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D&D is full of them. Once you get past low level lots of foes have powerful attacks and abilities. 5E super nerfed most of them, but they are still there. A lot of BGM just don't use them or even use the monsters that have them. Or have powerful spellcasters attacking with only low level...

The Undermountian books from 2E had this sort of thing as Ed does like "crazy random dungeons". And it has a lot of his old Dragon Magazine articles put into it. Like his long ago article "dungeon doors of the Realms". The Ruins of Myth Drannor has some too.

No they don't. There is nothing about "benevolent" that means you must make things a Challenge. What a benevolent GM must do, is what you say below: So, like you say not giving hard or really challenging tasks, only luke warm ones that are the "most challenging" for such easy tasks. As said...

There is a crazy line here though. The "benevolent" GM does not and can not do things like "play to there best ability" or "make things a challenge". Such a DM just rolls out the Red Carpet and the Easy Button ans says "yes players". The benevolent GM can "challenge" the players, but it will...

And Cheep! A lot of books were in the $9-$12 range, and that was the SMP. You could find them on sale easy enough. Bookstores either had sales or coupons where you could get like 20% off. And if you were a member of the book club, you could even get another 20% off. I remember stacking...

Yes. No. This is way too complex for 5E.

Nearly everything is controversial in some circles. The big thing to do is preparation. Controversial as many DMs just like to make up random simple stuff or even have the players take the lead and just make up the stuff every player says on a whim. Preparation can solve a lot. A good...

Yes. There is a lot of society and economics mixed in here. It was cheep enough to make, distribute, market and sell most RPG books. Back in the days of game shops, they would often have at least one whole bookcase full of such books. And gamers bought them up. A shop that got a box of ten...

I Love low stats. I love characters that make sense: having stats that match the role play. As a role player, I love to play all sorts of characters. And as I'm not an obsessive all combat type player, I'm fine if my clumsy character does not get a huge bonus to AC.. I remember back in the...

I only run what I really, really like. And up front I will lay out a large number of generic system-less house rules. If players don't agree, I won't run the game. I don't really run short games often. I'm not a "wow lets try this new game" for a couple weeks kind of DM. I stick to "so...

I'm a tyrant DM that plays several groups a week and I force the games to move forward at a blazing fast pace. If you want to play a very fast, focused immersive role play, my game is for you. If you want anything else, find another game. I'm very harsh....a player even suggests that they...

What? This seems like such a limited view point. To say X always equals Y is just not good game play, story telling or really anything else. This example is way to vague. To say "well any humanoid with a beard has a quest for your characters" is just silly. Now, sure there are some times...

As a Railroad Tycoon I can say they do not exist :) A sandbox move is players acting like jerks. I can agree here. Tell a story. Tell the PCs story. Though in AD&D a DM can just do whatever they want. After all, all the "not like D&D" games would have never been made if that was not true...

Sure a traditional DM might do this. Though most DMs would just have the bandit encounter whenever they wanted on a whim. Though all tables and rules even have the ability to engineer things: this is one of the huge bad things about them. When anyone makes a rule or table they might...

Experiences that transcend normal things is what life is all about, at least for some people. There are some people that are perfectly fine playing a game where they strictly follow some rules, make some moves and then at some point stop playing. It can be fun for many people. Even I have...

It makes perfect sense to me. I have said so many times. Some people want to play just a game. They want to play a game just like all the other games. Though some of us do not want to play just a game. We want to play something special and unique, something not like anything else. It is a...

This is important. I would add that you should make it clear. If you expect a 1st level character to be unable to do anything in the game, you should make this clear. Tell the player you expect them to sit quietly often. Though you should apply this to all players equally, and not favor some...

This is true of all shows. The actors and writers grow over time. Well, then the art department did it's job well and it was made to be "claustrophobic" and Ugly(to humans). The station is an "oil rig" and "factory". I wear your Grandpa's clothes, I look incredible!!!

So it would seem your not giving the rogue character much to do? Even more you don't give the rogue character anything equal to combat for the tank. Again, if you expect the player of the rogue to just sit there while you do 20 minutes of combat for the tank....then you should do 20 minutes...

So, good example. I'd guess this encounter make good sense to you. Old crypt, forbidden dark arts, and guardian goblin super warrior skeletons. Ok, sounds like a great encounter for SOME of your players. So, even if the combat for only the "tank" characters only takes 15 minutes, what would...