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<blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 4034031" data-attributes="member: 2011">In this discussion, you are more wrong than right. The DM is not above the law. I agree more with KM.Yes, the DM can bend or break the rules. But, the DM should rarely do it. It's fine to have a magical effect that cannot be explained by the rules in order to advance the story. For example, a magical explosion that ends up catapulting the PCs to another dimension.But if a player makes a mistake in combat, the normal combat rules should apply. Here is where you are wrong. The DM should not change the combat rules to &quot;save the PC and make the game more fun for the player&quot;. The reason is that &quot;Who knows?&quot;. Maybe the game will be more fun if the PC dies.DMs are people too. They are not omniscient, hence, they really do not know what is in the head of other players. They can guess, but they might be wrong as often as they are right.The concept that &quot;the rules take a back seat to fun&quot; is totally arrogant and presumptuous of you. The DM knows best. Nonsense. Fun occurs in many different ways. It can be fun for the DM to break the rules, but for many players, it might be more fun for the DM to follow the rules.Since it is a game, there will be players like KM who expect the DM to follow the rules. You stated:KM is not a bad player. He just has different expectations than you do. He expects the game to be a game and as such, all players, including the DM, should follow the rules of that game.Sure there can be exceptions, but those should be carefully considered by the DM, not just knee jerk decisions for some potential DM perceived fun. The best intentions when making on the fly rules changes or just flat out breaking the rules can torpedo a game just as quickly as a TPK.Players have expectations. A DM cannot just ignore that, or he is not a good DM. If the players expect the game to have wierd rule breaking things occur, then your &quot;anything goes in the name of fun&quot; system would be fine. But, many players do not have those types of expectations.Note: I think the phrase &quot;for the sake of fun&quot; is vastly overused by posters. It can be used to justify just about any DM or player behavior.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KarinsDad, post: 4034031, member: 2011"] In this discussion, you are more wrong than right. The DM is not above the law. I agree more with KM. Yes, the DM can bend or break the rules. But, the DM should rarely do it. It's fine to have a magical effect that cannot be explained by the rules in order to advance the story. For example, a magical explosion that ends up catapulting the PCs to another dimension. But if a player makes a mistake in combat, the normal combat rules should apply. Here is where you are wrong. The DM should not change the combat rules to "save the PC and make the game more fun for the player". The reason is that "Who knows?". Maybe the game will be more fun if the PC dies. DMs are people too. They are not omniscient, hence, they really do not know what is in the head of other players. They can guess, but they might be wrong as often as they are right. The concept that "the rules take a back seat to fun" is totally arrogant and presumptuous of you. The DM knows best. Nonsense. Fun occurs in many different ways. It can be fun for the DM to break the rules, but for many players, it might be more fun for the DM to follow the rules. Since it is a game, there will be players like KM who expect the DM to follow the rules. You stated: KM is not a bad player. He just has different expectations than you do. He expects the game to be a game and as such, all players, including the DM, should follow the rules of that game. Sure there can be exceptions, but those should be carefully considered by the DM, not just knee jerk decisions for some potential DM perceived fun. The best intentions when making on the fly rules changes or just flat out breaking the rules can torpedo a game just as quickly as a TPK. Players have expectations. A DM cannot just ignore that, or he is not a good DM. If the players expect the game to have wierd rule breaking things occur, then your "anything goes in the name of fun" system would be fine. But, many players do not have those types of expectations. Note: I think the phrase "for the sake of fun" is vastly overused by posters. It can be used to justify just about any DM or player behavior. [/QUOTE]

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