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If a character puts themselves between a charging boss and another character even if there is a chance that the boss’ attack will kill them, it negates their awesome moment if the DM changes the die roll so they survive regardless.

I would say “it’s different”. Throw a single solo against a party. That combat will probably be (I) faster than a throw-away combat in 5e; and (ii) feel more impactful for the resources it expends. It also isn’t necessary to throw a bunch of combats against the party to expend their resources...

It seems that a lot of people agree with @hawkeyefan because the game is changing in ways he prefers, if probably too slowly for his taste. Fail forward was in the 2014 and 2024 DMG, the 2024 emphasizes collaboration between DM and players rather than DM Fiat, and the DMG sections are no longer...

The example this discussion refers to was provided by @Maxperson : it was a player who declared that their character picked their nose and the DM declared that the action did not happen. To be fair, @Maxperson did specify that this was an example of bad DMing, but his position, as I understand...

Much like the rumours of the full Orcs removal from the MM. I received my MM after that discussion and was surprised to note at least 4 orcs in the MM.

Ironically, while your comment is certainly true for ENP, the larger the company, the less true it is in practice. In a publicly-owned company, do the shareholders make the decisions for the company? Not really, the management does. Well, do the shareholders select the management? Again, not...

This is broadly my perspective as well, with the caveat that the first category is the precisely the category that benefits from written rules and clear GM advice and best practices. Plus, your specific example pretty much describes the best case scenario for giving advice: the giver has 20+...

Fair enough. I disagree, but I see your point. I think focussing solely on bad DMs makes it too easy to conflate people who are actively disruptive from people who aren’t intentionally making their game unfun. In other words, it’s pretty easy to say “well, they are a bad DM, so any attempts...

Yes, I often play football without a referee and it goes perfectly well. They are called pickup games, and the experience more closely resembles a game of D&D than 11 on a side with a referee and the offside rule.

It wasn’t an objection. It was a clarification that you and @Maxperson were agreeing with my earlier comment:

I think that framing the question in that manner is inherently adopting a “trad” framing of the question. Can the group of players (including the DM) agree that they want the DM to have broad powers in running the campaign? Absolutely! Can the group of players (including the DM) go a step...

Isn’t this just 1 thing? Isn’t a GM abusing the power and authority granted to him by the players ipso facto violating the social contract?

One DM has a lot more power to make a game unpleasant than one player. Specific example, across several groups, I have players that cannot seem to retain how to play the game or how their character works. Slightly annoying, but they are friends and good people, and they come into their own on...

The examples you are drawing from: fantasy drafts and certain board games, are inherently competitive: if I choose Brett Favre, no one else can. I don’t think an auction makes sense in an inherently cooperative game. Why would players bid against each other? Let’s take the example of two...

I disagree and I think you are conflating two separate elements. 5e (softly) encourages only rolling where there are stakes involved. But I think that generally, there is no equivalent in 5e to Experiences: this is something specific to my character that they are unquestionably good at. The...

Players, both good and mediocre, are pretty definitively restrained by both the written rules of D&D and the DM’s power within the game. They are of course, also bound by the social contract. Some posters seem to be arguing that the DM should only be bound by the social contract, despite the...

I’m not sure I agree with this. I think in a single 5e combat turn, you may be rolling more than once, while in DH you are pretty much limited to one roll. For instance, knowledge checks, stealth checks for rogues, multi-attacks on martial classes, etc.

I think this really emphasizes how important it is for GMs to spend Fear on actions that aren’t spotlighting an adversary or using adversary Fear moves (both in and out of combat). I have to admit that this is something I struggle with as well.

From the DM side, I like that Fear gives you a resource for which you have control over its use. If the PCs are rolling badly, you can “bank” it for the next combat.

Here’s a classic - a two-foot short sword injuring an 80-foot red dragon.