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[Ari Marmell's blog] To House Rule or Not to House Rule
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<blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 5196353" data-attributes="member: 20741"><p>At what point does allowing an "expansion" book or "official accessory" into your campaign become a "house rule"?</p><p></p><p>In 4E, is the PHB2 really an expansion book? Does your answer change if it is PHB3 under discussion? Are they both "non-core" -- such that the refusal to accept the class, spell or rule referred to therein somehow gives you an "out" as to whether or not you accepted the RAW? Does that excuse you from the debate?</p><p></p><p>Is the <em>Rules Compendium</em> in 3.xx really an expansion book? What about the <em>Spell Compendium</em> or <em>Magic Item Compendium</em>? Are they official? If they aren't core, but are official, can you pick and choose and not be "house ruling"?</p><p></p><p>If I were to allow X and Y spell from the <em>Spell Compendium</em>, but not allow, say, <em>Orb of Force</em> or <em>Downdraft</em> ... is that a house rule?</p><p></p><p>Seems to me, that the pressure on all RPGs that grow into multi-volume epics of rules available to the players -- such as D&D 3.0, 3.5, and 4E but happily not (yet) <em>Pathfinder</em> (we're getting there soon enough, I wager) triggers a choice:</p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: orange">Do I as GM allow it or not? </span></em></strong></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: orange"></span></em></strong></p><p>Once you even <strong>get</strong> to the choice part of that decision tree, you are leaving the docks and setting sail for House Rule land, imo. To pretend otherwise and hand wave it away is a disingenuous exercise. You cannot so easily define your way out of that debate by pretending the threshold has changed-- when in pith and substance -- it has not. </p><p></p><p>I think it would be useful to examine that dynamic in the context of House Rules, when to say "yes", when to say "no", and at what point does <strong><u>not</u></strong> allowing a published official expansion become a "House Rule"?</p><p></p><p>It's a pretty slippery slope, no matter what side of the debate you are on, in my opinion.</p><p></p><p>I tried the "allow everything as RAW in every official WotC book" for 3.5. It ended in<strong> utter disaster</strong>. I'll never do it again. </p><p></p><p>Which brings us to the balking point: do these designers know what they are doing? Even if they do, do they have their best interests at heart when they publish expansion material -- or mine? Is it both? Really?</p><p></p><p>Does your answer change depending upon what part of the "expansion cycle" is under discussion?</p><p></p><p>I know that the nice sidestep to the conundrum raised above is just to hand wave these difficult questions away and attempt to confine the debate to "core rules only". But I would observe that is an arbitrary dividing line without rational substance and is erected not because it is logical or persuasive -- but simply because that's a debate where your point of view can prevail. </p><p></p><p>I honestly don't think you can sidestep this problem so easily. And once you throw expansion books in to the heap, we pretty much all House Rule our games, don't we?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steel_Wind, post: 5196353, member: 20741"] At what point does allowing an "expansion" book or "official accessory" into your campaign become a "house rule"? In 4E, is the PHB2 really an expansion book? Does your answer change if it is PHB3 under discussion? Are they both "non-core" -- such that the refusal to accept the class, spell or rule referred to therein somehow gives you an "out" as to whether or not you accepted the RAW? Does that excuse you from the debate? Is the [I]Rules Compendium[/I] in 3.xx really an expansion book? What about the [I]Spell Compendium[/I] or [I]Magic Item Compendium[/I]? Are they official? If they aren't core, but are official, can you pick and choose and not be "house ruling"? If I were to allow X and Y spell from the [I]Spell Compendium[/I], but not allow, say, [I]Orb of Force[/I] or [I]Downdraft[/I] ... is that a house rule? Seems to me, that the pressure on all RPGs that grow into multi-volume epics of rules available to the players -- such as D&D 3.0, 3.5, and 4E but happily not (yet) [I]Pathfinder[/I] (we're getting there soon enough, I wager) triggers a choice: [B][I][COLOR=orange]Do I as GM allow it or not? [/COLOR][/I][/B] Once you even [B]get[/B] to the choice part of that decision tree, you are leaving the docks and setting sail for House Rule land, imo. To pretend otherwise and hand wave it away is a disingenuous exercise. You cannot so easily define your way out of that debate by pretending the threshold has changed-- when in pith and substance -- it has not. I think it would be useful to examine that dynamic in the context of House Rules, when to say "yes", when to say "no", and at what point does [B][U]not[/U][/B] allowing a published official expansion become a "House Rule"? It's a pretty slippery slope, no matter what side of the debate you are on, in my opinion. I tried the "allow everything as RAW in every official WotC book" for 3.5. It ended in[B] utter disaster[/B]. I'll never do it again. Which brings us to the balking point: do these designers know what they are doing? Even if they do, do they have their best interests at heart when they publish expansion material -- or mine? Is it both? Really? Does your answer change depending upon what part of the "expansion cycle" is under discussion? I know that the nice sidestep to the conundrum raised above is just to hand wave these difficult questions away and attempt to confine the debate to "core rules only". But I would observe that is an arbitrary dividing line without rational substance and is erected not because it is logical or persuasive -- but simply because that's a debate where your point of view can prevail. I honestly don't think you can sidestep this problem so easily. And once you throw expansion books in to the heap, we pretty much all House Rule our games, don't we? [/QUOTE]
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