Character Direction and Meta-gaming

[Ravellion]

For me, verisimilitude comes in what prestige classes are allowed in the campaign, and how they fit into the world. No alienists or oozemasters in my current game, for instance (sorry, Crothian). Once these things are decided on, the players can go hog-wild.

I agree with you 100%. My campaign world has a list of available prestige classes for PCs. Nevertheless, I am afraid I have to hit you with a stick. Prestige class requirement you know.

Rav

 

[hong]

I agree with you 100%. My campaign world has a list of available prestige classes for PCs. Nevertheless, I am afraid I have to hit you with a stick. Prestige class requirement you know.

If you insist.

The least you could do, then, is go over to the Artwork forum and have a gander at my latest hexmap creation. A 128x128 hex, 30Mb BMP, converted to a 7.7Mb PSP, converted to a 1.4Mb JPG, and downsized to a mere 450K for quick and easy consumption. Don't say I never do anything for you.

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28601

 

[dead_radish]

Yeah - in a perfect world, pc's would choose their feats, and then if they happen to find a PrC that fits, they'd take it, if they could.

Realistically, the game is about players having fun. If the player really wants to play a duelist, don't screw them over and keep them from it. Help them along. They might change their path as they go, but let them try. Remember that the game is about players enjoying themselves overall.

 

[Umbran]

How do you strike a balance between character altering events and allowing the player to do what they wanted to. At what point does the verisimilitude of you campaign take precedence over the players vision of their character.

Hr. It isn't a case of verisimilitude of my campaign vs players vision of the character. The campaign doesn't belong solely to the DM, after all.

It's a case of versimilitude in the character itself. The player can state his "vision" of the character. But if that isn't reflected in the reality the character lives, there's a problem. You draw the line when what the player wants to do is not consistent with what he's actually been doing.

In a bare, simple example - I don't care how strong the player's "vision" of a sorcerer who becomes a holy warrior is. I don't care how much he wants the Smite Evil ability. If all he's been doing is casting ranged attack spells, and making trouble in the party, he's not taking levels of paladin. He has to wait - show that he's got an interest in melee, and a strong LG alignment before I'd allow it.

 

[Victim]

Well, I wouldn't worry about the interest in melee. A single class paladin is the champion of LG who fights evil with a sword. The good old paladin 1, Sorcerer X is a champion of LG who fights evil with spells.