Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 4712433" data-attributes="member: 3424">Jim, I find it ironic that on the one hand, you complain that the GM has too much work to do, and on the other hand you complain about one of the tools that could lighten the GM's workload. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> If the DM and the players approach wishlists in the right spirit, they can save the DM the time that he would have otherwise spent on picking magic items for the PCs. Of course, the counter to this would be your broader point that the DM shouldn't be entertaining the players, and hence, he shouldn't be picking magic items with the PCs in mind in the first place. Now, I do agree that the DM's job should be made as simple as possible, but I also believe that a pure sandbox-style campaign is only one of the possible solutions. A pre-made sandbox campaign product, among other things, relieves the DM of the need to create locations, monsters and NPCs, develop situations and adventures, and generate treasure and other rewards. If there is a sufficient level of comfort within the group, the DM could just as easily give the responsibility for any of the above to one or more of the players instead of relying on the sandbox product. Taking turns to DM is another way to make the workload more egalitarian, at least within a gaming group (this is my own group's preferred solution, by the way). As a group, we do expect that whoever is in the DM chair for the session has the responsibility to entertain the players, not necessarily by putting on a clown nose, performing antics or producing special effects, but by coming up with interesting situations and challenges for the PCs to tackle. However, we also recognize that we should do the same when it's our turn to DM.</blockquote>

Verification