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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 5475819" data-attributes="member: 58197">I think there's a middle ground to be struck on questions of "hard rules" versus "DM judgement," and it's best achieved by stepping back a moment and asking, "What are the goals of this rule?"For me, at least, the goals of most any rule are as follows:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Create a working approximation of the fictional world</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">in a way that keeps the DM and the players on the same page as to how the PCs' fictional actions will play out</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">while creating interesting choices for players and DM</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">and not bogging down the game.</li> </ul>There are, of course, tradeoffs to be made between these areas. In the case under discussion:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The cover rules do pretty well at creating a working approximation of the fictional world. DM judgement may do better, but probably won't improve on it a huge amount.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The cover rules do a somewhat better job of keeping the DM and players on the same page, but the question doesn't come up that much because</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cover is seldom a decisive element tactically, so neither cover rules nor DM judgement do much to promote interesting choices.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cover rules slow down the game to a small but appreciable degree, compared to DM judgement.</li> </ul>As you may have guessed, I lean toward using DM judgement here. Because of the small tactical impact--cover is not that big a deal most of the time--I think making the system fast and responsive takes precedence over making it clear and predictable, and DM judgement is usually the fastest and most responsive option.But I don't think there's a single good answer to "hard rules versus DM judgement." TSR-era D&D relied massively on DM judgement, while 3E and 4E have been obsessed with not relying on it at all. I'd like a system someplace in the middle.</blockquote>

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