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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kikuras" data-source="post: 6534784" data-attributes="member: 6790771">I agree it's an unreasonable expectation.  The question was never whether or not a DM should deviate from printed material, the question was whether or not it's appropriate for the DM to deviate from printed material when he is unaware of what those changes actually mean and how they translate in terms of game mechanics.Very well described.  I would think most DMs could figure this out within the first few weeks of playing, it only took me a couple of hours (reading through the books, reading some reviews, and checking forums).  Of course he can always do what he wants, because he is DM, that seems to be the consensus.The party isn't really underpowered, we have a monk instead of a rogue, but otherwise the characters function as they should.  And I will admit that some of the magic items supplied by the DM did play roles in staving off a TPK in the last big encounter.  The monk's spear doing 2d8.  The 3rd-level wizard being able to pinch off a couple of Fireballs and a couple of free Witch Bolts.  The Fighters shield which grants +6 to AC against ranged attacks.  Yeah, we survived, but it was messy and illogical.  I would have rather not had the magic items, and a slightly more balanced battle.As a rule I don't count avoidable encounters as anything the DM does, but rather it's a PC option, and death or loss is on them.  The above mentioned battle was an ambush on the road to the linear destination (Tower of the Heavens) given by the DM.  And seeing as we have never battled ogres, nor trolls, and looking them up beforehand/during battle is even worse than module peeking, fleeing was not a logical option.See above comments.  It was mostly a free-form combat, where using terrain and tactics can be difficult, and require cooperation from the DM.  AoOs were essentially out unless we asked for them, and seeing as we had no idea where we were in relation to each other, it was hard to know when to ask.  And again, no idea how difficult any of these opponents were in relation to our own abilities.  It's not until the wizard has been down to 0 three times, the Sorcerer two, and the cleric running out of healing resources that you start to think to yourself, "this was a bad idea."  The theory of "you lived, who cares" carries weight in this discussion, however it's a combination of smaller related issues that bothers me.</blockquote>

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