Quote from: deadDMwalking;676541Taken to an extreme, you wouldn't consider someone changing most rules to be playing D&D anymore.  The specific point where it becomes a 'different game' might vary from person to person, but if you're not planning on cleaving close to the established rules, it makes sense to find a game that's more your style.

Let me put it this way: I (and many others) want to play MY version of D&D/Warhammer/RuneQuest/CoC etc etc. I don't care that Drizzt was lvl 13 Ranger rather than lvl 12, or that there weren't official Hussite Wars in the WFRP's Empire, just like the weapon list is poor and in places (mostly firearms), absurdly stupid. You know Monster Manual backwards? Too bad, black dragons spit lighting not acid, should've listened to what that weary adventurer was talking about. What, Cthulhu is thirty foot tall and has tentacles where his mouth is? Boy, what's your Cthulhu Mythos skill? Zero? Yeah, I thought so.

I don't care it's not "brand X", it's my X. 5 minutes conversation solves any "lure and bait" issues, and I game mostly with friends, people who I'm glad to meet anyway, or who trust me that I will deliver good enough GMing (I'm no perfect man), that really, the logo on system's rulebook doesn't matter that much.

The whole "War on Houserules" and attempts to somehow undermine the idea of them are bollocks. Common tactics I've found are appealing to the industry ("Why don't you buy new RPGs? Why do you think one RPG should last a lifetime? Why do you hate RPGs so much that you hurt the industry?") or pretending it's "chiseling in shit" because they want to turn the tables and feel smug on those who are "Roleplayers not Rollplayers" - doing of course, exactly the same thing that drove them to their extremes, giving good old History another ironic spin.

That said - I have a few favourite systems, that I like to mod. I'd not take D&D mechanics for CoC game, but I can understand the appeal of doing so.

Quote from: RPGPundit;675319Yes, that's absolutely right. There are no rules for the GM in the RPG. The GM is god. That's part of how RPGs work.  ALL rules for him are just suggestions.

That's true in any RPG that is a real RPG and its stupid to think otherwise.

RPGPundit

:rotfl:

And yet you get your panties all twisted up when you here Magical Tea Party or Mother May I or Simon Says.

Real RPG  :rolleyes:   So glad you are here to set them theres fake make-believers straight.

Quote from: Sommerjon;676870:rotfl:

And yet you get your panties all twisted up when you here Magical Tea Party or Mother May I or Simon Says.

Personally I'm ok with Simon Says.

Not just because it's my name; the other two seem deliberately derogatory. I'm not your mother and I'm not a little girl.

Quote from: Sommerjon;676870:rotfl:

And yet you get your panties all twisted up when you here Magical Tea Party or Mother May I or Simon Says.

Real RPG  :rolleyes:   So glad you are here to set them theres fake make-believers straight.

That there are no rules for the GM that he himself doesn't govern (rather than be bound by), doesn't mean that there aren't rules.

Quote from: RPGPundit;677400That there are no rules for the GM that he himself doesn't govern (rather than be bound by), doesn't mean that there aren't rules.

Thankfully this mindset has been declining steadily since the early 80s.  Another couple decades and it will be gone, with the hobby sighing the greatest sigh of relief since the beginning of the hobby.

People are so concerned with letting bad GMs have power they are willing ( possibly in ignorance more than anything) of removing a good GM's ability to supersede " the rules" in awesomeness. And that makes me sad.

They clearly have no idea what they're missing.

Quote from: Sommerjon;677596Thankfully this mindset has been declining steadily since the early 80s.  Another couple decades and it will be gone, with the hobby sighing the greatest sigh of relief since the beginning of the hobby.

Fortunately, that's unlikely to happen as people like me are training a new generation of gamers to treat tabletop RPG rules as merely "guidelines for the GM" when they GM.

Quote from: RandallS;677617Fortunately, that's unlikely to happen as people like me are training a new generation of gamers to treat tabletop RPG rules as merely "guidelines for the GM" when they GM.

the popularity of the OSR seems to point to the direction that it's not declining.  Thankfully.  Rules can't fix bad DMs because bad DMs  will always find a way to hurt the experience.  That's why they are bad.  Perhaps instead of catering to the lowest common denominator, game designers encourage players to either use a different DM, or try it themselves rather than bitch about something they weren't willing to do themselves

Quote from: TristramEvans;677610People are so concerned with letting bad GMs have power they are willing ( possibly in ignorance more than anything) of removing a good GM's ability to supersede "the rules" in awesomeness. And that makes me sad.

They clearly have no idea what they're missing.

Interesting.  For all the talk around this place about rulings not rules, we get this thread
Pundies "There are no rules for the GM in the RPG" this thread would really beg to differ on that absurdity.

Quote from: RandallS;677617Fortunately, that's unlikely to happen as people like me are training a new generation of gamers to treat tabletop RPG rules as merely "guidelines for the GM" when they GM.

:rolleyes: That goes against everything you have said about your group.

Quote from: Sommerjon;677762Interesting.  For all the talk around this place about rulings not rules, we get this thread
Pundies "There are no rules for the GM in the RPG" this thread would really beg to differ on that absurdity.

Well I can't say I read all of both threads, but picked up the gist of how the conversation went. However, I don't know that I understand what implication or Inference I should be taking from them. In other words, I can't quite pick up what you're putting down.

Quote from: Sommerjon;677762:rolleyes: That goes against everything you have said about your group.

Perhaps in your mind. However, I was not just talking about my group, but about my Microlite74 games which have been used to introduce a large number of players in many parts of the world, both new and old, to the "GM is in charge" style of play.

Quote from: Sommerjon;677762Interesting.  For all the talk around this place about rulings not rules, we get this thread
Pundies "There are no rules for the GM in the RPG" this thread would really beg to differ on that absurdity.

The thing to understand about rulings is that they do not replace rules in any kind of total capacity (at least not for me).

The basic rules are the foundation of the building. Rulings serve as mortar to filling in any gaps and cracks left by the basic rules.

The first thread you linked is an example of a situation where the rules already provided the answer. The player was trying to gain advantage by appealing to a ruling that IMHO didn't require a ruling.

The second thread is a good example of why I DO believe there are some rules for GMs. These rules aren't system specific and have more to do with the social contract and general fair play.

Quote from: Sommerjon;677596Thankfully this mindset has been declining steadily since the early 80s.  Another couple decades and it will be gone, with the hobby sighing the greatest sigh of relief since the beginning of the hobby.

On the contrary, more and more gamers are asking what, exactly, tabletop RPGs provide that CRPGs and MMORPGs can't. The inevitable conclusion is flexibility.

Quote from: Sommerjon;677596Thankfully this mindset has been declining steadily since the early 80s.  Another couple decades and it will be gone, with the hobby sighing the greatest sigh of relief since the beginning of the hobby.

We'll cut our own throats and sing praises as the few best things in RPGs, the flexibility, will go up in flames, and we'll call that progress.

Quote from: Haffrung;678104On the contrary, more and more gamers are asking what, exactly, tabletop RPGs provide that CRPGs and MMORPGs can't. The inevitable conclusion is flexibility.

Wasn't saying that RPGs were dieing I was saying that the mindset of "Real RPGs, Rulings not Rules, When in doubt roll on a random chart" is dieing out.