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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 9824986" data-attributes="member: 7635">I think you are trying to redefine what is being discussed. Adversarial is not a play style. You are describing old school dungeon hack where the DM is taking on the primary role of challenging the players, but within the boundaries of fairness. The DM gives the players no favor, but isn't trying to win either. He is creating difficult challenges and letting the chips fall where they may. [USER=13892]@jdrakeh[/USER] is describing a DM who is trying to show superiority over his players. There is no neutral rules arbiter element to his play, he is looking to use the rules and his role as authority as tools to "beating" the other players. And a lot of old RPGs used language that could be considered as supporting this style of play even if they didn't mean it. Stuff like a DM having to watch the power level of players to keep game balance gets bent into "ban anything that gives a player an edge". And unfortunately, the community is built on decades of toxic people using GM as final arbiter to justify their toxicity.</blockquote>