D&D 5E What Rules do you see people mistake or misapply?

[Staccat0]

A lot of people don't do long rests correctly.

According to the PHB
- A long rest only restores HALF of your hit dice
- You only get 1 every 24 hours

I missed that first part until recently myself.

 

[MNblockhead]

"Rulings not rules."

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The context here seems to be Adventurer League games that place more emphasis on rules than your home game. Organized play isn't going to work if it isn't organized around some agreed-upon rules.

Even in less structured games, if I'm a player joining a DnD 5e game, I expect to play 5e. Too many home rules or a DM that is clueless about core mechanics and just makes things up by the seat of his pants, turns me off.

"Rulings not rules" means that not and then a DM will have to make a judgement on how to interpret a rule, may need to make something up to where there is not a rule, and on (hopefully) rare occasion handwaive or make something up—to keep the game moving—when he is not clear on the rule and none of the players are either. It doesn't mean that you you say "at MY table we use percentile dice instead of d20s, armor has hit points to absorb damage, and spell castors risk madness every time they cast a spell.

The rules make the game, otherwise you're just performing an improv sketch.

I personally would love to sit in on a session with an experienced DM explaining commonly misunderstood or overlooked rules. I think most players would as well. A DM that hands out a brief, clearly written, reference sheet explaining commonly misunderstood rules would be appreciate by many (especially newer) players and I think indicates a well-prepared and considerate DM.

 

[Staccat0]

I took that post as "most people misunderstand the 'rule' of rulings not rules"

 

[MNblockhead]

I took that post as "most people misunderstand the 'rule' of rulings not rules"

Oh...yeah. That does make sense. Sorry Corwin.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Are you aware of what arbitrary means? Literally means random OR personal whim. Like a judgement call by your DM, or randomly with dice. Exactly like I said and exactly what it means:

Do you know what a reason is? The DM must always have a reason for making their decisions, even if that decision involves dice to simulate unknown factors. It's not random, and it's not a whim. The DM isn't some autocrat who can just make things happen.

 

[Valdier]

Do you know what a reason is? The DM must always have a reason for making their decisions, even if that decision involves dice to simulate unknown factors. It's not random, and it's not a whim. The DM isn't some autocrat who can just make things happen.

Now you are just getting desperate to argue, having been shown you don't know the meaning of the word you challenged.

The DM is defacto the ultimate authority in their game. Long rests happen when they say they do, not any other time.

If they randomly roll it's because they CHOSE to determine randomly... In an arbitrary manner.

In which case, it happens because of story and the DM's decision, not because they are an elf and have unbalanced magic powers.

Unless you have something to add though, let's not derail this thread further.

 

[machineelf]

I personally would love to sit in on a session with an experienced DM explaining commonly misunderstood or overlooked rules. I think most players would as well. A DM that hands out a brief, clearly written, reference sheet explaining commonly misunderstood rules would be appreciate by many (especially newer) players and I think indicates a well-prepared and considerate DM.

I love to play with great, thoughtful DMs like that too, but that experienced DM had to start somewhere, just like you and I did. This is how D&D has always been: people jumping into a game as a player or a DM and not really being sure about all the rules details. And so you have to give some leeway to DMs who mess up some rules, or else don't play. You could institute a personal rule that you will never play with an inexperienced DM or a DM who doesn't know the rules perfectly, but that's going to make it very hard for you to find a game to play in.

I'm right there with you. If I play under a DM who constantly misapplies rules (and I have), it is super aggravating. I either can be the annoying rules lawyer at the table and tell him what he's doing wrong all the time, or I can use it as an opportunity to practice patience and find my zen place, and just have fun with everyone at the table, knowing that this DM may very well in time become an expert at the rules and become a much better DM down the road, much like I did after I first started.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

Oh yeah, one thing I did wrong for quite a while was that I thought "Spellcasting Ability Modifier" (to which spells refer to) is the same as "Spellcasting Attack Modifier" (to which the class description refers to). But now I think that Spellcasting Ability Modifier does not actually include proficiency.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Unless you have something to add though, let's not derail this thread further.

No, this is very much on topic. One of the common misconceptions that players frequently have is that they think the DM chooses to make things happen. They think that the DM chooses when they can sleep, for example. And that's not how DMing works. The DM does not have the authority to make something happen, just because they want it to. What the DM wants is irrelevant to the DMing process.

In reality, the DM is an interpreter. The DM says what actually happens in the game world, based on their honest interpretation of what they know is going on in the background, and a fair metric to represent their own uncertainty. If the pursuing dragon would spend four hours searching north first, before heading east to where the party is hiding, then the DM can't make the dragon take an extra four hours to search south as well in order to give the party time to rest; and if they honestly determine that the dragon would search south before heading east, then it's out of the DM's control to deny the party those eight hours. Intentionally mis-representing something like that would be akin to intentionally adding +4 to 13 and getting 21 -- it's simply dishonest.

 

[Valdier]

No, this is very much on topic. One of the common misconceptions that players frequently have is that they think the DM chooses to make things happen.<snip>

The DM does not have the authority to make something happen, just because they want it to. What the DM wants is irrelevant to the DMing process.

In reality, the DM is an interpreter.<snip> If the pursuing dragon would spend four hours searching north first, before heading east to where the party is hiding, then the DM can't make the dragon take an extra four hours to search south as well in order to give the party time to rest; and if they honestly determine that the dragon would search south before heading east, then it's out of the DM's control to deny the party those eight hours.

I kept your choice bits.

Wow...

That's all I've got for you.