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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Deadguy" data-source="post: 74436" data-attributes="member: 2480">I think Sodalis has conflated two things here, LostSoul:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Dealing Quickly with Irrelevancies: the PC wants to pick the landlord's pocket, for whatever reason. Sometimes it's because the players are barking up the wrong tree, and they're convinced they can find the proff that really he is the disguised Lord Evil; other times PCs do these things for kicks (I have seen ti done to get back at a  DM when he's made a call they didn't like!). Either way, the DM knows that it isn't important (e.g. the landlord is just a landlord, and it's coincidence that they're in this tavern). In that case, it's fine to just eyeball things, applying Rule Zero. and quickly resolving the matter. It's just a timesaver for all concerned. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Preserving the Plotline: this is a lot more tricky and can be downright dubious. Some DMs are very strong on plotline, so a iittle fudging can help preserve the story which he hopes the players will enjoy; others (and their players) prefer to let the world unfold as the dice fall, so it would be anathema. But even if you are a strongly story-driven DM, you have to use care. The example of the landlord with the magic aura that absorbs all blows is crass, and is going to get up the nose of almost any player. But even if the story requires the landlord to survive, there are ways of doing it that seem natural (maybe one of the patrons of the tavern protects him from the PCs, or the Watch come by and break things up, or a fire breaks out threatening the PCs so they must retreat). Better still, ask yourself whether you actually need the landlord to survive; maybe someone else can stand in in his stead, or a better story unfolds because of his death. You have a point, LostSoul, that leaving a PC feeling helpless to change anything is a surefire way to turn him off the game; but it is possible to actually achieve that effect whilst giving the impression of total free will (it just takes a lot of practice! [/list=1]</li> </ol></blockquote>

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