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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spell" data-source="post: 4015379" data-attributes="member: 19718">which is what happens with knowledgeable players.it's another story if you are trying to teach the game to newbies that have no desire to read a 300 page manual to have some fun when they could just go down the pub and watch the match or chat the waitress up. or read harry potter. or /watch/ harry potter. or play WoW.it's even another story if you are trying to do that, AND you don't particularly like that player #1 says that you can't run the combat like that, because he happens to have read the combat chapter, and you are running the game "wrong".personally, i don't think this is the case of asking for a kind of rule distribution as it was in AD&D 1e, or as it is in Hackmaster (the GM stuff is in another book, and it's supposed to stay secret as much as possible). hell, when i used to play regularly, 4 out of 5 of my players were DMs, too. some of them knew the rules better than i did.let me bring you all an example of what i'm talking about.i bought Dark Heresy, yesterday (the RPG set in the warhammer 40K world).on the second page of text (page 7, skipping the ToC), it says: "before you can begin, you and your roleplaying group have to make an important decision: who is going to be the Game Master? [...] The GM [...] presents the stories and situations, describes the wonders and perils of the galaxy, plays other characters and adjudicates the rules. the GM is the most important member of your group, so choose wisely. The GM ought to be fair-minded, well spoken and imaginative. An eye for detail is also helpful."on page 10, in the box called "An Important note about reality", i read: "All the ideas and rules in this book are tools for the GM to use as they see fit. The GM is the ultimate arbitator of the rules and may choose to modify, amend or even ignore certain rules to better suit the playing style of your group. Abide by your GM's decisions as they [sic] are the one doing all the work to keep you and your group entertained!"so, within the first 5 pages of the text, the concept that if someone spends the time to GM your game, you can't piss in his cereal bowl, and he can do whatever he wants with the rules is pretty well established.as far as i'm concerned, while "rule zero" is in the PHB, it pretty much likes sounds like an afterthought or one of the old "holy cows" that couldn't be killed, rather than something worth enforcing.you might all have different opinions on this, and you are welcomed to do so and discuss them. but, as far as i am concerned, if i GM a game, i spend a heck of a lot of time preparing the session (even more so with 3e than before), and i think i am open minded and fair enough with my players. they way i read most of the rules, they implicitly tell the player: "don't mind that bozo behind the screen. what does he know anyway? it's your game. you can do whatever /we/ say you can."</blockquote>

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