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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 6121366" data-attributes="member: 6668292">This view alone might be a deterrent for me gaming with you. I know that there are good ways and bad ways to deal with someone (letting someone down easy, in any context), but from my experience, the type of people that judge people as "cowardly" for not participating in open discussion of issues are usually more aggressively confrontational. I don't know if you are (and I'm not saying you are), but if you tend to be confrontational at times, I don't blame less confrontational people for avoiding the unnecessary hassle. Again, not saying you are confrontational (I am; I just don't consider it cowardly when people don't want to deal with me).But, this is a side issue, though I think I feel okay stating it based on this post: [sblock][/sblock]Seriously, if that's what it felt like when people disagreed with your preferences, I'd let you know (again, I don't mind confrontations). But I don't blame people who want to avoid you calling their opinions "bull<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />" or calling them, as people, "chicken<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> players." But that's me.Okay. If they saw that as cheating, their views are justified, in my opinion, unless you explicitly expressed your way of running the game, which a later post indicates you did. However, I'm answering your general assertions here, and hopefully giving insight into their way of thinking; more on this below.I very strongly disagree.Games have rules. Can you change them? Sure. Changing the rules is on the fly considered "cheating" to some groups. And, doing it to prop up some players and hurt others is fine; that works for some groups. However, if certain players don't agree with you about the type of game they're expecting, and you cheat to hurt them and help other players, then, yeah, I totally get why they walked.Now, this is purely a social contract issue. "The GM cannot cheat" is acceptable at many tables (and it was voiced, explicitly, in the 3.5 DMG). But, for example, I tell my players "I won't fudge to save you, or to hurt you." If I then go on to fudge to save them (or hurt them), then I've cheated them. I've broken one of the rules they think the game runs by. This is also why I roll in the open; I have nothing to hide, and it's largely symbolic of that.Now, my brother fudges events, dice, etc. when he runs his games. I know that he does, and I accept that. Sometimes, when I've lived through events, I question whether I should have made it (he doesn't always roll in the open, and sometimes enemies might start missing more often once I was low on HP). And, whether or not he fudged, that nagging feeling of "did I earn that victory?" kinda sucks. I mean, I want to know I earned that win, and now I just don't know. I even started playing more and more recklessly (but justifiably) to see if I'd lose a character (I didn't).When it comes to my brother, I've learned to put the "did I earn that?" feeling on mute. Sure, it's still around, but it's not as important as engaging with things. Would I enjoy the game more if that question wasn't on mute? Definitely. But, I can play without it. And I had to learn to play that way with my brother. However, if your players don't like playing this way, then yeah, I get why they feel cheated. They want to earn things, and they have no idea what is earned and what isn't.This may have been the problem with the players, or with the table. Did you express this to them? If so, then no, you didn't cheat. You played by the rules that everyone knew about. If this is the case, it was a problem with the players.If they didn't know this is how you intended to run the game, it was a table problem. There wasn't appropriate communication, and the players should have asked your preference / you should have told them yours. In your mind, you clearly aren't cheating, while in their mind, you clearly are. It's a failure of communication in regards to the social contract at the table.Your "the story trumps rules (and dice) all the time)" outlook is fine, but is definitely not universal. I don't want to play in that style of game, generally. It's not terrible or anything (I like playing under my brother), but I definitely have no interest in it over knowing, for sure, that everything I have I completely earned. I want that feeling. It makes me connect to my character more. For me, it's an immersion issue; if I'm constantly getting pulled out of character thinking "should that hit have taken me down?", it's going to hurt my enjoyment of the game.Again, your preference is perfectly fine. But, can the GM cheat? Definitely. Just depends on the social contract (what the group is playing at the table). As always, play what you like <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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