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True. I suppose you could let them throw the ruby dust whenever they feel like it, and just say they're out the 1500gp if they don't cast Forcecage that same day. Personally, I doubt you'd find many people willing to actually do that, considering that throwing the dust at the time of casting...

If there's any better way to answer this thread's question, I have no idea what it might be. Nicely done! Don't bother making adjustments for this PC, other than being aware that he's probably going to try to avoid combat-based solutions to problems (in other words, you'd better be ready to...

...and a month from now, we'll all be happy to read your "Dealing with bloodthirsty characters" thread, in which you complain about how the PCs systematically hunt down and murder everyone who crosses them. I can't believe they accepted the surrender of those NPCs, tied them up, and then slit...

Absolutely. Let the NPCs reward politeness and kindness with the same, and not waste their time on rude jerks (not even to tell them to buzz off). Important NPCs make time to speak with the polite characters, while the arrogant ones have to cool their heels outside and never even get to see...

Absolutely. And there are a lot of other intangibles here, as well; if the head cleric outranks the divine champion (or the divine champion's player thinks the head cleric outranks him and no one tells him otherwise), he might very well assume that it's not his place to do anything other than...

I agree wholeheartedly. I honestly don't understand what the rest of y'all see in "mystery and surprise" as applied to things like the number of charges left in a wand. Especially when it's combined with a complaint about having to do the bookkeeping for it (or a complaint-free description of...

Two of us have been around for (yikes!) nearly 13 years now. We lost our other 12+ year veteran to a new job in another city. Another person's been playing with us for something like 8 years, and the last has been here for 3 or 4, I think. Right now we've settled down to 4 people (1 GM, 3...

Well, like you've pointed out, it's difficult to ignore the fact that the system is set up to encourage optimum use of buffing spells and to reward the use of overwhelming force. Especially since you and your group have years and years of D&D experience, where the lesson "Take 'em down fast and...

So why not abolish all XP awards for combat entirely? I'm serious about that. Switch to story awards. Let your players know that XP will be awarded for accomplishing things: if they figure out who the bad guys are, if they foil their opponents' schemes, if they perform heroic deeds which have...

I'm with you up until the "if nobody has the required skill, too bad." Because, honestly, I'm lazy. If nobody has the required skill, I don't bother throwing anything in that requires that skill, because I'm not making this stuff up for my own amusement: I'm making it up so that the players...

This deserves to be read over and over again, because it's absolutely correct. It's harder to think of ways to reward and encourage "good" behavior than it is to just forbid specific "bad" behavior, but believe me, it's worth trying. If you're sick of combat being an exercise in ruthless...

Hey, that's what I was going to say! Every PrC that has ever been taken in one of our games was first pitched to the GM ("I want to go into this prestige class in two more levels, look it over and tell me what you think"), and if it was okayed for use in the game then we all had some time to...

....should there be? No, seriously: is the game ruined if you don't refigure the weight of what you're carrying every time you eat some rations or burn a torch or pay for something? (All of which are, I will note, actions that reduce the weight you're carrying around and would only make you...

The nicest thing about the "Sneaky Powerful Servitor" idea is that when the party figures it out and trounces the bad guy, the demon either dies or gets away...unlike the "Petty Villain with a Powerful Tool" concept, where after trouncing the bad guy, the party might actually end up with that...

I was just about to post this, but obviously, I was beaten to it. D&D is a fun game, yes; but it's not the only fun game out there. If you guys are losing interest in playing yet another high (or low) fantasy RPG, play something else! Play a science fiction game, or a superhero game, or a...

...and if a good idea shows up, it stands a better than average chance of being allowed. But "tape three potions together and chug 'em at once" isn't a good idea. At best, it is simply a stupid idea. At worst, it is a lame attempt to get several tangible and unbalancing benefits (reduced...

I, as the GM, say "What, are you TRYING to be a jerk?" ;) If they insisted that this is what they are going to do (never mind where they found tape in the campaign setting...), then maybe I tell them that the shape of the vials makes it hard to get the necks close enough together for...

You seem to have missed the obvious option: 8) Drinking a potion is a standard action, so a character simply can't drink three potions simultaneously. Each round the character may choose which potion he is drinking (or choose randomly if he's just uncapping and drinking whatever comes to...

I like Quasqueton's point about backgrounds that are far too elaborate for 1st level characters; in fact, I was all psyched to post it myself, but he beat me to it. ;) One of our problem players, now thankfully no longer gaming with us, used to do that, as well as the other "bad background"...

Well, they could kill the average adventurer, wizard, or Stellar Patrol Ensign Seventh Class in one turn. Pretty tough, I'd say. But a fully kitted-out high-leveled Peasant in Beyond Zork could take three of 'em down in about 9-10 hits, so apparently if the parser allows for fighting and...