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<blockquote data-quote="The Shaman" data-source="post: 2580926" data-attributes="member: 26473">Scene from a gaming table...GM: &quot;Okay, go ahead and create your characters. All characters are 2nd level so you can pick any LA+1 race on your handout...&quot;Player 1: &quot;I want to play a demilich.&quot;GM: ( <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f615.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":confused:" title="Confused&nbsp; &nbsp; :confused:"&nbsp; data-smilie="5"data-shortname=":confused:" /> ) &quot;Uh, that's not LA+1. All the characters should begin with roughly the same level of ability...&quot;Player 1: &quot;I want to play a demilich.&quot;GM: (*sound of fingers drumming on table*) Uh, no, I'm sorry, you can't play a demilich...&quot;Player 1: &quot;WHY MUST YOU CRUSH MY DESIRE TO PLAY A BIG STRONG MONSTER?!?&quot;Player 2: &quot;I want to play a tarrasque.&quot;GM: (sound of head hitting table followed by sounds of paper tearing for several minutes*)This presents such an extreme, almost Manichean viewpoint that it's effectively useless as a point of discussion, but I'll give it a try.With respect to character races, is a GM who restricts characters to playing races in the PHB a selfish GM? What about any LA+0 race from the MM? Any LA+0 race from any WotC monster book? What about LA+2? Is there any continuum on this subject, or is it as black-and-white as, &quot;Any GM who limits player choices on character race selection is a selfish GM?&quot;I'm really trying to understand exactly what the issue is here. Help me out.First, a character death can be fun. A heroic sacrifice can be fun. A death that hinges on a climactic encounter can be fun. Taking the risk of death out of the game makes dangerous encounters dull and uninteresting.Second, I enjoy RPGs that emulate a genre of cinema or literature that I enjoy: swords-and-sorcery, modern action-adventure, space opera. The risk of permanent death is present in each of these genres, and a game that did not offer that risk would be repetitious and bland - &quot;Oh, it doesn't matter if we lose the fight with the dragon, we'll just be resurrected later.&quot;Third and last, I feel cheated if my choices as a player had no consequences, with death the ultimate consequence. That last thing I want when I play is to be cheated by the GM. I think only a selfish GM would take that card out of my hand.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Shaman, post: 2580926, member: 26473"] Scene from a gaming table... GM: "Okay, go ahead and create your characters. All characters are 2nd level so you can pick any LA+1 race on your handout..." Player 1: "I want to play a demilich." GM: ( :confused: ) "Uh, that's not LA+1. All the characters should begin with roughly the same level of ability..." Player 1: "I want to play a demilich." GM: (*[i]sound of fingers drumming on table[/i]*) Uh, no, I'm sorry, you can't play a demilich..." Player 1: "WHY MUST YOU CRUSH MY DESIRE TO PLAY A BIG STRONG MONSTER?!?" Player 2: "I want to play a tarrasque." GM: ([i]sound of head hitting table followed by sounds of paper tearing for several minutes[/i]*)This presents such an extreme, almost Manichean viewpoint that it's effectively useless as a point of discussion, but I'll give it a try. With respect to character races, is a GM who restricts characters to playing races in the [i]PHB[/i] a selfish GM? What about any LA+0 race from the [i]MM[/i]? Any LA+0 race from any WotC monster book? What about LA+2? Is there any continuum on this subject, or is it as black-and-white as, "Any GM who limits player choices on character race selection is a selfish GM?" I'm really trying to understand exactly what the issue is here. Help me out.First, a character death can be fun. A heroic sacrifice can be fun. A death that hinges on a climactic encounter can be fun. Taking the risk of death out of the game makes dangerous encounters dull and uninteresting. Second, I enjoy RPGs that emulate a genre of cinema or literature that I enjoy: swords-and-sorcery, modern action-adventure, space opera. The risk of permanent death is present in each of these genres, and a game that did not offer that risk would be repetitious and bland - "Oh, it doesn't matter if we lose the fight with the dragon, we'll just be resurrected later." Third and last, I feel cheated if my choices as a player had no consequences, with death the ultimate consequence. That last thing I want when I play is to be cheated by the GM. I think only a selfish GM would take that card out of my hand. [/QUOTE]

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