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Message: <blockquote data-quote="celloshane" data-source="post: 5027773" data-attributes="member: 21523">1st) A few others have covered this, but I'd like to provide a different point.  Maybe the people who need to be told aren't the creative, discerning ones.  (Note I purposely did not use intelligent, as the presence or lack of creativity does not indicate the presence or lack of intelligence.)  The point is, maybe the people who need to be told houseruling is ok are the ones who aren't interested in doing it....3rd) For some it is important and for others it isn't, but perhaps you should look at how you're approaching this discussion.  You make the assumption that any time spent creating house rules is a waste.  For some DMs improving the world, story, and adventures means creating houserules.  Some worlds don't match up perfectly with the core rules, and in those situations if the DM wants to improve his world it means changing some of the assumptions in the ruleset.Page 42 was a great addition to the game, but it doesn't solve every problem people have with 4e.  It's just a set of guidelines for a specific combat circumstance.  Furthermore, I don't see how exception based design makes creating monsters and traps new.  DMs have been doing that since the beginning of D&D.  If anything that supports my point; 4e DMs have plenty of freedom to create unique encounters, and little to no freedom to create unique campaigns.I will humbly admit that I had forgotten about page 189, so thanks for the reminder.  I do wish that such a complicated subject had received more that 1 page though.  Like the page says, it would take a lot more than they can print in the DMG to make someone an expert rules designer, but the text could have at least been more encouraging than cautionary.  I'm especially disappointed that the example(s) they chose to use was one of the common house rules from previous editions, not to mention being one of the most complained about.  I haven't seen DMG II, so maybe someone can fill me in on whether it expands on the subject?  One thing I would like to see in the future is a regular article in Dungeon that explores possible houserules in depth, but that's highly wishful thinking.Here's a few of my favorite examples: - One of the basic assumptions of 4e is that player characters begin the game as experienced and capable adventurers.  I'd love to have rules that represent less advanced characters like the apprentice wizard, or the farm boy who found Grandfather's sword in the attic, or the street urchin trying to prove her worth to the Thieve's Guild.   - Rules that alter the advancement of Will/Encounter/Daily powers.  I'd like to make Martial characters feel more mundane by giving them more At Wills and less Dailies while giving Arcane characters more resource management by doing the opposite. - A skill system that is more of a blend between 4e's balanced auto-proficiency and 3.x's character driven investment. - Rules that allow all characters to attempt combat tricks like disarm, trip, sunder, and advanced grappling.  Page 42 doesn't seem to apply to these sort of manuevers.   I wanted to point this post out as the exact attitude toward houserules that bothers me.  It basically makes the statement "I had a bad experience with houserules once so people shouldn't use them."  If I told you I had a bad experience with jelly donuts once and people shouldn't eat them would you respect that opinion?  I'm having a hard time understanding what a world building tool is that doesn't include rule customization.  Aside from maps, culture description, and custom player material (by which I mean powers, classes, PPs, EDs, equipment, ect.) what makes a world unique if the rules are exactly the same as every other world?  I feel it's important to modify any part of the ruleset necessary in order to make my campaigns memorable beyond just the default D&D experience.</blockquote>

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