D&D 5E Tabletop Rules and Guidelines

[iserith]

True, but i would try to work more with such players, than to have that as a table rule for everyone personally.

It's actually just a restatement of the "win" conditions of D&D on page 2 of the Basic Rules.

I would certainly try to work with players that found themselves unable to live up to this expectation as long as they were making a good faith effort. Some folks don't know any differently than how they've been taught by others or have issues knowing when they're being annoying. I'll try to help them within reason.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[MechaPilot]

Hey guys, I'm running a campaign and my table has come up with a few guidelines to keep the sessions running smoothly. Some of these came about from specific instances of trouble that just needed to be rectified and prevented in the future and some came from othe DMs' tips. I wanted to hear what kind of rules or guidelines you guys use at your tables too or give me your thoughts on mine.

I share some of those rules.

1. No rolling dice against other PCs. Interactions between PCs must be role played.

Social interaction between PCs is almost always roleplayed, not rolled, though I can see situations where I would allow rolling instead. However, I do generally allow other dice to be rolled as the default method of resolving things. I had a recent situation where a character tried to palm a couple small gems from a chest without others seeing the gems or him taking them: I called for opposed checks.

2. No dice shall be rolled unless the DM calls for a roll.

Nah. Players can roll all they want to, but none of them mean anything until I call for a roll.

3. No books shall be open during combat

Nope. I don't memorize all the spells, and I don't expect my players to do it either. Looking up spells is just a part of the game.

4. PCs have 1-3 seconds after the DM asks "what do you do" to decide on a course of action or they lose their turn to indecision and simply take the Dodge action

I give much more time than that. I'd say I give about a minute.

5. The DM's rulings are final.

Sort of. I allow one short rebuttal of an initial decision. If I don't change my mind, you can try to appeal to me after the game regarding future applications of the rules to similar circumstances, but it won't reverse what has already happened.

6. Try to keep distractions such as side tangents to a minimum.

I definitely have that rule. Game time is rather limited for my group, so we have to try to make the most of it.

 

[Sunseeker]

On the other hand, I think he was talking about player roleplaying with each other. And whatever use social skillchecks have against NPCs, I agree that they are inappropriate against other players. You roleplay (however poorly) with each other- you don't roll to intimidate Bob the Half-wit.

I disagree but that's because I use social checks differently. They're not attacks. You're not using your Charisma and your charm and good looks to attack the other player's defenses against your charming words. The check is a measure of the quality of your words. Word-for-word role play requires a level of acting that most players simply don't have. Asking everyone to be an improv actor is unrealistic and your character's stats and the dice are there as an aide. So when you say "I try to convince him of the merits of sparing the bandit." and roll a 15, you've made a good argument in character even if out of character you can't quite name all the merits of sparing the bad guy, or convince the player.

Because you're not trying to convince the PLAYER. Your character is trying to convince his CHARACTER. That's what the dice are for: in-game resolutions.

 

[feartheminotaur]

I'm not going to say whether your rules are good or bad; if they work at your table, great. Mine are different, but then, so is my table.

I do sympathize with some of the issues you have/had that lead to a couple of them.

Players who simply roll and demand resolution based on the roll (which, I see a lot) is a pet peeve of mine. I prefer to counter the "I rolled a 20 perception - what do I see?" or "I rolled a 20 persuasion, what does the chamberlain tell me?" with "Nothing" as if the roll failed. It works for me and allowing an uncalled for check but treating it as an auto-fail has, IME, helped curb a lot of that sort of stuff, but I'm sure there are folks here who will claim that makes me history's greatest monster or whatever, so YMMV.

And I think #6 is why you need #4, but that is just based on my experience.

 

[seebs]

This is something that looks good on paper, but asking yourself and answering 2 questions before everything you say or do may not be as great in practice as it sound

Especially because, if the answer isn't pretty much always "I'm not sure", the chances are you have massively overestimated your understanding of how people work.

 

[seebs]

I ask for player buy-in on the following ground rules before we play together:

1. Before doing or saying anything, remember to consider the goals of play by asking yourself, "Is what I'm about to do or say going to be fun for everyone at the table? Is what I'm about to do or say going to help create an exciting, memorable story?" If the answer to either of those questions is "No" or "I'm not sure," then choose to do or say something else. If you find yourself thinking, "What would my character do?" the answer is always the same: Something that is fun for everyone at the table and helps create an exciting, memorable story.

This seems really strange to me. The "answer is always the same" seems to me to be a complete non-answer. If the answer to "what would my character do" doesn't vary between a lawful good paladin and a chaotic neutral thief, then it's not really answering the question at all.

And the former, as I previously observed, I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable saying "yes" rather than "I'm not sure", because I am not enough smarter than all the other players to have a consistent and reliable ability to anticipate how they'll respond to things without any noticeable risk of error.

... And furthermore, the things that have worked out the best have often been the ones where I was least sure, because "unanticipated" and "memorable" are often closely related.

 

[seebs]

Read the rules. Write it down. Know how your character works. If you can't play your character, a new, simpler character will be provided for you so you can stop wasting my time.

I've been playing these games for 30+ years now, and I have never met anyone who could learn all the rules that apply to any character more complicated than, maybe, a 1E fighter. Heck, I don't think I've ever actually seen anyone learn all of those, if you include speed factors and the special cases in the number of attacks rules. I mean, sure, you can be basically familiar with them. But you're not going to be able to remember, with perfect reliability, all the edge cases and questions about phrasing that might apply. Especially not for spellcasters.

So, okay, "write it down", but if we're writing it down, why not just use the one that was already written down, which is to say, the book?

I mean, yeah, I can have a pretty good idea of how most of my stuff works, but if I'm playing a caster, and someone asks a question about the boundary cases of one of my spells, I'm gonna look it up. I am not going to have 100% confidence that I remember the exact wording of how teleport familiarity is defined, or the exact restrictions imposed by a grapple, or whatever else.

 

[ccs]

Hey guys, I'm running a campaign and my table has come up with a few guidelines to keep the sessions running smoothly. Some of these came about from specific instances of trouble that just needed to be rectified and prevented in the future and some came from othe DMs' tips. I wanted to hear what kind of rules or guidelines you guys use at your tables too or give me your thoughts on mine.

Here's mine:

1. No rolling dice against other PCs. Interactions between PCs must be role played.
2. No dice shall be rolled unless the DM calls for a roll.
3. No books shall be open during combat
4. PCs have 1-3 seconds after the DM asks "what do you do" to decide on a course of action or they lose their turn to indecision and simply take the Dodge action
5. The DM's rulings are final.
6. Try to keep distractions such as side tangents to a minimum.

The only one of those that would apply in my games is #5.
And occasionally #4.

#1: Sometimes the RP between players leads to dice rolling between them. So be it. I'm not going to interfere with how my players choose to have their characters resolve things.

#2 You can roll whatever you like & tell me the result. If I think it appropriate it'll count. If I don't it'll fail.

#3? Pft. We don't memorize this stuff anymore (especially certain editions). And we've likely got several versions of _____ swimming about in our heads. So if you need the book open, go for it.

#6 - while yes, we're playing x, there's no quota of stuff that needs to get done in any particular session.
I prep 4hrs worth of stuff, expect to use about 3, & actually use around an average of 2-2.5 hrs of it.

 

[iserith]

This seems really strange to me. The "answer is always the same" seems to me to be a complete non-answer. If the answer to "what would my character do" doesn't vary between a lawful good paladin and a chaotic neutral thief, then it's not really answering the question at all.

It doesn't mean that your paladin and thief will do the same thing. It just means that whatever it is you have them do should be fun for everyone and help create an exciting, memorable story.

And the former, as I previously observed, I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable saying "yes" rather than "I'm not sure", because I am not enough smarter than all the other players to have a consistent and reliable ability to anticipate how they'll respond to things without any noticeable risk of error.

... And furthermore, the things that have worked out the best have often been the ones where I was least sure, because "unanticipated" and "memorable" are often closely related.

I think you're reading too much into it. Do your best to be mindful of the goals of play when deciding what your character does - that's all.