Players: do you help your DM? DMs, do you like getting rules reminders?

[just__al]

I am starting to bite my tongue during games. I'm in a campaign where we started at 12th level and we've progressed to 16th and possibly soon 17th level.

There's a lot going on at that level and the DM occasionally misses something, I normally wait until after the game and IM the DM with anything that was horribly misruled but otherwise I'm just trying to stop quibbling about rules and enjoy the story.

It's tough though because I have a better grasp of the rules or at least I can remember more of the rules that aren't used in 90%+ of the sessions...

 

[Chronosome]

As a player I try to help, and as a DM I appreciate any help I recieve.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

As a player (and the most experienced DM), I both offer reminders and get asked for advice. There's a little good-natured grousing when I point out things that go against us as players.

As a DM, I very much appreciate my players pointing out things I may have missed. What ticks me off, though, are those players that point out only those things in their favor. There's really no quicker way to lose my trust.

 

[Majere]

Our group is pretty old (well for me, the same groups for over a quarter of my life so far !). And the general rule goes.
"You can question the DM, or ask him to check rules if you think he made a mistake. But after the DM has read the rules you accept his decision."
The prevents the game crawling to a stop while game mechanics are decided. After the game, if people still think there is a mistake or something over looked, we can discuss it as a group in "downtime". Our DM is pretty good about this, he isnt a rules lawyer, but understands that if a player feels that he was "cheated" by a bad decision it will lead to tension, in return we respect that he likes to bend the rules here and there. So if something isnt "as the MM" its because it has special nasties.

For example last session the monk was using his stunning fist attack, but not doing any melee damage, when I questioned the MONK (not the DM) he assured me this was right. I wasnt so sure and read up the relevent feat to find the telling line "You deal your normal melee damage...". After the combat I gave the monk the page reference, and we have an even happier monk, but to push the point at that moment would have spoilt the flow of combat.

We also have a pretty long list of "house" rulings and interpretations, so that the game is consistant. And people are honest about pointing out the bad as well as the good, its part of the trust implicit in the group.

Hope that

 

[Berandor]

I'm grateful if my players remind me of something. Sadly, they are also very respectul, so a lot of mistakes I make go into "I'm not saying anything, I'm sure the DM has his reasons..."

And I can't remember that undead can't be critted. How often I have told my players to confirm or tried to confirm as a player myself, only to be greeted by eye-rolling...

As a player, I try to remember the DM as long as I don't think it's deliberate.

 

[Davelozzi]

I generally like getting helpful reminders when I DM, as long as they are presented in that spirit. But one of my players can be annoying as he only points out things in his favor, so it's more argumentative than helpful. Generally it doesn't come up too much in my regular group as I know the rules better than almost everyone, although DiaBoLus runs a psion and is pretty handy with the psionic rules. When I play with other people, such as some of the folks from these boards, there's a lot more rules help going on both ways, which I appreciate.

 

[Belbarrus]

Well, let's see....

1) Players don't "remind" me if I forget to do something and it is advantageous to them. For example if I keep forgetting to attack with a Spiritual Weapon that the enemy cleric cast 3 rounds ago, no one reminds me.
2) Players will "remind" me if I forget something that IS advantageous to them. For example, if I forget to say that an enemy NPC is 'casting on the defensive', they will remind me.
3) Players will correct me if they find that the rules actually conflict with something that I say.
4) I usually try to remind the DM (when I am playing) about something that he forgot to do with an NPC.

As a DM, I have to keep reminding the players about things, such as spell ranges or effect.

B

 

[Count Arioch the 28t]

I actually prefer that my players correct me if I have a rule wrong. Likewise, I feel no shame in asking a DM if that's supposed to be how it works.

If the DM says yes, I give them the benefit of the doubt, because the DM I play under in the rare few times I do play is very creative in his designs, it's usually some bizarre magical effect that's causing mechanics anomolies.

I do that at times. If a player asks me if that is how it works rules-wise, I tell them "Your character does indeed find it odd that ______ happened, it's not supposed to happen like that." that usually heightens tension a bit, because they know something off the wall is coming.

 

[buzz]

I always help my GM. Even after a few years of playing it, I still feel like I'm learning how to play 3.x, so looking up rules for the GM while they handle other adjudications or double-checking rules used by other players helps me get more familiar with the game. I could care less whether a by-the-book ruling hoses my PC or someone else's; I want to know what the correct ruling is. That, and I think playing as "fairly" as possible enhances the fun, for me at least. AFAIC, PC death is just another opportunity to roll up a new character.

3.x is a complex game. I think it behooves players to contribute to each other's understanding of the rules, as well as take on some of the burdens of running the game. Games run faster and smoother that way.

 

[eris404]

Players, do you help your DM? If he forgets something -- his critters' spell resistance, or ongoing damage from the round before -- do you remind him? I find myself frequently muttering "spell resistance" to my DMs and they seem to appreciate the reminders.

DMs, do you like this kind of help? I know when I'm DMing any assistance in remembering what's going on is appreciated.

As a player, I'm the one who's writing down everything that goes on, so sometimes I'll pick up on something the DM has forgotten about. The rest of the players in our group are actually pretty good at asking questions that help the DM. For example, if we're attacking an unknown monster and the wizard casts a spell, his player will very often ask, "Do I have to overcome its spell resistance?"

Since we have five people in our group that have run games or are currently running games, everyone is pretty understanding and helpful to the person who the victim that week.