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<blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 4878481" data-attributes="member: 7635"><p>The problem with Rulings, not rules is (as a few people have said) when the player and the DM fundementally disagree on the criteria of the ruling.</p><p></p><p>Lets say a human, elf, and dwarf all try and jump a chasm in plate armor. All have the same Str (17). Lacking a skill system; the DM has to decide to make a ruling on the fly on how they all can jump. </p><p></p><p>He might make it a simple strength check; all PCs have equal chance of making it despite the elf living among the tree-tops and the human living on relatively flat plains all his life.</p><p></p><p>He might rule the elf can make it no problem; the human can make it only sans his armor, and the dwarf cannot make it at all thanks to the races natural "biology". This enforces the DM's view on the races and takes away PC option. The dwarf can't get a lucky run and make it, the elf cannot "fail" and misjudge. Its simply the DM assigning pass/fail based solely on a cosmetic choice.</p><p></p><p>But perhaps the DM might be more reasonable and allow the dwarf (whose backstory involves jumping cliff-to-cliff fighting giants) to make it anyway. This creates an "in game" exception to the previous rule. The problem is, once this begins; PCs learn to cram their backstories with all manner of "useful" details (Did I mention my father taught me how to track game?, or Oh, I had an elven friend during childhood, so I know all the elven social graces) so that the PCs can "do" certain things the DM is making an exception for. Pretty soon, PC's youths are full of horseback riding, camping in the deep woods, summer-camps with the elves, afternoon jobs in the local mine, swimming, and yes, even amatuer Olympic events.</p><p></p><p>Of course, the DM could rule the PCs can't know all that. He might rule the PCs know 3-4 of these special things at most. Or that said special knowledge only grants a bonus to ability checks related to said knowledge, and...</p><p></p><p>... pretty soon, it starts to look like a primitive skill system. My dwarf knows jumping and mining, my human can swim and ride horses, my elf can hunt and build campsites, etc. </p><p></p><p>So skill systems do emerge from these rulings. Where they are d20-style skill sets, Non-weapon profs, or even secondary skills, the game drifts in that direction the first time the PCs want to try and jump in plate armor and the DM doesn't automatically say "yes" or "no".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Remathilis, post: 4878481, member: 7635"] The problem with Rulings, not rules is (as a few people have said) when the player and the DM fundementally disagree on the criteria of the ruling. Lets say a human, elf, and dwarf all try and jump a chasm in plate armor. All have the same Str (17). Lacking a skill system; the DM has to decide to make a ruling on the fly on how they all can jump. He might make it a simple strength check; all PCs have equal chance of making it despite the elf living among the tree-tops and the human living on relatively flat plains all his life. He might rule the elf can make it no problem; the human can make it only sans his armor, and the dwarf cannot make it at all thanks to the races natural "biology". This enforces the DM's view on the races and takes away PC option. The dwarf can't get a lucky run and make it, the elf cannot "fail" and misjudge. Its simply the DM assigning pass/fail based solely on a cosmetic choice. But perhaps the DM might be more reasonable and allow the dwarf (whose backstory involves jumping cliff-to-cliff fighting giants) to make it anyway. This creates an "in game" exception to the previous rule. The problem is, once this begins; PCs learn to cram their backstories with all manner of "useful" details (Did I mention my father taught me how to track game?, or Oh, I had an elven friend during childhood, so I know all the elven social graces) so that the PCs can "do" certain things the DM is making an exception for. Pretty soon, PC's youths are full of horseback riding, camping in the deep woods, summer-camps with the elves, afternoon jobs in the local mine, swimming, and yes, even amatuer Olympic events. Of course, the DM could rule the PCs can't know all that. He might rule the PCs know 3-4 of these special things at most. Or that said special knowledge only grants a bonus to ability checks related to said knowledge, and... ... pretty soon, it starts to look like a primitive skill system. My dwarf knows jumping and mining, my human can swim and ride horses, my elf can hunt and build campsites, etc. So skill systems do emerge from these rulings. Where they are d20-style skill sets, Non-weapon profs, or even secondary skills, the game drifts in that direction the first time the PCs want to try and jump in plate armor and the DM doesn't automatically say "yes" or "no". [/QUOTE]
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