Oryan77
Adventurer
The problem I found with 3.5 and knowing the rules is that the more I learn the rules, the less roleplaying I end up doing as a DM. I think this has a lot to do with half of my group knowing the rules and insisting that we are using them correctly.
I used to suck with rules....but I was awesome at roleplaying & storytelling. Then I got a new group that had 2 rules lawyers in it. I was forced to learn the rules as well as they knew them so they wouldn't think my game sucked. Now when I'm DM'ing, half of the group spends a good amount of time nit-picking rules and looking them up. Granted, we are quick at looking up the rules, but I realized we do it a lot...so overall, the game is slowed down.
What I realized is that when we are doing this in every encounter, it frazzles my mind and I start thinking like a robot rather than a creative artist. I no longer think about roleplaying what an NPC will be saying, and instead of an NPC doing an action during an encounter because it would add to the storytelling, my NPC's are only doing things to benefit tactical rules, like "flanking bonuses". Or I'm figuring out ways to gain "concealment/cover bonuses". Or if an NPC's crossbow is ruined by a Warp Wood spell, instead of him throwing it at the PC in frustration to add a little roleplaying spice to the encounter, I drop the x-bow as a "free action" and cast a range touch spell because I know I can damage the PC easier since a touch AC is easier to hit.
It's so bad now that I've noticed I'm having a hard time with dialogue when the players finally attempt to roleplay.
I used to suck with rules....but I was awesome at roleplaying & storytelling. Then I got a new group that had 2 rules lawyers in it. I was forced to learn the rules as well as they knew them so they wouldn't think my game sucked. Now when I'm DM'ing, half of the group spends a good amount of time nit-picking rules and looking them up. Granted, we are quick at looking up the rules, but I realized we do it a lot...so overall, the game is slowed down.
What I realized is that when we are doing this in every encounter, it frazzles my mind and I start thinking like a robot rather than a creative artist. I no longer think about roleplaying what an NPC will be saying, and instead of an NPC doing an action during an encounter because it would add to the storytelling, my NPC's are only doing things to benefit tactical rules, like "flanking bonuses". Or I'm figuring out ways to gain "concealment/cover bonuses". Or if an NPC's crossbow is ruined by a Warp Wood spell, instead of him throwing it at the PC in frustration to add a little roleplaying spice to the encounter, I drop the x-bow as a "free action" and cast a range touch spell because I know I can damage the PC easier since a touch AC is easier to hit.
It's so bad now that I've noticed I'm having a hard time with dialogue when the players finally attempt to roleplay.