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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8572661" data-attributes="member: 29398">I'm going to nitpick this just a bit: to be true, the last word &quot;does&quot; in the above quote needs to be replaced with the word &quot;tries&quot;.A player can have a character try anything, no matter how hopeless or ridiculous. The game-state is going to doom some of those attempts to automatic failure (e.g. a pure Fighter trying to cast a Wizard spell) while the fiction-state is going to auto-doom some more (e.g. trying to jump to the moon or walk into a cliff as if it wasn't there). I don't think anyone has a problem with this.So in these two examples, the Necromancer and the Druid, I posit that the game-state dooms the Necromancer's attempt to failure as the game does not allow them to be Good just the same as the game does not allow Fighters to cast spells; and the fiction-state dooms the Druid's attempt because Druids can't wear metal armour in the fiction.&nbsp; But yes, the players are perfectly free to have characters try these things.The problem is, the rules don't give any clue as to what's supposed to happen next in either of these cases*, and while some are saying that because the rules give no guidance these attempts should be allowed to succeed I just can't buy that.&nbsp; Instead, I see it as a flat-out error of omission in the rules.* - and in one case Sage Advice at best just punts the question straight back into the DM's lap, and a fat lot of help that is:DM: &quot;I'm stuck here - what do I do?&quot;Sage Advice: &quot;Yes, what do you do?&quot;DM: &quot;I don't know, which is why I'm asking.&quot;Sage Advice: &quot;It's your decision.&quot;DM: &quot;Yes, but I'd like some guidance, please.&quot;Sage Advice: &quot;The guidance is it's your decision.&quot;DM: &lt;&lt;facepalm&gt;&gt;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8572661, member: 29398"] I'm going to nitpick this just a bit: to be true, the last word "does" in the above quote needs to be replaced with the word "tries". A player can have a character [I]try[/I] anything, no matter how hopeless or ridiculous. The game-state is going to doom some of those attempts to automatic failure (e.g. a pure Fighter trying to cast a Wizard spell) while the fiction-state is going to auto-doom some more (e.g. trying to jump to the moon or walk into a cliff as if it wasn't there). I don't think anyone has a problem with this. So in these two examples, the Necromancer and the Druid, I posit that the game-state dooms the Necromancer's attempt to failure as the game does not allow them to be Good just the same as the game does not allow Fighters to cast spells; and the fiction-state dooms the Druid's attempt because Druids can't wear metal armour in the fiction. But yes, the players are perfectly free to have characters try these things. The problem is, the rules don't give any clue as to what's supposed to happen next in either of these cases*, and while some are saying that because the rules give no guidance these attempts should be allowed to succeed I just can't buy that. Instead, I see it as a flat-out error of omission in the rules. * - and in one case Sage Advice at best just punts the question straight back into the DM's lap, and a fat lot of help that is: DM: "I'm stuck here - what do I do?" Sage Advice: "Yes, what do you do?" DM: "I don't know, which is why I'm asking." Sage Advice: "It's your decision." DM: "Yes, but I'd like some guidance, please." Sage Advice: "The guidance is it's your decision." DM: <<[I]facepalm[/I]>> [/QUOTE]

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