Rules -- when do you break 'em?

[your father is]

For DMs: How hardcore are you about following the rules as written in the various manuals? Also, have you found that, over time, you're less of a stickler and more likely to bend rules (or discard them altogether), or that you've learned to follow the rules even more closely?

And for players: Do you prefer the fairness of a DM who follows all rules for all players, or one who plays things by ear a little and brings more personal interpretation to the numbers (hopefully with an eye to increasing enjoyment)?

 

[wedgeski]

For DMs: How hardcore are you about following the rules as written in the various manuals? Also, have you found that, over time, you're less of a stickler and more likely to bend rules (or discard them altogether), or that you've learned to follow the rules even more closely?

Enjoyment *is* paramount, but I tend to trust the Core Rules rather than my own ego. Anything we want to house rule we discuss as a group before-hand.

Now when it comes to the odd bit of dice-fudging, guilty as charged, but only rarely, and *always* with a mind towards increasing the fun.

 

[Hussar]

I've found over the years that I've become more inclined to follow the rules as written and less inclined to wing it. To the point where 99% of my dice rolls are in the open and extremely little is ever fudged. About the only time I ignore the books is when the books don't offer any help on an issue.

As a player, I want to know about house rules beforehand and I get annoyed when DM's start changing rules in the middle of things. And I strongly dislike any roll fudging. If I die, I die. Don't save my character out of some misguided sense that saving my hide would make things more fun for me. I'll decide what's fun for me, thankyouverymuch.

 

[your father is]

^Thanks for the answers, fellas. RPGs, perhaps ironically, seem to generally be more fun when you follow the rules. Perhaps this has to do with suspension of disbelief, and making the game -- in some sense -- alive?

 

[kolikeos]

as a dm a tend to wing it all to often and sometimes my players find it a bit annoying, on the other hand if i do everything by the rules things seem to move slower.
as a player i'm pretty sure i'll find my own dming style a bit annoying at times, and i know from expirience that i would not like a rules-hard dm.
i think something in the middle would be best, winging it to keep the game moving but usually sticking to the rules.

 

[FireLance]

^Thanks for the answers, fellas. RPGs, perhaps ironically, seem to generally be more fun when you follow the rules. Perhaps this has to do with suspension of disbelief, and making the game -- in some sense -- alive?

No, I think this has more to do with consistency and meeting expectations. As a player, I have more fun when I have a good grasp of what my character can do, and can plan tactics and strategy accordingly. A DM who changes the rules on me, especially when he seems to do so, intentionally or not, to foil one of my plans, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[derbacher]

When running my home groups, whatever provides the most fun.

When running RPGA events, there are too many rules lawyers to try and do anything but follow the RAW. If you make something happen for the fun of it, someone is going to scream about the rules, and then you just have a mess on your hands.

 

[Graybeard]

I have a few house rules but nothing that makes major changes to the RAW. Ohter things I will do on occasion include winging it in situations where the actions the PCs wish to take seem reasonable and there are no specific rules for it or, the rules would merely get in the way. For example, a PC wants to jump over a small (5' or less) gap. I should have them roll their jump skill to see if they fail. I just allow them to safely make the jump. A few other times when the party does not have the appropriate skill I may allow them to roll on a related skill instead. For example, I allowed them to use knowledge nature instead of survival to try to follow tracks. I just made the DC higher.

 

[Henry]

I follow the rules 99% of the time, but there are some things I don't, either because we don't want to look them up, or the players are comfy with what I come up with.

For instance, we still follow the 3.0 rules for cover and concealment, because "half and whole" don't sit well with me, and the players either agree with me or have no preference.

 

[Gnome]

I used to wing it more earlier, and follow the rules more closely now than I did before. Part of the reason is the fact that I understand the rules better than I did, previously. For whatever reason, I'm now less likely to fudge die rolls these days as well.

I do make use of house rules, but I like ot discuss them with players beforehand and make sure others like them or at least don't care, first. I don't introduce them mid-session.

One time when I do like ot "wing it" is when I'm not sure of a rule, and decide to handle it a certain way for that session to avoid slowing-down the game by looking it up. I look it up after the game, and use the official rule thereafter.