A Dungeon Master is frustrated with a quirk of his fellow Game Masters that he simply has to vent about: Instead of taking away the hard-earned power of their players in Dungeons & Dragons, they should first work on themselves.
What does the Game Master criticize? The Game Master and Reddit user SomeGuyIOnceMet is upset about a specific action of other Dungeon Masters that frustrates him not only, but he also cannot understand: Artificial excuses for why characters cannot or should not use their abilities.
As an example, he takes teleportation, whether through spells or powerful items. This would allow some high-level groups to skip a large part of a prepared dungeon if they wanted to. Instead of coming up with a way to clumsily block teleportation, as suggested by other Dungeon Masters, he clearly states No
. If they want to use one of their precious high-level spell slots to bypass a trap or even jump directly to the boss monster, they can do that.
Players should not be held back at all costs to keep adventures exciting. Instead, he has a message for DMs who want to solve the excuse problem: “Write better stories.”
Better planning instead of “artificial nonsense”
How should Game Masters handle their powerful players instead? The author of the post emphasizes that adventures should be tailored to the power of the players rather than adjusting the players’ abilities to the adventure. Especially not when there is no sensible reason why a player’s action suddenly doesn’t work anymore.
“Characters of level 12 are a threat to evil kingdoms; they should not experience the same adventures as lower-level characters. Forcing them to play like lower-level characters with more hit points is boring,” explains the Game Master. “If you want them to be in danger from pit traps and slowly move through mystical forests, then write your adventures for lower-level characters. The high-level heroes have better things to do and more important things to accomplish.”
What should not be forgotten? Even though many other Dungeon Masters agree with the Game Master, they also emphasize an important thing that should not be forgotten: Game Masters are a part of the table and just as much a player as the other participants, who should and must have fun.
In a planned encounter with a full dungeon, traps, and enemies, it is a shame if all the work can be skipped with a spell. A simple teleport to the boss would be anticlimactic and just plain – boring.
For this reason, not only should the DM bear the responsibility as a crucial fun factor, but also the behavior of the players. Therefore, the same rules should apply for both sides of the DM screen:
If an adventuring party can teleport to the enemy or can run away just as fast – then a powerful BBEG can do that too.
How do you feel about the opinion of the Game Master? Would you consider giving your Game Master the right to nerf your power to create more excitement?
A rule of the game to keep even powerful spells in check are components. And they can really get expensive. Here we have listed the 10 most expensive spells from Dungeons & Dragons that could really make you poor: Dungeons & Dragons: The 10 most expensive spells with the most valuable components in ranking
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