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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnSnow" data-source="post: 4061094" data-attributes="member: 32164">And I have no trouble with the notion that you can't totally undo a part of the DM's campaign world just to prove you're more clever than he is. As I said above, that's kinda pathetic. If I, as DM, haven't set up Decanters of Endless Water to solve the city's water shortage, and there are people there capable of making them, then it can't be done. Why? I don't know, but that's not the solution. If "why" is important, I'll come up with a reason.At the very least, I'd make the PCs spend some time figuring out why it hasn't been done before. There's no reason why they would know, so if they want to learn, they'll have to spend some time to figure it out. Yes, that serves the secondary purpose of giving me time to think of a good reason.And screaming "railroad" to justify why the DM should just say "yes" to every hairbrained scheme you come up with is, IMO, the Knights of the Dinner Table defense. If you want a good game, you shouldn't go running too far off the rails. It's disrespectful to your supposed "friend" who's trying to make sure you have a good time.I think it's perfectly alright for the DM to say "sorry guys, I didn't prep for that. If that's what you insist on doing, we won't be doing any gaming this week." Not every DM wants to have to make things up on the spot just so his players can prove how clever and how much smarter than him they are.I have no tolerance for players who are constantly trying to "beat me" by coming up with a clever solution that I missed in my adventure prep. I'm certainly NOT going to say "Oops, caught me with my pants down - Okay, you guys make a killing setting up a water trading business," because it's f'ing boring.I'm also not going to suddenly invent an adventure around the local merchants who use the camels to bring in water trying to prevent the PCs from putting their whacky scheme into effect. Actually, on second thought, I might do that. It's less railroad-y than the "cut off from the elemental plane of water" scenario, and, for heroic adventurers, it's probably more appropriate.Not to mention it would probably let me make use of the NPCs or encounters from my original "caravan guards for water merchants" scenario.Yes, the DM needs to be accomodating. But he doesn't have to go "okay, ya beat me."</blockquote>

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