D&D 5E A player's responsibility with regard to the rules

[Waterbizkit]

I'll keep it short: my players don't need to know the rules. I know the rules.

I know what's in the books. I know what's on your character sheets. All of it. You just tell me what you want to do, I'll let you know how we resolve that together. I don't care if it's the 1st session or the 50th, I've got you covered. That's my job, at least as I see it. What my players might pick up along the way is up to them. Just don't be an asshat at my table and we're all good.

Now that's just my style of DMing, I'm sure others require their players to know a lot more than I do and that's all good. I read the rulebooks for fun, so my players don't have to, unless they want to.

 

[40below]

I'll keep it short: my players don't need to know the rules. I know the rules..

I really do get this perspective. Or a modified "those at the table who know the rules know them, and those who aren't interested don't need to." I like it as an ideal.

But I have personally run into two problems:

1. the player who doesn't now ultra-fundamentals like which die is which or who needs the mechanics of an attribute check explained for the fortieth time
2. the fact that not knowing some rules results in players not taking actions they might otherwise enjoy

For the first, maybe you do the rolling for them. Or maybe you don't have players like that. Or maybe you genuinely don't mind. But I have a hard time stopping the action in the warlocks turn when he asks, once again, "Can I cast full touch? Do I have to touch the goblin? Do I have to make a roll? Which die?"

This sort of ignorance does slow the game down, and it's obvious other players are bothered.

Do you have a strategy for dealing with that?


For the second, well, there are things like opportunity attacks and the Help action that can make for interesting tactical moments. On rare occasions, rules-ignorant players may come up with things that take advantage of that, but for the most part they don't consider the possibility without knowing the rules.

Of course, tactics aren't for everyone, or for every session or even campaign. But when they do come up, doesn't it make sense that participants are aware of the options in advance, rather than having the listed out for them each time?

 

[BoldItalic]

Aren't there? Attack, Cast a Spell, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Ready, Search, Use an Object.

I guess it depends on how you count. For example, I've never, ever seen someone Search during combat, but I have seen people do things not on that list. Seems like Search would be covered by Improvising an Action, not requiring a particular separate action on the standard list.

You missed out "Swing from Chandelier", "Throw Halfling", "Somersault Over Opponent" and a few others.

If you teach players that they have exactly 10 options, it limits their imagination and turns it into a video game with 10 buttons on the controller. Let the player do anything - it's up to the DM to fit their intentions into the closest approximation to a rule and decide what dice to roll, if any. The DM needs to know the rules for those 10 things, but the players don't. Unless they want to read the books.

 

[Li Shenron]

• The general mechanics behind their key class abilities, including how often they can be used and a general sense of the benefit. (For instance, a first-level can rage twice before taking a long rest and can really take a beating while raging.) Some of the subtle mechanics may still need to be looked up, but the gist is there. (For instance, a rogue player may not know all the circumstances in which sneak attack damage applies, but is looking for opportunities to use it.)
• The general mechanics behind their key racial characteristics as they relate to play (but not necessarily character creation).
• For spellcasters: What spells they know, what spells they have prepared, how many they can cast in which circumstances, and the gist of what their spells do. They should understand the basics of spellcasting as it relates to the spells they use—for instance, that spells have range, that they have a Spell save DC, how to make spell attack rolls—but mechanics can absolutely be checked.

I think these could be even used as requirements for levelling up.

 

[40below]

You missed out "Swing from Chandelier", "Throw Halfling", "Somersault Over Opponent" and a few others.

If you teach players that they have exactly 10 options, it limits their imagination and turns it into a video game with 10 buttons on the controller. Let the player do anything - it's up to the DM to fit their intentions into the closest approximation to a rule and decide what dice to roll, if any. The DM needs to know the rules for those 10 things, but the players don't. Unless they want to read the books.

I don't think that's been missed. That's how I usually run things, and it's even in the rules. ("Improvised actions," which I mentioned.)

It I really do think knowing the official actions can be a benefit to to players—by suggesting tactical options they may not consider, inspiring even more improvised actions, and by helping to speed up play when the standard actions come up. It's not basic knowledge, sure, and I get that some DMs don't care if their players ever get beyond that.

But for that hypothetical player who wants to go beyond the absolute basic understanding of the rules, I do think knowing the actions had a place in what they can, and maybe even should, learn.

 

[BoldItalic]

I don't think that's been missed. That's how I usually run things, and it's even in the rules. ("Improvised actions," which I mentioned.)

It I really do think knowing the official actions can be a benefit to to players—by suggesting tactical options they may not consider, inspiring even more improvised actions, and by helping to speed up play when the standard actions come up. It's not basic knowledge, sure, and I get that some DMs don't care if their players ever get beyond that.

But for that hypothetical player who wants to go beyond the absolute basic understanding of the rules, I do think knowing the actions had a place in what they can, and maybe even should, learn.

Yes, I get that. You want the players to know about, and operate within, what is described in the PHB. But let us remember that 5e is the first time that the complete playing rules have been included in the PHB. Previously, right back to AD&D, the rules were in the DMG and players weren't allowed to read them. The rules were secret! Now, 5e has opened the game up so that players are allowed to know what the DM is doing with the dice calls, but it's a long stretch from there to requiring that the players do your job for you and take actions that conform to your structures. The rules are there to facilitate the DM, not to constrain the players.

 

[40below]

You want the players to know about, and operate within, what is described in the PHB.

…it's a long stretch from there to requiring that the players do your job for you and take actions that conform to your structures. The rules are there to facilitate the DM, not to constrain the players.

Hm, that's not what I said. I'm interested in the idea of what rules a player who herself wants to facilitate smoother play (which benefits everyone at the table) should learn, and what priorities there might be with regard to which rules are more important. I don't think I mentioned anything as a requirement (though others may have).

And I tried to unpack, a little, the specific benefits of players knowing certain rules.

I'm not sure how knowing the rules constrains the players' actions, unless by that you mean that asking the players to know the rules is a constraint outside of play.

The ideal of the DM presenting the world to which the players react in a rules-agnostic way is a fine one. While I think it can have some shortcomings in its pure form, it's a fine ideal, and one that's in play to some extent at all gaming tables. But discussing an ideal set of rules a hypothetical well-intentioned-but-lazy player should learn seems to me like a worthwhile exercise.

Whether knowing the ten actions has a place on such a list is an arguable point. Perhaps you'd remove it from the list. But do you think such a list itself is completely invalid? Don't you have some rules and mechanics that, really, you expect the players to know, like how to make an attribute check, or how to calculate damage?

Maybe not. As I've said, I get that perspective, and I'm not saying it's wrong. In fact, I'd argue that it's right as a foundation in general. For some, maybe it's sufficient unto itself. Others, obviously, think the game can be better with rules-knowledgeable players, and I basically asked what rules knowledge was worth prioritizing.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I see the game as a collaboration. The players should be as invested in it as I am; take the time to know their characters and how to play the game so we can all have fun. No one needs to be a rules encyclopedia or the like but they should be familiar with them and have a good grasp of their character's capabilities.

 

[abirdcall]

We had a player who, after over 8 months of playing and at 6th level still didn't know how her Rogue's sneak attack worked. She also didn't know any of her other abilities including Cunning Action.

She just didn't bother to learn the game so we stopped inviting her. This carried over into her lack of contribution to the game itself. My rule is that we are all there to play together not to entertain you. Also that you need to be responsible for everything about your character. The early levels are for learning but eventually you need to be able to do it on your own.

 

[Dausuul]

My expectation for non-newbie players (which is not met by all my players, unfortunately) is simple: In normal circumstances, I don't have to help you play your own character.

• If you use an ability which calls for the target to make a saving throw, you can tell me what kind of save it is and give me the DC.
• You can make your own attack and damage rolls.
• You can keep track of your resources: Hit points, hit dice, ki points, spells prepared, spell slots expended, etc.
• If I call for an ability check, skill check, or saving throw, you know how to roll that check or save.
• I don't have to constantly remind you about the limits of your spells: Concentration, expensive material components, etc. If you forget once in a while, that's okay, but not on a regular basis.
• If you have a pet (familiar, animal companion, etc.), you can run it in combat unassisted.
• You can level up without help.

What I don't expect:

• I don't expect you to know the "unusual" rules if you don't use them regularly. You don't have to understand grappling (unless you're a dedicated grappler), or suffocation, or stuff like that.
• I don't expect you to know what all the conditions do.
• I don't expect you to know how other players' characters work.
• I don't expect you to have every detail of every spell or ability memorized. It's okay if you have to look them up in the book from time to time.
• Even if you're playing Sneaky McThieferson, I don't expect you to understand the stealth rules.

If I were going to offer advice for the lazy-but-well-intentioned player, these would be the steps I would suggest. In order:

1. Learn die notation (what does 2d8+4 mean?) and how to identify dice at a glance. Also, learn the core mechanic (1d20 + modifier, compared to a DC) and how advantage and disadvantage work.
2. Learn where to find any given number on your character sheet (e.g., the save DC for your spells, your attack bonus, your Con save modifier).
3. If you're playing a caster, learn how spell slots work, and how to keep track of them. If your class prepares spells, learn how that works too.
4. Learn where to look up your abilities and spells. If you have pets, learn where to look them up too.
5. Learn what limited resources you have available (ki points, hit dice, etc.), how to track them, and how you recover each.
6. Get a rough idea of what each of your spells/abilities does. A 5th-level Life cleric need not know every detail of revivify, but you should know that it resurrects the dead, must be used very shortly after death, and has a costly component.
7. Learn how the numbers on your sheet are calculated.