Time to speak up...
Hi all,
I am the DM of Ormraxes, and he has asked me to read this thread and bring my own comments to the table. It seems like this board is mostly dominated by players, and not DMs (I could be wrong), so I'm probably sticking my head into a hornet's nest here, but here we go... ;-)
First, I'd like to make clear a few points about our campaign:
- The campaign is definitely NOT "low-magic". We use the standard D&D 3E rules for magic and magic items. Except for a handful of high-level spells which the players (as of yet) don't have access to (because I've restricted them), all PHB spells are available to players of appropriate level and class. This includes all the standard spells such as fly, invisibility, fireball, disintegrate, etc. and even some spells from DotF, MotW and T&B. It should also be noted that the majority of the player characters have been spellcasters (clerics, druids, sorcerers, wizards) or at least had some spellcasting ability (paladins, various multiclassed characters).
- The campaign is not "poor". The wealth level is reasonable. Starting characters, whether 1st or 10th level, always have enough gold to buy whatever mundane equipment they require. Concerning RttToEE specifically, I rarely modify the amount of treasure from what the module states, unless it is an unreasonably large amount of treasure to be found guarded by very weak opponents (ie. five orcs each with 1,000 gp gems in their pockets).
- The player characters have extremely good stats. I basically allow the players to roll their stats until they're satisfied, which means people usually have two 18's and usually no stats lower than 12.
Now, more to the point:
- Every group plays D&D differently, and it is the duty of the DM to balance the game, making it enjoyable for his players and himself. When using a pre-written module (such as RttToEE), the DM must make some adjustments to the adventure to make sure it is properly challenging and suited to the play style of the players. I guess Ormraxes didn't mention that I replaced a blue dragon (which would have TPK'ed the party) with a wyvern (which only ended up killing an NPC). So this is not about the DM trying bully around with the players.
- Our group is very experienced, having played (A)D&D for 10 years. I've DM'ed several year-long campaigns in those 10 years. I know my players and they are a very resourceful, clever and experienced bunch. Ormraxes (we know him better as the "Scrawny Mnemonic") is a Rules Lawyer and a Min/Maxer if there ever was one. (He will of course tell you otherwise, but I've known him for a long time -- he's a good friend -- and I'm not so easily fooled by his machinations any more.)
- All DM's have their own house rules. In my campaign, I restrict a few (high-level) spells, and give starting characters less money than the DMG says. And that spells dooom for a group of crack roll-players going through RttToEE??? Gimme a break.
- I have my own reasons for restricting certain spells and magical items, based on what I believe would upset the balance of the game. Maybe it wouldn't upset things in a big way, or in the short run, but I believe that it is better to err on the side of caution. The restricted spells and items can always be introduced later -- it's far more difficult to remove them from the game.
- Another poster said the DMG contained lots of advice about running the game; my favorite advice is that all the rulebooks are simply "guidelines" and it's up to the DM to modify the rules as he wishes -- though I'm not blind to the fact that both the players and the DM must enjoy the game -- after all, it is a game and we are playing it to have fun.
- My players are still, I think, trying to adjust to the open-ended scenario that RttToEE is. They are free to explore anywhere, even though they might encounter things which are far above their (current) power level. They are sometimes too used to thinking along the lines of "well, if it's in the adventure, we're supposed to beat it and take it's treasure". I want to make the adventure and the campaign world a dynamic place where the outcome of things is far from pre-determined.
I'll be watching this thread with interest for any comments (I don't doubt there will be a lot of them...). However, I'd like to ask everyone to not discuss any specifics of RttToEE, or else you will ruin the game both for me, Ormraxes, and the other players in my group.
- thulsa
BTW, I'd might as well put in a shameless plug for my pet project, an adaptation of the Hyborian Age setting and the world of Conan the Barbarian for D&D and the D20 system. See the link in the signature below.
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Roleplaying in Robert E. Howard's Swords & Sorcery World of Conan
The Hyborian Age d20 Campaign Web Site -
http://hyboria.xoth.net
Maps - Characters - Gods - Monsters - Spells - Items & Artifacts
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I think you're an uncommonly tough GM, even by my standards (and I regularly get slagged off for being too tough on these boards, if not by my players) but if your group is having a good time, fair enough. If they're not (and there appears to be some discontent!) well, I wouldn't want you to run a game you don't enjoy running, so I'm not going to tell you to allow any spell in the PHB without modification or let new PCs come in with full starting wealth. Still, you might consider lightening up a little bit - sometimes us killer GMs just don't know when to stop, you know? 
