D&D General When do you overrule RAW?

[James Gasik]

Yeah, case in point, 3E Epic Level Handbook gave a skill, class feature or feat that let you swim up waterfalls. Aquaman, go talk to some fish...

Don't forget the DC 120 Balance check to balance on a cloud!

 

[Reynard]

"I yell 'Oh, no, you don't, big boy!' as it tries to step over my and I hit it with Sentinel."
"How does that work?"
"I don't know, maybe I pissed it off enough to make it pause and consider me a nuisance?"
"OK, cool, it uses its legendary reaction to stomp on you."
"Um... yay?"

You don't need a physics explanation, just one that makes sense in the game you are playing.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Yeah if you are going to do that then you need to do the same for magic users.

OK, fine, you throw a ball of guano & sulphur at them, they're a bit put out by it, but y'know, magic isn't real.

her comparatively tiny character somehow locking down a massive supernatural creature to whom she was insignificant would have made no sense in the story

Is it that hard to imagine a tiny enemy inflicting an unexpected wound to a tender area causing a much larger foe to pause in it's forward progress for the better part of six whole seconds?
Has no one unexpectedly stepped barefoot on a d4?

 

[R_J_K75]

Don't forget the DC 120 Balance check to balance on a cloud!

I didnt make it that far into the book. I think that's when the 3.x bloat really started to set in.

 

[billd91]

"I yell 'Oh, no, you don't, big boy!' as it tries to step over my and I hit it with Sentinel."
"How does that work?"
"I don't know, maybe I pissed it off enough to make it pause and consider me a nuisance?"
"OK, cool, it uses its legendary reaction to stomp on you."
"Um... yay?"

You don't need a physics explanation, just one that makes sense in the game you are playing.

I'm OK with things like that. Could be you physically keep it from moving, could be you draw its attention.
And for really big or powerful things, they can be given a movement option that doesn't provoke OA as a legendary action. Successful use of sentinel could force them to use that legendary action if they really want to be someplace else. In fact, my growing experience of legendary actions has me really reevaluating movement options that I had previously undervalued.

 

[Reynard]

I'm OK with things like that. Could be you physically keep it from moving, could be you draw its attention.
And for really big or powerful things, they can be given a movement option that doesn't provoke OA as a legendary action. Successful use of sentinel could force them to use that legendary action if they really want to be someplace else. In fact, my growing experience of legendary actions has me really reevaluating movement options that I had previously undervalued.

That's a good point. PCs should always have options to improve their position or move toward victory in a way that doesn't necessarily mean "do damage." Soaking a boss monster's actions is a big one.

Of course, this is why creating encounter goals different than "kill it" matters. I didn't watch the event, but I think fighting a kaiju to the death is probably the least interesting thing you could do with one.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

So to answer the OP: Whenever I want to, but also rarely. There's seldom any need.

100% this.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I was watching the Critical Role special from Wembley, and there comes a moment where the party is fighting a kaiju-sized opponent and a character, Bo, tries to use a reaction attack from the sentinel feat to stop it moving after another party member. The attack is successful, but Mercer immediately overrules it, asking the player (his wife) “how do you do that?”, to which she had no real answer. Note that after missing on the initial attack she had spent her only reroll to try again, believing that immobilizing the monster was critical.

I agreed with his ruling - her comparatively tiny character somehow locking down a massive supernatural creature to whom she was insignificant would have made no sense in the story. But I know others would have very different feelings. So my question is: when do you feel justified overruling RAW?

Whenever RAW conflicts with the verisimilitude of the fantasy world being presented.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If some Rule As Written blatantly conflicts with the established tone, genre conventions, "physics" or fiction of the campaign, I feel at ease over ruling it. Or, if the rule is just "stupid" (from our perspective).

I do think it is important to consider how over-ruling in that manner impact player choices, such as the example cited. I think it is bad form to let a player burn a reroll on a doomed venture.

Yeah, I would have let her try something that makes sense instead.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think once you start asking melee characters how they effectively fight giant monsters, you've effectively hamstrung them. How far a stretch is it from "how do you stop Godzilla's movement" to "how do you actually hurt Godzilla with your puny weapons?".

"Nah, bro, you can't use Menacing Attack on the Dragon, he's too badass to be scared."

"I know the power says you can move them 5' back, but come on, he weighs 100 tons!"

Hey, it's hard to be tiny. Imagine seeing that move in a movie. How would it be depicted?