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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 402647" data-attributes="member: 3586">The argument between arbitrary rulings and "by the book" has been going for a long time now. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />It all depends on the players. Are they having fun? If they are, then you're playing it right.Of course, I've got to qualify that by saying that it's sometimes hard to tell if they're having fun. A player may whine and grizzle about losing his character - but he prefers the tougher campaign because it makes his achievements mean something.Alternatively, a player may put their best face on something, but you only find out it was wrong when they leave the group!Personally, I prefer to play "by the book"; I try to guide the PCs into encounter areas that are of the right level for them, and they'll find fun, but if they want to enter the Tomb of Horrors at 2nd level, I'll let them. (Funnily enough, no-one has requested to, as of this writing! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />)I distrust arbitrary rulings as I've seen how much it can show DM favoritism - which is why I prefer 3E over 1E; I like having more of a rules base behind my decisions. However, the opposite extreme: rules adherence at the expense of fun is equally bad.I do think that you should almost never make an encounter tougher - it's good for the PCs to realise how far they've come and how much better they are than mere mortals. There may be exceptions to this guideline, but I feel it's better for something to be too easy than too hard - you can always make up for it later.Cheers!</blockquote>

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