Has the DM fallen from grace?

[LostSoul]

I don't need to prep monsters for 4E. I build monsters in my head on the fly. The last monster I did this for was a 10th level elite ghoul wizard.

 

[malraux]

That's great, but the amount of information that you are able to remember has nothing to do with a profession. I have played with a Pizza Delivery guy who can remember what happened on exact dates from years ago. What's your point? Sounds like you are just grabbing at straws now.

Mentally remembering the rules is one of the keys to being a good DM.

Then I've never played with a good dm. But I'd argue that standard at best orthogonal to what it takes to be a good dm.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Then I've never played with a good dm. But I'd argue that standard at best orthogonal to what it takes to be a good dm.

If your DM has to look up something every single time someone does something then that DM really needs to focus on learning the rules.

Does your doctor friend have to look up his procedures every time his patients come in for a visit?

 

[D'karr]

Then I've never played with a good dm. But I'd argue that standard at best orthogonal to what it takes to be a good dm.

By that standard nobody has ever played with a good DM.

 

[D'karr]

If your DM has to look up something every single time someone does something then that DM really needs to focus on learning the rules.

Does your doctor friend have to look up his procedures every time his patients come in for a visit?

Who's grasping at straws now?

His doctor might have to look at an "encyclopedia" of medicines and their effects with each other before prescribing a medication. Does that make him a not so good doctor? Is he a better doctor if he just hand waves the effects of each medicine and prescribes them anyway?

If this was a follow-up appointment and the doctor already had and idea of what the patient needed, would looking up the particulars of the medication in his "encyclopedia", when the patient is not there, not count as preparation time?

If he had the book open to the exact page that had the medicine as he was prescribing it, would that not be easier and more effective than having to look at 2-3 encyclopedias to determine if the medicine would be effective?

 

[malraux]

If your DM has to look up something every single time someone does something then that DM really needs to focus on learning the rules.

Does your doctor friend have to look up his procedures every time his patients come in for a visit?

Good doctors almost alway double check drug dosing especially in complicated patients. Drug interactions and research changes best practice all the time. There's a reason doctors flocked to smart devices.

 

[Spatula]

IIRC, Unholy Aura is a prime example of 3e statblock fail. Pit fiends can cast it at-will as a free action, and as I recall, the spell adds a flat bonus to AC. But that wasn't reflected in the monster's AC in the statblock. And it's just one spell in a long list of SLAs that the creature has.

I could go on for a long time about spells and 3e statblocks... I got so sick of not just taking the time to prep monsters, but having to re-write the stats so that I would have all of the information that I need on one sheet during the fight. What a waste of a DM's time. The other DM in the group did no prep work at all, deciding to not use a monster's SLAs, or to look up random ones during the fight. Not surprisingly, his encounters tended to be on the underwhelming side.

The current 4e statblocks are great. Everything you need is right there.

 

[Pour]

I don't need to prep monsters for 4E. I build monsters in my head on the fly. The last monster I did this for was a 10th level elite ghoul wizard.

Same, and with the damage and defense guides, and the DC chart, and a healthy sampling of really good monsters MM3+ (and with more being updated all the time from previous books) it's really a dream for me personally to run. I spend most of my prep time on story, descriptions and campaign brainstorming... and making maps. I'm addicted to making PS maps.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Who's grasping at straws now.

I'm not having to grasp at anything. No where did I say a good DM has to know every single thing but a good DM doesn't have to reference the books every round.

I mean the discussion was about time and now it's some sort of freakish thing when ever someone can actually memorize most of the rules and not have to keep referencing the books.

No matter what edition is being played, the DM is supposed to memorize and learn as much of the rules as possible.

You keep trying to move the goalposts in order to justify your argument.

 

[Spatula]

Then I've never played with a good dm. But I'd argue that standard at best orthogonal to what it takes to be a good dm.

While I generally agree with you, a good DM should have a firm grasp of the rules of the game, IMO. Where DMing 3e broke down was in requiring DMs to also have a firm grasp of the feats & spells (of which there are legion) on top of that. Or to do a lot of prep work in figuring out how those feats & spells interact with your NPCs in advance.