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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ipissimus" data-source="post: 4220272" data-attributes="member: 41514">Great points made here. Got a few more:One, give the players what they want but leave them begging for more. There's a sweet spot of power to challenge ratio that you should strive to maintain. Players should be powerful but the Big Bad should be badder. I've played with DMs who portioned power out frugally and, honestly, we didn't feel like the challenges he presented were worth the reward. Farming would have been better. And then I've played in a party where half the party could turn into Dragons while the other half wielded artefacts. We just stomped everything (including Lolth), which was fun but felt really cheap.Two, play the world like a sandbox. I played for a CoC DM back in high school who showed how well this method can work. He let us step off the railroad and stretch our legs and the bad guys reacted to our moves in the same way we reacted to theirs. Case in point, during a raid on a cult, one of our guys had to be taken to hospital. While he was convalescing, a related cult cell tried a hit on him which turned into one of the greatest action sequences I've ever played in AND it was unscripted.Three, cater for all the players equally. Remember that campaign where we could turn into dragons and killed Lolth? I didn't mention that only ONE of us fought Lolth (the Ancient Gold Dragon) while the rest of us stood around twiddling our thumbs. I thought I was doing pretty well that campaign. I had an intelligent Holy Avenger, +5 plate of invulnerability, +5 shield, etc... not bad enough to take Lolth but the Gold Dragon was. I felt like I was superfluous, probably because I was.Four, give the villain some Shoot the Dog moments. If the players can handle it, have him Rape the Dog too. Make the players want to take him down whatever the cost.Five, BBEGs have maximum hit points. Because killing him quick is anticlimactic.Six, only kill a PC if the player deserves it either through stupidity or their own actions. Heroic self sacrifice is a good way for a PC to die, the goblins inflicting a TPK at level 1 is just frustrating. (And I know, it happened to me a few times).Seven, say yes when a player gets creative, only say no if they're being silly. DMs who constantly say no, or inflict grevious punishments for even the most minor infraction of creativity (either through megalomania or fear of breaching THE RULES) generate disgruntled players. I once had a DM that told me I couldn't target a rope (holding up an iron grate) with Burning Hands... he ALWAYS said no. Nobody plays with him anymore.</blockquote>

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