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Certainly. And two points about this: 1) Presenting 2-3 options makes the players feel like they have some say; 2) Throwing out the hooks and getting the PCs to decide "where do we go next" at the END of a session gives the DM time to prepare. Neither of the above is always possible, but they...

In that sort of situation, where the players go along with whatever adventure the DM has in mind and are not actively choosing to take risks, then I'd agree with you that no-warning death-traps are unfair.

Yes, I exaggerated it a bit to illustrate the concept. I don't imagine that you would LITERALLY have a choice between "bugbear tribe" and "lich-lord," although bugbears vs giants or giants vs lich could well be an option. But if the DM says "Okay, you've found a map to the long-lost tomb of...

You seem to be under the impression that I'd be telling my players what adventure we'd be running. Really, they tell me. Adventures should be things the PCs want to do, not things the DM wants the PCs to do. It's been very hard running this free-form a campaign, and my players who are used to...

Really, it's not. I was trying to convey the sense of an old-school dungeon delve. I prefer more heroism-driven games myself. But even then, if you are going to invade the lich's lair because he's researching the spell "Apocalypse from the Sky"... well, you're willing to die a hero. You're...

The PCs in the example above certainly had a chance to avoid the Symbol of Death -- but they CHOSE to enter a lich-lord's lair. They made the decision to accept a gamble of high risk for high reward. Suppose the players know they have their choice of adventures: The local bugbear tribe has...

Try Basic/Expert. Gauntlets of Ogre Power give you a flat 18 Str (+3 to hit/damage) no matter what you had before. Girdle of Giant Strength gives you the to-hit rolls of a hill giant (THACO 12, better than Ftr12 but not as good as Ftr13) and lets you do a flat 2d8 damage per hit. No spells or...

I'm skeptical. It will take a MAJOR overhaul in the fundamental game design principles of what magic items are and how they work to prevent an arms race. Occurring to some extent in 1E, but really picking up steam in mid-2E, you had TSR selling products to the players. Not just to the DMs...

The problem is the arms race aspect of the game. If a fighter has a better Will save progression, such that he has a 60% chance of making his Will save against an effect he's likely to face at his level, players will seek to boost that to 90%. If there is any magical way to increase it...

In my game, I ended up giving out items or inherent bonuses that were identical to magic items in order to avoid the delays caused by recalculating statistics. The barbarian would ALWAYS demand that PCs or cohorts cast Bull's Strength on him before every fight... so eventually I gave him a Belt...

And this is why I might have been happier had I grown to love any game OTHER than the market giant. If I liked Rolemaster, I could reasonably expect a chart-happy game for years to come, and if I liked Amber, I could reasonably expect a diceless game for years to come. If I liked White Wolf...

While I agree with you here, I do perceive one way in which "per-encounter" abilities could be made more "strategic," and that's if battles are more dynamic. You start fighting the goblin guards, they take cover and start shooting, you throw your once-per-encounter Fireball spell... and *then*...

That doesn't seem to track with the "80%" figure given. Why does that bother you? To me, there is a HUGE difference between saying "playing a fantasy RPG" and "playing D&D." D&D is not all fantasy RPG systems, it is one particular group of systems sharing some common features. Because the...

It's not that it will make everyone identical... it's that some will see being "forced" to take skills they don't want as unfair or limiting. It may just be my group of players. One wanted a cleric who was entirely noncombatant for an earlier campaign. Even a wizard BAB was too much for her...

Right, but ability scores are only part of it. Class selection is part of it -- choose a bard and you're likely good in social encounters, choose a rogue and you're good at lots of non-combat stuff, choose a fighter and at least you have the athletics skills. Feat selection is part of it...

I'll also add that there are some non-combat challenges where I've seen fighters excel -- travel obstacles involving Climb, Jump, or Swim are not uncommon in the games I've played in and run. As to siloing... I can hear the complaints already from the "customization" players in my group. "Why...

The point of DR is generally that it's a defense. It's not meant to be ignored every time, so it's not expected that a fighter will have one of each or that you'll know every time what you need. If you don't have the right weapon, most monsters should be very tough but not impossible. If you...

I think it'd be extraordinarily difficult. With "character customization," the main thing I hear players in my group clamoring for, you can choose to make a character who's good at one aspect of the game at the price of being less good at other aspects. I don't see how you can reconcile the...

We've had a quote from one of the designers that, once a spellcaster has used up his daily spells, he's still at about 80% effectiveness. But that's just the thing. I want to play a low-level wizard who goes into the depths of Ptolus (or the Caves of Chaos, or whatever) with seriously limited...

I really liked the implementation of late 3.5. For those that didn't like the resource management aspect and felt that "being wizardly" meant having a magical option always at hand, there were several good options. The reserve feats, the warlock class (even for just a one-level dip), and...