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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 7553961" data-attributes="member: 2629">Ask yourself, "What makes for the best story?"  Do that.This is an RPG.  A role playing game.  Characters play a role in a story.  The game works best when we optimize the story, not the rules.  In this story, your PCs are the main characters, and main characters often can do things nobody else can do in that story.To that end, as a DM, I treat the players like an improv troop... and the first rule of improv is to say, "Yes".  (Note: This is a great reason to date improv actors.)  If a player asks if they can do something, I ask myself if it will ruin the game to allow it.  If the game will not be ruined, I ask if it tells a good story.  If so, go for it.  There is obviously a limit to how far this approach can go, but I tend to find that if your group is sruggling with that limit, your problem is not how the game is run, it is with the players not being a good fit.  In other words, the rule abuse is not the only problem....This does not mean that I don't remind players of the rules.  It means I elect to allow them to break the rules to have a better game.  At some moments, I throw the rules out the window.  At the end of a boss battle against a hated foe, the PC monk lands the final blow... and I allow the PC monk to rip out the heart of their enemy, show it to them as it beats one last time and then push that enemy off the cliff.  Dramatic, exciting, cinematic... but not exatly something that the rules cover.On the flip side, however, as a DM, I rarely, if ever, give the NPCs and monsters the benefit of the doubt.  This is not "their" story.  They do not shine.  While the PC might be allowed to do an offhand bonus action attack before their main action attack in my game, the NPCs will never attempt it because it is technically against the rules.</blockquote>

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