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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 6315530" data-attributes="member: 82106">Eh, I wouldn't take 'exception-based design' too far. It is intended to apply to the RULES, not to the GAME ELEMENTS, which are different. A race or a monster is a game element, it has what the rules say it has and nothing more or less. It may also have some defaults, but even those are situational and up to the judgement of the DM. One assumes if a monster is a humanoid with a speed of 6 that it walks, but that doesn't mean you would literally expect that a crippled legless human beggar will be walking and while he might have a stat block he could just be a statless 'bystander' NPC and clearly the DM will say "nope, that guy only crawls". So, likewise the DM is free to determine what an eladrin toddler can do, or for that matter a minor NPC eladrin. While there are many stat blocks and race rules for PCs of the eladrin race, and AFAIK they all have Fey Step its nowhere stated that ALL ELADRIN have Fey Step, or even most. Many of the rules that apply to adventurers and their ilk and to creatures with stat blocks may or may not apply to their entire race. In fact we can find cases where clearly a given ability does NOT extend to the whole race. So no 'exception' is needed if the DM wants to say "the shopkeeper can't teleport, in fact NO shopkeepers can" because there's no rule to be making the exception to. The only rule is "if its on the statblock/character sheet then the character can do it", or its a 'default', and there's never been a definitive list of default characteristics of creatures (nor would one make sense). DMs are clearly entitled to their opinions and ideas, but it seems pretty inflexible for a DM to say "I have this terrible issue with this one aspect of a setting which aspect I in fact extrapolated as being the case and could change trivially at the drop of a hat." Its not so much that I feel like I have an issue with said DM as much as I just can't help rolling my eyes when these things come up.</blockquote>

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