The Best GM
PC: "i determine a number by adding together two numbers. the latter of these numbers is obtained by a mutually agreed method of obtaining a semi-random number between 1 and 20 inclusive"
GM: "the result does not equal or exceed a certain pre-determined quantity. the numerical difference between the integers was not greater than an arbitrary number. i deem it acceptable to give you a small quantity of information."
PC: "this judgement is acceptable to me"
GM: "indeed. let us continue with our merriment"
The Worst GM
PC: "I check the walls for traps!"
GM: "The walls all seem perfectly normal. Too normal."
PC: "I'm not sure i understand the consequence of "too normal walls"? Too quiet in a forest means there aren't any animals around, meaning something scared them. Too quiet in a town means everyone is away/dead/hiding in ambush. Walls can't be "too normal". Either there are traps or there are no traps. saying the wall is normal, too normal doesn't tell you as much as "the woods are quiet, too quiet". too normal walls means you're expecting traps and that there aren't any, too quiet means you're expecting noise and there's none. I mean, "The walls are normal, too normal" shouldn't mean "The walls are hiding traps". Anyway, unless the DM answers the resulting "Too normal how?" question accurately (As in, answers them to explain why the walls look too normal to the character), "too normal" walls doesn't really tell you anything since it could be construed to mean anything from no traps to traps. his sword is harmless, too harmless. Is this a good sword or a bad sword to use? Hell, think about this. "This sword is deadly... too deadly." This could easily mean that the sword is dangerous, more so than a normal sword, and to the point where it is harmful to above and beyond the "normal" deadliness. Therefore, this could be a sword that hurts the user or perhaps his friends or, perhaps, thirsts for blood. It could mean a lot of things, all bad. "This wall is normal... too normal" can mean some things, it can mean there are no traps where traps are usually found, it can mean they have been recently built or repaired. The problem is, most of these scenarios are probably easier to discover than the cryptic "too normal". If you find that the wall is recently built, it's not "too normal", because a recently built wall in an old castle is not normal at all. If the wall has no discernable traps when there usually are expected to be traps, it's merely "normal, as far as you can see". If it's "too normal", it's not fucking normal at all, by any stretch of the word. "too normal" is an oxymoron. Look, "the walls are too normal" is a fucking oxymoron and doesn't tell you anything. The only kind of DM who would use it (that is, just tell you that and not elaborate, as in the situation that was presented) is the kind that would pull the "Well, you said you looked at the water, not that you looked for piranhas." thing. Walls being too normal is nothing like the woods being too quiet. Walls that are "too normal" are either normal or not normal. They can't be "too normal" because it's not normal for something to be "too normal"."
