I the DM, did I cheat?

[Kahuna Burger]

Re: Re: I the DM, did I cheat?

As noted, there's no such thing as the DM cheating.

I'm going to disagree. As discussed in another thread, DMs who are out to 'beat' the players can and do cheat by adjusting enemies to the characters' plans and capabilities. Unless the blackgaurd knew this particular party and was prepping against them specificly, changing the character to address one particular ability was in extremely bad form. It would have been all out cheating if it had been done after finding out that the druid was indeed preparing Creeping Doom "just in case it works".

Not that that spell would have had to be an instant kill. I don't believe you can materialize the swarm on a person, so boots of levitation, a fiend friend who flys, etc could have avoided the spell too, correct?

On the other hand, a epic level blackgaurd should be equiped to defend agaisnt a horde of mooks, and damage reduction is included in that. But if you decided not to include that initially and only added it to make sure a spell wouldn't work... bad, bad form. and yes, possibly cheating if the blackgaurd had already been encountered once in his unaltered form.

Kahuna Burger

 

[Dagger75]

The Blackguard had never been encounter before. Thanks for the all responses.

 

[Zappo]

KB -> Yeah, well, technically the DM really can't cheat, as in break the rules, because anything he does is a rule. That's what people mean when they say that a DM can't cheat. But he can break the trust of the players, being unfair.

But this is not the case; if he had remembered about the druid's creeping doom spell he would have given the blackguard DR from the start. But changing it right before the encounter is exactly the same thing. Nothing exists in the world until the PCs know about it.

 

[DustTC]

I'll be damned if I'll ever let hours of work creating a suitable NPC and setting for that final epic battle go to waste because of the casting of a single spell (which will no doubt be one of questionable balance).

That's not fun for me and it's not fun for the players. I don't think us DMs have to make any excuses at all when making a change like that, and I also don't buy the argument that you should have gotten it right in the first place. The players play *one* character (and some are still awful at it), while the DM has to juggle literally dozens of NPCs and monsters. I think we're fully within our rights to rethink NPC abilities on the spot when we realise we made a mistake.

After all, would that Blackguard have made it to 21st lvl if any two-bit Druid was able to take him apart? I don't think so. If you let the Druid take him out one-shot anyway, all it would do is stop the suspension of disbelief... in other words, the 'was that it?' feeling.

Perhaps I'm a little too challenging a DM (ran my players through the first bit of City of the Spider Queen today (after a 10 lvl mostly self-made campaign) and they thought it was easy. I had to agree (and I used every opponent to the fullest, maybe the first part is meant not to be too hard). From my experience players enjoy the tough fights the most.

That doesn't mean I don't throw them some goblins to annihilate every once in a while though (keeping some perspective of power is fun too, it just shouldn't happen in what is supposed to be an epic, final struggle).

 

[gariig]

Perhaps I'm a little too challenging a DM (ran my players through the first bit of City of the Spider Queen today (after a 10 lvl mostly self-made campaign) and they thought it was easy.

My PCs just started and they are now afraid if invisible vampire sorcerers improved invis, hasted, and tossing lightning bolts like theres no tomorrow. Put their power gaming butts in order.

Gariig

 

[jdavis]

The majority of gaming rule books I have read have a passage somewhere in them that says it is ok to change things up to make the game more fun, and that the rules are just guidelines. It is important to remember that a DM cannot win the game, it is not a competition. Any change you make from very small to vast sweeping changes made in the middle of combat are ok as long as the goal is to increase the enjoyment of gameplay and not to kill or overpower the PC's.

Two things you have to always remember; 1: The players should never find out that you changed anything for any reason. 2: Always be fair to the players, you are not out to give them a cake walk or to kill them outright, the object is to make the game as enjoyable as possible for everybody.

 

[clark411]

Definitely dont let your players know if you change anything, especially if you're usually a stickler for planning ahead of time and the players go to the trouble to plan too. There's nothing worse than being a player and walking through a door and asking "Is there an alarm?" and the DM rolls a percentile die and says "Yep, now." or worse, if there is a percentage chance or a fiat retroactive effect that is made to counter what your plans are. like 3 mages with nothing but dispels and trueseeing guard the castle walls after you invis yourselves to sneak by.

Imo- somethings like traps, NPC spells, etc, should be planned prior to game time or prior to combat. Planning around PC abilities is great if you're planning to Highlight their strengths, display a weakness that they'll need to correct, or making sure they don't simply lay waste to your challenges.. but most other things aren't that fun.

and as others above have stated, fun is what it's about.