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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 5598162" data-attributes="member: 7006">I know exactly how the game works.  I (as the DM) create challenges for my players.  Challenges... as in-- things that will challenge them.Imagine my players' surprise that the monsters that the ranger faces seem to have a crapload of hit points (that take into account the massive amount of dpr he can put out) and can shift their way into making the ranger switch into melee on occasion.  And the monsters that the maxed-out attack bonus fighter faces all seem to have higher ACs (higher in fact than what might appear in the book, because of a little device called the Monster Builder that allows me to raise the AC of anyone I damn well please.)  And my fey warlock player?  Doesn't seem to draw nearly the same amount of heat that the others do, because his character is more geared towards a rp focus than combat dpr.  (And before anyone asks... no, these challenges do not appear every single encounter every single time... things get varied up.  Sometimes easier, sometimes harder, depending on what will be most fun for everybody.)Now guess what?  I'm not playing exactly by the rules.  I'm adjusting things to give me what I need... challenges to my players.  Because quite frankly... I absolutely in no way feel that playing "exactly by the rules" gains me anything.  I am not beholden to anything any of these books have written down.  Because quite frankly, there is no reason to be.  I mean, what if I do?  Am I going to get a certificate in the mail by the RAW Police congratulating me for doing so?  Pretty sure I'm not.  Do I get a special stipend of actual payment from the CharOp boards for doing so?  Uh... nope.  So there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to care about playing the game "as written" if that is not going to give me what I need to run a game that my players will have fun with and enjoy.And what will the CharOp boards possibly say to me about this?  "Hey!  Those orcs you threw at your players all seemed to do much more damage that the standard monster damage expression that MM3 and the Monster Vault told us to use!"  Well, congrats to you for noticing that.  Now why should I care that that is true?Being a Dungeon Master is not about being the best at running a Dungeons & Dragons game by "the rules".  It's about being the best at giving something your players find fun.</blockquote>

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