Rules are an important part of any game. They tell the players what to expect. However, within a roleplaying game, sometimes the rules have to take a back seat to the story. In today's post, I'll talk about why rules should and shouldn't be broken.
One of my friends started teaching someone about D&D. The potential new player asked to see an example of a character, so he pulls out his paladin, Archeldian. As he's explaining some of the character's abilities, the new guy asks about an ability that was basically home-brewed. My friend explains that the ability wasn't part of the core rules, but was made up for the game. The new guy asked why, and my friend explained that it was for the story. The new guy said it was stupid to ignore rules just for story, and my friend suggested that D&D wasn't the right game for him.
Roleplaying games are about playing roles. You play an rpg to play a character in a story. That is essentially all it is. When you start worrying about rules to the point that the story isn't your main focus anymore, then you're missing the point. So, why do we have rules? Well, rules are important. They promote a sense of balance. As kids, we roleplayed without rules. Without rules, rpgs devolve into "bang! you're dead!" followed by "no I'm not!" The basic rules of an rpg should always be followed. The real trick to becoming a better gamemaster is learning when to ignore the rules.
When you've been building up a villain over several months of game play, and he's done his final monologue, should you allow that first lucky critical hit take him out in the first round of combat? No, absolutely not! Well, unless you want your villain to go out like a punk. That sort of kill is very anti-climatic. Your players will remember the villain much better if you have him shrug off the hit like a boss, and let him draw out the fight until the players are on their last leg, then if one of them gets that lucky critical, by all means let him die.
Sometimes your villain needs to be able to bend rules. Sometimes they should break them. For example, in the Harry Potter series, Voldemort was able to bind his soul to numerous important objects, making him unkillable until all of these objects were destroyed. In the D&D core rules, there is no such spell that accomplishes this feat. Does this mean you can't have a D&D villain use Voldemort's tactic to achieve immortality? Of course not! As a GM, you are well within your rights to say that your villain has learned ancient powers that aren't readily available to players. If you want to really go above and beyond, allow the players to acquire an "ancient power" once in a while, as a reward for a long plot arc, to give them a little something that isn't in the rules. Just be careful when you do things like that. Make sure you are very familiar with your game system and are sure you won't unbalance the game.
Rules should be broken when it's good for the story, but when should rules never be broken? When it is unfair to a player. If breaking a rule means that part of your party becomes more or less useful than the rest of the party, then don't do it. That doesn't mean you can't break the rules to hurt the entire party. If your story calls for them to be beaten to within an inch of their lives, only to escape at the last minute, then that's fine. If your party wizard has a spell that could ruin your big finale, should you rule he can't use that spell? No, that's not fair to that player. Instead, you should find a way that you can get around that spell, or make it so that the player still gets some use out of the spell, but just can't use it in the way they originally wanted. For example, if the spell would take out your villain in one shot, give the villain plot armor that makes him immune to that sort of effect, but have the spell still take out the villain's henchmen. This way the player still gets some benefit out of the spell, and you still get you climatic battle.
A final note on plot armor: Plot armor is a generic catch-all term used to say that a character is immune to something simply because the plot requires him to be. Plot armor is easiest to use when you have a GM's screen to hide your rolls. The players don't need to know that you actually rolled a 9 when the villain needed an 18 to save against that spell. Just make your roll and tell them he passed. Don't do this too often, though. You have to let them get a few hits in. Plot armor is best used when you want your villain to escape, and best discarded when you're ready for the villain's defeat.
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