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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 7161389" data-attributes="member: 6796661">I do not expect my players to have a deep understanding of the rules, but I appreciate when they do. Many of my players are far more experienced with TTRPGs than I am and some have a detailed understanding of the rules as they play more and also DM. I like it that when something uncommon comes up, they can state the rule. I don't mind a little rule lawyering, but my players are mature and once I make a decision—even if they disagree—they run with it and keep the game running. I do also have inexperienced players in some of my games or play with them at Con games and for the most part, I don't get my undies in a bunch over them not remembering rules. For some people this stuff comes more naturally than to others. But I do have some pet peeves.The main one is less about not knowing the rule and more about not being ready when it is your turn to act. These are the players who probably stand in line at McDonalds for 10 minutes and haven't bothered to decide what to order in that time, waiting until they get to the front of the line, holding it up for everyone behind them. If someone has never been to McDonalds and are looking at the menu for the first time, the delay and dithering is even worse. Same with players who don't know the rules. Having to look something up does not generally affect others if you do it one other players turns, but if you don't bother doing so until it is your turn—you are compounding ignorance with rudeness. Players playing spell casters are the worst offenders of ignorant-delayers in my experience.  If you are going to play a spell caster, you don't have to have every spell memorized, but buy the Galeforce 9 spell cards, or print the spell summaries from your Hero Lab character sheet, or take some notes on the back of your handwritten paper character sheet! It is rude to hold up the action for a table of players while you try to find a spell. If you do need to look it up or refer to card, try to do it before it is your turn in initiative order. If you don't have spell cards or printed summaries, then you should at least have a copy of the Players Handbook so you are not constantly begging to borrow someone else's to look up your spells. New/lazy players who want to play a spell castor should not play wizards or clerics. They take too much time determining their spells after long rests. Have them play a Warlock or Sorcerer where they only have to worry about changing out spells after leveling up. Of course you can have this issue with any character class. But spell caster just have a lot more potential actions they need to understand and it take less time to reexplain to a fighter how to determine the damage they do, which generally requires only referencing your character sheet, then it does to look up and understand a spell. I can understand every now and then being caught flatfooted, perhaps needing to use a spell or ability you rarely use or that is new to you. But if a player is slowing down the game several times a session looking up information, the DM should make skip that player and come back to the player at the end of initiative order. Maybe even make that player lose a turn if the delays become egregious. While I am overall forgiving about this when playing games with friends or at conventions, I really get annoyed with live-stream sessions where players seem to not bother to learn even the basics of their character even after several sessions. Dice, Camera, Action was one of the worst offenders. I understand having new players to make viewers new to the game feel more comfortable, etc.  But after hour and hour of play, some of the players still did not know what their characters can do or how their abilities worked. Not only did I find that to be rude to the Chris Perkins (the GM), but rude to the audience. Slowing down a game this way may be tolerable when you are participant, but it just kills the pacing for the audience in a streamed game.  It is one of the main reasons that I become bored with Dice, Camera, Action.</blockquote>

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