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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ahnehnois" data-source="post: 5982958" data-attributes="member: 17106">You're missing the point. The defining aspect of rule zero is not that it gives power to the DM, but that it takes it away from the rulebooks (unlike in most games). Whether power is in the hands of one person at the table or several is a secondary, social contract issue.Even so, D&D places one person in charge because having a good outcome now is better than debating things for a week. Like any leader, a good DM is responsive to others, but having one person with the final word is helpful in creating a cohesive and fast-moving game. A more cooperative game is possible, but that's not the D&D approach.A one-person approach though, is not warped. It's the standard. How do you think Christopher Nolan/Peter Jackson/Guillermo del Toro/etc. would feel about having everyone on the set vote which shot to use, how many takes to do, changing the script, and so on? They listen to their staff, but they make the final call on everything, giving their movies cohesion and getting them done. A DM is more like a movie director than anything. Without a single director being in charge of everything unconditionally, there wouldn't be much in the way of movies.I read that if the DM is either not trying to make the game fun for everyone or if he is unable to do so due to incompetence, the game will suffer. No doubt. That's the DM's fault, not the system's.Consider the following: why might Mike Meals/Monte Cook/fill in the blank design a rule that is not fun for your group? Is it more likely that a DM who is physically in the room, knows the participants, and is responsible for creating the story will make a bad decision, or is it more likely that some unseen writer trying to make money off of the masses will do so? DMs aren't perfect, but I'll take a DM ruling over the book any day. The rules are there to give everyone a shared language and suggest how things should work, but really, "rules" is a misnomer; they're more guidelines than actual rules.Most DMGs suggest that DMs exercise that kind of discretion. Most groups do, too. But yes, if you don't like your DM, those are your options (assuming that "talk to your DM" was left out for some good reason). That's life.***Who's the guy with "Don't let rules replace good DMing skills" in his sig?</blockquote>

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