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What table rules do you have? The Social Contract
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<blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 9240971" data-attributes="member: 2013"><p><strong>Social Contract Rules:</strong></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rule 0: Use Your Head</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Bring Your Own Snacks. Nobody likes a mooch.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Be On Time. Keeping others waiting is rude. If there are circumstances beyond your control delaying you or causing you to miss the session, send a message, even a brief one.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">End On Time. You're guests in my wife's house, and she expects to have full reign of the house back when we told her we'd be done.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Know Your Character's Powers (including the rules on how to use them). The DM has to worry about absolutely every other thing that happens, the least you can do is have the courtesy to prepare to play your own character. Yes, there may be edge cases we have to look up, but searching the rulebooks during a session to figure out how something works should happen once per session, if ever (this is relaxed a bit for the first few sessions of a new rule set).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Don't try to offend other people.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you're "other people," don't try to be offended.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The DM, not the Rulebook, is the ultimate arbiter. (If the DM doesn't know the answer, he will make something up on the fly he deems sensible, note in the moment this is an off-the-cuff call and he will look up the real rule later. At the next session, any rulings that will be done differently in the future based on having looked up the rules as written will be noted but not retconned.)</li> </ul><p></p><p><strong>Game-Specific Rules (D&D)</strong></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A round is six seconds. When I come to you for your action, if it takes you more than six seconds to begin explaining what you are doing, your action for the round is "indecision." (Some complex actions may take more than six seconds to FINISH explaining, but you need to have started to communicate a coherent thought by that time).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">All rolls where the outcome is obvious (e.g., combat) are made in front of the players.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rolls where there is no way to know the outcome (e.g., Perception check) are made behind the DM screen. The DM is likely to throw dice and random intervals that don't actually involve checks so you don't know when he's REALLY checking your Perception, checking for Wandering Monsters, etc.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The villains don't know they're the villains. The DM will play monsters with tactics appropriate to their intellect.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The villains are trying to win. The DM is NOT trying to win. However, this may mean your character dies, goes unconscious, etc. There is no feeling of accomplishment without risk.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The DM may do some fudging behind the screen in the favor of the players that do not involve die rolls (lowering HP of monsters, for example) if he realizes an encounter is harder than he anticipated; he will NOT fudge rolls in the case of bad luck (e.g., if you just spent three rounds rolling 6 and below on your attacks and missed, that doesn't mean the encounter is too hard - it means you had bad luck; if you just spent three rounds rolling 16 and above on your attacks and missed, that probably DOES mean the encounter is too hard). He will NOT fudge things in favor of the villains.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You may attempt an impossible action. If you do so, the DM is not obliged to allow a natural 20 to mean success. ("I don't care if you scored a natural 20 on your Acrobatics check, you can't move your feet quickly enough to walk on water").</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The world is a dangerous place. While exploring is encouraged, foolhardy exploring is likely to get you in over your head. The DM will try to plant some warning signs to indicate "you will be in over your head" but if you run through those signs, the DM will not fudge things in your favor (i.e., if you're a first level group, you may certainly attempt to kill the ancient red dragon in his lair in a straight-up fight - and you should expect to be crisped within seconds).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">While the DM is NOT trying to kill you outright, he's not trying to save you, either. He's trying to set up encounters where you are likely to succeed, but there IS a risk of failure.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">(With my last group of 3 players): Each player controls two characters; it is natural that one will be the "favored" character but the other one is not the slave of the first one and the DM will not permit things like "Character B gives all his money to Character A so Character A can be better-equipped." (This rule also makes it easier to keep a player engaged if one or two of the party members is incapacitated or killed during an encounter; the player now runs only the single character remaining).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When attempting a check that multiple characters may attempt, ONE character makes the roll for the party (e.g., Survival to forage food). The character may be aided by other characters, but you fail and succeed as a group.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Sigil, post: 9240971, member: 2013"] [B]Social Contract Rules:[/B] [LIST] [*]Rule 0: Use Your Head [*]Bring Your Own Snacks. Nobody likes a mooch. [*]Be On Time. Keeping others waiting is rude. If there are circumstances beyond your control delaying you or causing you to miss the session, send a message, even a brief one. [*]End On Time. You're guests in my wife's house, and she expects to have full reign of the house back when we told her we'd be done. [*]Know Your Character's Powers (including the rules on how to use them). The DM has to worry about absolutely every other thing that happens, the least you can do is have the courtesy to prepare to play your own character. Yes, there may be edge cases we have to look up, but searching the rulebooks during a session to figure out how something works should happen once per session, if ever (this is relaxed a bit for the first few sessions of a new rule set). [*]Don't try to offend other people. [*]If you're "other people," don't try to be offended. [*]The DM, not the Rulebook, is the ultimate arbiter. (If the DM doesn't know the answer, he will make something up on the fly he deems sensible, note in the moment this is an off-the-cuff call and he will look up the real rule later. At the next session, any rulings that will be done differently in the future based on having looked up the rules as written will be noted but not retconned.) [/LIST] [B]Game-Specific Rules (D&D)[/B] [LIST] [*]A round is six seconds. When I come to you for your action, if it takes you more than six seconds to begin explaining what you are doing, your action for the round is "indecision." (Some complex actions may take more than six seconds to FINISH explaining, but you need to have started to communicate a coherent thought by that time). [*]All rolls where the outcome is obvious (e.g., combat) are made in front of the players. [*]Rolls where there is no way to know the outcome (e.g., Perception check) are made behind the DM screen. The DM is likely to throw dice and random intervals that don't actually involve checks so you don't know when he's REALLY checking your Perception, checking for Wandering Monsters, etc. [*]The villains don't know they're the villains. The DM will play monsters with tactics appropriate to their intellect. [*]The villains are trying to win. The DM is NOT trying to win. However, this may mean your character dies, goes unconscious, etc. There is no feeling of accomplishment without risk. [*]The DM may do some fudging behind the screen in the favor of the players that do not involve die rolls (lowering HP of monsters, for example) if he realizes an encounter is harder than he anticipated; he will NOT fudge rolls in the case of bad luck (e.g., if you just spent three rounds rolling 6 and below on your attacks and missed, that doesn't mean the encounter is too hard - it means you had bad luck; if you just spent three rounds rolling 16 and above on your attacks and missed, that probably DOES mean the encounter is too hard). He will NOT fudge things in favor of the villains. [*]You may attempt an impossible action. If you do so, the DM is not obliged to allow a natural 20 to mean success. ("I don't care if you scored a natural 20 on your Acrobatics check, you can't move your feet quickly enough to walk on water"). [*]The world is a dangerous place. While exploring is encouraged, foolhardy exploring is likely to get you in over your head. The DM will try to plant some warning signs to indicate "you will be in over your head" but if you run through those signs, the DM will not fudge things in your favor (i.e., if you're a first level group, you may certainly attempt to kill the ancient red dragon in his lair in a straight-up fight - and you should expect to be crisped within seconds). [*]While the DM is NOT trying to kill you outright, he's not trying to save you, either. He's trying to set up encounters where you are likely to succeed, but there IS a risk of failure. [*](With my last group of 3 players): Each player controls two characters; it is natural that one will be the "favored" character but the other one is not the slave of the first one and the DM will not permit things like "Character B gives all his money to Character A so Character A can be better-equipped." (This rule also makes it easier to keep a player engaged if one or two of the party members is incapacitated or killed during an encounter; the player now runs only the single character remaining). [*]When attempting a check that multiple characters may attempt, ONE character makes the roll for the party (e.g., Survival to forage food). The character may be aided by other characters, but you fail and succeed as a group. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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