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Nov 11, 2011 -- 3:07PM, Maxperson wrote:

Nov 11, 2011 -- 2:12PM, YronimosW wrote:

Nov 11, 2011 -- 1:44PM, Vellis wrote:

I think the most impressive thing about this topic is that we've reached 46 pages of rather spirited debate without being locked.  I salute you all =p

And, what on EARTH happened to xTimmyx, anyway?  Did his players stone him into silence by tossing dice at him? 

Don't know.  But when an OP posts something contentious and then vanishes for so long of a period of time, I begin to doubt the validity of the substance of that post.  Invented or not, it still resulted in a fun debate.

He didn't vanish, he chose not to invest more in the "What's a DM to do?" threads, as he received (spread over several threads) what seemed to him as a disproportionate amount of hostility compared to what he actually did wrong.
I've bolded the more relevant parts below.

Oct 27, 2011 -- 2:14PM, xTimmyx wrote:

i'm not an alias.  i'm considering not even posting the DM threads anymore.  cuz what ever i say will just come out in a stupid unexperienced way of dealing with things. 

in my own defence, I DID NOT plan for a TPK.   the wizard that had his alignment turned to LE was affected by a symbol of persuasion casted by the pit fiend and i was going by the MODULE that was provided (lord of the iron fortress).   Also in my own defence, i knew that the party was going to be wiped and i even fudged the duration of the spell affected on the wizard. and turned the tables on the pit fiend that casted the spell.  

as an end result the party was glad that they could continue the rest of the campaign, mind you the cleric and fighter that was killed by the wizard wasnt too happy (in game).  

my point being was that i just find it kinda funny that my group of players were acting childish and couldnt handle the matter of the fact that this is a game that anything can happen.  

THEY KNEW from the start of playing from 1st level that i would be playing the monsters to their full extent and they would have to play their characters the same way, in terms of tactics, RPing, battles.

If i knew that in some way the battle was turning ill in some sort of way, sure i'll fudge spell durations and dice to play more advantagous to the party.

I feel noobish when it comes to DMing, sure all of you are experienced DMs and that you have 10+yrs in DMing, but someone like me who has only DMed 2yrs and a lil bit shouldnt be treated less than a more experienced DM.  

i dont appreciate the flame wars being pressed upon me.   Everyone makes mistakes.....everyone started out as a noob.   please treat everyone as equals!  

I'd like to point out something that is a very large and ugly point on which this entire argument has arisen, and is pretty much the entire basis for "interesting outcome versus sticking to your guns."

Now, I normally only have so much time to prepare for a D&D session. I might have an overarcing idea for a campaign, but each adventure is often planned for the current plot or point of interest the PCs are deciiding to go next, or are being led into through careful use of hooks. But the important thing here is, usually it's just ONE option that's fully available at a time. if the players push in a complete opposite direction from their course of action suddenly, they'll find themselves often with much lacking  to their new adventure, at least until I've had some prep time.

I don't think this is different with most DMs. And likewise, this is something the players  know too. It's always best to go into some form of the direction the DM planned for because everything will usually be better. It's not RPGA super strict on rails, and likewise shaping the world behind the screen actively is an important part to be able to keep the players involved with things that matter to them, because they matter to the characters. (their decisions are meaningful)

When you mention a level-inappropriate dragon's lair that sounds exciting, and nothing else initially that grabs at the attention of the players, where the heck do you expect them to go? So many video games and DMing from using published modules and adventure paths to most own Dm made adventures often don't mess around with getting the players where they want to be, and are generally straightforward where the action and literaly, fun is to be found.

(This part I hope maxperson reads) Now, that doesn't mean you can't toss out crunchy bits of other possible activities to come in a grand arc, but you do need to explain beforehand that not everything you talk about is supposed to be addressed immediately with the characters and that some things are ideas for later on adventures. Likewise that gives you a chance to recieve input from players so you can make those future advetnures more focused and interesting to those characters in both visible and subtle ways.  You should volunteer information like that these situations the players encounter to help them evaluate it fairly too, not making them risk their characters just to feel out a situation that may comletely outclass them and make it too late to choose wisely.

The point of the always-dangerous chances of the past  and aged adventures were placed on the idea that the players and the DM would be on the same level at every step of the way, and this is rarely the case.

Traps also do not all require money to set up.  They can be built or made via magic.  You really need to read the thread before posting things like this.

Unless he's going to use a rope tied to a tree, yeah they're going to cost money in 4th edition Regular powers don't work past the end of the encounter, any self-sustaining trap is a Ritual and those have a component cost.

Anyway ^^ I'm mostly just messing around. I'd never introduce a dragon as lame and unmajestic as Max's dragon. If I want a creature that inspires that kind of feeling, there's hundreds of animal level intelligence creature that fit the bill far better.