Interesting thread....and yeppers, I'm the one that popped off in the other thread about some "newer" DMs having either a hard time making stuff up or they just expect it to be done for them.
This comes from watching posts on messageboards (here, WotC's boards esp, and several others), talking to peeps at conventions, etc.
It just seems to me that as of late, DMs have a hard time coming up with stuff not covered by the rules or coming up with stuff on the fly or changing existing stuff to fit their needs. Doesnt make them a bad DM overall or anything, but whenever something like that comes up, it makes me think back to the day (1e/OD&D). If it wasnt in the rules, we just winged it. If it didnt fit our campaign or if we didnt like it, we changed it.
For example, I've seen posts in the past where guys wouldnt allow or felt, as DM, that they couldnt do something in their game because it wasnt covered in the rules. Like, when 3e first came out, and there were no rules in the books for underwater combat and stuff.
"Well, we can't have any underwater games at all, and my whole campaign in 2e was based there. WotC ruined my game with 3e."
Ok, a bit extreme perhaps, but I have talked to peeps that felt like that and I have read posts like that (maybe not that extreme mind you, but you get my point).
My response..."No, your game is fine. Make the rules up for yourself."
Another example, people yelled and screamed about how worthless the new Deities & Demigods book was when it came out, because they didnt use the stuff from the ELH. Whether they shouldve or shouldnt have used ELH stuff in DDG is another story, but what's to keep a DM from using the ELH himself to alter the gods to his liking?
And yet another example....
When Tome 1 first came out, a lot of peeps sent me email asking why we didnt get permission from WotC to use the BoVD feats and stuff like that in there for the demons and devils. Well, it actually didnt really cross my mind at the time and Tome was at the printer, IIRC, when the BoVD came out. Either that or something similar. Dont remember honestly, but using the BoVD, or getting permission to see it, etc. just didnt cross my mind.
Some peeps actually said in email to me that the demons and devils in Tome 1 couldn't be used because we didnt use the BoVD stuff (nevermind that its not OGC and would require a separate license).
Honestly now, if you want to use BoVD stuff with the Tome demons and devils, how hard is it to interchange a feat here and there?
Last one promise....I've seen a couple of posts here and there about how this monster or that adventure or whatever is outta balance, broken, useless, etc. Perhaps it's true, but that doesnt mean that you can't change it to suit your needs.
(This might be the longest post I've done on ENWorld in a long time....
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