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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ipissimus" data-source="post: 4175167" data-attributes="member: 41514">I don't really think that's precisely true, but you're on the right track. It's not really because anyone is a 'nerd', it's more due to the nature of the game.The greatest strength and the greatest weakness of the DnD game is the DM. The DM simultaneously makes the DnD game not a video game (where everything occurs according to the program's rules) but infuses it with uncertainty. Every moment where the DM has to eyeball something is the moment when your entire game could go down the tubes.The problem is consistency. Players want to interact with a world. Ideally, that world should feel like a living, breathing, moving sandbox that reacts in a generally predictable manner to the PC's actions. Once you have this solid basis, both the PCs and the DM can start throwing in curve balls with far less chance of breaking the game or suspension of disbelief.More fluff, like the ritual to become a Lich, isn't necessary but it's nice to have a guideline from which a DM can work. It can lead to a great moment when the PCs, investigating a wizard character, look at the list of spell components he's been buying recently and someone goes 'AHA! He's trying to become a Lich!' without any prompting. A far better moment than just happening to find 'Ye Tome of Darkynesse' in the local libabry that just happens to have the ritual spelled out or the Wizard saying 'Uh... I'll just roll Arcane'. It also helps when you get the odd players who sits down and says 'I'd like my Necromancer to become a Lich, how do I work towards that?' Sure, the DM can make stuff up but what if you've got a DM who's biassed against undead/a newbie/has had a bad day/is feeling tired and cranky (pick one or make up your own)?Good DMs let players do things proactively. All we need is the tools to be able to do it effectively. That's the major thing the designers, who live and breathe building the game and get paid for it, can give us.</blockquote>

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