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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Majoru Oakheart" data-source="post: 5836431" data-attributes="member: 5143">I've posted this story before in other threads, but I can never find it when I need it.I joined a D&D group in another country while I was staying there for a year.  I met some people at the game store and asked them for something to do on weekends.  They invited me to their group.The DM was running a game based on Harn.  So, magic users of all kinds were shunned and sometimes hunted.  I'd never played Harn so I wasn't sure of the extent of this.  But I decided to play a Sorcerer who used a polearm and crossbow and used magic only when absolutely necessary.  It was one of the first 3.5e games the DM had run(he had run 3.0 before).So, we get into a fight in a 5 foot wide corridor with me at the back, I decide to fire my crossbow at the enemies knowing that the 3.5e rules don't have provisions for hitting my allies so the worst that can happen is that I miss.DM: "Alright, you are firing down a corridor with 5 allies between you and your target, so you are going to hit one of them."Me: "Well, they provide cover, I know it's going to be really hard to hit, but I'm stuck way back here, and I can't use magic because they might kill me."DM: "What?  They don't just provide cover, there is an equal chance you hit each of them as there is the enemy.  They are all in the way of the bolt."Me: "No, it means I have to hit an AC 4 points higher in order to hit the enemy.  There used to be a chance to hit the cover in 3.0e, but we're playing 3.5e now, so it's gone.  Unless you are using the optional rule from the book."DM: "What?  I'm sure you're wrong.  You are telling me there's no chance to hit any of your allies in 3.5e?  That's the stupidest rule I've ever heard of."Me: "Well, that's the rule.  I can look it up and show you if you want."DM: "I don't care if that's the rule.  I'm the DM and all the rules in the book are guidelines.  I'm in charge of the game and I'd prefer if you don't argue with me in the middle of the game.  I make the rules, not the book."Me: "I'm not arguing, I just don't want to hit my allies and didn't realize I would do so when I chose my action."DM: "Well, that's your problem.  Your character doesn't have the rulebook in front of him.  He doesn't know how the rules work, so neither should you.  You make your decisions based on what makes sense IN CHARACTER.  Your character should know that firing a crossbow down a corridor filled with 5 of your allies is a bad idea and there should be a huge chance of hitting your friends.  Your character made the decision to fire knowing that was the case, so roll to hit and there will be a 1 in 6 chance of hitting all the targets in the hallway."Me: "*sigh*  Ok.  I rolled a 1, perfect, I miss everyone with that roll."DM: "Actually, you fail so badly that you automatically miss who you are aiming at and instead automatically hit one of your friends...and it is considered a crit."Me: "What?  But I don't want to crit my friends!?!  I never would have fired if I knew there was any chance to hit them!"DM: "What did I say about arguing with my decisions at the table?  I'm the DM.  We'll discuss this after the game."Followed by about an hour of roleplaying as the rest of the PCs discuss what to do with the assassin who tried to kill them from behind with a crossbow, with most of the group in favor of killing me on the spot.I try to argue out of character that I didn't mean to do that, everyone at the table knew that, so maybe their characters should forgive me and we should move on.  They told me that although THEY knew that, their characters didn't and needed to be roleplayed correctly.It ruined the night so badly for me, I didn't feel like playing with that DM again.  Even though a number of the players apologized to me after the session for it.In summary, I think DM Fiat needs to be limited in order to make sure that all the players have a common ground.  Or at least the books should heavily stress to the DM that although they are ABLE to change the rules, they shouldn't do so without talking to their players in advance so that there is at least a baseline of rules for all the players to base their expectations on.</blockquote>

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