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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 674692" data-attributes="member: 4937">I agree.  I've got no problem having a rules expert on the table, just so long as when I say my opinion differs from him and rule differently, that he respects that.  Nothing makes the job of DMing easier than a bunch of guys doing their own accounting automatically, who know the rule, and who relate what actions they wish to perform in a clear manner.You aren't a rules lawyer.A rules lawyer, if he doesn't like a rule, argues that the rule is wrong and provides an explanation based on real life.  If the rule favors him in the current situation, even if it makes no sense to apply the rule, he will argue that 'That is what the book says'.  If the rule is ambigous, he will argue that it has some meaning other than the clearest interpretation - if the less intuitive interpretation benifits himself.  If the book is absolutely clear, he will argue that the design is flawed, because the ability is 'useless' unless it works the way he wants it to work.  A rules lawyer cares more about getting his way, than he cares about the game everyone has got together to play.  A rules lawyer insists that the DM is violating some contractual relationship implicit in the gathering, and insists that since he didn't know the DM wasn't going to abide exactly by the text of the rules as he understood them, that he has the right to retract his action and try a new one.  A rules lawyer expects that his every action will have exactly the outcome he foresaw, and is angry when it doesn't.  A rules lawyer sees no contridiction in his own behavior.  A rules lawyer sees his behavior not only as essentially to the game, but as the meaning of the game itself, and furthermore assumes that all the other players are behind him because he is fighting for 'thier rights'.   A rules lawyer assumes that the purpose of the game is to outwit the DM by any means, and that the game is a contest between his will and cunning and the DM's will and cunning.  Failing to outwit the DM, the rules lawyer resorts to pestering the DM, putting social pressure on the DM, or staking his friendship on the ruling the DM makes.  I've even seen rules lawyers result to intimidation and use thier physical presence as a tool against the DM - invading the DM's personal space, shouting, and otherwise trying to demonstrate thier size and strength.   And to top it off, a rules lawyer at the end of the game sees himself as having made the greatest contribution to its success and feels he deserves therefore a significant reward or at least the respect and devotion of his peers.In short, a rules lawyer has alot in common with all lawyers.</blockquote>

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