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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 5079715" data-attributes="member: 3424">I believe that no matter how simple or complex the ruleset, the DM can always create a hidden rule. Hidden rules could range from a new rule which the players are expected to discover, or changing the way an existing rule works. While the former may be more common in a simple ruleset while the latter may be more common in a complex ruleset, any of them could happen in either ruleset. In addition, a rule may effectively be "hidden" from the players simply because they do not know about it!Given that hidden rules may be encountered in any system, one important role for the DM is to lead the players through the process of discovering the rule, usually through trial and error. The way I see it, there are two potential pitfalls here.First is the problem of incompatible worldviews, as mentioned earlier. Ideally, what the players attempt should result in reasonable consequences (barring complications such as incomplete or incorrect information - see below). Of course, the key problem is that different people can sometimes have very different ideas of what is reasonable. One person's clever solution that should succeed can be another person's abhorrent scheme that ought to fail. When this happens to people on different sides of the DM screen, the DM may find himself either wondering why the players don't take the obvious approach, or aghast that the players are prepared to do something that he never thought they would. The consequences of a choice can sometimes seem overly harsh to the players, and can be a source of player-DM conflict. Because of this ambiguity, a DM should be particularly careful when using game-ending consequences such as character death.The second problem is that of incomplete information. In the case of a hidden rule, the DM may deliberately leave out important information because finding it is supposed to be part of the challenge of interacting with and discovering the rule. In such situations, a DM who doesn't want the game to end abruptly should avoid using game-ending consequences, or ensure that the players get sufficient feedback before the consequence happens. This is for pretty much the same reason that a game of Hangman doesn't end after just one letter is guessed incorrectly, and why the game of Twenty Questions is not called One Guess. As a side issue of this potential problem, the DM should take care to give the players any information that he is not deliberately hiding, and which the PCs ought to reasonably know (and remember not to fall into the incompatible worldviews trap above and assume that the players should know anything). So, to sum up, when navigating your players through a hidden rule:1. Don't assume they know anything2. Make sure you tell them everything they should know3. Provide constant feedback on what's happening and how they're doing4. Use game-ending consequences sparingly</blockquote>

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