Let the Villain give his speech!

DM: The Demon looms above you, standing 30ft tall. His enormous wings stretched out darkens the square of the village where you make your stand.

His voice booming as he speaks "Pathetic mortals! Your time is over! I the Eldritch Lord of...."

Player: I cast Polymorph during his monologue to turn him into a tree!

DM:....alright. (A look of frustration crosses his face as he rolls the dice. The die clacking behind the screen lands on a 3.) What's your Spell Save?

Player: 16

DM: (Checking the stats, a 3 only gets a result of 15. The spell works as cast.) A vaporous cloud begins to enshroud the Demon, overtaking him completely. The Demon howls in pain for a moment before all goes silent. When the cloud dissipates, all that remains is a gnarled oak. Standing as tall as the Demon once stood. Its branches bare, and the bark a deep black color.

The table erupts in cheers and laughter as the party high fives each and congratulates the Wizard on his success.

Shortly after the party quiets and turns to the DM, waiting for the next part of the scene.

But, thats pretty much it now. The Demon was supposed to fight a bit, then escape. Leading to the party searching for it through old tomes and a hermit in the forest. This takes them to the underground temple that the Demon retreats to where it tries to reclaim its power. The Party defeats it and gets all the great treasure inside.

But, now the Demon is a spooky old tree in the middle of town. Now the DM either abandons his work or shoe horns a way for the party to get back on the trail.

Ive seen a few articles and videos of people talking about how a DM should never force their players into a scene or campaign that they dont want. Players are supposed to have full freedom inside the world of the DM's game.

The former is true (mostly), the latter is not (partially).

This line of thinking is pretty much oi the same vein as playing Minecraft in Creative mode. Yeah, you can do whatever you want. But there is no story, no quest, no challenge.

We players need to remember that DM's put a lot of work into a game night for us. They think about what would be a good challenge in a session for each player, or how to let the spotlight rotate between players each session.

Grand speeches, intense battles and every single interaction is an effort made by your DM. Planned or not, because no good DM in their right mind will say that they can predict every possible move.

But.....

The DM wants to play too!

In fact they are just as much a player in the game as you and your Human Fighter (you basic bi**h). They play from the other side of the table. Imagine if your DM cut you off in the middle of your inspiring speech to the party with a Finger of Death.

Boom! Have more than 100 base HP? No? Dead.

Now, DMs do understand that they facilitate a narrative that should be challenging to the party but ultimately in their favor. Player death should come from a combination of bad decisions and bad rolls.

You want a great story told to you by your DM? Let him tell the story. Let his villains make their speeches, it may have a clue or bit of vital information. It may not.

But your DM...your friend...put a lot of work into this story for you. If your DM is constantly blocking your roleplay or nerfing your abilities...well they are probably not good at this.

Talk to them, help them help you have a good time.

Stop looking for loopholes in the rules or a scene. Dont skirt challenges just to win. A good Dm isnt trying to kill your character, they want you to win. They just dont want hours of work to be wasted.

And by God in all its forms and visages do not ever say the following out loud in front of the party:

"When does this campaign get hard?"

"I'm just glad to be hanging out with friends."

"There just isnt a real direction to the game. No goal to pursue." After complaining about railroading.

You wanna defeat your DMs sense of ability? This'll do it for sure.