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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 2548891" data-attributes="member: 158">Jasper, while I still get a kick out of talking this way now and again <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />, to me it's not going to net a lot of players, and it's going to net even fewer as time goes on. You have to work with your players to be sure they're happy with their characters that they play, or they're not going to be playing for long. Gone are the days when the game was so new and invigorating that character death meant you jumped back in and played again. The predominant form of play for the pool of potential RPG players out there is to know and master the existing rules, and create a character that is competent in those rules. Rules which cannot be mastered (i.e. those in the DM's head) are not desireable in this light. Not all potential players have these values, but I'm willing to bet that the majority do.I also believe that every player should try DM'ing at least once (something you touched on). There's NOTHING that builds respect for the role of DM quite like walking in those shoes for a while. If the player likes it, then GREAT, ANOTHER DM! If not, then they at least have a goodunderstanding of what "cooperation" does bring.Firelance, you say you don't see a rules system that will ever remove GM arbitration? I don't either, but I see that 3E and 3.5 REALLY tries to do so. There are rules for everything from the effects of a windstorm to how many halflings will fit in a behir's belly (8, to be precise). And future editions will probably try to remove even more power of adjudication, and as a DM this concerns me. I can say I'm the final arbiter of rules disputes, but in the end, if the rules don't support me in this, then in the end all a DM is, is a human computer. The 3.5 still say the DM is final authority, but only in the most roundabout fashion. I wonder if the 4th edition rules won't imply it at all.Ultimately, where is the "equality" when it comes to the point where DM's aren't given rules authority to deny any supplement, and basically throw out monsters like figures in a mechanical clock and watch the gears run? Players having options I can sympathize with, but the power creep that inevitably happens from more and more options I can't sympathize with, and if there's no fun in DM'ing, then there's no point to DM. As BelenUmeria said, a game that bleeds GM's is just as functionless as a game that bleeds players.I'm not having problems now, but as years go on and player rosters change, I have a feeling that I will.</blockquote>

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