Quote Originally Posted by Telok View Post
True... if and only if the GM wants to tell a story and wants to run an adventure. I'm an odd one out when I GM. The game I play is to set a world, build a simple intro dungeon, and then let PC actions and NPC reactions drive things. No plot, no prepped adventure, completely emergent story.

I've had a lich with a hidden strongbox type place accessible only by teleportation and known to nobody else in the world. A dragon nursery & day care in what was effectively a magma submarine. A wind-mage's home flying in a permanent hurricane. A demon lord using tarrasques as ammo. An invisible brick wall in front of the landing spot on the other side of the barely jumpable chasm. Anything resembling normal PCs simply can't deal with some stuff without certain abilities that noncaster classes don't have.

Of course then there was the not-mount-Olympus where gods literally hung out partying a lot of the time. No form of magic would get anyone to the top, and no form of anything would save them from the consequences. But hey, a high level fighter could at least try to get noticed. Plane shifting was much safer, you show up at the front door and the flunkies kick you out instead of popping onto the dance floor and getting stepped on. Weirdly, magic also didn't help much if you wanted to join the fire breathing arctic dire bear calvary.
These are the kinds of games I run and (largely) play. I don't write a story, I create a setting.