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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3442226" data-attributes="member: 35788">I see and hear your point, with or without emphasis.  I just don't agree with it!  My problem isn't that I don't understand what you are saying ...Actually, it isn't that I disagree with it, either.  I think you are correct.  A PrC should be included only if it fits the world.  A PrC should be included only if the DM has thought about the power level and is willing to allow it.  I don't have any problems with that at all!However, in my experience I personally prefer DMs who are facilitators of the story - not storytellers themselves.  When I DM, I help create the world around the players.  I don't make the players conform to my expectations.  [Within limits, of course.  For example, I find the geomancer to be a rediculous class, IMO.  I don't think it is broken, but just a rediculous concept.]Yep.  And that's how I prefer to DM.  Strange, isn't it?  I don't let the players dictate the game, but I want them to go in directions they are interested in going in.  Then, I create a story around their hopes and dreams.  The difference between that and dictating is that I want them to help determine where the story goes.  They don't tell me ... I listen to their hopes and dreams and then find a creative way to make them (or part of them) come to life!Or, perhaps it is this:Players: We are Dread Pirates, you need to give us pirate adventures.DM: Just because you stole the Pharaoh's royal barge doesn't mean you are Dread Pirates - the vessel isn't sea-worthy and is not capable of operating on the high seas.  However, if you want to be dread pirates you are certainly welcome to stay on the barge.  I'll come up with some naval encounters and that'll give you some time and levels to begin to take more sailor oriented skill (assuming they survive).  Perhaps you might be able to make money through trading or piracy on the nile until you can afford a more sea-worthy craft.  But remember, since the majority of the campaign up until now has been spent in the desert ... there was no way for you guys to have had the opportunity to get the skill ranks in Profession (sailor), so you might want to hire a crew until you all can develop the ranks over a few levels.  But we can work that out (again, assuming they survive).  Just because we have been running an Egyptian-themed campaign with mummies and stuff, it makes sense that an occasional egyptian might need to know how to navigate waters - for things like trade and warfare.  So we can certainly take the campaign in that direction if you would like.Players: Great!  We met all the mechanical requirements and now we'll get to put them into practice in a way that makes sense from a roleplay perspective as well!    DM: Isn't it cool when flavor and mechanics work to come together to make an interesting campaign that the players and DM help generate out of sharing the dreams and hopes for their characters?Now, please don't see that as a snippy response to what you posted.  I didn't put that up there to be mean or rude.  I simply wanted to state how I could use about 90% of the same material (dread pirates, Pharoah's barge, skill checks, game mechanic requirements, roleplaying flavor) and come out with a scenario that allows the game to go in a direction the players want and is acceptable to me as the DM.I should also say that drastic changes in the campaign (such as this) cannot be handled well at the beginning or even the middle of a playing session.  To be fair to the DM, this conversation should take place at the end of the session where the players stole the Pharoah's barge.  That gives the DM time to adjust the campaign's direction without having to come up with a totally new direction on the fly.</blockquote>

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