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Message: <blockquote data-quote="NCSUCodeMonkey" data-source="post: 3477427" data-attributes="member: 2047">Whew, it's a bit hot in here <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" />. Oryan77, I feel your pain from both as a player and as a DM. For example, this weekend at NC Gameday I tried to do a few things that were "outside" of the rules. Like using a kicked barrel to knock down an opponent. I wasn't looking for an unfair advantage, I just wanted to do something cinematic. The DM made a ruling, and it was a good ruling under D&D, but it was going to be WAY efficient to just shoot at my attacker. Since we were in a bit of a pinch, I decided to just do a regular attack instead of taking two rounds to execute the barrel attack. I hit, I did some damage, but the strict presence of the rules completely stole my thunder. It would've been oh so much cooler to do something cinematic, even if it meant being slightly less effective or taking an elevated risk.As a DM, I like to do cinematic things and allow players to do the same, but I don't want to show favoritism, and the players know the rules so well that the rules seem to limit their options. "Oh, well I could try this thing, but there's no rule for that, so I'll just swing at the monster." That sucks, and I've been thinking about house rules (other than action points, which quickly become not-so-special) to make that a bit better.And sometimes, yes sometimes I forget how grapple works. So sue me. I don't think anyone that I've run a game for would call me a bad DM, quite the opposite, but sometimes I do forget the exact mechanics of casting a spell while grappled or how disarm works. And I like to be correct in the scope of the rules because I want to give the players a level field. If someone does know the rule and calls you on it, the worst thing you can do is make something up so that it goes your way like, "Uh...yeah....he has a special sword....uh..." If you're good at it you can pull it off and they'll be none the wiser. My experience is that most DMs do not have that talent. I know one of my regular DMs doesn't, because it's obvious when he does it and it's pissed us off a few times. I can't say what I would've done in your specific case, but in the past I've just made a ruling and moved on. We usually look the stuff up after the session, as others have posted. I heard some good advice on this recently, "You'll always have another chance to zing the PCs." And it's true. There are so many bad guys to throw at the PCs, you'll get it right next time. Mainly I wanted to pop in and say, "I feel your pain. That sucks."</blockquote>

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