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<blockquote data-quote="Chaosmancer" data-source="post: 8386241" data-attributes="member: 6801228">Not my post obviously, but I think I can answer that question in the abstract at least. Because I see two ways. 1) Guide rails. A lot of the time, and I mean A LOT of the time, people do things that annoy others or cause them discomfort by accident. Rules may not be able to stop someone who is actively malicious, but they can guide someone who is passively going to make similar mistakes. 2) Peer Pressure. By having to actively change the rules, you are highlighting what you are doing. This creates peer pressure when the players know, but also it creates a disconnected sort of peer pressure because you have to know that you are purposefully making this change. Now, there are entire libraries written on whether Peer Pressure can be for good or for ill (I think it is simply a tool) but it can act as a deterrent for going overboard, because humans are social creatures. My two cents at least, on the question of how rules you can change might prevent bad or poor DMingI agree with all of this, but I think the difference in Monopoly and something like Football. Football has many, many rules about the things you are not allowed to do, because the game space is so much larger and more varied, that that is easier than telling people what they are allowed to do. When you get to something like the DnD and its vast possibilities, you can end up with rules that are designed to prevent, rather than to facilitate. And I think this shows that rules can be both things.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Chaosmancer, post: 8386241, member: 6801228"] Not my post obviously, but I think I can answer that question in the abstract at least. Because I see two ways. 1) Guide rails. A lot of the time, and I mean A LOT of the time, people do things that annoy others or cause them discomfort by accident. Rules may not be able to stop someone who is actively malicious, but they can guide someone who is passively going to make similar mistakes. 2) Peer Pressure. By having to actively change the rules, you are highlighting what you are doing. This creates peer pressure when the players know, but also it creates a disconnected sort of peer pressure because you have to know that you are purposefully making this change. Now, there are entire libraries written on whether Peer Pressure can be for good or for ill (I think it is simply a tool) but it can act as a deterrent for going overboard, because humans are social creatures. My two cents at least, on the question of how rules you can change might prevent bad or poor DMing I agree with all of this, but I think the difference in Monopoly and something like Football. Football has many, many rules about the things you are not allowed to do, because the game space is so much larger and more varied, that that is easier than telling people what they are allowed to do. When you get to something like the DnD and its vast possibilities, you can end up with rules that are designed to prevent, rather than to facilitate. And I think this shows that rules can be both things. [/QUOTE]

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