If you are building a character and spending two feats in the process of specializing in one thing, I think you ought to be really good at that one thing. If I were your DM, I would address the issue by varying the kinds of enemies you face rather than limiting your ability to do the things you built your character around.
Exactly. A PAM Sentinel fighter is only OP if the DM keeps throwing hordes of melee enemies against them.
Throw in some ranged and spellcasters and the fighter begins to fall behind - especially if you throw a strong melee unit at them to keep them occupied while the ranged turn them into a pin cushion.
Exactly. A PAM Sentinel fighter is only OP if the DM keeps throwing hordes of melee enemies against them.
Throw in some ranged and spellcasters and the fighter begins to fall behind - especially if you throw a strong melee unit at them to keep them occupied while the ranged turn them into a pin cushion.
I agree. Spending two feats in order to get that ability is a fair cost. Plus, the DM has some VERY simple ways of dealing with it in their encounter-building strategy.
* Make sure there are some enemies with ranged attacks
* Enemies who can teleport next to you and attack, like Shadow Monks or anyone capable of casting Misty Step. Also, and I can't BELIEVE I'm about to suggest these creatures given how much I hate fighting them, Phase Spiders.
* Enemies who also have Reach. Besides just giving the bad guys their own polearms, there are many monsters that have attacks with 10' or more reach. Does he nerf THEIR attacks when they go after someone 5' away too?
* And let's not forget one very simple aspect to all this. You as the PAM+Sentinel uber-warrior still only get one reaction a round. So while the first sword-wielding enemy might get stopped at 10' by your opportunity attack, the second & third guy can just waltz right up to you and swing.
Every party is eventually going to have one or more people who are really really good at certain very specific things. The solution for the DM is not to nerf those abilities, it's to get more creative with the encounters so that they won't always be able to make full use of those abilities. Vary the challenges, make them think about new ways of being effective so they aren't one-trick ponies, and then when they ARE able to do their super-cool trick like the PAM+Sentinel lockdown, they'll enjoy it even more.
Talk to your dm about making it so you can attack at five feet but it gives you disadvantage. That way you can at least attack without having be attacked for moving back first.
But honestly I wouldn’t bother using a pole arm in that game and would prob look into finding a better dm to play with. All he did was make polearms useless in his game because he doesn’t know how to balance encounters around the party’s make up.
Or if your really must use a pole arm and play with that dm it is quite simple. Change your tactics. Don’t be the member of your party that engages but instead acts as a melee support.
For instance let a barbarian or fighter engage the enemy first. Then move up to the already engaged fight from 10 feet away and attack. The already engaged character would keep the enemy occupied and should be resilient to move towards you because they would take a attack of opportunity to engage you instead. But this isn’t easy because you have to position very carefully and your dm seems like one that would just keep changing rulings to fit his narrative of he doesn’t want polearms in his games.
My recommendation though is dont join games this dm makes anymore because he is showing signs of he thinks it’s the party vs him instead of what he should be doing.
I discussed this with our DM last night on discord. He says that it's the sentinel "lock down" ability after the PAM opp attack that is the big issue...and he may be right. I suggested to him, as a compromise, that we simply allow polearm to attack at 5ft, but don't allow the "lock down" on the PAM opp attack...or maybe just remove the PAM opp attack. After all...the lock down is intended (as I understand it) to prevent foes from running away from you, or to keep them focused on you rather than on your allies. The lock down from PAM does not seem to fit this. Anyway, I'm waiting to hear back from him.
The PAM sentinel lock doesn't prevent enemies 10' away from moving 5' closer. PAM sentinel requires you to move back 5 feet to reset it (plus it takes 2 feats).
The DM's solution to this combo that wasnt even being used, was to make pole arms unable to attack at 5 feet. Not only is that irrelevant to the combo, but now you get opportunity attacks on enemies that try to get closer, so you can lock them at 10 feet with only sentinel and not have to reset.
That is like trying to blow out a candle with propane.
Well, the update is this....I talked with our DM today during our session, and he agreed to allow the polearm to attack at 5ft, but that the PAM opportunity attack could not freeze a foe's movement. It's still a bit of a nerf, but it's one I can work with.
Personally, I don't feel that rendering a for temporarily unable to attack you is that strange or uncommon, but I guess it really troubled him because he has seen it abused in certain encounters.
Anyway, I'm happy with the way it turned out. I also really appreciate and enjoyed learning from all the responses.
I discussed this with our DM last night on discord. He says that it's the sentinel "lock down" ability after the PAM opp attack that is the big issue...and he may be right. I suggested to him, as a compromise, that we simply allow polearm to attack at 5ft, but don't allow the "lock down" on the PAM opp attack...or maybe just remove the PAM opp attack. After all...the lock down is intended (as I understand it) to prevent foes from running away from you, or to keep them focused on you rather than on your allies. The lock down from PAM does not seem to fit this. Anyway, I'm waiting to hear back from him.
The PAM sentinel lock doesn't prevent enemies 10' away from moving 5' closer. PAM sentinel requires you to move back 5 feet to reset it (plus it takes 2 feats).
The DM's solution to this combo that wasnt even being used, was to make pole arms unable to attack at 5 feet. Not only is that irrelevant to the combo, but now you get opportunity attacks on enemies that try to get closer, so you can lock them at 10 feet with only sentinel and not have to reset.
That is like trying to blow out a candle with propane.
PAM doesn't let you make a lockdown opportunity attack when they move from 10' to 5', but it does stop them when they enter that 10' circle. I still think the DM is addressing a perceived problem the wrong way, though.
Someday I swear, I'm going to build a polearm Fighter with PAM, Sentinel AND GWM :)
I think they meant that if the player can’t attack at 5ft range then technically anyone moving from 10 to 5 is leaving your reach and would provoke a normal opportunity attack - in the same way someone moving 10-15 would.
With Sentinel you could lock them at 10ft that way.
This is why banning something is a bad idea. It will usually have unexpected consequences. Just learn the build’s weaknesses and exploit them more often.
I also see this as a bit of an overreaction by your DM. Stacked with Sentinel, it is only one attack and it uses your one reaction. It is only stopping one creature if they enter the 10ft range, or one creature if it tries to move out of your range. You do not have unlimited reactions, just the one. So it is really not unbalanced, since it is part of a feat which is costing you an ASI. And by the way, when you use this, creatures engaged with you actually have more freedom of movement, because they can move within 10 feet around you and not leave your range to instigate the Attack of Opportunity. DM could have savvy enemies exploit this.
I think they meant that if the player can’t attack at 5ft range then technically anyone moving from 10 to 5 is leaving your reach and would provoke a normal opportunity attack - in the same way someone moving 10-15 would.
With Sentinel you could lock them at 10ft that way.
This is why banning something is a bad idea. It will usually have unexpected consequences. Just learn the build’s weaknesses and exploit them more often.
That would be correct. If you no longer threaten the 5' radius, then moving from 10'->5' provokes an AoO. Further, even without PAM, a creature moving from 5'->10' also provokes an AoO as they would be leaving the player's unarmed strike reach.
With PAM your DM has now made it so that an enemy can provoke an AoO from you moving across the 5' AND 10' lines in any direction with your polearm. They've shot themself in the foot if their goal was to reduce AoO shenanigans.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
With PAM your DM has now made it so that an enemy can provoke an AoO from you moving across the 5' AND 10' lines in any direction with your polearm. They've shot themself in the foot if their goal was to reduce AoO shenanigans.
Just to clarify, what our DM agreed to was that opportunity attacks provoked by moving INTO the polearm's range will not result in being locked down. However, opportunity attacks provoked by moving OUT of range (sentinel) will still result in lockdown.
LoL this is why you don’t change shit thinking you know better balance then creators. Now everything gets hit for free moving next to you because of the way opportunity of attacks work. He made you op now. Hold pole arm and get free hit for them moving within 5 feet of you and then whip out a 5 range weapon and hit them again on your turn.
LoL this is why you don’t change shit thinking you know better balance then creators. Now everything gets hit for free moving next to you because of the way opportunity of attacks work. He made you op now. Hold pole arm and get free hit for them moving within 5 feet of you and then whip out a 5 range weapon and hit them again on your turn.
I'm not sure I follow you. The only thing different from the way the creators wrote it is that foes ENTERING the 10ft polearm range do not get locked down on a successful opportunity attack. It's a slight nerf, but it certainly does not GIVE the polearm wielder anything extra. But yeah, I agree with you...it wasn't such a big deal to begin with and really didn't need to be messed with.
Sorry, I reread Pam and noticed a detial I missed on it.
but still if this dm does not have the creativity for encounter building. Only one attack of opportunity between each of your turns and it takes your reaction. So 3 characters approach you. You stop one and only if you actually hit with the d20 attack roll lol. The other 2 can still walk up and swing at you.
Also this does nothing against ranged attacks like bow and spells. So the Pam and sent is only OP if he is one dimensional on his encounter prep and running of the creatures.
So I am cringing on the thought of his other things he preps for in the game. Does he prep different scenarios depending on what you can and might do. If not he better be a great improv well.
Also if he is this one dimensional in encounter set up and running of them. Does this mean your story is actually railroaded no matter what you decide to do? You might not know as a player but as a dm I know how much notes and stuff I have for many different things could happen behind my screen.
A lot of my prep work doesn’t actually get to happen on the table but instead so I am ready for what you might do and can do. And then still be ready for improve for the occasional, shit I didn’t think of that.
So your game could very well be so railroaded and he doesn’t actually need players for anything but his ego. The point of DMing is not telling your story but building a world and creativity a story around the characters actions( you get me) and if the combat shows these signs, I’m scared about the rest. But as I said you won’t know as a player unless it is obvious as hell or you happen to see his staging area.
Our DM is actually a FANTASTIC DM. He owns thousands of dollars worth of dnd merchandise which he uses to make the game more exciting. He brings a large flat screen tv laid flat on a table to project amazing looking scenery under the grid...scenery that actually moves (for example, birds flying across, wind blowing through trees, moving waves, etc)! In addition, he plays soundtracks to enhance specific encounters/combats. On top of this, he creates entire worlds and campaigns with complex mysteries and storylines! He even spends countless hours putting things into the story that pertain to our unique characters/storylines. He checks with us from time to time throughout a campaign to make sure we are enjoying it and to ensure that he understands what our characters really want to accomplish. My son and I look forward to his games all week long!
Last night he invited my son and I to his house for dnd & pizza...and he showed us his dnd room where (as he put it) "all the magic happens"! ...one of the most fun evenings we've ever had. One of my favorite lines of his, which really reveals who he is really is as a DM, is when he said "Tell me where you'd like your character to be, and I'll do my best to get you there."
However, once upon a time, he was in a game (maybe even DM'ing it) in which one guy really exploited the PAM/Sentinel combination. From that experience, he seems a little prejudiced against polearms (and don't even get him started on bugbears, lol!) and decided to nerf polearms in his games.
Hotshotjoe, I agree with you. I think the polearm rules are great as written and are far from OP. BUT...I understand that each DM has the right to make rule adjustments that they believe are fair...and I feel like our DM agreed to a very fair compromise.
oh, that is cool and all. I do things like that for my fame and all. But I’m not talking about the visuals though. I am talking about creative process. Because that’s how go into the battles too. You build encounters based around your party as well. Not tell your party they can’t do something. That’s what the dice are for. Everything thing he lets your characters do he can do, so can be world (aka enemies and NPCs) so nothing is op. Each PC only controls one character. The DM sets up the world. So what your PCs face off is it challenging enough or not. Depends on the environment you placed them in.
For instance. I use the stat block for NPCs in my games as suggestions. You can change stuff on the enemies that can challenge the players instead of just increasing the amount of enemies.
For instance that bandit you ran into traveling from town a towards your destination. He is not naked. As the battle starts you describe the scene of encounter as a Dm. The hunched over man about 15 feet in front of you is in dark green armor with loosely fit armor that does not apparently belong to them. And he has a shortbow on his back and you can see the daggers slightly tucked in his back in his beltloop. He notices you, his body is tense so you assume he is not wanting to be approached by you. What do you do?
Then when the fight starts and initiative is rolled. You can use these items on the foe you described and built up the scene of the fight. This bandit is very sneaky and slick and can do roguish Type things. Customizing the enemies is fun because you don’t have to make a bunch but instead make them interesting and as challenging as you want them to be for the narrative your providing. Helps make the encounters seem fitting to the story also. And when they loot you can have cool items they found on them if you think it was someone they would struggle with. It gives reason to why that enemy was tougher then the wolf who snuck into camp last night when the bard fell asleep during his watch. Probably wasn’t a good idea that bard decided to drink ale during his lookout. But he drank a few too many not noticing the pack of wolves wondering into the campsite.
so you see what I mean. Preparing the encounters because just like everything else the dm does. It’s another part of the World your presenting to your party as they explore your world. You tell them what they see and what the situation is. But they are exploring your world and making a story in it. So make that world exciting and different. Make it fun to be in so it’s fun to describe and interact with. Not every goblin has to have a bow or sword. It’s alot of work but if you have a imagination just prep alot of your ideas so you have something to build or improv on as they do things unexpected.
a great dm has a lot of the ground work built in and ready.A monster statblock is just like that it’s the basic idea and guideline. You can use the same mechanics and loot or items your characters do. It keeps yournpkayers from getting the Superman complex too. The stat blocks are meant to be basic ideas and guidelines, and you can tailor them to your needs.
As a relatively new player, I really enjoyed your insights on what goes into being a great DM. You and our DM could probably have some fascinating conversations!
My earlier point was simply this...When, you characterized our DM as not having the "creativity for encounter building" and "one dimensional" and having stories be "railroaded" and not needing players "for anything but his ego".....simply because of the way he adjusted (and compromised fairly on) one rule....I think you may have jumped to conclusions a little too quickly. (It's ok though; we're all human.)
On a side note, my son tried his hand ad DM'ing for the first time the other evening. He could probably pick up some good pointers from you.
I just think you continue with his logic. Equip a dagger and then get 0 feet from an enemy so that they have to back up 5 ft to properly use their longsword, and you can get an attack of opportunity. Shortest weapon wins!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
If you are building a character and spending two feats in the process of specializing in one thing, I think you ought to be really good at that one thing. If I were your DM, I would address the issue by varying the kinds of enemies you face rather than limiting your ability to do the things you built your character around.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Exactly. A PAM Sentinel fighter is only OP if the DM keeps throwing hordes of melee enemies against them.
Throw in some ranged and spellcasters and the fighter begins to fall behind - especially if you throw a strong melee unit at them to keep them occupied while the ranged turn them into a pin cushion.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
I agree. Spending two feats in order to get that ability is a fair cost. Plus, the DM has some VERY simple ways of dealing with it in their encounter-building strategy.
* Make sure there are some enemies with ranged attacks
* Enemies who can teleport next to you and attack, like Shadow Monks or anyone capable of casting Misty Step. Also, and I can't BELIEVE I'm about to suggest these creatures given how much I hate fighting them, Phase Spiders.
* Enemies who also have Reach. Besides just giving the bad guys their own polearms, there are many monsters that have attacks with 10' or more reach. Does he nerf THEIR attacks when they go after someone 5' away too?
* And let's not forget one very simple aspect to all this. You as the PAM+Sentinel uber-warrior still only get one reaction a round. So while the first sword-wielding enemy might get stopped at 10' by your opportunity attack, the second & third guy can just waltz right up to you and swing.
Every party is eventually going to have one or more people who are really really good at certain very specific things. The solution for the DM is not to nerf those abilities, it's to get more creative with the encounters so that they won't always be able to make full use of those abilities. Vary the challenges, make them think about new ways of being effective so they aren't one-trick ponies, and then when they ARE able to do their super-cool trick like the PAM+Sentinel lockdown, they'll enjoy it even more.
Talk to your dm about making it so you can attack at five feet but it gives you disadvantage. That way you can at least attack without having be attacked for moving back first.
But honestly I wouldn’t bother using a pole arm in that game and would prob look into finding a better dm to play with. All he did was make polearms useless in his game because he doesn’t know how to balance encounters around the party’s make up.
Or if your really must use a pole arm and play with that dm it is quite simple. Change your tactics. Don’t be the member of your party that engages but instead acts as a melee support.
For instance let a barbarian or fighter engage the enemy first. Then move up to the already engaged fight from 10 feet away and attack. The already engaged character would keep the enemy occupied and should be resilient to move towards you because they would take a attack of opportunity to engage you instead. But this isn’t easy because you have to position very carefully and your dm seems like one that would just keep changing rulings to fit his narrative of he doesn’t want polearms in his games.
My recommendation though is dont join games this dm makes anymore because he is showing signs of he thinks it’s the party vs him instead of what he should be doing.
The PAM sentinel lock doesn't prevent enemies 10' away from moving 5' closer. PAM sentinel requires you to move back 5 feet to reset it (plus it takes 2 feats).
The DM's solution to this combo that wasnt even being used, was to make pole arms unable to attack at 5 feet. Not only is that irrelevant to the combo, but now you get opportunity attacks on enemies that try to get closer, so you can lock them at 10 feet with only sentinel and not have to reset.
That is like trying to blow out a candle with propane.
Well, the update is this....I talked with our DM today during our session, and he agreed to allow the polearm to attack at 5ft, but that the PAM opportunity attack could not freeze a foe's movement. It's still a bit of a nerf, but it's one I can work with.
Personally, I don't feel that rendering a for temporarily unable to attack you is that strange or uncommon, but I guess it really troubled him because he has seen it abused in certain encounters.
Anyway, I'm happy with the way it turned out. I also really appreciate and enjoyed learning from all the responses.
Greatly appreciated!
PAM doesn't let you make a lockdown opportunity attack when they move from 10' to 5', but it does stop them when they enter that 10' circle. I still think the DM is addressing a perceived problem the wrong way, though.
Someday I swear, I'm going to build a polearm Fighter with PAM, Sentinel AND GWM :)
I think they meant that if the player can’t attack at 5ft range then technically anyone moving from 10 to 5 is leaving your reach and would provoke a normal opportunity attack - in the same way someone moving 10-15 would.
With Sentinel you could lock them at 10ft that way.
This is why banning something is a bad idea. It will usually have unexpected consequences. Just learn the build’s weaknesses and exploit them more often.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
I also see this as a bit of an overreaction by your DM. Stacked with Sentinel, it is only one attack and it uses your one reaction. It is only stopping one creature if they enter the 10ft range, or one creature if it tries to move out of your range. You do not have unlimited reactions, just the one. So it is really not unbalanced, since it is part of a feat which is costing you an ASI. And by the way, when you use this, creatures engaged with you actually have more freedom of movement, because they can move within 10 feet around you and not leave your range to instigate the Attack of Opportunity. DM could have savvy enemies exploit this.
That would be correct. If you no longer threaten the 5' radius, then moving from 10'->5' provokes an AoO. Further, even without PAM, a creature moving from 5'->10' also provokes an AoO as they would be leaving the player's unarmed strike reach.
With PAM your DM has now made it so that an enemy can provoke an AoO from you moving across the 5' AND 10' lines in any direction with your polearm. They've shot themself in the foot if their goal was to reduce AoO shenanigans.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Just to clarify, what our DM agreed to was that opportunity attacks provoked by moving INTO the polearm's range will not result in being locked down. However, opportunity attacks provoked by moving OUT of range (sentinel) will still result in lockdown.
Well, then you are much better off than you were before. You are getting most benefits, so with the DM, I'd call it a win and enjoy your game play.
LoL this is why you don’t change shit thinking you know better balance then creators. Now everything gets hit for free moving next to you because of the way opportunity of attacks work. He made you op now. Hold pole arm and get free hit for them moving within 5 feet of you and then whip out a 5 range weapon and hit them again on your turn.
Exactly. I'm happy with it.
I'm not sure I follow you. The only thing different from the way the creators wrote it is that foes ENTERING the 10ft polearm range do not get locked down on a successful opportunity attack. It's a slight nerf, but it certainly does not GIVE the polearm wielder anything extra. But yeah, I agree with you...it wasn't such a big deal to begin with and really didn't need to be messed with.
PAM + GWM is pretty powerful, but I don't think it's overpowered considering you are trading 4 ability points for it.
Sorry, I reread Pam and noticed a detial I missed on it.
but still if this dm does not have the creativity for encounter building. Only one attack of opportunity between each of your turns and it takes your reaction. So 3 characters approach you. You stop one and only if you actually hit with the d20 attack roll lol. The other 2 can still walk up and swing at you.
Also this does nothing against ranged attacks like bow and spells. So the Pam and sent is only OP if he is one dimensional on his encounter prep and running of the creatures.
So I am cringing on the thought of his other things he preps for in the game. Does he prep different scenarios depending on what you can and might do. If not he better be a great improv well.
Also if he is this one dimensional in encounter set up and running of them. Does this mean your story is actually railroaded no matter what you decide to do? You might not know as a player but as a dm I know how much notes and stuff I have for many different things could happen behind my screen.
A lot of my prep work doesn’t actually get to happen on the table but instead so I am ready for what you might do and can do. And then still be ready for improve for the occasional, shit I didn’t think of that.
So your game could very well be so railroaded and he doesn’t actually need players for anything but his ego. The point of DMing is not telling your story but building a world and creativity a story around the characters actions( you get me) and if the combat shows these signs, I’m scared about the rest. But as I said you won’t know as a player unless it is obvious as hell or you happen to see his staging area.
Our DM is actually a FANTASTIC DM. He owns thousands of dollars worth of dnd merchandise which he uses to make the game more exciting. He brings a large flat screen tv laid flat on a table to project amazing looking scenery under the grid...scenery that actually moves (for example, birds flying across, wind blowing through trees, moving waves, etc)! In addition, he plays soundtracks to enhance specific encounters/combats. On top of this, he creates entire worlds and campaigns with complex mysteries and storylines! He even spends countless hours putting things into the story that pertain to our unique characters/storylines. He checks with us from time to time throughout a campaign to make sure we are enjoying it and to ensure that he understands what our characters really want to accomplish. My son and I look forward to his games all week long!
Last night he invited my son and I to his house for dnd & pizza...and he showed us his dnd room where (as he put it) "all the magic happens"! ...one of the most fun evenings we've ever had. One of my favorite lines of his, which really reveals who he is really is as a DM, is when he said "Tell me where you'd like your character to be, and I'll do my best to get you there."
However, once upon a time, he was in a game (maybe even DM'ing it) in which one guy really exploited the PAM/Sentinel combination. From that experience, he seems a little prejudiced against polearms (and don't even get him started on bugbears, lol!) and decided to nerf polearms in his games.
Hotshotjoe, I agree with you. I think the polearm rules are great as written and are far from OP. BUT...I understand that each DM has the right to make rule adjustments that they believe are fair...and I feel like our DM agreed to a very fair compromise.
oh, that is cool and all. I do things like that for my fame and all. But I’m not talking about the visuals though. I am talking about creative process. Because that’s how go into the battles too. You build encounters based around your party as well. Not tell your party they can’t do something. That’s what the dice are for. Everything thing he lets your characters do he can do, so can be world (aka enemies and NPCs) so nothing is op. Each PC only controls one character. The DM sets up the world. So what your PCs face off is it challenging enough or not. Depends on the environment you placed them in.
For instance. I use the stat block for NPCs in my games as suggestions. You can change stuff on the enemies that can challenge the players instead of just increasing the amount of enemies.
For instance that bandit you ran into traveling from town a towards your destination. He is not naked. As the battle starts you describe the scene of encounter as a Dm. The hunched over man about 15 feet in front of you is in dark green armor with loosely fit armor that does not apparently belong to them. And he has a shortbow on his back and you can see the daggers slightly tucked in his back in his beltloop. He notices you, his body is tense so you assume he is not wanting to be approached by you. What do you do?
Then when the fight starts and initiative is rolled. You can use these items on the foe you described and built up the scene of the fight. This bandit is very sneaky and slick and can do roguish Type things. Customizing the enemies is fun because you don’t have to make a bunch but instead make them interesting and as challenging as you want them to be for the narrative your providing. Helps make the encounters seem fitting to the story also. And when they loot you can have cool items they found on them if you think it was someone they would struggle with. It gives reason to why that enemy was tougher then the wolf who snuck into camp last night when the bard fell asleep during his watch. Probably wasn’t a good idea that bard decided to drink ale during his lookout. But he drank a few too many not noticing the pack of wolves wondering into the campsite.
so you see what I mean. Preparing the encounters because just like everything else the dm does. It’s another part of the World your presenting to your party as they explore your world. You tell them what they see and what the situation is. But they are exploring your world and making a story in it. So make that world exciting and different. Make it fun to be in so it’s fun to describe and interact with. Not every goblin has to have a bow or sword. It’s alot of work but if you have a imagination just prep alot of your ideas so you have something to build or improv on as they do things unexpected.
a great dm has a lot of the ground work built in and ready.A monster statblock is just like that it’s the basic idea and guideline. You can use the same mechanics and loot or items your characters do. It keeps yournpkayers from getting the Superman complex too. The stat blocks are meant to be basic ideas and guidelines, and you can tailor them to your needs.
As a relatively new player, I really enjoyed your insights on what goes into being a great DM. You and our DM could probably have some fascinating conversations!
My earlier point was simply this...When, you characterized our DM as not having the "creativity for encounter building" and "one dimensional" and having stories be "railroaded" and not needing players "for anything but his ego".....simply because of the way he adjusted (and compromised fairly on) one rule....I think you may have jumped to conclusions a little too quickly. (It's ok though; we're all human.)
On a side note, my son tried his hand ad DM'ing for the first time the other evening. He could probably pick up some good pointers from you.
I just think you continue with his logic. Equip a dagger and then get 0 feet from an enemy so that they have to back up 5 ft to properly use their longsword, and you can get an attack of opportunity. Shortest weapon wins!