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Message: <blockquote data-quote="buzz" data-source="post: 2899664" data-attributes="member: 6777">Not an unreasonable assumption, but, in my groups, people also look up things during play simply to increase their rules-fu. Also, at least one of these guys has practically the whole PHB memorized. Am I supposed to ban him from the game?But the main reason I don't consider it cheating is because I have yet to see referencing the PHB during the game lead to any noticeable advantage for the players. The PHB is the game's rulebook. I'd no sooner ban it than I would ban the HERO core book from my HERO games.Metagaming is part-and-parcel of D&D (and RPGs in general, IMO). Some groups dial it up, some dial it down, but the simple fact that you are people sitting around a table palying a game is unavoidable.For the record, I was using the general "you", not refering to your group in particular.As for "issues"... banning access to the PHB simply gives me flashbacks to 1e games I played when I was 12. Were I to find myself, at 35, in a group where such a ban existed, I'd pretty much quit immediately. A group with that little trust in place is not a group I'd want to play with.I also agree with Hypersmurf; when it comes to things characters have encountered before, as well as common D&D-isms, I don't see any reason to deny character knowledge. An orc is an orc.</blockquote>