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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 5760070" data-attributes="member: 59506">I don't believe he is.  Consistency is a facet of realism.  Realism when applied to RPG's means that things happen according to preset rules and remain consistent with those rules, unless acted upon by an unknown factor.  If there is an unknown factor in play that the DM or ruleset intends (even if the DM or ruleset hasn't yet defined that unknown factor), then it's okay.  If a DM or ruleset allows for inconsistent results, then it degrades the sense of realism. Not being consistent is counter to a "Nod to Realism", and is instead a nod to the fantastic and mysterious.  Neither is bad.  Both are completely enjoyable, though not by everyone.  I occasionally enjoy the randomness and mysteriousness of a fantastic game myself, but by definition such an approach is not a "Nod to Realism". <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Ahhh, but now you've created a whole new set of problems due to your now "defining" what a fireball is in your campaign.  If that definition isn't adhered to as the game progresses, then you've introduced a very obvious inconsistency that will degrade the sense of realism. From this point on your players can assume that Fireballs are a type of Summoning magic (as compared to the default assumption from previous editions of it being an Evocation).  Also, the Elementals in question have the ability to see invisible objects/creatures that are counter to the caster (even if the caster isn't aware of their presence) and not harm things the caster wouldn't want harmed - which now grants these elementals the ability to read the casters mind, sense alignments or intentions, and see invisible.  With these assumptions, it's only natural for a player to want to use this information in crafting new spells/powers, or find ways to exploit this that the DM or ruleset couldn't anticipate.  Quite likely introducing abilities to a power/spell that are far beyond it's actual level. You've added a new and unintended facet to the game. Adding a new facet isn't a bad thing.  As a DM, I find that my adjudications often have unintended consequences, and I roll with them as they usually make for something pretty fun.  But not all DM's are capable or accepting of that.  It's the unintended part that can cause the problem for many. Of course though, this also highlights that "Fluff" does matter.  It's not a simple thing to just "change the Fluff" to fit what you want it to be, while keeping the "crunch".  Realism means that "Fluff" and "Crunch" are consistent with eachother, and work consistently throughout the game. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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