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<blockquote data-quote="Elric" data-source="post: 2149990" data-attributes="member: 1139">Common sense trumps &quot;the rules&quot;, by which I mean an overly rigid adherence to a literal reading of the rules.&nbsp; In general, I view over-dependence on &quot;the rules as written&quot; as a sign that a person really does not know how to make the game work in a flexible setting.&nbsp; Everyone should know how the rules function in a basic sense.&nbsp; How to resolve a grapple, for example, is a question that I still probably don’t understand as well as I should.&nbsp; I certainly wouldn’t try to interpret the grapple rules as I am not that familiar with them.&nbsp; This is something that I would try to change, though.&nbsp; When I use the grapple rules according to the most literal interpretation I can find, I am doing so because I don’t understand the rules well enough to know what interpretations work well and make sense.You are right that common sense in general doesn’t work well for a fantasy game.&nbsp; What I’m referring to is more of “meta common sense”, that is, common sense about the way that the game’s rules interact with each other.&nbsp; The “I cast a fireball.&nbsp; Does it cool the surrounding air?” question is clearly something you don't want to answer with common sense.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Elric, post: 2149990, member: 1139"] Common sense trumps "the rules", by which I mean an overly rigid adherence to a literal reading of the rules. In general, I view over-dependence on "the rules as written" as a sign that a person really does not know how to make the game work in a flexible setting. Everyone should know how the rules function in a basic sense. How to resolve a grapple, for example, is a question that I still probably don’t understand as well as I should. I certainly wouldn’t try to interpret the grapple rules as I am not that familiar with them. This is something that I would try to change, though. When I use the grapple rules according to the most literal interpretation I can find, I am doing so because I don’t understand the rules well enough to know what interpretations work well and make sense. You are right that common sense in general doesn’t work well for a fantasy game. What I’m referring to is more of “meta common sense”, that is, common sense about the way that the game’s rules interact with each other. The “I cast a fireball. Does it cool the surrounding air?” question is clearly something you don't want to answer with common sense. [/QUOTE]

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