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<blockquote data-quote="Dannager" data-source="post: 4947951" data-attributes="member: 73683">Yes, we do.The DM in question gave the party a sheet of paper that is critical to the plot.&nbsp; They can't read it, because it's in secret-language-X-that-PCs-can't-know.&nbsp; This is a terrible, unprotected plot device.&nbsp; The DM could have done any number of interesting things with it to make it unreadable, but all he did was change the language.&nbsp; This can be foiled by any number of reasonably easy-to-come-by methods, including (but not limited to) magic items and rituals.&nbsp; The PCs, of course, easily foiled this plot device.&nbsp; The DM a) should have known this was coming, b) should have rolled with it, and c) should have reacted reasonably to the situation.&nbsp; He didn't do any of these things.&nbsp; Instead, he got upset that the game provides ways for the PCs to solve trivial &quot;puzzles&quot; like this, and knee-jerk banned everything from the Adventurer's Vault (again, ignoring that the truly economical way to read the paper would be to cast a level 1 ritual).This is like eight different warning flags of control freak.&nbsp; He felt the plot jerk out of control for a brief moment, panicked (probably because he hates not being in control), and instead of adjusting the plot to account for the PCs' actions simply banned an entire book (which, in turn, allows him to reassure himself that he's in control of the campaign).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dannager, post: 4947951, member: 73683"] Yes, we do. The DM in question gave the party a sheet of paper that is critical to the plot. They can't read it, because it's in secret-language-X-that-PCs-can't-know. This is a terrible, unprotected plot device. The DM could have done any number of interesting things with it to make it unreadable, but all he did was change the language. This can be foiled by [I]any number[/I] of reasonably easy-to-come-by methods, including (but not limited to) magic items and rituals. The PCs, of course, easily foiled this plot device. The DM a) should have known this was coming, b) should have rolled with it, and c) should have reacted reasonably to the situation. He didn't do any of these things. Instead, he got upset that the game provides ways for the PCs to solve trivial "puzzles" like this, and knee-jerk banned everything from the Adventurer's Vault (again, ignoring that the truly economical way to read the paper would be to cast a level 1 ritual). This is like eight different warning flags of control freak. He felt the plot jerk out of control for a brief moment, panicked (probably because he hates not being in control), and instead of adjusting the plot to account for the PCs' actions simply banned an entire book (which, in turn, allows him to reassure himself that he's in control of the campaign). [/QUOTE]

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