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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Urbannen" data-source="post: 401637" data-attributes="member: 7643">I know players questioning DMs is a problem because I'm one of those that questions DMs.  I've observed that this type of thing is especially rampant in 3E because the rules are so very complex and extensive.  In 2E, there weren't rules for every circumstance.  Thus, it was acceptable and advisable for DMs to come up with their own rules a lot, and players had less opportunity to rules-lawyer.  It is almost impossible to truly master the 3E rules, so if a DM makes a gaffe, it's understandable.   I am a Type One personality if you are familiar with the Enneagram personality types, as I suspect is Celebrim.  I'm a perfectionist, and will point out every rule that hurts me, just as sure as I'll point out all the rules that hurt anybody else.  When I DM, I don't paint myself as the rules king - I try to be consistent and set out expectations at the beginning.  I try to compromise with players, when possible, although I hate players that are attached to the notion that their character can never lose (I play things evenhandedly, and characters can go from winning to losing in a heartbeat). When I question a DMs decision about an NPC's actions, it's usually because I question the DM's competence, honestly.  It's a bad habit.  I also hate it when DMs act like they are giving you a choice, when you don't actually have a choice, because their stories have "plots" that you have to follow.  Also dislike it when an entire "planned" encounter hinges on making a certain skill roll with, say, a DC of 25 or something.  DC 25 is hard (do the math - a +10 skill bonus gives you a 30% chance), and if a DM just assumes someone in the party will surely make that Spot DC 25, I question his competency.    If players keep questioning the use of Sunder, etc., they for one are explicitly questioning the DMs competence.  Two, they are shocked since what the DM is doing falls outside their "expectations" for what happens during a game.  Everyone knows that monsters attack, you kill monsters, you take their stuff.  Monsters keep attacking until you kill them.  Monsters don't attack your weapons - that's crazy!  And your magic items become part of your personal identity, like Green Lantern's ring or Wonder Woman's magic lasso - they never get taken away, or if they do, it's a special occasion, and they are inevitably returned.*In almost all cases, players aren't challenged enough to actually have to use tactics themselves, so they get defensive when a monster actually uses them. *And in 3E, it is hard to really exploit all of an NPC's or monster's tactical potential - there are so many possibilities because of feats.</blockquote>

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