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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wicht" data-source="post: 6194719" data-attributes="member: 221">The DM can most certainly retroactively decide or change mechanics he thinks need to be decided. What if I decide, as a DM, that on this particular piece of land, all fire based attacks do double damage. There's no rule for that, but I can make it happen if I think it should happen. Or perhaps during the witching hour of the night all stealth checks have +20 but the next day any that used this power have a -20 to stealth checks because of the wrath of the sun god.  DMs can change any mechanic they feel is necessary to be changed for the moment in question. Again, as above, good DMs will use this power for the good of the game. Bad DMs will abuse it, but the authority is there and I would wager that even in 4e DMs have that authority if they want it.  Sure, but in the context of Dungeons and Dragons, the DM does decide the outcome. The methods by which he makes that decision can change and most of us utilize the rules to determine the appropriate outcome and make sure player choice matters. But the DM has the final say in what happens, not the dice or the players. If you play the game where the DM controls the game, not the player, then the game is balanced. If the players control the game, it may end up being unbalanced, but I would also postulate you are playing a slightly different game. Dungeons and Dragons has always been DM-centric. Again, the central dynamic of the game is the interaction between player choice and DM arbitration. Some might think it is between player choice and the rules, but they would be, in my opinion, wrong. The DM trumps the rules, always; and, in point of fact, that power is embedded into the rules.</blockquote>

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