The Spirit vs the Letter

[Bront]

Do you adhere to the spirit of the rules, such as adjusting house rules to cover situations not mentioned in the book, or things that as worded, you feel don't work as intended?

Do you adhere to the letter of the rules, because if they were written that way, the must have ment it to work that way always?

Do you strike a balance, leaning to either the letter or the spirit under a generaly consistant guideline?

Are you randomly arbitrary about how you adhere to the rules vs the spirit? Even changing your mind on a whim?

I'm curious.

 

[Bront]

Sorry for any typos, I was being attacked by a cat when I was proofing this.

 

[Thanee]

Spirit > Letter

Bye
Thanee

 

[Shemeska]

Spirit > Letter

QFT

 

[comrade raoul]

Players deserve to know what the rules are when they make decisions, so mostly I go by the letter. If the RAW produce something that's counter to the spirit of the rules, then it's time to house-rule. Of course, if a player tries to tweak egregiously in a way that's technically legal but wildly counter to the spirit of the rules, ad-hoc house-ruling is eminently appropriate.

 

[Seeker95]

Balance. RAW stands until abused, and if a spirit of the rules is unmet by the rules as written, then house rule. Neither trumps the other, and both are trumped by making sure your game is fun.

 

[DragonLancer]

Balanced, though I feel more that the spirit is more important than the letter.

 

[Stone Angel]

I tend to use law over letter. 3.5 is so mechanics driven that if you tend to rule on the spirit side of things often you are taking away from a feat or skill that is built in. I do like to use the spirit to supplement the law though maybe adding an exta effect or something if there is some good or bad rolling. i.e Character charges rolls a 20 backs it up by another high roll maybe I will through in a free bullrush or sunder attempt instead of the extra damage, players choice.

 

[FireLance]

Probably more than 95% of the time, I go by the letter of the rules. I might ignore the letter of the rules under the following circumstances:

1. The rules are inconsistent or have varying interpretations. The spirit of the rules may then be used to determine which variation or interpretation is correct.

2. The rules are unclear. The spirit of the rules may be used to guide the creation of new rules to clarify the existing rules.

3. The letter of the rules results in game situations which the group does not enjoy. Again, the rules may be revised, but the revision would be guided more by the tastes of the group rather than the spirit of the rules.

 

[Talic]

Voted Balanced, but spirit of the rule trumps any poorly worded or undefined loopholes.