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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 5524798" data-attributes="member: 996">Well, for powers, mechanics absolutely trump flavor texts, since, as you say, players can't arbitrarily make up mechanics, but can arbitrarily change flavor text.&nbsp; If 'fluff' or 'narrative situation' could trump rules, than players /would/ indeed be free to alter how their power worked by describing it differently.Indeed, you advocate that, with Come And Get It, below.&nbsp; They are 'rules,' though.&nbsp; So, one would think, you'd generally follow them.&nbsp; The DM is always free to /change/ rules, of course.And, while a power need not always work /exactly/ the same way, since the flavor text of the power can be changed at whim, it cannot reasonably be one of the factors that would be used to determine when it might work differently.One example I can think of is a player character 'throwing' another an object, like a potion.&nbsp; The rules do not cover it, yet the 'fluff' of the action (whether it's over- or under- hand or via telekinesis) hardly matters.&nbsp; What matters is what the heck action or actions are required of the 'throwing' and 'catching' characters.&nbsp; Non-adjacent character want to exchange an item.&nbsp; The rules do not cover it.&nbsp; OK, DM, make a ruling.Also, there's a world of difference between a +/-2 (the usual 'modifier' DMs throw around) and neggating a power or allowing it to be vastly over powered on an arbitrary basis.Now, by definition, if there is a rule describing how a power works, then it would not be something 'not covered by the rules.'The 'narrative' is a matter of flavor text, which is changeable at whim and explicitly does not determine the details of what the power actually does.&nbsp; In other words, you're saying that how the player modifies his the flavor text of /that particular power/ should be used by the DM, to determine how the power works.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; It's a serious issue for me.&nbsp; And, it should be a serious issue for any DM.&nbsp; Martial archetypes are popular, it's a rare party that has no martial characters - how the DM treats them matters.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 5524798, member: 996"] Well, for powers, mechanics absolutely trump flavor texts, since, as you say, players can't arbitrarily make up mechanics, but can arbitrarily change flavor text. If 'fluff' or 'narrative situation' could trump rules, than players /would/ indeed be free to alter how their power worked by describing it differently. Indeed, you advocate that, with Come And Get It, below. They are 'rules,' though. So, one would think, you'd generally follow them. The DM is always free to /change/ rules, of course. And, while a power need not always work /exactly/ the same way, since the flavor text of the power can be changed at whim, it cannot reasonably be one of the factors that would be used to determine when it might work differently. One example I can think of is a player character 'throwing' another an object, like a potion. The rules do not cover it, yet the 'fluff' of the action (whether it's over- or under- hand or via telekinesis) hardly matters. What matters is what the heck action or actions are required of the 'throwing' and 'catching' characters. Non-adjacent character want to exchange an item. The rules do not cover it. OK, DM, make a ruling. Also, there's a world of difference between a +/-2 (the usual 'modifier' DMs throw around) and neggating a power or allowing it to be vastly over powered on an arbitrary basis. Now, by definition, if there is a rule describing how a power works, then it would not be something 'not covered by the rules.' The 'narrative' is a matter of flavor text, which is changeable at whim and explicitly does not determine the details of what the power actually does. In other words, you're saying that how the player modifies his the flavor text of /that particular power/ should be used by the DM, to determine how the power works. Why? It's a serious issue for me. And, it should be a serious issue for any DM. Martial archetypes are popular, it's a rare party that has no martial characters - how the DM treats them matters. [/QUOTE]

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