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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tjoneslo" data-source="post: 1484294" data-attributes="member: 4909">Hi, my name is Thom and I'm not a rules lawyer. I've found the line between a player who knows the rules well and the rules lawyer is drawn about how persistent the player is about the activity. For example, GM claims NPC gets a specific bonus to armor class based upon some magic item. Both Rule Knowledgable player and Rules Lawyer would point out that this bonus is not allowed. GM says this wonderous item is an exception to the rule. Rules Knowledgable player says OK, and game goes on. Rules Lawyer pulls out the rule book, points to specific rule which says this is not allowed, and game grinds to a halt while rule discussion ensures. How annoying this is depends upon how much the rest of the players inisist the rules be "correct". It also depends on how frequently this kind of thing occurs. Once or twice a session probably isn't bad, but every five minutes might be. The twelve (ok four) step program to stop being a rules lawyer: 1) Admit that you are a rules lawyer and that your actions might be disrupting the fun that everyone else is having. No one is gaming while you are having a rules discussion.2) Every time you feel compelled to bring up a rules violation, make a note which player is doing the voilation and exactly which rule(s) are being broken. Review this journal before the next session, as you may discover one player consistently break rules either because they have not memorised the rules as well as you have, or they are a munchking rule abuser. 3) If the rule breaker player seems is just missing a set of important rules, make them a cheat sheet to refer to. If some or all the players are missing the same set of rules, make the cheat sheet to hand to all the players. If the DM is missing a set of rules, a cheat sheet for them would go over well. 4) Now you have a journal of rule violations, let the journal entry distract you from speaking about the rules. Make a note in the journal about how result turned out. For example, player forgets the flanking bonus to hit did they hit anyway? Did they miss so badly the bonus would not have made a difference?  Try to note the circumstance of the rules violation. Are you fighting mooks where a missed to hit bonus only make the combat last one round longer or are you fighting the big bad where every +1 may be important.</blockquote>

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