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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fuindordm" data-source="post: 9768520" data-attributes="member: 5435">I don't think I ever played RAW. As a teenager, we didn't master the rules, ignored things we didn't understand fully or that were too fiddly (WvsAC, detailed initiative decision tree vs simple d6) made liberal use of suggestions in Dragon; I don't think we even used surprise correctly at that epoch.One memorable anecdote is an assassin PC who tried to convince me that they could backstab a dragon while clinging to a wall that they were in the process of climbing. I don't remember all the details but my refusal led to a vigorous round of rules lawyering on both sides! In another game I gave a few leader-class giants in the G1-3 campaign MU or illusionist levels (because they were actually jotnar you know) which yielded many lamentations and threats of reprisal from the party. So those years were far from RAW but still enjoyable for everyone!Today I am running a party through T1-4 and trying to stick close to pre-UA RAW, but I don't see any point to DMing if I can't adjust the rules to taste, so I would say that about 20% of the overall rule set is house rules. Some classes are revised or slightly adjusted, and I brought in some selected concepts from UA and 2nd edition. I got rid of exceptional strength and just made an auxiliary Strength table to be used by fighters, rangers, paladins and barbarians. I still don't use WvsAC. On the other hand, I am running combat, surprise and its interaction with thief skills, case-by-case initiative, and morale very close to RAW now that I understand the intention behind the rules better and can appreciate how they work together to create a fairly realistic experience where combat is dangerous, potentially deadly, but neither side usually wants to fight to the death.</blockquote>

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