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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alatar" data-source="post: 6964444" data-attributes="member: 38424">You know, come to think of it, we do seem to win every encounter, always, regardless of the odds. Wait a minute...Well, sure. But the DM is also playing. He's the ultimate metagamer of course, and can do anything. His goal to to bring the fun, and see to it that it gets shared all the way around the table. But once he builds the stage and places the antagonists upon it, he has to play those antagonists, and with minimal prep. And to keep the game somewhat gamey, he has to play them fairly straight up. He has to bring his game.And from a player's perspective, during those combat encounters, it's always that one guy or gal who is trying to gank you, despite the fact that he's really there to help you have a "rewarding experience" in a "cooperative gaming environment." So there are games within games, and they can be fun too. I could tell you stories.I can't argue with that. I think my perspective is just different. I play with a bunch of old timers. We have a few (comparative) youngsters, second generation. But even they grew up with the game. So, aside from the occasional girlfriend, which we had grown out of but have now grown back into, everyone at the table has a fairly nuanced appreciation and understanding of the game. We have one player in my group, a grey beard, who likes to play bad character builds. He's that guy who played a diviner wizard back in 3e. He plays the variant encumbrance rules, all by himself. He quietly interprets the combat rules in the most player-hostile way imaginable, to the degree that we let him get away with it. That's what floats his boat. He enjoys the adversity, with no discernible inclination to spread the misery. Though that time he took the DM seat was pretty awful.And we take a relaxed view to some aspects of the game. If, two or three or eight levels into it, a player is experiencing character builder's remorse, then, hey, ditch that turkey. Bring in something else, or keep the same character, keep the story, just upend the character build. Whatever works, whatever brings the fun.But newer and more casual players do deserve particular consideration, and they are just as entitled to a good time as the veterans, if not more so. The DM has to play to the folks around his table. In that sense, circumstance dictates one's approach to setting the boundaries, the traps,  and, perhaps the safety nets.</blockquote>

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