House-ruling

"The D&D game has neither losers nor winners, it has only gamers who relish exercising their imagination... In a sense, the D&D game has no rules, only rule suggestions. No rule is inviolate, particularly if a new or altered rule will encourage creativity and imagination. The important thing is to enjoy the adventure."

Tom Moldvay, 3 December 1980

Tom's words were in the foreward of the second printing of the Basic Set of the D&D game, over 25 years ago. Five years ago, neither they nor words like them graced the Player's Handbook for v3.5 of the game. The rules were introduced as just that: rules. When official sources offered alternatives to the rules they weren't given a separate chapter, they were put in a sidebar and called "variant."

That didn't stop anyone from making "house rules," and that's a testament to the adaptability of the system and the quality of the player base. In fact, with the d20 System Trademark License, generously released by Wizards of the Coast for use by third-party publishers, people published their own "variants," replacing whole systems and offering additional content.

But still, there are people who stubbornly refer to books as the holy word on gaming, and we call those people Rules Lawyers. They don't appreciate Tom's words, or the DM's ability to change rules and rely on a verbal understanding with the players. Their whole world seems to be dependent on the source - the books. Dealing with them is like dealing with a mad cultist; they'd sooner die than look at things in a different light, unless they find their own gaming path to follow.

I am a strong proponent of flexible rules and streamlined gameplay. Complex systems should be abstracted enough that they make sense but aren't unnecessarily involved; I don't mix roleplaying and simulation, and that might show through with some of my future emphasis on theatrics, and fostering conflict for the enrichment of the spirit over pedantic setting knowledge.

Later this week I'll have a promised Conflict or Drama post, but I thought I'd do some DM posturing in the mean time.