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<blockquote data-quote="GnomeWorks" data-source="post: 4738368" data-attributes="member: 162">Remember that the player has a vision of how their character is and thinks and in what ways s/he is capable; so long as that vision is backed up by numbers, then at least do something to acknowledge that the character has a skillset that the player may lack; be it giving them a hint or - heaven forbid - roll dice for a relevant skill.Don't completely and utterly negate certain aspects of the system by saying that you hate that subsystem and will &quot;just wing it&quot; or somesuch, because then characters who invest in that subsystem get screwed because you're too much of a stick-in-the-mud.Do not screw the party because you're being slavishly adherent to the system. Wealth guidelines are called guidelines for a reason; you can break them. If the party is having internal disputes over cash because the wizard is being a prick and wants all the loot, throwing treasure at them that is only really useful to a mage is just fuel for the fire. If you plan on completely screwing the party out of things they've earned, such as by sundering equipment, then at least have reasonable repair methods in place, or don't do it while you're screwing the party out of cash, at the very least.Binary effects, such as - and specifically - save-or-suck, suck. Use sparingly. Even save-or-die is better, because then at least the player can get excited about a new character. With save-or-suck, you get to sit there for two hours while everybody else is doing useful stuff. Specifically fear effects can do a lot to screw with a player's perception of their character.Even if the rules say that multiple fear auras from the creatures of the exact same type stack, and even if you save against four, the fifth can still make you run screaming like a little girl - your reaction as DM should be &quot;...wait, what?&quot;, not &quot;Haha, sucks to be a fighter, don't it.&quot; Don't screw the players over with stupid rules.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GnomeWorks, post: 4738368, member: 162"] Remember that the player has a vision of how their character is and thinks and in what ways s/he is capable; so long as that vision is backed up by numbers, then at least do [i]something[/i] to acknowledge that the character has a skillset that the player may lack; be it giving them a hint or - heaven forbid - roll dice for a relevant skill. Don't completely and utterly negate certain aspects of the system by saying that you hate that subsystem and will "just wing it" or somesuch, because then characters who invest in that subsystem get screwed because you're too much of a stick-in-the-mud. Do not screw the party because you're being slavishly adherent to the system. Wealth guidelines are called [b]guidelines[/b] for a reason; you can break them. If the party is having internal disputes over cash because the wizard is being a prick and wants all the loot, throwing treasure at them that is only really useful to a mage is just fuel for the fire. If you plan on completely screwing the party out of things they've earned, such as by sundering equipment, then at least have reasonable repair methods in place, or don't do it while you're screwing the party out of cash, at the very least. Binary effects, such as - and specifically - save-or-suck, [b]suck[/b]. Use sparingly. Even save-or-die is better, because then at least the player can get excited about a new character. With save-or-suck, you get to sit there for two hours while everybody else is doing useful stuff. Specifically fear effects can do a [i]lot[/i] to screw with a player's perception of their character. Even if the rules say that multiple fear auras from the creatures of the [i]exact same type[/i] stack, and even if you save against four, the fifth can still make you run screaming like a little girl - your reaction as DM should be "...wait, what?", not "Haha, sucks to be a fighter, don't it." Don't screw the players over with stupid rules. [/QUOTE]

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