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<blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 9049701" data-attributes="member: 6877472">Well not just theirs; I love telling wild fantasy stories, it's why I started to DM in the first place.&nbsp; But yeah, I mean, what else is there?&nbsp; Get into an arms race with my players?&nbsp; Constantly counter the things they think are fun in order to preserve some semblance of challenge when they have abilities to do end runs around just about anything I can think of?At high levels, characters should be able to pick and choose the challenges they want to tackle, and plan accordingly, not the other way around; they certainly have the tools to do so.Even in 4e, which was probably the best version of D&amp;D for me to run, where encounter design was a breeze, by level 21, the DM should just sit back and let the players take a victory lap.&nbsp; When I played in the Scales of War adventure path, by level 22, the DM couldn't stop us from winning. We once did a boss fight missing two party members.&nbsp; Not only that, but the boss was very powerful, and you had to perform skill checks to weaken it.&nbsp; Lacking the right skills, we failed all of them.&nbsp; And we still ended up winning!&nbsp; That was our last session, as the DM threw in the towel after that.The session before, we had to go up against a powerful ghost vampire that was incorporeal, and my Ranger spent his first turn turn making her stunned, dazed, slowed, prone, and removing her incorporeal status with my Ghost-Grinding Powder, and, having wrapped the boss up in a bow, proceeded to tell my party to do their worst.They did, and I didn't get a second turn.&nbsp; The DM admitted he'd forgotten I'd even had that magic item.So yeah, it's either tear out what little hair I have left, or sit back and enjoy the ride until the movie ends.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="James Gasik, post: 9049701, member: 6877472"] Well not just theirs; I love telling wild fantasy stories, it's why I started to DM in the first place. But yeah, I mean, what else is there? Get into an arms race with my players? Constantly counter the things they think are fun in order to preserve some semblance of challenge when they have abilities to do end runs around just about anything I can think of? At high levels, characters should be able to pick and choose the challenges they want to tackle, and plan accordingly, not the other way around; they certainly have the tools to do so. Even in 4e, which was probably the best version of D&D for me to run, where encounter design was a breeze, by level 21, the DM should just sit back and let the players take a victory lap. When I played in the Scales of War adventure path, by level 22, the DM couldn't stop us from winning. We once did a boss fight missing two party members. Not only that, but the boss was very powerful, and you had to perform skill checks to weaken it. Lacking the right skills, we failed all of them. And we still ended up winning! That was our last session, as the DM threw in the towel after that. The session before, we had to go up against a powerful ghost vampire that was incorporeal, and my Ranger spent his first turn turn making her stunned, dazed, slowed, prone, and removing her incorporeal status with my Ghost-Grinding Powder, and, having wrapped the boss up in a bow, proceeded to tell my party to do their worst. They did, and I didn't get a second turn. The DM admitted he'd forgotten I'd even had that magic item. So yeah, it's either tear out what little hair I have left, or sit back and enjoy the ride until the movie ends. [/QUOTE]

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