Rules Are Rules (But Nothing More)

Not long ago, I created a unique elemental being for a D&D adventure. You know, kind of like a fiend lord or Imix from Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. Not a monster type, but a singular creature. I gave him some spell-like abilities and whatnot. Someone told me I couldn't do that: Elementals didn't work that way, so I should just give him some levels of sorcerer instead.

Wha? Let me tell you, I've received criticism in the past for being a stickler for rules and I don't mind that at all. Consistency is a good thing, and the rules are there for a reason. But that reason should not get in the way of creativity. I mean, it's one thing to flagrantly disregard the rules when there's no reason not to use them. If you give an orc 48 hit points with no explanation, because you don't know any better or you don't understand the rules well enough to know how to make him tougher legally, that's just bad design. If you have to have a 48 hp orc, raise his Constitution absurdly high and call him the "Toughest. Orc. Evar." Whatever. It's another thing, however, to so slavishly follow the rules that you define the brand-new things you could create based on what already exists. That's Hollywood thinking.*

As I've said (in another context), this is just a game, which is a good thing. Don't let the rules get in the way of fun. And don't let them be a replacement for creativity -- creativity is an essential element in running a game. On this topic, I've been hearing a lot about Challenge Ratings and Encounter Levels in D&D lately, and how they're flawed. Well, it's true that they are not the be-all and end-all of adventure design; what's lacking in these game mechanics is context. One DM runs an encounter with a CR 6 wyvern with his 5th-level PCs, and they defeat it handily. The Challenge Rating is wrong, the DM thinks. But the context of the encounter was that the PCs were all flying (taking away that advantage of the creature) at the beginning of the encounter, and the party cleric had neutralize poison prepared. Another DM might run an encounter with a wyvern for his 6th-level party and two PCs die. The Challenge Rating is wrong, the DM thinks. But the context is that it was the sixth encounter they'd had since resting, they were already weak and depleted of resources, and the environment favored the creature, where it could swoop down on them and fly away.

The point here is that the Challenge Rating system is really built around the idea of an encounter that takes place in a vacuum without any context. Of course that's unrealistic, which is why Challenge Ratings and Encounter Levels are guidelines. Nothing more. They're not an adventure generator -- they're an adventure generating tool. A good designer will tailor the flow of an adventure, carefully crafting the ebb and flow of the potential action. "At this point in the scenario," the designer thinks, "the wyvern will be more of a challenge than his Challenge Rating might indicate, because the PCs will be hurt and confined in this small area with a high ceiling. I'd better design things appropriately." A bad designer will just throw a bunch of encounters of the same Challenge Rating together in one general location and call it good.

What's the point of all of this? Rules and mechanics like Challenge Ratings, Encounter Levels, and monster design guidelines, cannot replace a good designer, or a good DM. If the game could be run just on the numbers alone, we wouldn't need a DM. We'd be playing a computer game.

The designers of the newest edition built so much reliance on rules right into the game, to make it easier to play. As one of those designers, I occasionally think to myself, "What have we wrought?" Then I remember that we intended these rules to be tools to help people create their own game material. To demystify the craft of game designer -- to look behind the curtain. That was a good goal. The tools can be taken too far, though. The fact that tabletop roleplaying games have gamemasters is a strength, not a weakness. Don't let rules replace good DMing skills.

*In today's Hollywood, it's almost impossible to get a movie made without selling it as "exactly like [fill in the name of a successful movie]" It's small wonder why most movies feel exactly the same.