D&D General When do you overrule RAW?

[jmartkdr2]

Are house rules the same as "overruling RAW"? (he asked, desperate to avoid yet another martials vs casters threadstorm)

The difference is timing.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

They certainly can. But whether or not they will is not something you can rely on with any GM.

Sure, but hopefully the same GM who would sometimes override the rules due setting logic in a ways that disadvantages the PCs would also do so when it benefits them.

 

[Zubatcarteira]

If there's one lesson I learned in 3e, it's that one man's overpowered is another man's scrub tier.

I don't think I've seen anything in 5e beating the Simulacrum chain, maybe some of the Magic Jar/Nystul's Aura shenanigans, but it seems more sketchy.

 

[Mort]

Indeed, if you're running a grounded game where verisimilitude is king, why on earth are you presenting a kaiju as something for your player characters to fight without an artifact or three?!

Palladium books has, lets just say, famously bad mechanics - but in their Beyond the Supernatural (2nd Edition) they have a neat innovation.

PCs powers "scale up" depending on the level of the supernatural threat. So for example, when things are "normal" a telekinetic will have to expend huge resources (PPE in this case) to move a penny. But when things get "weird" (direct supernatural threat) that same amount of PPE can move a car. It's an interesting take.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

The most common RAW I ignore is that you cannot talk when it's not your turn.

Is that RAW? If it is, then I definitely ignore it too.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

When I feel that the results would be silly. But I'd discuss it with the group to make sure we're all on the same page.

But unlike Mercer I'd tell people before they take the action. Not fair to make someone use their limited in game resources and then to change how those resources work.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Talking in D&D is one of those weird things you just have to handwave. How much information you can get out in 6 seconds?

Apropos of nothing, I guess, but, Champions always had a rule that soliloquies took no time, which was hilarious, but not exactly contrary to genre for a comicbook superhero game.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

How much information you can get out in 6 seconds?

A page's worth.

 

[Reynard]

You are emulating myths if that's what you want your game to do. Nothing wrong with wanting your setting more grounded.

The game is emulating those inspirational stories. It says so right in the books. There's nothing wrong with modifying the game to not do that of course. That's totally reasonable, if more work than it would be to just pick a game that actually does what you want out of the box. What's strange to me is using 5E anyway and trying to convince the players to pretend they don't have 200 hit points, while still throwing giants and dragons at them.

It makes no sense to me to use a wrench as a hammer when there is a hardware store next door.

 

[Reynard]

The most common RAW I ignore is that you cannot talk when it's not your turn.

Where is this rule found?