minor game rules you ignore

[Whit]

What minor game rules do you ignore and your reason

Everyone has different opinions on what's minor but examples
Encumbrance
Spell material
Etc

[Maxilian]

Class restriction on Magic Items.

Mainly because there are some classes that basically got not good options.

Also the fact that you need to have a spell in your spelllist to cast a spell from a magic item.

Can this go out of the window? Yes.

But have in mind that you are also the one that give the magic items, so you can easily control it.

[Theodoxus]

Encumbrance, Spell Components <50g, Ammunition

If I had a computer tracking all these, like a CRPG, that'd be one thing. But both as a player, and a DM, I hate the minutia that brings very little to the game. If my players want to stress over it, I won't stop them (have two rangers in my current group who were scrounging for arrows last session) - but with rules-lite crafting rules, being rules heavy with that aspect seems disingenuous.

I also handwave a lot of the buying and selling aspect. I don't want to RP a grocer or smith... say what you want, write it down, deduct the book cost and be done. Even esoteric things like paper and special inks for copying new spells... As long as there's a general goods store in the town or villa, you'll be able to buy it... I let folk convert coins for gems easily - figuring even the smallest 'one horse' town would understand the economy of adventuring, and that for both ease of transport, as well as ready spell components, you could sell a lot of diamonds, rubies, onyx, etc. to adventuring wizards and clerics...

[Waterdeep Merch]

I allow spell scrolls to be cast by anyone. I think it's more fun that way. The whole party gets excited when they get one in their treasure, and they talk over who's best to carry it.

I don't let enhancement bonuses from armor and shields stack. A +1-3 alone can make a tank very hard to hit at any level. Numbers above that are silly and disruptive.

My ranger player, who used to play fighters a bunch, keeps forgetting she doesn't have action surge. I sometimes don't correct her and let her take the extra shots anyway. She's a ranger, that's punishment enough.

[Hooligan]

If it's not fun (for our table) it gets the chop; in addition to stuff people have already posted:

can interact with nearly any object (except drinking/administering potions or reading scrolls) for free. I believe default is you can interact with 1 object or environmental feature for free.

Spell components < 50 gp
Encumbrance
Ammo tracking....bookkeeping is loathsome

[suplee215]

Disadvantage for small creatures with heavy items.

[Brawnspear]

Difficult terrain caused by moving through an Ally's space. Unless it's an especially tight situation like a snug tunnel or somesuch (in which case I just generally say you can't move past without special effort).

[some guy]

I ignore the errata on Song of Rest (so any hp healed will heal extra, not just hit dice); if you spent a resource, sure, get some extra healing.

I also allow inspiration to be spend after rolling the dice: it seems more impactful that way.

[polymphus]

Encumbrance is the big and obvious one. I tend to warn the party when they're "carrying too much" but that's way higher than the official weight limits.

I know it's not realistic, but I've always hated inventory management.

[Theodoxus]

I also allow inspiration to be spend after rolling the dice: it seems more impactful that way.

I have a DM that does that too... so, I rolled a 4 on an attack, decided to burn the inspiration, and got a 5... I was less than happy - and not sure if that would have happened had I rolled two dice at the same time... but I'm ok with the rule in general.

[Sariel Vailo]

Encumberance

[mephnick]

I guess the big one is Inspiration. I think it's a clunky mechanic that was thrown in at the last second. We've tried using it multiple times. No one remembers and no one cares.

[Hooligan]

I guess the big one is Inspiration. I think it's a clunky mechanic that was thrown in at the last second. We've tried using it multiple times. No one remembers and no one cares.

Really? We keep a gold d20 in front of us when we have it to help us remember...or we just always roll 2d20 each time. I find it to be an incredibly fun mechanic; it's always fun to get a second shot at something especially when the stakes are high, and it encourages bold moves/stronger rp (rewarded with inspiration).

[JeffreyGator]

Much of the various rules about spending extra dice to affect outcomes after you see the d20 but before you know the result.
1) It seems ineffective as written - most of the time people will have reverse engineered the numbers anyway.
2) I don't want to force a waste of fairly limited Long Rest resources.

The others mentioned I include somewhat.
Spell components can be ignored with either a pouch or a focus. If for some reason you are missing both you won't be casting M component spells.

Ammunition is inconsequential typically if you have access to mending - otherwise this is an issue potentially.

I generally follow the 15x str rule on encumbrance rather than the progression - but I will create characters with some awareness of the progression especially if I dumped STR. I do allow the "drop pack" rule for in-combat. And parties often have at least one bag of holding.

[furby076]

Mundane items like food, water, rope, arrows, etc. As long as it's on your character sheet (e.g., you bought it once) it's assumed you are constantly refreshing your supplies.

[mephnick]

Really? We keep a gold d20 in front of us when we have it to help us remember...or we just always roll 2d20 each time. I find it to be an incredibly fun mechanic; it's always fun to get a second shot at something especially when the stakes are high, and it encourages bold moves/stronger rp (rewarded with inspiration).

I did really like Angry DM's system for tying it to your Flaws/Bonds etc and giving it out during the moment when you did something in that regard as opposed to giving it out and holding on to it for some random roll 3 hours later. I should maybe try to implement it again using that.

[90sMusic]

Weight limits.

They are so incredibly constricting that a lot of characters are encumbered with just the equipment they start with which is kind of silly.

I usually handwave weight unless it's something very heavy. I'm more concerned with space. Like just how exactly are you carrying 80 items, because a backpack isn't going to hold all that stuff.
I don't really like completely disregarding weight and volume limits so i'll often give them access to a bag of holding pretty early on just so we don't have to worry about it, but at the same time I don't have to imagine all of them looking like that hoarder goblin from the Labyrinth movie everywhere they go.

I handwave food/water unless there is a specific reason not to. For instance, if they're going to be going out into a deep forest or jungle for weeks on end, i'll make them track food there, but on typical adventuring they don't have to worry about it. Or if they're heading into a desert, they'll have to worry about water supplies, the weight of carrying all that extra water, the extreme heat and cold, etc. Only specific challenges really bring these things to the front.

Main reason is it is tedious and adds nothing to the game except annoying bookwork most players (and myself) don't enjoy to keep track of every single meal and sip of water and have to constantly mention every bite of food or drink and so on, but if the scarcity of food and water is one of the challenges central to what they're doing, they'll have to keep track of it and I warn them of that before hand since it is usually handwaved. When it's part of a challenge, it becomes something that it is ok to talk about and think about and plan around without it becoming overwhelmingly tedious.

[Theodoxus]

I did really like Angry DM's system for tying it to your Flaws/Bonds etc and giving it out during the moment when you did something in that regard as opposed to giving it out and holding on to it for some random roll 3 hours later. I should maybe try to implement it again using that.

My groups tend to forget the system exists. As a DM, I like the concept, but hate the RAW implementation. I've gone to just giving everyone 1 Inspiration at the end of a long rest. Even then, people tend to forget to use it - or hoard it, not knowing when the best time to use the 'once per day' boon.


Weight limits.

They are so incredibly constricting that a lot of characters are encumbered with just the equipment they start with which is kind of silly.

Using Hero Labs, I always laugh when I pick a pre-made pack, like the Explorer's pack. Something like 75 lbs of gear, squished into a backpack that's made to hold 26 lbs. "Validation Error: Your pack is straining under the bulk of the crap you bought."

ETA: and waste elimination. Poor adventurers never take the time to get in a proper poop... poor constipated bastards.

[Stan]

ETA: and waste elimination. Poor adventurers never take the time to get in a proper poop... poor constipated bastards.

What do you think happens in a short rest? Maybe sometimes it takes a long rest.

[manyslayer]

Difficult terrain caused by moving through an Ally's space. Unless it's an especially tight situation like a snug tunnel or somesuch (in which case I just generally say you can't move past without special effort).

I guess we ignore this one to, but mainly because I think we missed it.

And, as others have said,
encumbrance (if you don't get carried away)
non-expensive material components - if you have a pouch you're fine. If not, you'll have to find the thing you need.

We do track ammo (and one of my old DM's favorite moments was my ranger having to return home to get more arrows - I started the session with 100+).

[Pex]

Marking off rations.

Only one instance of many years of gaming was a situation significant enough to note that I had to mark off a ration, going down from 7 to 6. Otherwise, at character creation I always buy 7 days of rations and that is left alone on the character sheet for the rest of the campaign.

Lip service is paid from time to time on the need to get provisions and/or someone hunts, but it's for verisimilitude.

[Waterdeep Merch]

ETA: and waste elimination. Poor adventurers never take the time to get in a proper poop... poor constipated bastards.
This came up in a party I was helping side DM, weirdly, from players that actually wanted to roleplay it. I learned some very terrible history lessons involving why using your left hand for anything was considered disgusting, and also that old, soft corn cobs had a revolutionary usage back in the day. Since the setting was Forgotten Realms and Maztica existed, the group decided that the corn option was the least horrible/most amusing.

I'll let you Google the rest if you're terribly interested. The real horror came when they started using the discarded corn for traps.

[mcsillas]

Heavily obscured areas
According to RAW, if you are located in or looking into a heavily obscure area, you suffer from the blinded condition. Jeremy Crawford says that advantage and disadvantage cancel out when attacks are made in these situations (both parties are effectively blinded) and that you can pinpoint the location of anyone not hidden even if they are invisible to you, such as when you are (effectively) blinded. The problem with this is the rogue's sneak attack ability. If you have advantage and disadvantage on an attack, you can't stack another advantage or disadvantage to it, making it impossible to have advantage to attack. This negates a rogue's ability to use sneak attack in a heavily obscured area. That doesn't seem right, so I allow those located on the perimeter of a heavily obscured area to be able to see out, while those outside of it cannot see in. This gives the rogue the ability to use sneak attack, and in my personal experience is more realistic.

[jas61292]

Inspiration is the big one my group just ignores. I know a lot of people like it, but we generally felt like it was a clunky extra mechanic who's only point was to incentivize playing the way you should be playing anyways. If you need inspiration as a reward to roleplay your character properly, you would not be playing with us in the fist place.

[Razuchee]

Class restrictions, I think every bad guy should be able to have an amulet of ultimate evil.

Poison harvesting, Poison's already bad enough.

Encumbrance to some degree, but you wont run around with 12 greatsword on your back at my table.

Everything I think does not handle the situation well, then I just make up an apropriate rule, e.g. a player grappling an enemy as a reaction to keep him from running away and such.

Inspiration, in that it adds an extra d6 instead of advantage.

[Naanomi]

Depends on the game... I don't usually do food and water tracking; but crossing the deadly desert or lost in the city-sized maze and I will. I don't usually track encumbrance, but when you come across the collapsing treasure room I may ask you to figure out what you leave behind to grab more coin.

[Easy_Lee]

Any bookkeeping that doesn't impact the narrative.

Water in deserts is interesting, as is food in the underdark or on other planes of existence. Exhaustion is sometimes interesting in similar situations.

Encumbrance is interesting when a party is trying to move a lot of stuff around at once.

And I flat out do away with the crafting rules. If the player ought be able to craft something, I let them craft it.

[Hooligan]

Oftentimes we do away with humans, goliaths etc not being able to see in the dark.

This is more common when we play on roll20 than when everyone is at the table because it is fiddly to use the fog of war option and we are lazy.

[JellyPooga]

Nothing.

Seriously. Nothing.

Yeah, I'm that player that likes the minutiae of tracking rations, the precise weight of my gear (to the decimal point) compared to my encumbrance limit, how much mundane ammo I have and the logistics of transporting enough water for the entire party. I count coppers and ensure I go to a money-changer every time I hit town, so my copper/silver/gold isn't negatively affecting my weight limits. That or I buy gems/spices/other valuable commodities for the same purpose. I track spell components. Yes, even the non-costly ones. I carry spare clothing, make sure I've got a Winter Blanket and a tent, not just a bedroll (I'm sleeping dry tonight, city-slickers). I point out that my character bathes and changes clothes before visiting the quest giver King/Duke/Noble/Mayor. I'm the guy that reminds others to knock off each and every pint of oil they've burned in their lantern while we've been exploring the dungeon

Is it a pain in the butt? No, no it isn't. It's the game.

[Kane0]

Rations
Encumbrance
Inspiration
Alignment
Holding breath
Jump distances
XP
Targeting limitations for some spells ('Must see' for poison spray, creatures only for EB, etc)
Weapon damage types
Lifestyle expenses
Stacking Advantage / Disadvantage (we cancel out on a 1:1 basis)
Crits excluding modifiers (Crit = double damage)
Two weapon fighting and no mod to off hand damage
Frenzy exhaustion
Melee smites only

[mephnick]

And I flat out do away with the crafting rules. If the player ought be able to craft something, I let them craft it.

I also do away with any crafting rules for the opposite reason. If you want to craft you get to be an NPC labourer. Only heroes and adventurers at my table.

[jaappleton]

The V, S and M components of spells. We treat that aspect like a videogame; If you're in an anti-magic field, gagged, or in Silence, you can't cast.

Item costs of spells.

Inspiration, aside from Bardic, we do have Bardic.

[Theodoxus]

Jump distances

This came up last week at our particular table, we are all 3.5 and prior grognards, trying to jump a 12' gap and reading that jump distance is based solely on your Strength. As in, your strength score is the max you can jump, and that if you jump, you jump exactly your strength score in feet (without other magical help).

Well, that 12' gap was an impossible chasm that might as well have been 10 miles, to our 8 Strength bard, rogue and wizard... (yay standard array!)

We did a bit of Rule of Cool and some physics bending rope shenanigans to bypass that rule... but everyone wondered what the heck the point of saying Athletics affects climb, swim and jump if it doesn't actually affect jump.

[Varlon]

We did a bit of Rule of Cool and some physics bending rope shenanigans to bypass that rule... but everyone wondered what the heck the point of saying Athletics affects climb, swim and jump if it doesn't actually affect jump.

PHB includes under Athletics "You try to jump an unusually long distance or pull off a stunt midjump". It seems reasonable to think that the jump distance calculation just affects how far you can jump reliably/effortlessly.

[mephnick]

Yeah I think your STR is just the autopass jump and then you sets DCs for more dangerous jumps like everything else.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Multiclassing restrictions. Bloody silly things that basically serve to screw over dex-build Paladins and str-build Rangers for no particular reason and nothing else.

[mephnick]

Multiclassing restrictions. Bloody silly things that basically serve to screw over dex-build Paladins and str-build Rangers for no particular reason and nothing else.

I think they serve a purpose balance-wise. I mean, a Dex Paladin with absolutely no drawbacks automaticlly becomes the best build available.

[Mjolnirbear]

I think they serve a purpose balance-wise. I mean, a Dex Paladin with absolutely no drawbacks automaticlly becomes the best build available.

Drawbacks: no shoves, no trips, no grapples, no PAM, no GWM, no heavy armour, no weapon stronger than a d8.

Dex is strong, for certain... But not the god stat it used to be.

Edit: on the other hand, sorcadin and lockadin are already powerful builds, and rogueadin can be very strong too.

[imanidiot]

I won't limit someone from using a good plan or invalidate good RP just because someone dumped their Int or Cha.

[HidesHisEyes]

PHB includes under Athletics "You try to jump an unusually long distance or pull off a stunt midjump". It seems reasonable to think that the jump distance calculation just affects how far you can jump reliably/effortlessly.

I had never spotted that! I've been ignoring the term "jump distance" for the last three years because I didn't understand the point of having both that mechanic and the Athletics skill. It really annoyed me that the Thief subclass got a benefit related to a rule that made no sense to me. This actually makes a lot of sense, I should have read the PHB more carefully. Thanks Varlon!

[HidesHisEyes]

I won't limit someone from using a good plan or invalidate good RP just because someone dumped their Int or Cha.

There's not really a rule that says you should, it's just a play style thing. I am the same, as a player I can't think of anything worse than being told "you're not allowed to have that idea because your Int is too low", so I don't inflict it on my players.

[Lombra]

I don't want to derail but does those who handwave encumberance think that DEX is OP?

[Basement Cat]

We award Feats at character levels rather than class levels whenever applicable. We also have entire quests (short adventures) where characters do a job in exchange for being taught a particular Feat (as the DMG suggests for alternate rewards).

Keen Mind anyone? Very useful under the right circumstances but not something most would get unless they had slots to burn (so to speak). In my paladin's case he needed to learn it in order to navigate the Underdark (solo) for campaign reasons so he had to ante up and earn the lessons from a trained NPC by stopping some bad guys.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

I don't want to derail but does those who handwave encumberance think that DEX is OP?

The standard carrying rules (15*str) are pretty generous (the book explicitly states that this is 'high enough that most characters don't have to worry about it'). A character with 8 str has a carrying capacity of 120lb - he can walk around in half plate carrying his rapier, heavy crossbow and shield and still have almost half his capacity to spare. And when you add in stuff like pack animals, help from other characters, and magic, it turns into a non-consideration.

It's rather harsher with the variant encumbrance rule (up to 5*str with no penalty, up to 10*str with -10ft to movement, massive penalties to all physical beyond that) but hardly unmanagable - it basically just means low strength characters will have to avoid medium armour or get slowed down a bit.

[Theodoxus]

PHB includes under Athletics "You try to jump an unusually long distance or pull off a stunt midjump". It seems reasonable to think that the jump distance calculation just affects how far you can jump reliably/effortlessly.

The only problem is there is zero crunch with that. What does the athletic check do? Increase the distance by what your rolled? Increase the distance by the difference between what you rolled and your strength? Add 1' per 5 DC? Talk about Ruling not Rules - in 3 different AL games, you could easily have 3 different interpretations, so it becomes a useless piece of trivia at best.


There's not really a rule that says you should, it's just a play style thing. I am the same, as a player I can't think of anything worse than being told "you're not allowed to have that idea because your Int is too low", so I don't inflict it on my players.

This is what I tell players regarding Intelligence:

"Intelligence: measures reasoning and memory. Intelligence is of priority for Wizards and a few classes that act like wizards. If your concept isn’t that of a wizard, Intelligence is the first (and possibly only) stat that can be safely “dumped” with very little mechanical impact on your character. It is used for knowledge based skills, so if that’s important to you, you’ll want a decent score in Intelligence, but remember, Intelligence measures reasoning and memory, it’s not IQ, it’s not how “smart” or “dumb” you are. You can be a genius in real life and play a character with a small Intelligence score without changing how you perceive the world (Ie, you don’t need to talk like a Neanderthal just because you put a low score there). Just downplay tactics and don’t write down story notes to reference later and you’ll be playing it correctly."

[Sariel Vailo]

We award Feats at character levels rather than class levels whenever applicable. We also have entire quests (short adventures) where characters do a job in exchange for being taught a particular Feat (as the DMG suggests for alternate rewards).

Keen Mind anyone? Very useful under the right circumstances but not something most would get unless they had slots to burn (so to speak). In my paladin's case he needed to learn it in order to navigate the Underdark (solo) for campaign reasons so he had to ante up and earn the lessons from a trained NPC by stopping some bad guys.

I like this rule i dont remember reading it

[mephnick]

I won't limit someone from using a good plan or invalidate good RP just because someone dumped their Int or Cha.

Do you let players automatically hit in combat if they describe their axe nicely?

[Toofey]

Yeah, I'm that player that likes the minutiae of tracking rations...

Sometimes I'm that way with spellbooks, spell transcriptions, components, etc.... I feel like if you enjoy playing with this level of detail it's generally ok for a player to do it on their own whether or not the DM is forcing everyone to. It's always been one of the elements I leave to the players discretion when I DM.

[Basement Cat]

I like this rule i dont remember reading it

Page 231 of the DMG under Training and just above Epic Boons.


DMG: Page 231.

A character might be offered special training in lieu of a financial reward. This kind of training isn't widely available and is thus highly desirable. It presumes the existence of a skilled trainer---

A character who agrees to training as a reward must spend downtime with the trainer. In exchange the character is guaranteed to receive a special benefit. Possible training benefits include the following.

* The character gains inspiration daily at dawn for 1d4 + 6 days.
* The character gains proficiency in a skill.
* The character gains a feat.

I once gained proficiency in Knitting this way! A proud little old lady needed help and she certainly couldn't pay anything in coin so I settled on her teaching me how to knit. :smallwink:

You'd be surprised how much you can fit such a skill into the game when you've role played its acquisition. My DM and the other players always got big grins whenever I managed to incorporate it somehow: I once knitted a master level quality scarf (took 3 tries) out of some yarn made from celestial mink fur and gave it as a diplomatic gift to an influential courtier. :smallbiggrin:

Given that the cost of the celestial mink fur yarn alone was 1000's of gold pieces that scarf qualified as a King's Gift and did wonders for our influence.

As an aside I was offered a job as King's Knitter (or something) should I want it when I retire. :smallcool:

[Inchoroi]

I'm actually kind of a stickler for the various minutiae, so I end up enforcing most of it with a mostly even hand. I won't make an issue of it unless it seems like it's a bit of overkill, though; usually, "wait, you're just carrying 500gp around in coins? What's your Strength again?" just as a reminder to the players in a way that doesn't seem like a reprimand. Thankfully, most of my players are pretty cool with it (I had one that wasn't, not that long ago; he ended up quitting because he disagreed with literally everything I did, but when he DMed, the group wanted to seppuku every session).