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The Neutral Referee, Monty Haul, and the Killer DM: History of the GM and Application to 5e
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<blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 8707804" data-attributes="member: 2209"><p>I disagree.</p><p></p><p>When improvising opposition doing it with a thumb on the scale in favor of PCs is not neutral. Doing it with a thumb on the scale of the NPC side is not being neutral. Doing it based on what seems reasonable for the situation or inspiration that hits at the moment is neutral refereeing in an unexpected opposition situation can be neutral.</p><p></p><p>"I stab the king with my dinner knife." is something a PC might unexpectedly do where a DM was not expecting it and they have to come up with the opposition in the moment. Grabbing some appropriate stats for the king and his nearby guard and going with those seems a neutral reasonable way to handle it. Thinking about scene relevant oddball options (the King generally has a good until used one shot 1e stoneskin spell cast on him by his court wizard, or maybe the king is secretly a polymorphed dragon or a doppelganger) also seems fair game for neutral DMing unless it is done to benefit or punish the PCs.</p><p></p><p>The king might have 4 hp, they might be an ancient polymorphed dragon with lots of hp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Voadam, post: 8707804, member: 2209"] I disagree. When improvising opposition doing it with a thumb on the scale in favor of PCs is not neutral. Doing it with a thumb on the scale of the NPC side is not being neutral. Doing it based on what seems reasonable for the situation or inspiration that hits at the moment is neutral refereeing in an unexpected opposition situation can be neutral. "I stab the king with my dinner knife." is something a PC might unexpectedly do where a DM was not expecting it and they have to come up with the opposition in the moment. Grabbing some appropriate stats for the king and his nearby guard and going with those seems a neutral reasonable way to handle it. Thinking about scene relevant oddball options (the King generally has a good until used one shot 1e stoneskin spell cast on him by his court wizard, or maybe the king is secretly a polymorphed dragon or a doppelganger) also seems fair game for neutral DMing unless it is done to benefit or punish the PCs. The king might have 4 hp, they might be an ancient polymorphed dragon with lots of hp. [/QUOTE]
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The Neutral Referee, Monty Haul, and the Killer DM: History of the GM and Application to 5e
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