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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 8748105" data-attributes="member: 4937">There is no difference between rules and rulings.&nbsp; There are only rules you can read before the session and rules which are issued by the GM during the session.&nbsp; If the GM is fair and impartial, those rules which are issued in play become precedence and are respected out of the principle of stare decisis - not lightly to be overturned or changed.&nbsp; Then when similar situations come up in the future, both the player and the GM know the rules that apply even when they aren't written down.&nbsp; They become a part of the body of unwritten knowledge both parties know about the game.All systems therefore move to a place where they are heavily codified the longer they are played with processes of play that become conventional and well understood by the table over time.And if they don't, then the other alternative is that you don't have an impartial referee.&nbsp; You have a tyrant ruling by whim for his own reasons and happiness.&nbsp; No one ever knows what the rules are and the rules can shift from moment to moment.&nbsp; Games of this sort become largely about manipulating the referee, and how you go about successfully manipulating the referee then becomes a body of unwritten knowledge known and utilized by the player until it becomes defacto rules.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 8748105, member: 4937"] There is no difference between rules and rulings. There are only rules you can read before the session and rules which are issued by the GM during the session. If the GM is fair and impartial, those rules which are issued in play become precedence and are respected out of the principle of stare decisis - not lightly to be overturned or changed. Then when similar situations come up in the future, both the player and the GM know the rules that apply even when they aren't written down. They become a part of the body of unwritten knowledge both parties know about the game. All systems therefore move to a place where they are heavily codified the longer they are played with processes of play that become conventional and well understood by the table over time. And if they don't, then the other alternative is that you don't have an impartial referee. You have a tyrant ruling by whim for his own reasons and happiness. No one ever knows what the rules are and the rules can shift from moment to moment. Games of this sort become largely about manipulating the referee, and how you go about successfully manipulating the referee then becomes a body of unwritten knowledge known and utilized by the player until it becomes defacto rules. [/QUOTE]

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