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<blockquote data-quote="Schmoe" data-source="post: 179581" data-attributes="member: 913">Because the world is larger than the players.&nbsp; There are things in the world that have nothing to do with the characters, unless they choose to somehow involve themselves.The party only faces perilous danger if they choose to confront it.&nbsp; There is some responsibility on the DM's part to present the party with challenges they can overcome, but it by no means covers every challenge they might face.&nbsp; The best stories sprout from defeat, and that can't happen if the game is designed so that the party can defeat everything they come across when they come across it.For wilderness areas, I construct random encounter tables that have a range of encounter levels.&nbsp; Many encounters will be but a trivial threat to the party, but some will spell certain doom if the party chooses to stand and fight.&nbsp; It is up to the party to choose.&nbsp; I have a custom Knowledge skill (Knowledge, Zoology) that helps characters ascertain in-game whether an encounter is too much for them.When it comes time to create plots and adventures for the party, I usually have one or two plot hooks that are well beyond the party's current capabilities.&nbsp; I always drop hints as to the challenges they are likely to face, but then it is up to the party to choose where they want to go.For example, when my current party was still first level, they were trying to figure out a way to &quot;earn&quot; thousands of gold.&nbsp; They had four potential places to seek their fortune - Joven's Tower, an abaondoned keep periodically home to bandits; the caves along The Step bordering the Lonesome Wood, occupied by goblins and fae; the Scar Hills, home to orcs, where Reinhold Ragnarson made his fortune many decades prior; and hunting the bands of ogres that were raiding the local plains and had kidnapped the daughter of the local magistrate.&nbsp; If the party decided to go hunt ogres, well, that's what would happen.&nbsp; If a player later complained that I was out to kill the party, I would simply remind him that the decision lay with him.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Schmoe, post: 179581, member: 913"] Because the world is larger than the players. There are things in the world that have nothing to do with the characters, unless they choose to somehow involve themselves. The party only faces perilous danger if they choose to confront it. There is some responsibility on the DM's part to present the party with challenges they can overcome, but it by no means covers every challenge they might face. The best stories sprout from defeat, and that can't happen if the game is designed so that the party can defeat everything they come across when they come across it. For wilderness areas, I construct random encounter tables that have a range of encounter levels. Many encounters will be but a trivial threat to the party, but some will spell certain doom if the party chooses to stand and fight. It is up to the party to choose. I have a custom Knowledge skill (Knowledge, Zoology) that helps characters ascertain in-game whether an encounter is too much for them. When it comes time to create plots and adventures for the party, I usually have one or two plot hooks that are well beyond the party's current capabilities. I always drop hints as to the challenges they are likely to face, but then it is up to the party to choose where they want to go. For example, when my current party was still first level, they were trying to figure out a way to "earn" thousands of gold. They had four potential places to seek their fortune - Joven's Tower, an abaondoned keep periodically home to bandits; the caves along The Step bordering the Lonesome Wood, occupied by goblins and fae; the Scar Hills, home to orcs, where Reinhold Ragnarson made his fortune many decades prior; and hunting the bands of ogres that were raiding the local plains and had kidnapped the daughter of the local magistrate. If the party decided to go hunt ogres, well, that's what would happen. If a player later complained that I was out to kill the party, I would simply remind him that the decision lay with him. [/QUOTE]

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