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Crafting Items - Expert Craftsman vs Adventurers
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<blockquote data-quote="DND_Reborn" data-source="post: 7599809" data-attributes="member: 6987520"><p>You're arguing semantics really. When I wrote "How challenging do you want that lock? Is it a DC 15, 18, 20, 25, or 30?" for example, you (or I) are deciding that on exactly the criteria for which you consider is making you unbiased and impartial. You HAVE to care because you as DM decide by making that judgment call, believing it is a fair value, etc., etc. By making that judgment call, you are deciding what you want to be considered fair. Honestly, you could just as easily have a "Lock DC rule" where any lock the party encounters will have a DC of 5 + 3d10, giving an average of about 20.</p><p></p><p>In your vampire's castle example, the lock, even as a good one, might be DC 20 to 25, or even higher. And this is where every DM will possibly differ. Given the parameters of the game world, another DM might think 20 is a good DC. Maybe it is rusted, so the DC is higher or the DM imposes disadvantage? Maybe he drops a clue about that fact, encouraging the players to think, "Hey, we should try oiling it more" or something. By examining the world and making those calls, you are getting what you want, which primarily IMO should be a challenging and fun game for the players.</p><p></p><p>Do I personally care whether they succeed or fail? Sure! Of course I do, and any good DM IMO would. There are times when I make things harder and more challenging to set them up to think about the situation or maybe even have to try again later on when they have discovered something new. There are times when I realized I made things too hard and what I thought should be a fair fight turned out horribly! I meant to be fair, but made a mistake. Do I let everything go anyway, even resulting in a possible TPK, just because I had everything "set" in the world and that is they way it is now when the encounter happens? No. And I hope you wouldn't either. I will not kill a party when I am DMing simply because I made a bad judgment call. Now, if I set an encounter appropriate to the world/setting that they obviously should shy away from and they soldier on anyway... well, sometimes bad decisions on the players' part will lead to their downfall and I will run out the encounter as it is to whatever end awaits them.</p><p></p><p>So do I want an encounter to be challenging? Sure. Why? Because it sets things up for the story. If the party plays it in a way I didn't foresee and it becomes easy... well, kudos to the players for doing something clever. Will I be upset? Not at all. Sometimes I want an easy encounter or moderate encounter for other reasons. DMs always want things because they have to create the adventures after all.</p><p></p><p>Any DM who feels the same is not impartial. I want the players to succeed because then it is fun, but not at the expense of making it too simply and unrewarding. So I make decisions about the game world to make it reasonable, believable, challenging, and most of all fun for the players.</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, it really does come down to what you want as a DM. If the players need an expert blacksmith, how good does he/she have to be? Where are they likely to find him/her? What <em>IS</em> reasonable in your world? It's, well, whatever you want that makes the game enjoyable for you and your players.</p><p></p><p>(Sorry if this rambles on too much, it is late at night and I really should probably have just replied in the morning! LOL <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> )</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DND_Reborn, post: 7599809, member: 6987520"] You're arguing semantics really. When I wrote "How challenging do you want that lock? Is it a DC 15, 18, 20, 25, or 30?" for example, you (or I) are deciding that on exactly the criteria for which you consider is making you unbiased and impartial. You HAVE to care because you as DM decide by making that judgment call, believing it is a fair value, etc., etc. By making that judgment call, you are deciding what you want to be considered fair. Honestly, you could just as easily have a "Lock DC rule" where any lock the party encounters will have a DC of 5 + 3d10, giving an average of about 20. In your vampire's castle example, the lock, even as a good one, might be DC 20 to 25, or even higher. And this is where every DM will possibly differ. Given the parameters of the game world, another DM might think 20 is a good DC. Maybe it is rusted, so the DC is higher or the DM imposes disadvantage? Maybe he drops a clue about that fact, encouraging the players to think, "Hey, we should try oiling it more" or something. By examining the world and making those calls, you are getting what you want, which primarily IMO should be a challenging and fun game for the players. Do I personally care whether they succeed or fail? Sure! Of course I do, and any good DM IMO would. There are times when I make things harder and more challenging to set them up to think about the situation or maybe even have to try again later on when they have discovered something new. There are times when I realized I made things too hard and what I thought should be a fair fight turned out horribly! I meant to be fair, but made a mistake. Do I let everything go anyway, even resulting in a possible TPK, just because I had everything "set" in the world and that is they way it is now when the encounter happens? No. And I hope you wouldn't either. I will not kill a party when I am DMing simply because I made a bad judgment call. Now, if I set an encounter appropriate to the world/setting that they obviously should shy away from and they soldier on anyway... well, sometimes bad decisions on the players' part will lead to their downfall and I will run out the encounter as it is to whatever end awaits them. So do I want an encounter to be challenging? Sure. Why? Because it sets things up for the story. If the party plays it in a way I didn't foresee and it becomes easy... well, kudos to the players for doing something clever. Will I be upset? Not at all. Sometimes I want an easy encounter or moderate encounter for other reasons. DMs always want things because they have to create the adventures after all. Any DM who feels the same is not impartial. I want the players to succeed because then it is fun, but not at the expense of making it too simply and unrewarding. So I make decisions about the game world to make it reasonable, believable, challenging, and most of all fun for the players. Ultimately, it really does come down to what you want as a DM. If the players need an expert blacksmith, how good does he/she have to be? Where are they likely to find him/her? What [I]IS[/I] reasonable in your world? It's, well, whatever you want that makes the game enjoyable for you and your players. (Sorry if this rambles on too much, it is late at night and I really should probably have just replied in the morning! LOL :) ) [/QUOTE]
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