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<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 9159569" data-attributes="member: 52734">For one, don't let them know you're improving.&nbsp; It's all in your notes, and no they can't see the DM's notes.&nbsp; In the past, I have changed monster HP (up or down), created environmental effects, spells, attacks and whatnot that are not in my notes and at the spur of the moment because they created an interesting moment.&nbsp; Overall, I do it rarely.&nbsp; I just don't tell or hint to the players that I did this, and I never try to do it in a malicious way.&nbsp;&nbsp; D&amp;D cannot account for everything, and sometimes as a DM you have a last minute moment of inspiration or realization that something needs to be tweaked to fit the situation - as apparently you did with the potion.If they complain, just remind them that when you created that orc from scratch, you didn't specify their treasure.&nbsp;&nbsp; After the 3rd encounter or so where they don't get any treasure because you didn't specify it beforehand, they'll get the hint.In the end, the primary thing is that the players want to feel the DM is being impartial, and that their choices matter.&nbsp;&nbsp; This seems to be a case that they don't trust you and believe you are changing things (for dramatic effect) at a whim.&nbsp; You are clearly inventing things as you go, hopefully to create a better game experience, but you have to do it in a subtle manner or the players are likely to think you are being arbitrary and their choices/actions are being subsumed because you'll just &quot;fix it&quot;, even if that isn't your intent.In the case of the orc, you could have simply given the orc more HP instead of having him quaff a potion, to the same effect.&nbsp;&nbsp; They probably didn't trust that action because if the orc had died or not otherwise used the potion, it's unlikely the party would have found said potion on the orc's body if they looted it - as it was a spur of the moment creation, and it did not favor the players in its use or as treasure they could not have possibly received later.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 9159569, member: 52734"] For one, don't let them know you're improving. It's all in your notes, and no they can't see the DM's notes. In the past, I have changed monster HP (up or down), created environmental effects, spells, attacks and whatnot that are not in my notes and at the spur of the moment because they created an interesting moment. Overall, I do it rarely. I just don't tell or hint to the players that I did this, and I never try to do it in a malicious way. D&D cannot account for everything, and sometimes as a DM you have a last minute moment of inspiration or realization that something needs to be tweaked to fit the situation - as apparently you did with the potion. If they complain, just remind them that when you created that orc from scratch, you didn't specify their treasure. After the 3rd encounter or so where they don't get any treasure because you didn't specify it beforehand, they'll get the hint. In the end, the primary thing is that the players want to feel the DM is being impartial, and that their choices matter. This seems to be a case that they don't trust you and believe you are changing things (for dramatic effect) at a whim. You are clearly inventing things as you go, hopefully to create a better game experience, but you have to do it in a subtle manner or the players are likely to think you are being arbitrary and their choices/actions are being subsumed because you'll just "fix it", even if that isn't your intent. In the case of the orc, you could have simply given the orc more HP instead of having him quaff a potion, to the same effect. They probably didn't trust that action because if the orc had died or not otherwise used the potion, it's unlikely the party would have found said potion on the orc's body if they looted it - as it was a spur of the moment creation, and it did not favor the players in its use or as treasure they could not have possibly received later. [/QUOTE]

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