Mystery in a fantasy world for me.

Well, since we're talking D&D, fantasy is a given ;) I think a little mystery is always an essential element as well. I like to use lots of riddles and inventive traps in my adventures:) Creating uncertainty is a great way to get players to truly role-play ("So, do we interogate the goblin with the big mouth first, or just skewer him?").

This is when I experience most joy with my players as DM;

lots of NPC interaction; betrayal, mystery, and some inevitable fighting.
Like a "good" soap opera. :square:

As a PC I like problem solving, specifically that is related to using magic. When DM's get to much into hack and slash it gets old fast, but a good problem never get's old.

I have one question about riddles and problems and such. How do you roleplay that? Say I am playing a dumbass halforc barb with an int of 8, but I (the player) knows the answer to the riddle, what do you do? And "stupid" players playing chars with super high int? Do you roll everything or do you allowe the players to ignore their chars ability scores?

That's always a hard one. I usually use a mixture of roleplaying and dice checks. If a character is really not that bright (an intelligence of less than 9 say), and the riddle is fairly complex, I might tell the player that their character is just not bright enough to get the answer. On the flip side, if one of the characters is exceptionally bright (15 intelligence and above) *and* the party is having a difficult time solving the riddle, the DM may decide that this character can solve it and award the player the answer.

This is always a difficult call to make as a DM. The whole point of riddles is to create a challenge for the party. So you don't want to be giving it away just because there are smart characters in the group, but on the otherhand, you don't want them to completely miss out either. As the DM, what is most important is to keep in mind the reason for having the riddle: Is solving it necessary to the main plot? Is there a major reward once the riddle is solved (lots of gold, magical items, etc)? Is this something happening 'on the side'?

If the reward is significant enough, then the DM needs to make sure that it is challenging (ie, dumb characters have no chance, and 'not-so-bright' players have to role-play it). For particulary challenging riddles, the DM may also want to assign it a CR with appropriate experience points, like they would with a trap.

90% problem solving, with a 10% hack and slash factor.

I think it'ds always cool to add lot's of humor to a game, things you don't expect.

and it's also cool to see things, that don't really belong in the setting where you are in! Like robots in a medieval setting, or a big nasty dragon in an outerspace adventure!

Sorry, SleepleSS, but that's just Sad, at least it isnt like that in My Games!!

Why do you think it is sad? And where you talking about the humor, or the "out of place" things?

Still think it's cool! I always try to put a robot in my fantasy settings, and if you see the suprised faces of some of your players, than that is really cool!

SleepleSS, its sad because D&D is a Fantasy genre..not sci-fi, robots do not belong in fantasy

I second that. I quit playing thief 2 (which is a brilliant game just like its predecessor) just because i couldn't stand those robots anymore :\

Then again, asimov's robot novels were cool :)

So you guys don't like robots, cause it isn't fantasy? I guess you did also dislike the Modrons in planscapethan? They ARE a sort of robots, and it IS fantasy...

I think how you prsent the idea is most important. How example a robot is totally wrong in a fantasy game, but have something with robotic attributes is OK. By this I mean another live form that acts 'robotic' is OK as long as you don't wreck the mood of the campaign. A non-linging construct like a Iron Golem is 'robotic' but clear not a robot. They may have many features in common but Iron Golems are magic based not technology. The force behind the creatures is rather important to ehe maintainance of a fluid campaign.

Do you see the difference?

But if you encounter a mad scientist, who knows a lot about electrisity and things, he could be crazy enoug to create a robot right?

And if course it may never ruin the adventure but it can give it a nice "twist" didn;t they had a robot on Snarf Quest? and I have once seen a fantasy comick book, with a robot. But as you say, you must know how to put it...

As it's been stated repeatedly on this site the DM can do whatever he wants. But issue is are robot or scienists in theme with a fantasy campaign. My opinion is no there are not. I don't care what comic or smart quest have done to damage the concept.

As I said above it's how you present it. I would think a white coated lab scienist would be out of place but some mad mage or sage who studied the elements would be OK.