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<blockquote data-quote="Orius" data-source="post: 1328959" data-attributes="member: 8863">I have to say I fall on this side of the argument here.&nbsp; Characters should be balanced in regards to each other, so one character doesn't dominate.&nbsp; A bored player is a player that walks.&nbsp; Same thing with a pissed off player.&nbsp; If it's not fun, people will just go spend their free time doing something more enjoyableAnd as for &quot;campaign worlds&quot; and &quot;realism&quot;, there can be a fine line between verisimiltude and DMs throwing a power trip.&nbsp; I remember my first DM, he was a guy that had been playing for a long time, he had the original 1e hardcovers, and so on.&nbsp; When I first started playing, he talked how &quot;D&amp;D is like real life, if you play stupid you die,&quot; stuff like that.&nbsp; However, he was a killer-DM.&nbsp; I had a 1st character bumped off by an invisible stalker with no warning except for the fact that a breeze stirred nearby.&nbsp; This was a 2e game, and my character had the Weather Sense proficiency, so I used it.&nbsp; Then the stalker whacks him for 16 points of damage.&nbsp;&nbsp; Sure, in real life, people might get unexpectedly killed, but is it fun for the player to get killed by something random?&nbsp; No, they get pissed, and it's not a case of player whining.The way I see it, there's a difference between low level characters hearing about that big ass dragon tearing apart the countryside and trying to take it on, and the DM simply plopping a big ass dragon (or coked-up fire giant) in their path.&nbsp; You can put powerful stuff in there for the PCs to interact with in a non-combat way (Planescape, for example had a lot of that), but a DM who throws stuff like that at the characters simply for combat purposes is simply being abusive.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Orius, post: 1328959, member: 8863"] I have to say I fall on this side of the argument here. Characters should be balanced in regards to each other, so one character doesn't dominate. A bored player is a player that walks. Same thing with a pissed off player. If it's not fun, people will just go spend their free time doing something more enjoyable And as for "campaign worlds" and "realism", there can be a fine line between verisimiltude and DMs throwing a power trip. I remember my first DM, he was a guy that had been playing for a long time, he had the original 1e hardcovers, and so on. When I first started playing, he talked how "D&D is like real life, if you play stupid you die," stuff like that. However, he was a killer-DM. I had a 1st character bumped off by an invisible stalker with no warning except for the fact that a breeze stirred nearby. This was a 2e game, and my character had the Weather Sense proficiency, so I used it. Then the stalker whacks him for 16 points of damage. Sure, in real life, people might get unexpectedly killed, but is it fun for the player to get killed by something random? No, they get pissed, and it's not a case of player whining. The way I see it, there's a difference between low level characters hearing about that big ass dragon tearing apart the countryside and trying to take it on, and the DM simply plopping a big ass dragon (or coked-up fire giant) in their path. You can put powerful stuff in there for the PCs to interact with in a non-combat way (Planescape, for example had a lot of that), but a DM who throws stuff like that at the characters simply for combat purposes is simply being abusive. [/QUOTE]

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