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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 4657229" data-attributes="member: 22779">So many of the issues that come up for DM's come down to trusting your players.  I'm very lucky right now in that I know that the players will not abuse my trust, by and large, and will police each other more strictly than I ever could.But, it didn't always used to be this way.  Once upon a time I audited character sheets frequently, checking for discrepancies, viewed any attempt at introducing a new element with great suspicion and generally wore my viking hat with pride.  But, I slowly (hey, I never pretended to be a quick thinker) realized something.  Good players, like good DM's are not born, they're created.  It takes time to become a good player.  It takes time and experience to move beyond the crap that most of us have done in the past.So, I shifted my priorities.  I began giving a lot more responsibility for the campaign to the players.  And, I think, I made it pretty clear at the outset.  I made no secret about what I was doing.  In hindsight, I probably should have actually just flat out said, "Look, enjoying the campaign, and having a good campaign, is more than just me sitting here orchestrating everything.  You are responsibible for not only your own fun, but the fun of everyone else at the table."  I didn't do that, but, I think I got the point across effectively anyway.So, now, whenever someone puts something on the table, it gets examined, reexamined, folded, spindled and mauled by the players collectively, to a far greater degree than I would.  A recent example was one player, playing a shifter fighter, wanted to take a PrC - warshaper.  I looked at it, didn't see anything too bad and wasn't too worried about it.  The other players though went through this thing with a much finer toothed comb and convinced the original player that it was not a good idea. Hey, whatever makes them happy.  So, my advice to any DM, new or experienced, hand off responsibility to the players.  Make it explicit.  Tell them that they have very real authorial power in the campaign and that the campaign's success is a shared responsibility between everyone at the table.  My question to you is, in what ways can you share authority without making a total mishmash of your setting?  I can certainly appreciate that DM's have a specific view of how their campaign should look and feel.  How can you as a DM share responsibility, but not lose all authority?</blockquote>

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