[/QUOTE="Jhaeman"]
Some DMs simply run stuff from modules and that can be fun, but the best ones go the extra mile to customize the game for the players by creating interesting and original elements.
I feel this can go both ways, especially in certain circumstances like society play. Society in fact calls out “do not make changes that can affect the final outcome” meaning make some dialogue for PCs to interact with and such but with adventure paths and modules, you have extra freedom, yes but unless you are playing rules that your players agreed to and specifically call out changing interactions such as enemy encounters, DO NOT change them. Making changes to these interactions by simply going “Why are they using this armor when they are protecting a chess with better armor? Let’s make them use that.” Does two things.
1) It changes the CR. CR is affected by creature gold assets. What you might think is a minor change (AC from 22 to 25) can be the deciding factor at times. And this could simply be by thinking what would they do in the real world.
2) Changes loot DESIGNED for the PCs to use. Using equipment that is single use only and that ain’t on the enemy’s stat screen is basically saying “I hate you guys so I’m purposely trying to kill you” and how is that fun?
[/QUOTE=“Jhaeman”]
This is also a great question to ask because it provides the DM with a non-confrontational way to let you know if you're doing something a bit annoying, like dominating role-playing time, min-maxing characters, fudging dice, etc
I feel this is a stab at some players you GM for. I understand some players are really into their role play and can end up overpowering less dominant voices players and no one likes fudged dice rolls because that takes the fun out of the game but complaining about min-maxing? I feel any GM who has used an octopus as “attack, grab, constrict, drop, repeat” has no right to complain about min-maxing. If a player resorts to this tactic, maybe you should look at yourself as a GM and gone “What did I do wrong?” Or compliment them on their thinking of that combination but if someone feels the only way they can play is with the most overpowered character they can possibly create with the tools on hand, they ain’t having fun and you need to find out why.
