D&D General How Do I Help Mentor a GM Making Rookie Mistakes?

[Zardnaar]

Yes but your reply seems to echo the OP with the assumption that the GM is the one changing the rules rather than allowing for the scenario we where the player not knowing those rules for the specific poker variant they were explicitly invited to play. I commented about your metaphor extension because you included a bunch of example rule changes without allowing for the player simply not knowing the rules to the poker variant they were invited to.

The GM does have the right to change the rules. They also have the right to enforce the rules of the specific game they offered to run with a reasonable expectation of not being blamed for changing them when those rules don't match a different game players are more familiar with.

DM kinda has that right but arbitrary inconsistent rules changes are annoying.

Session 0 or based of PC actions are fine not whenever it suits the DMs mood.

 

[tetrasodium]

DM kinda has that right but arbitrary inconsistent rules changes are annoying.

Session 0 or based of PC actions are fine not whenever it suits the DMs mood.

Yes "arbitrary inconsistent rules" are annoying. But the critical detail I is that players being unfamiliar with printed rules of the particular variant being played does not empower players to claim that the GM is making arbitrary inconsistent rule changes by forcing the gm to allow players to pick & choose which published variant rules they want to force instead of the one being played or speak up to make clear the actual rule.

Simply put is the fact that both can happen and the presence of one does not automatically ensure the presence or absence of the other. The original poker metaphor extension did not allow that the GM was in bright or the players were capable of simply not knowing the actual rules before crying foul and ascribing calvinball to the GM actually using the rules as written as they seemed to be at least attempting to do.

This is an issue I've seen personally where players agree to join a levelup5e game then cry foul about MY rules changes after I have to point out areas where the levelup5e rules differ from or extend the base dnd5e ruleset. On more than one occasion that led to players wanting to negotiate some variant in the name of simplicity adapting to the new system or whatever only to immediately ignore both the original rule as written and the one they themselves negotiated and later deny ever having done anything of the sort.