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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BookTenTiger" data-source="post: 8118801" data-attributes="member: 6685541">As a teacher, I am always thinking about this question from a teacher - student perspective.Is it my responsibility as a DM to respond to the needs of my players, or is it the player's responsibility to meet the expectations of the DM?Of course, it's a little bit of each.I find that the best campaigns come about when the DM is really excited by an idea ("I've always wanted to run a Curse of Strand game!"). However, it's also very natural for players to want to play against type. It's fun to go against the norm. So the best solution, in my experience, is when a DM starts with a premise, the players figure out their characters, and then the DM adapts the story to match the narrative needs of those characters - even when it doesn't match the original vision for the campaign.For example:DM: I am so excited to run Curse of Strand! I've been reading Gothic literature, watching vampire movies...Player1: I rolled up a classic Van Helsing vampire hunter.Player2: I'm a light cleric who doubts his faith.Player3: I've always wanted to play someone from the distant future who gets trapped back in time and all his "spells" are future technology.DM: ...okay...Now in this situation, it would be okay to say No! The 3rd player's character doesn't match the campaign setting.I would argue, though, that a better game is created when the DM adjusts and creates narrative opportunities for that player.DM: Let's say the mists of Ravenloft sometimes create portals in time, and your character got pulled through. To make things easier though, let's say you've been here a year, learned Common, and made friends with another character.(DM starts figuring out which NPCs in Barovia are also from the future)...</blockquote>

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