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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5498953" data-attributes="member: 82106">More or less what I have been trying to say. There are very few things that are universally bad DMing in all circumstances. Most of them (well many at least) are fairly obvious and involve simple basic social dynamics that apply in everyday life. There are MANY other things that could be useful in one situation and not useful in another. As you say, I tend to be of the mind that most hard and fast rules are made to be broken. I think the earlier post by DEFCON1 about "Yes, but..." kind of illustrates that too, it is a pretty good rule to know and use and is quite powerful when used creatively but saying "no" can certainly also be a good way to go. It all depends on the people at the table and the situation.I get the impression when having a discussion with KD that any statement is immediately taken to an extreme that is usually not intended. "Nudging can be OK" is FAR from "Railroad the heck out of your players, DM knows best." They aren't really even similar at all. There is also an ART to giving guidance to players. Saying "That building is heavily guarded" is pretty heavy-handed. It will usually work, but a much more creative approach is to simply let the players find out that indeed the building is heavily guarded all on their own. It isn't like it won't be apparent when they get there. It may be easy enough to introduce that information without needing them to go look for themselves. There's also a question of exactly what the player's mood, goals, etc is. If one player is intent on dragging everyone to the building and the rest aren't really all that enthused about it then pointing out that the building is heavily guarded might really be exactly what the doctor ordered. Sure, you're perhaps undermining one player a little bit in favor of the others, but as long as you have a good sense of player satisfaction and you're meeting all of their various needs to a reasonable degree you can do that. Next time you get a chance you can give that player exactly what they want.It isn't like I don't get what KD is saying either. There is just more to it than that. At least in my games I often do act as a sort of guide. The people I play with generally appreciate that, so it works. There are other players I've had in other games where I am more likely to use other techniques because I know from experience that they just have a different style of play and don't need or want that specifically.</blockquote>

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