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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shiroiken" data-source="post: 8398792" data-attributes="member: 6775477">Adversarial has taken a negative connotation over the years, and I feel it's undeserved. It's a style of game that some people enjoy, including players. An adversarial DM is one who takes greater focus on the "game" part of RPG. The DM designs devious challenges, always with a chance of success, which the players must overcome (often by outwitting the DM). The movie "Escape Room" is a perfect example of an adventure designed by an adversarial DM.Not all adversarial DMs are bad, but it's very, very easy to become one. A good adversarial DM not only ensures the possibility of success, but acts impartial during the actual running of the game. A great example of this is the Tomb of Horrors, which was originally designed specifically to kill Lord Robilar, who managed to succeed instead. A lot of the earliest adventures were designed this way, with a general setup that isn't balanced specifically to the party, but rather to force them to outwit (outplay) the enemy instead.I consider myself an adversarial DM. I setup the challenges, not necessarily "balanced" by game assumptions, then force the players to try and solve the problem. During design I might be vicious and evil, but during play I let the dice fall as they may. I used to fudge dice and use dues ex machina to force things to a specific outcome, but this isn't being fair IMO (making me a bad DM). I often joke about delighting in the player's failure, and they consider me a "killer DM." Not because I go out of my way to kill them, but because I will do so with impunity. When the players succeed, they know it's untainted by DM fiat. Sometimes it's because of their characters, sometimes luck of the dice, and sometime simply because they outwit me (I postulate that if I come up with 100 different possible outcomes, any particular group will find the 101st outcome).</blockquote>

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