Rules Assimilation

[wedgeski]

Hi all. I'm a DM with a problem.

Because I find it hard to get a regular game together (perhaps, at most, once or twice a month), I've found, especially with 3rd Edition, that rules minutiae simply don't stick in my head. It irks me that, during a game, I often have to refer either to the books, or to one of my players who has a better memory for this kind of stuff.

With 4th Edition I want to embark on a regimented program of exercises to ensure that, when a rule is in question, I'll be able to adjudicate it knowing that I'm either exactly right as per page XX of the book, or that the if the rule isn't covered in the RAW, my decision has the weight of the game design behind it.

So, my question to you: without playing multiple times a week, how do you go about remembering all this stuff?

 

[DeusExMachina]

Well, reading the books cover to cover helps. Not just the important parts of it, not just the interesting bits, but every single page, every power etc. It took me some time to get through the PHB 3.5 this way (reading spells is soooooo boring), but it helped a lot...

Secondly, hang around on D&D forums alot. Even after playing 3(.5)e for years on end I was still surprised by what some of the people here manage to piece together in the way of rules mastery...

Make lots of new characters, new powers, classes, etc, even if you aren't going to use them immediately or ever. I found that creating new stuff for my campaign has helped me understand rules and balance better in the game...



Then again, after all that I still can't tell you exactly what the rules are for grappling in 3.5e, so what do I know...

 

[Valerion Steele]

maybe using the rules you have difficulty remembering more often than the easy ones...
and btw i only play once a week at most.. sometimes it´s once a month and i can remember most rules nonetheless.. maybe memory training works....

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

3E - I just played the game so often, read the books, DMed, that I just knew most of the stuff. I eventually memorized the page numbers for Wealth by Level and XP Rewards...
Heck, I think we even had a good grasp on the grapple rules in the end. Okay, I still don't know if monsters get multiple attacks based on BAB, and with which damage values, but the rest seems to be okay...


For 4E - it seems like the core rules are pretty simple (not that different from 3E):
- Ability Scores (Str, Con, Dex, Int, Wis, Cha)
- Action Types (Free, Immediate (Interrupt/Reaction), Minor Action, Move Action, Attack Action)
- Movement Types: Move, Shift, Push/Pull, Slide
- Defenses
- Attacks
- Skills (which ones? Tasks & Skill Challenges?)
- Power Types: daily, encounter, at-will and recharge for monsters.

Find ways to memorize this.
From what I understood, the DMG writers have been working hard to organizing the contents of the DMG for easy access, but since we haven't seen it yet, we can't say how much of this is actually working, or how it is.

Monsters contain all the relevant information in their stat blocks. If you have to look it up, look at the monster statistics itself.

 

[Imban]

as per page XX

...but 4e D&D is WotC's, not White Wolf's.

(sorry)

 

[TerraDave]

Play 4E, starting with Keep on the Shadowfell....

Being in a simlar situation (iregular play), I:

-pushed things onto the players. i.e. its there charecters, they should know how things work.

-tried to anticpate problems (this opponent is incorporal...this one has a gaze attack.. how does that work?) in advance.

But I was not 100% happy about it.

I am hoping 4E will be easier. The basic rules are simpler, with the twists coming on the "exceptions", basically the various options for monsters and pcs. If players can keep track of what they can do (and powers do seem easier to deal with then spells), and most of the info on opponents is laid out for me, and those opponents are simpler. Then it should be easier to be the master of the rules (and not mastered by them).

 

[BlackMoria]

You are not expected to memorize the rules. Even I have to look up the occasional rule now and then, particularly if it is stuff that doesn't come up often.

Make a crib sheet. Just one line or bullet points for those areas you have trouble with (for me, it is remembering some 'conditions' that don't come up often). Keep it brief but with enough information so you don't have to crack open the book.

Example from my crib sheet

Fatigued - can't run or charge / -2 penalty to Str & Dex / fatigue to exhausted status if fatigued again / recover after 8 hrs of full rest

Exhausted - move 1/2 speed / -6 penalty to Str & Dex / recover to fatigued status after 1 hr rest

 

[Irda Ranger]

Memory is a matter of rehearsing information. Each rehearsal strengthens the neural connection. Flashcards work really, really well if used properly. Most people hate them because they don't know how to use them.

http://www.supermemo.com/articles/20rules.htm

Lots of good advice on that page and you don't have to buy their software to use it (not that you'd be sorry if you did). Don't let the page's godawful colors and formatting scare you off.

 

[Blackbrrd]

If I can't remember a rule, I wing it. After the session I read up on the rule. Next time I get a question regarding that rule I will very likely remember it because I had a relevant situation to remember it by.

For instance:
Player: what is the penalty for shooting at the dragon behind the trees?
DM (can't remember): -4
Player: ok
DM checks up on the rule, and finds that it is really -2
Player asks: what is the penalty for shooting at the bard behind the organ?
DM (remembers the dragon situation): its -2.
Player: but last time it was -4
DM: I checked after last session
Player: ok

It is probably a good idea to tell your players that you will be winging rules you can't quite remember instead of using 5 minutes of play-time looking it up in the rulebook.

Btw: for 3e games we used a laptop and d20srd.org, its generally quite quick.

 

[Zaruthustran]

I'd focus on the core, and just plan on looking up fiddly bits like the difference between "stunned" and "dazed".

If I were you, I'd focus on rules for:

1. Action types: Free, Immediate (Interrupt/Reaction), Minor Action, Move Action, Attack Action
2. Movement types: Move, Shift, Push/Pull, Slide
3. The most-encountered combat modifiers: flanking, cover, and concealment
4. Attack types: melee, close, ranged (and how to implement area of effects, such as "burst")

-z

(thanks to Mustrum_Ridcully for 1 & 2)