DM Issues: Dealing with a DM with much less experience.

[Nagash]

It is a continiuum. I prefer to play games that follow mostly RAW but with pre arranged house rules and enough DM leeway to fix exploits and unusual situations.

I am fine with pure RAW or pure freeform. What I dont like is people who play with a very rigid but still up to DM fiat setup because that usually boils down to a "no you cant" style of game which in my experiance is frustrating for whomever is on the receiving end of it be they player or dm.

The game Nagash described seemd to be so far down the continuum that I wonder why he doesnt just play freeform as that would, in my experiance, allow him the relaxed and adaptible situation he seems to prefer.

a couple reasons.

1. freeform kinda sucks IMO. I like having a framework to build around. Thats not the same as having that framework be a maximum security cell in pelican bay i am locked into though. Which is what a RAW game is.

and 2. Pathfinder DOES allow me to have exactly that relaxed and adaptable situation I prefer. I have a quick chat with any new player that basically goes "dont worry too much about the rules, just tell me what you want your character to do in any situation and I'll let you know what to roll.

*** I do this also because we play lots of different systems and usually most of the group doesnt know any given system all that well and telling players "heya this game is cool, go buy a new 300 page rulebook for 50$, read it through, and then we can play it and you'll see" usually does not go over real well.

Its a lot easier to just have players describe their characters intentions and either let them know what to roll or quickly ad hoc if I'm not sure myself.