Removing Rules - Please Vote

[Raesene Andu]

Maybe I wouldn't like to play with you, I don't know...

Probably not...

In my game yesterday the main encounter was between the PCs and an Orog general who was harmlessly training up some goblin troops to invade the kingdom of Mhoried when the PCs blundered by while taking a shortcut back to their town for some R&R. After some debate the PCs (who could see the enemies, but weren't close enough to be spotted themselves) decide to charge the goblins, confident of their own abilities to slaughter them all with a couple of fireballs and completely unaware the the Orog general was the lieutenant of the major evil power on the continent and as level 12 figher/4 rogue was only in the region because the DM wanted to lure unsuspecting PCs into an encounter they cannot win.
The Orog general, having spotted the PCs riding towards them on their horse, mounted his war lizard and after accepting his lance from his goblin page, rode out to meet the PCs in single combat, while the horde of speargoblins watch on. The PCs spot the Orog on the lizard trotting towards them and decide to kill him first and then take on the goblins. They dismount and prepare for battle.

(I'll abreviate this a little, the whole encounter took more than an hour of game time from start to finish).
PC Sorcerer: I cast and empowered fireball on the orog. [roll's d6 for damage]
DM: [roll's a couple of dice] The fireball hits the orog and explodes around him and his mount. As the flames die down you see the dying lizard mount lying on the ground...
PC Sorcerer: Damn, I wanted that lizard...
DM: ...then you see the Orog warrior calmly get to his feat, flex his muscles in an obvious manner and then with a single, smooth motion draw his large, oddly shaped sword.
PC Rogue: Uh... let's run away.
PC Sorcerer: Nah, we can take this guy.
PC Fighter/Wizard: I fire an arrow at the Orog. [roll's d20]
DM: [roll's dice] The arrow flies straight and true towards the orog, but before it can reach him, the orog brings his sword down with one quick and precise cut. Your arrow falls to the ground, sliced neatly in half.
PC Rogue: Uh...
PC Barbarian: Duh, Me Rusuf...
PC Sorcerer: Oh oh... I start casting stoneskin.
PC Priest: I cast Bull's stength of Rusuf. [roll's d4]

What followed was a long battle between the Orog and the PCs, which the PCs came close to winning (although they never had a chance from the start) and then, when victory looked likely, the Orog grabs a medellion that is hanging around his neck and say "Help me, my Master." The PCs then flee in terror, well knowing the stories of the evil power the Orog serves. The Orog shrugs, amazed that his ruse actually works and orders his 300 or so goblin archers to start firing on the PCs as they run away.

It ended up being quite an enjoyable gaming session for all and I had done absolutely no prepartion. No one died either (well, except for the mad bandit who leapt from the tree and challenged the PC fighter/wizard to a honour duel to the death and then was killed by a sneak attack from the PC rogue.) The PCs lost some of the treasure they were hauling back to their home when the goblins shot their baggage horses and the sorcerer became even more paranoid when I kept asking him to roll a d20 every hour or so and then no matter what the roll, nodded and said everything was fine. (He was being scryed by the wizard father of the female knight he had killed last session so the wizard could track him home and then send in the troops he got from the king of Mhoried. This will all happen next gaming session when the PCs return home from their most recent endevour, which is finding out what is wrong with the magical telescope the overly obsequious merchant gave them in return for exclusive trading rights to their kingdom. The PCs know it is magic, but no matter what sort of divination spell's they cast on it, they can't determine what it does. Meanwhile, off stage, the Orog General has gone back to his master's castle up in the mountains to report his encounter and to pick out a new war lizard and learns that his master already has a spy in the PC camp. Two gaming sessions ago, they encountered a talking crow with an eyeball obsession who they befriended with a couple of pickled eyeballs that they had recovered from the witch's lairs about 2 months earlier and had been carrying around in a jar in case they were useful. That crow is actually the Gorgon's (the gorgon being the big evil dude) spy and he is busy checking out the PCs abilities, their treasure and so forth ready to report to his master when the time comes. The Gorgon and his Orog general share a good laugh.

Hmm... I guess the point I'm trying to make is that rules often stand in the way of a good story. If I followed the rules in minute detail the PCs sorcerer would probably have detected that he was being scryed, the Orog should not have been able cut the arrow out of the air with his curiously shaped claymore. There is no way he should have been able to evade the fireball (as he was wearing heavy armour) and the PCs should have been able to divine what the telescope did, but then that would meant they would not have set off on their current adventure, and I would not have been able to set up the invasion on their home to take place while they were away and that would be no fun at all. As it happened, none of the PCs noticed any of this and they enjoyed themselves as much as I did.

 

[Orius]

No.

If the product were optional, then as DM, I'm free to decide what options I want to include and which to exclude. I've been playing long enough that I don't need a special section to do that.

Even if the rules are considered "core", I still have enough experience running games that I can house rule whatever I wish.

 

[Orius]

It depends on how well it was done. A way of removing AoOs from the game while keeping everything balanced... I'd love to see how that would work!

Like: what do spiked chain wielders do now? What do you replace Combat Reflexes with? What happens when the enemy wizard right in front of you starts to cast a spell? Do large+ creatures have a modifier to their CR? Etc.

It's not a big deal. All of my 3e games have been internet based, and because the players aren't playing face-to-face with a battlemap and minis in front of them, I threw AoOs out. Too much of a pain to try to use them anyway, because of conflicting ideas about how the battle is going, and too much confusion. I never noticed that it disrupted or horribly imbalanced the game.

 

[Turanil]

Hmm... I guess the point I'm trying to make is that rules often stand in the way of a good story. If I followed the rules in minute detail the PCs sorcerer would probably have detected that he was being scryed, the Orog should not have been able cut the arrow out of the air with his curiously shaped claymore. There is no way he should have been able to evade the fireball (as he was wearing heavy armour) and the PCs should have been able to divine what the telescope did, but then that would meant they would not have set off on their current adventure, and I would not have been able to set up the invasion on their home to take place while they were away and that would be no fun at all. As it happened, none of the PCs noticed any of this and they enjoyed themselves as much as I did.

This is but minor infractions to the rules. I would be glad to play with you. Nothing here similar to the last gaming session I was in. For me (as player or DM) the orog can have a feat to snatch arrows with a claymore, it's no different (in terms of result) that doing it with bare hands. In fact, unless it was an arrow of slaying it wouldn't have done much damage, so treating it like this indicates to the players they don't face just a normal orog. Likewise for the fireball, and the orog could have a ring of resist fire anyway. And as a DM I prefer to use invented magical items, and nobody ever complained.