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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7837477" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!Chair: "Ok, roll To Hit with Dex, at Disadvantage because it's a chair, but +1 because his back is turned and, it's a chair"..."You hit him...right in the back of the legs. He [rolls Dex Save vs To Hit roll the player made]..stumbles forward onto his face"Spoon: "The spoon bends! It's magic! ...well, not really...your PC is just insane and is pretty sure they made the spoon bend. Everyone else is looking at you funny...or, in your PC's mind, 'in amazement'. What do you do next?"Sand: "Interesting...ok, [roll Dex Save vs DC 12 because it was totally unexpected and unorthodox, and just weird to be carrying around that much sand in your pocket]...you throw the sand in his face, stinging his eyes as he tried to turn his head away. You have one round before he recovers".Dragon/Ballista-Rope: "You, sir, are either very brave...or very stupid. Lets see how it plays out! Roll your To Hit for the ballista first. A hit! Right, the rope quickly tightens and yanks you off your feet...[rolls d8], and you take 4 points of damage from the VERY abrupt start! Hold on [pulls out Hackmaster GMG 4th and makes an Item Saving Throw for 'Rope, thin; vs Blow, Crushing', a 6, rolls d20 and gets a 10)...right. The rope holds and you are pulled up into the air...the dragon notices..."...etc...In a nutshell...I have all the guidelines I need in the game. I don't need...and, in fact, imnsho, SHOULDN'T...try and fit a "Rule into a Situation". It should be the other way around. "This is the Situation...is there a rule that fits? If not, what rule is closest? Is it close enough? Or should I just take the intent of the rule as I interpret it and use my own judgement and ruling?". I almost always do that latter simply because there are, as we see, just FAR too many 'unusual situations' a PC can get themselves into that no RPG could cover all of them. This is why I am an "Old Skool" DM (well, and I am, uh, and old skool DM...never played any other way). Any situation a Player can throw at me, I can handle because I'm experienced in 'using the rules as guidelines to run a game', and haven't been a 'slave to the rules' since Stage 2 (see below) of a DM's career."Stage 2": I saw three Stages to a DM's career. The first is the "I have no idea what I'm doing!...and I LOVE IT!" stage. This is where the DM just makes stuff up CONSTANTLY...because they don't know the rules, if rules even exist for it, and what to do with those rules even if he/she found them. This is where you have 2nd level PC's encounter a Torturer in the dungeon that has 4,000hp's...or a Gold Dragon who is undead and Chaotic with a magical +3 Sword sticking out of it's back...or just saying "The Minotaur grabs you, turns you upside down, and kicks you in the head until you die...make a new PC, please". That stage (usually) never lasts long. Then Stage 2: This is where the DM realizes all the stuff they were doing wrong...and figure that if they play 'by the book' then nothing could possibly go askew. This stage lasts longer, but eventually leads to Stage 3. In Stage 3, the DM has grasped that being a DM means making rulings based on their own interpretation of various situations and rules. This is where DM's really begin actually being Dungeon Masters.^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

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