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<blockquote data-quote="fenriswolf456" data-source="post: 5885411" data-attributes="member: 6687664">True, but in order to 'cheat', you have to be manipulating or breaking some rule. In order to judge if someone is cheating at a game, you have to go by the RAW, because that's the only metric we have. Once we get into modified rules and house rules, we're imposing a second set of rules onto the play experience.&nbsp;By the rules of the game, the DM is allowed to do anything, including altering or outright ignoring dice rolls (which I just read in the Rules Compendium while prepping myself for my first go at DMing a 4E campaign). They also have total control over the world, adventure, and encounters, right down to deciding what the monsters/npcs do. Therefore, in this way, the &quot;DMs can't cheat&quot; camp is correct.&nbsp;But as you said, there are other sets in rules in place beyond the actual game itself. And it's these rules that may be broken by the DM, and would be considered cheating, which is where the &quot;DMs can cheat&quot; camp is arguing from. If the DM agreed to a 'let the dice lay where they lie' kind of game, and then goes changing the outcomes despite what the dice indicate, then they are cheating the other players out of their expected play experience by breaking the social contract, not the rules of the game.&nbsp;So everyone here has been right, depending on context.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="fenriswolf456, post: 5885411, member: 6687664"] True, but in order to 'cheat', you have to be manipulating or breaking some rule. In order to judge if someone is cheating at a game, you have to go by the RAW, because that's the only metric we have. Once we get into modified rules and house rules, we're imposing a second set of rules onto the play experience. By the rules of the game, the DM is allowed to do anything, including altering or outright ignoring dice rolls (which I just read in the Rules Compendium while prepping myself for my first go at DMing a 4E campaign). They also have total control over the world, adventure, and encounters, right down to deciding what the monsters/npcs do. Therefore, in this way, the "DMs can't cheat" camp is correct. But as you said, there are other sets in rules in place beyond the actual game itself. And it's these rules that may be broken by the DM, and would be considered cheating, which is where the "DMs can cheat" camp is arguing from. If the DM agreed to a 'let the dice lay where they lie' kind of game, and then goes changing the outcomes despite what the dice indicate, then they are cheating the other players out of their expected play experience by breaking the social contract, not the rules of the game. So everyone here has been right, depending on context. [/QUOTE]

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