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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 6150334" data-attributes="member: 8461">You're right that those games aren't "inherently flawed" in terms of any qualitative value judgment.However, when you consciously and knowingly pick a style of play that skews with some element of balance - such as by presuming a campaign world where the PCs have abilities and tactics that are unique (or extremely rare), or otherwise have powers and abilities that most NPCs won't know about or be able to defend against - and then find that (some of the) PCs are overly powerful, to the point where they're not threatened by your encounters and/or are overshadowing the other PCs...then there is an inherent flaw. If you create a self-fulfilling prophecy, it's hard for others to be sympathetic when it becomes fulfilled.No. I have to protest this; Greyhawk is plenty full of high-level villains, it just doesn't keep shining a spotlight on them the way the Forgotten Realms does.Iuz. Iggwilv. Eli Tomorast. Eclavdra. Warduke. Dragotha. Rary of Ket. Diraq Malcinex, the Heart of Vecna. Thessalar. Tuerny the Merciless. Lord Robilar. The Fiend-Sage of Rel Astra. St. Kargoth the Betrayer. These are just off the top of my head, and that's without even getting into other power groups like the Horned Society, the Scarlet Brotherhood, and the Boneheart/Boneshadow, all of which have operatives ranging from low levels to high. And that's without even factoring in the good (and neutral) guys.I'm sorry, but only someone who doesn't know Greyhawk very well would say that it has a paucity of high-level characters.See above; that's not a given.Yes, and that's fine in some circumstances. No one is suggesting that all enemies undertake preemptive defenses or after-the-fact retaliation; sometimes you will find enemies that are simply unprepared, are unintelligent, are unable to respond, or are simply made of environmental challenges. But these are the exceptions (which allow the spellcasters their chance to shine), rather than the rule.Again, you can elect to make such encounters the norm if you want, eschewing any enemies that have a chance to anticipate and adapt to tactics, let alone retaliate, but if you do so it's somewhat disingenuous to complain that your spellcasters keep stealing the spotlight.Leaving aside your own previous statement about no particular play-style having inherent flaws, this is fun because it's presumed that the PCs will anticipate this, and make their own adjustments accordingly when in a defensive position (e.g. when camping for the evening). That means they'll have to not only set aside resources beforehand, but also adjust their strategies to try and pursue tactics that discourage this sort of retaliation in the first place...and just like that, people are strategically planning in-character.Not to mention, enemy casters can pretty well be expected to nova in your typical kick-in-the-door session of play - they have invaders running about the place, intent on killing everyone, so why would they hold back anyway? Ironically, they'll be more inclined not to nova if they think that they can escape (or bargain, or surrender and be treated humanely, etc.), so that they can keep some resources in reserve and seize an opportunity that will arrive later, since they'll be alive later to seize it. Hence, this style of play can help to avoid a TPK.</blockquote>

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