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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pickin_grinnin" data-source="post: 6293632" data-attributes="member: 6697674">I think we have a fundamental difference in how we're conceiving of games and campaigns.Combat and physical challenges are only a portion of any game I run, no matter who is playing or how their characters are designed.  Just as much of it is pure roleplaying, figuring out mysteries, working through social issues with NPCs, strategizing, and other things that require more thinking than muscle or magic.  When a player shows some genuine effort to roleplay his/her character (of any class or power level), I'm going to spend some time encouraging and rewarding that behavior.  I don't take the stance that combat and getting treasure is the central thing, and everything else just leads up to that.  It's all important, and not every course of action necessarily ends in fighting or wealth.I go into a game (and even a long campaign) with a general outline of people, places, events, monsters, etc., but it's only a loose sketch.  I ad-lib and improvise a lot as we go along.  I don't design linear adventures that must be followed step-by-step to finish.  The characters start in a particular time and place with all sorts of things happening around them (near and far), and pursue whatever catches their interest.  It's a bit like a sandbox environment, but most players choose to go where the action is, and I make sure they know where opportunities for adventures exist.  If they hear about a war in one kingdom and a monster in the hills killing strangers and trouble with pirates down to the south, they will generally go to check one of those things out.  Whichever route they take, I have things prepared.  If they decide one thing isn't worth it and switch their focus to another, so be it.  I keep enough stuff prepared to give them the ability to find some sort of adventure anywhere they look.Any adventuring party in my campaigns will come up against things that are real challenges for them.  Those challenges may differ according to the levels of the characters, the mix of classes being used, etc.  No matter how powerful the characters are, they are going to face challenges that they may not defeat, because overcoming challenges is part of the fun of playing.  It's not that I have to alter my game to give everybody a chance to shine.  Every game and campaign I run is automatically going to be designed that way, because that's a fundamental part of the way I run them.</blockquote>

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