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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 2179716" data-attributes="member: 8835">I'd say I don't DM the way Dyal does.I write a general plot outline of what I want to happen in the adventure.  I double-check it to see if it is reasonable (ie. are the players likely to follow it, given logical outcomes and reactions).  I'll also plan some contingencies, for spots where there are obvious choices.  In short, I'm pretty sure the party will advance from Room A to Room B.  I'm not sure if they'll attack the friendly ogre mage in the beginning of the adventure, so I plan accordingly.The result is this:If I plan poorly, I'll have to wing it as the players enter new territory or I'll see what I can recycle from my plan.If the players make the same choices I predicted, then they get a richer presentation of their story, because I was prepared for it with locations, and dialogue.If I were to simply outline the basic land and NPCs, and let the players wander willy nilly, I actually risk creating a non-story.  A complex plot requires planning to make it consistent and intriguing.  I don't think I could do that in the style that Dyal suggests.  Naturally, by doing it my way, I run the risk of being a "railroad DM" or ending up totally unprepared when the players go left, and not right.But, as Dyal also admits, each DM has a preference and style.  Ultimately, the players won't know or care, as long as they feel like their choices are their own.  So regardless of method used, the players have to feel that they are in control.  Thus far, I've been guessing right, and anticipating their decisions.Now to the question of the original post?I don't always follow the rules in defining an NPC, item or special effect.  The players can't see my notes, so it doesn't matter how something works, as long as it is "reasonable".  This makes for faster NPC design, as I don't always go through a full NPC definition (which is what many DM's complain about having to do for 3.x).I don't disallow a legal action during the game.  If the rules allow it, then your PC can do it.  I won't disallow the action, just because it foils my plan.I reserve the right to fudge the NPC's rolls when it serves the game or plot.  If my plan is to have the NPC fight for a bit, then run away, then I'll try to get him to run away.  He certainly won't be foiled by a silly jump check or something.  Conversely, when the PCs are actively preventing this, then the dice take over again.Case in point, my last adventure.  The main NPC was an Ogre mage who was REALLY evil.  The party had to seek him out for information on a PC's sword.  The paladin of the group went blind in the bad guy's presence.  I had decided this while writing the adventure, as a special feature of the bad guy, overloading the paladin's Detect Evil.  In short, it worked differently than the RAW.  There was no combat involved with the NPC (and the blindness almost ensured it).  Continued exposure to the NPC burnt out the ability (and the paladin's normal sight returned, sans Detect Evil).  By the RAW, this broke the rules.  In discussion with the player before the game, we both agreed that I could cripple his Detect Evil, since it got in the way of some of my plans for future games.  Now as a DM, I could have done lots of different things without touching the Detect Evil.  But it was a special effect that changed the PC.  Later, I may give Detect Evil back, or give him a replacement power (he's owed a replacement for Summon Mount, which never gets used on a sailing campaign).  The reason he lost it, may not even be the reason his character was told, even.  But it made for a good story.Conversely, that adventure led to results I had not planned (but sufficiently reacted to).  The paladin refused to help the other PCs go on a job for the NPC.  Later, the Paladin resigned/asked for transfer.  This led to further adjustments in my plan.  So the PCs have definite effects on my game, but I tell a story and morph it to the PCs.</blockquote>

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