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Generally speaking, no. But abandoning a friend is a good reason to ask "Is this guy really LG? NG? LN? N?" Actions speak louder than words. Alignment is not a merit badge. It is a description that should be reasonably predictive of behavior under stress. However, given that Roy...

It took me a while to parse out whether the epic fights you were referring to were in game or out of game. ;)

The moment you have more than one modifier for your to hit roll or your AC, it is a mathematical calculation for which THAC0 is a big step forward. In the days of Chainmail or OD&D a chart may have been good enough, but that approach was obviously silly when it came to AD&D. A monster with a...

A glance at the most ignored table in 1e, the to hit modifiers per weapon by armor class table in the PHB, strongly suggests you are correct. If you have few or no AC mods, this table works. A dragon with an AC 2 is "just like" a knight in platemail and shield when it comes to trying to hit...

That is certainly a legitimate reason to want to change or remove some skill rules. As you said, this is not a power issue per se. On one hand the DM may not like how certain rules as written play out. On the other hand, letting the rules enforce "how dumb is this low Int fighter" can also be...

Preferably, no. As I would expect a "good player" to amend behavior from time to time to help other players at the table to have an enjoyable game session, I would hope that all players recognize that the "the player behind the DM screen" should have a good time as well and be willing to act...

I would not go so far as to say that fudging thing against or for the PCs is cheating. Even in campaigns where I have seen some DM vs. player friction, I do suspect more fudging was done to save PCs from pathetic random deaths than to benefit any NPCs. But I can say it is a real SOD killer...

On your last point, I can say that my personal experience is very different. I certainly do not see such issues "often". Can you give me an example or two? If the DM by personality has a tendency to say No when in doubt, then light rules mean almost all Noes, while skill rules mean that the...

I would not be surprised. Which is why generalizations that are useful to someone else are so difficult to make, including whether the DM has less "power" in 3e in any meaningful sense of the word, and whether this is a good thing or a bad thing or both. I am very very far from the only one...

It is all very good to say that a DM can make very fast off the cuff rulings based on the situation and character background through the magic of DM Fiat. That works great in theory. In practice, I see that even good DMs tend to get roll happy when faced with novel tactics and no rules to...

Corner cases around skills are not very good examples. There are many different ways to handle, say, the Search skill. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. And I have certainly seen plenty of examples of even well-meaning DMs hanging themselves with that beloved Rope of Freedom. Both...

I have a model that might work for you. Think about magic items in terms of Tiers and do not dwell on the gp amount. Tier 1 magic items are something like a +2 sword or rough equivalent in value. These are desirable items in the range of 5000-10000 gp. There are no +1 swords or +1 shields or...

There certainly are hints that 3rd level was originally thought of as high level, and 5th as really high level. Surely this could work if your typical veteran soldier or knight is modeled as a d8 BAB +1 puke with no stat bonuses worth mentioning. All the run-of-the-mill mooks are generally d6...

Sounds yummy. Raw with a chianti, perhaps?

I checked both: * I like shapechangers with animal, hybrid, & fully manlike forms (like in Oriental Adventures). * I don't like any "furry" races. I generally dislike races that are humanoids in furry suits. I have a great fondness for old style fey-like beings.

I generally agree. God-like beings roaming the world is not necessarily a problem if there are long quiescent periods or eras when the footpaths of the gods are reasonably predictable. The PCs just need enough elbow room to feel heroic and stretch their imaginations without feeling quashed by...

I agree. I would consider buying any module that was really well designed and written. Even written for a system I was not intending to run would not necessarily be a deterrent.

I would call a sword like that a True Bane weapon -- a device so potent when wielded by a competent warrior that all members of a certain species should simply flee before it. For one hundred generations, hellhounds mums will tell their pups to behave, eat all the eyeballs so they can grow...

Here you go... http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/cleric.htm

No, I do not profess any such understanding. But the PHB does.