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"Also, if the ability bumps are just being gained as levels in a heroic class are also being attained then the character quickly becomes more powerful than other PCs who are more standard races in similar classes. LA is there to prevent this. Well... I can't really say for sure that you're...

It sounds to me like you've presented them all with a good amount of interesting plot hooks/threads. Just be patient and pay close attention to which players seem interested in which aspects so you can start to modify things towards their tastes. It may take a little while and some honing, but...

This whole debate reminds me a bit of the arguments related to multiclassing and spellcasters (for a specific example). People are complaining that a monster character with LA +X is weaker than characters who are of the same ECL. While that is technically true from a BAB, HD, and a few other...

Theoretically, the cleric in the party could cast calm emotions (I think) to put an end to the frenzy. However, he almost never has it prepared, and it's WAY more hilarious to have the giant fling a boat at the dwarf as he runs away.

Ha ha. Speaking of Frenzied Berserker, we've got a stone giant FB in the epic level party right now. Half of combat is him whaling on the monsters, then the other half is the party running away from him because he keeps failing the Will save to come out of his frenzy. The dwarf tends to fare poorly.

I'm still confused as to how spreading out the racial abilities over several levels is any different than a LA. Does the monster PC take levels in a racial class to gain these improvements, or do they just accrue as s/he gains levels in a heroic class? Either way the character ends up with the...

Really, it's entirely the GM's call. As the DM/GM in plenty of D&D as well as a little Star Wars d20 I'm likely to be flexible about Dark Side points and Force Power usage. For example, the Drain Energy skill in SWd20 description says that any use of the power earns a DS point for the user...

It's something the players who were involved in the incident continue to refer to, several years after it occurring. It was also basically me just improvising to react to the fact that the players had derailed the plot at this point. One of my finest moments. I think the fact that I had done a...

I personally prefer to design my worlds in the Adventurer Beware school of thought. While I love Oblivion, the fact that everywhere you go is theoretically scaled to your level kind of takes away from the suspense of the whole adventure. It may be a tough encounter for my level, but it's still...

Some of my personal favorite moments as the DM have been when I have to compensate for the players deciding to go completely in the opposite direction of the adventure I'd planned. In my early DM days, I did like to write my own adventures and map out dungeons with great detail, or I got some...

I usually had them come up with some sort of character concept first, but they could usually accomplish that with less than the total Power Points allocated, so they'd end up with some other crazy powers. Yes, we cut down the number of Power Points to compensate, but that robbed some of the...

While I do agree that there is a lot of responsibility on the DM's shoulders, I think it's absurd to blame the carpenter for being given flawed tools. I'm with Obryn on this.

To address the "characters in a vacuum" question: No, I have the players create characters at the same time, in the same room with me present and we still discover a seemingly balanced power combo turns into an unstoppable force. Also, sorry about not saying it was d20SAS from the get go...

For the most part it works pretty well. Occasionally it can cause headaches for the players since giants get to play keep-away with the fighters in the party, but it frequently makes the encounters with giants more giantish. To me, huge creatures need to seem HUGE. If they can only move 5'...

As DM in my own games for the last 15 years or so I like to allow lots of variety for my players to choose from, but I know when to say no (psions, anyone?). I agree that the DM is the one who should set limits, but even when doing that still allows for some crazy powerful PCs to pull off...

I think just about any system can be abused by players who are familiar with it, but SAS just presented these loopholes from the get go. Even when we restricted the number of ranks they could take in most attributes at first level we still had broken abilities. My other major gripe with the...

My only hold up with this method is that almost any Medium size Barbarian gets to make 10' steps at first level. Additionally, Medium monks will take huge 5' steps in not that many levels, though I suppose that could just be one of the added enticements of the class to some players who are...

So, when you say that a character who is a bugbear, or minotaur, starts at first level you give them the simplified stat blocks. As they advance in a heroic class they also gain the remainder of their racial abilities too? You realize all this has done is spread out the LA over about 8 levels...

While those may have been examples of Munchkinism on the part of players, I find that it is too easy to create such loopholes with the system and too difficult for the GM to referee all possible character concepts as they're created. You never know when a certain combo of powers is going to turn...

I guess this is really more what we've been doing. Larger creatures with higher movement rates can take relative 5' steps, but a Medium creature can usually only move 5' with a 5' step.