Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Phoenix_Knightwind" data-source="post: 1290926" data-attributes="member: 6646">Okay, long-time geek chiming in.  The number one rule of the game is that you are in control and may tweak the rules or even break them to your heart's content.  Doing this to suit your style or taste is the whole idea.  The game should be yours and your groups, to heck with what other think.Now, that said: The unwritten number one rule is that if the DM is going to play god in his world, then he better know it well.  Tweaking rules to enhance your joy is a major tenant of the game.  Tweaking rules to make it easier on you to run is lazy.  You should be able to deal with your players' PCs capabilities without resorting to ruling them out or countering them 100% of the time.  Admittedly, this is a difficult task given the amount you need to read and absorb, keep up with in game and manage.  This is more difficult as you get older and your players get smarter, or at least more familiar with the rules. The ability to creatively challenge your players is second only to the ability to think quickly for a DM.  No one is a perfect DM, but the more I read these boards, the more I think many DMs don't put out the effort that is expected of them by the role as defined in the game.High levels, when hard won by your players from a campaign that you have invested your heart in, should be amongst the most rewarding sessions you play. Yes, they are more difficult to run. yes, they take longer.  However, when written and run correctly, no one really cares.  My players all have jobs and families and can only spend a few hours a week on gaming, but no one seems to mind that it takes us three weeks to finish a climactic battle between 3 groups (Shadovar arch wizards, Yuan-ti psions and clerics, and the party of heroes) over the control of an artifact to awaken an ancient godling that can destroy the world.  This is because that the battle is the pay-off to months of mystery solving, monster bashing and political intrigue that they have waded through to get to this point.  It's the pay-off of the story, but most importantly, it's the pay-off for the time they have invested in their characters to get to the point that they can productively participate in a huge battle where the fate of the world hangs in the balance and show off what they have accomplished for their time.If you and your players are adverse to high-level play, that's fine, but I think you're playing the wrong game.  If you are leery of high-level play because of it's complexity, then invest the time it takes and be willing to be less than perfect at it.  You and your players will get better with practice, and in the long run everyone will be happy.  If you are a high-level player who has the rules majorly tweaked, just make sure the rules tweaks are for a good reason and are not costing your group some fun or challenge.  If you started above 15th level, then stop what you are doing and go play RIFTS. In summary, I believe that the whole problem with high-level play lies with the lazy DM.  Players can easily get out of control and campaigns can spin wildly off course, but a good and prepared DM can deal with it and make sure everyone has fun.Fell free to throw pies at me now.</blockquote>

Verification