It says you can swap out spellcaster spell slots...but that should be illegal now because it would change the creature 'type'? Does not pass the smell test.
I'd agree -- I don't see any definition of 'type' (beast, dragon, etc.) that relies on a creature having a specific spell list prepared. This doesn't mean you should just swap out an innate spell for another spell ("My gnomes fly!"), but yeah, if you've got a priest in your AL module, nothing stops you from swapping Dispel Magic for Counterspell if you think it would make for a better, more interesting encounter.
Many of the 'rules' do contradict themselves. Do not change the rewards, but DO change rewards. Do not change rewards, but do delete then if they happen to be magical ones. Is it legal for a DM to just MOVE rewards? It would appear so since the rules tell you to.
Well, let's not get too cute -- if you're playing DDEX 2-8, 'moving' the magic item out of that module and 'moving' the magic item from DDEX 3-10 in would be a pretty clear violation of the spirit of the rule. If you want to award the item in DDEX 3-10, run DDEX 3-10. With that said, see below.
Lots of other rules are effectively unenforceable because there is no real way to audit another DMs awards.
There is, but you might not like it -- it's not strictly true that there is no 'AL police'. YOU are the AL police for your characters. You're the only one with the authority to add or modify your character log, and you're the only one who participated in all the modules listed on that log, and listened to each DM as she awarded the XP, gold, and other rewards from those modules.
The idea is to be the sort of player for whom a DM doesn't worry about whether or not the player is trying to 'exploit' the system and thus doesn't have to bother auditing you. If the DMs award isn't clear, ask for clarity before you leave the table. If people are in a hurry, ask if you can catch up with the DM later at the convention or before the next session at the FLGS to clear up any misunderstandings. If you think a particular combination of rules would be exploitative, *don't combine those rules*.
The concept of an 'honor system' is not 'you can't accuse me of cheating unless you actually catch me'; it's 'we presume that players aren't going to try to cheat or game the system because they're only hurting themselves'. (Except, of course, we all know that isn't really true -- there absolutely is a portion of the player-base out there who will forge a log entry or mis-read a die, if it means they get to be awesome for four hours at a time. Don't play with that guy, and don't be that guy.)
Technically, there is probably no such thing as an actual 'purely' legal AL character once you get a fee levels in. My character got a free sticky bun once and ate it...dang that was an extra reward!
Well, sure, but you don't *have* to write down everything the DM tells you. Did you try to pick a pocket hoping to find a clue or a key but instead got gold? Don't write it down. The DM gives you a specific magic item that you know isn't in the module? Write down how the item was lost, stolen, or broken. That's what an 'honor system' is, after all, a system where you record the things you've earned, even if they're bad, and you ignore the things you haven't earned, even if they're good.
A while bunch of DMs use flanking rules, or have critical hit tables or fumble charts. Some things just arent worth fighting over as long as people are having fun.
This, too. It took me a while to figure out how to play at a table where things weren't going the way I thought they should go, but everybody else was having fun and I wasn't going to help matters by trying to brute-force my opinions on the rest of the table. So instead of exploiting the DM's misguided flanking rule, I left the flank open for the rogue. Instead of burning the Inspiration I got for fetching the DM a soda, I handed it to the heavily wounded cleric who had to make a save against a wight's life drain.
As has been commented on a couple of times already in this thread, being right is no excuse to be a dick.
--
Pauper