D&D 5E Rules you ignore
- Thread starter koga305
- Start date
ccs
41st lv DM
Inspiration.
I just never think about it.
Passive perception.
Once again, not something I think about. If it's something I want someone to know sans die roll? Then I'll tell them. Doesn't matter what their passive Perception is. If it's in question? Then there'll be a roll.
The entire CR system as far as encounters are concerned.
The beast companion rules for rangers as printed in the PHB.
I just never think about it.
Passive perception.
Once again, not something I think about. If it's something I want someone to know sans die roll? Then I'll tell them. Doesn't matter what their passive Perception is. If it's in question? Then there'll be a roll.
The entire CR system as far as encounters are concerned.
The beast companion rules for rangers as printed in the PHB.
Ath-kethin
Elder Thing
A rule I forgot that I ignore: inspiration as written. I met all three of my players at a local AL game, and the DM there gave everybody one inspiration point per adventuring day. We all just did that automatically when we started my campaign and it wasn't until reading this thread that I remembered it's supposed to work differently.
Mad_Jack
Hero
I've always been of the "If we don't find it interesting or it's getting in the way of awesome, we don't bother with it" school...
- Like a lot of others, I don't generally require every last ounce of gear to be accounted for as long as it seems like the character could reasonably carry it, and any reasonable explanation for managing the logistics of large numbers of things or heavy items is fine by me.
- Ammunition and food are also things that tend to be only loosely tracked - as the cost of such things is generally very low, assuming the character has access to a source of new ammo/food on a semi-regular basis and that they remember to occasionally throw a gp or two at it I don't bother making them count it exactly, although if the party's going to be heading out into the wilderness/down into a dungeon for an extended period I'll require them to drop some cash on supplies.
- Lifestyle costs only apply if the characters are trying to live high on the hog.
As a side note, over the years I've usually gone with the premise that gold pieces are basically for the character's armor/weapon/magic item budget, and that food/ammo/lodging are covered out of copper or silver pieces - and when I've bothered to track those kinds of mundane expenses I've just added in a bit more of the smaller coinage to compensate for them.
Depending on an edition's rules for things like jumping, stealth or object interactions, I generally just use them as guidelines and am willing to allow a fair bit of wiggle room as long as it seems reasonable. For example, it seems logical that you may be able to jump farther if the area you're aiming for is lower than you are, that you can hide anytime the narrative circumstances are plausible, or that anybody who regularly fights with two weapons is probably going to be wearing them in a fashion that allows them to draw both of them at once (I have no problem with a knife thrower being able to pull out enough blades in one turn to make his full number of attacks)... I wouldn't let you go from wielding sword-and-board to shooting a bow on the same turn, but if you're using them I'm not going to quibble over whether or not you have a free hand to cast a spell.
- Like a lot of others, I don't generally require every last ounce of gear to be accounted for as long as it seems like the character could reasonably carry it, and any reasonable explanation for managing the logistics of large numbers of things or heavy items is fine by me.
- Ammunition and food are also things that tend to be only loosely tracked - as the cost of such things is generally very low, assuming the character has access to a source of new ammo/food on a semi-regular basis and that they remember to occasionally throw a gp or two at it I don't bother making them count it exactly, although if the party's going to be heading out into the wilderness/down into a dungeon for an extended period I'll require them to drop some cash on supplies.
- Lifestyle costs only apply if the characters are trying to live high on the hog.
As a side note, over the years I've usually gone with the premise that gold pieces are basically for the character's armor/weapon/magic item budget, and that food/ammo/lodging are covered out of copper or silver pieces - and when I've bothered to track those kinds of mundane expenses I've just added in a bit more of the smaller coinage to compensate for them.
Depending on an edition's rules for things like jumping, stealth or object interactions, I generally just use them as guidelines and am willing to allow a fair bit of wiggle room as long as it seems reasonable. For example, it seems logical that you may be able to jump farther if the area you're aiming for is lower than you are, that you can hide anytime the narrative circumstances are plausible, or that anybody who regularly fights with two weapons is probably going to be wearing them in a fashion that allows them to draw both of them at once (I have no problem with a knife thrower being able to pull out enough blades in one turn to make his full number of attacks)... I wouldn't let you go from wielding sword-and-board to shooting a bow on the same turn, but if you're using them I'm not going to quibble over whether or not you have a free hand to cast a spell.
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Plaguescarred
D&D Playtester for WoTC since 2012
I ignore Suffocating rules for how long a creature can hold its breath when under high stress such as combat holding it for a number of minute rounds equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds 1 round).
The_Gneech
Explorer
I don't ignore inspiration myself, but my players do. After a few sessions of "You guys have inspiration, use it already!" to no avail, I just dropped it. It's weird, because a few of them are always advantage-fishing, you'd think having a free use on their character sheet would be just the thing for them.
Insert armchair psychology here.
-TG
Insert armchair psychology here.
-TG
Horwath
Hero
Inspiration: very few DMs bother with this. Could just say that it recharges after long rest.
Encumbrance; ignored unless your character sheet looks like supermarket inventory list.
Somatic components(unless bounded to prevent just that or carrying a 200lb barrel)
Food and water, unless in really difficult terrain for foraging.(polar, underdark, desert).
Encumbrance; ignored unless your character sheet looks like supermarket inventory list.
Somatic components(unless bounded to prevent just that or carrying a 200lb barrel)
Food and water, unless in really difficult terrain for foraging.(polar, underdark, desert).
My players are much bigger sticklers for the rules than I am. I'm very lax with encumbrance, but they actually enjoy figuring out just how much of the horde they fought for they can carry: who carries what, who get's the belt of giant strength, how much can they fill a chest and still carry it... I call it D&D: the spreadsheet.
They're also sticklers for tracking rations and when they need to forage. They even want to roll to see how much food and water was found.
They're also sticklers for tracking rations and when they need to forage. They even want to roll to see how much food and water was found.
I don't ignore inspiration myself, but my players do. After a few sessions of "You guys have inspiration, use it already!" to no avail, I just dropped it. It's weird, because a few of them are always advantage-fishing, you'd think having a free use on their character sheet would be just the thing for them.
-TG
I house ruled that inspiration expires at the end of the session. Although my players are pretty quick to use it, regardless
ccs
41st lv DM
Wouldn't work in my groups.
I don't think about it because I & most of the people I play with have been playing these games for years/decades. Or editions that don't have this. We don't NEED a rule to encourage us to RP, do cool things, come up creative ideas, etc. We just do these things because that's how the game is played.... And the newer players (we have 4 who's only edition xp is 5e) are all in. They were actively doing what the rest of us were within their 1st session - BEFORE they owned the PHB!
So since we have no need of this rule it just gets forgotten - until a thread like this comes along.
Our group ignores encumbrance and tracking ammo. Mainly because we just forget to track it anyway. Plus no one wants to sit around the table for an hour doing inventory management. There are monsters to slay! If we encounter an obviously large treasure horde, like a dragon, then we take a little time to say something like "one of us will go back to town and get a cart". That's as far as we take it though. For ammo, we just make that the background stuff our characters take care of "off camera". It's assumed they get meals, take a bathroom break, and do their supply runs in the downtime. Buying or making more ammo falls into that category.
I ignore material components because I hate magic based on components never used them for most spells one exception resurrection. Hell I have quit reading fantasy books with magic based on components it bothers me that much. Wizards are not witches sorry that is my rant on that subject.
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UngeheuerLich
Legend
I forget inspiration all the time. We usually use it when a crucial roll (save or die) failed and reroll instead of giving advantage in those cases.
I ignore the rule limiting PC's to only 1 point of inspiration at a time, as I find that players tend to hoard it.
I use poker chips to represent the point of inspiration (kind of like savage worlds bennies) and award extras based on good roleplaying and doing cool things in game.
Since allowing players to have a couple on hand has made it much more likely that they'll use it, including giving it to other players to spend.
That said, I don't give out tons of inspiration, everyone gets 1 at the start of the session, and I award a couple more throughout the game.
I use poker chips to represent the point of inspiration (kind of like savage worlds bennies) and award extras based on good roleplaying and doing cool things in game.
Since allowing players to have a couple on hand has made it much more likely that they'll use it, including giving it to other players to spend.
That said, I don't give out tons of inspiration, everyone gets 1 at the start of the session, and I award a couple more throughout the game.
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