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Advice on how not to feel like a lousy DM
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7864605" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>Though there's a place and time for both outright winging it and spending ages finding the correct ruling, most times the reality will fall somewhere between the two: a short time spent looking it up and if not found then wing it.</p><p></p><p>The risk of winging an important rulings call is this: if you end up blatantly getting it wrong, what then?</p><p></p><p>1 Do you retcon the play later using the correct rule?</p><p>2 Do you let the ruling stand and lock it in as a campaign houserule going forward?</p><p>3 Do you let the ruling stand but explain it as a one-off exception that won't happen again?</p><p></p><p>None of these are perfect solutions. Option 1 invalidates any play that took place after the point where the ruling was made. Option 3 risks damaging or destroying internal consistency within the setting. Option 2, which is usually my lesser-of-the-evils preference, risks later 'broken' outcomes but at the same time provides the campaign with some individuality, even if unintentionally. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>Obviously the above is all very much generalized, and each specific situation will be different. Sometimes you <em>can</em> get away with a seamless retcon that doesn't change anything that came after; sometimes a one-off event <em>can</em> be explained away as a feature of the dungeon itself that only works that way in that location; and so forth.</p><p></p><p>The other consideration is whether or not the mistake was in favour of the player(s). Fixing mistakes that favoured the players at the time is, I've learned, a lot harder than fixing mistakes that went against them. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7864605, member: 29398"] Though there's a place and time for both outright winging it and spending ages finding the correct ruling, most times the reality will fall somewhere between the two: a short time spent looking it up and if not found then wing it. The risk of winging an important rulings call is this: if you end up blatantly getting it wrong, what then? 1 Do you retcon the play later using the correct rule? 2 Do you let the ruling stand and lock it in as a campaign houserule going forward? 3 Do you let the ruling stand but explain it as a one-off exception that won't happen again? None of these are perfect solutions. Option 1 invalidates any play that took place after the point where the ruling was made. Option 3 risks damaging or destroying internal consistency within the setting. Option 2, which is usually my lesser-of-the-evils preference, risks later 'broken' outcomes but at the same time provides the campaign with some individuality, even if unintentionally. :) Obviously the above is all very much generalized, and each specific situation will be different. Sometimes you [I]can[/I] get away with a seamless retcon that doesn't change anything that came after; sometimes a one-off event [I]can[/I] be explained away as a feature of the dungeon itself that only works that way in that location; and so forth. The other consideration is whether or not the mistake was in favour of the player(s). Fixing mistakes that favoured the players at the time is, I've learned, a lot harder than fixing mistakes that went against them. :) [/QUOTE]
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