wizard's metamagic shenanigans or just beaten to a pulp by our own melee squad (the dwarven armored assault tank, the minmax'd combat cleric & the dragon[we're pre-epic, almost level 20])

the last caster we fought though? hard as f***. never mind it was a friggin CR 20+ true dragon, but it's antimagic really caused us a problem. it survived the first round then 'ported away in it's lair to buff itself. thankfully the wizard had a wall of force readied in case the dragon charged/breathed so when the big 'ol dragon charged the party... BAM! muzzle first into a wall of force. it was actually kinda funny, except when our melee guys were getting ClawClawWingWingTailBite'd for near lethal.

unfortunately, our wizard barred Abjuration so he had no way to drop the field. we ended up dropping the cave on it repeatedly for lethal damage (the GM admitted that didn't know if the dragon wanted to drop the anti-magic and face a barrage of spells from our casters or have the dragon keep it's normal attack pace).

so yeah: castery types = OMGWTFROFFLECOPTERBBQ SRS BSNS, non-casters = meh.

my warlock's first actions in a combat is almost always "ready a maximized hellfire eldrich spear to interrupt the first enemy casting, concentration DC 106 (10+damage) or lose your spell" followed by a private (party only) telepathic command of "GET THAT CASTER!".