Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 superknud Sep 02, 2014 22:51:23	I know, I know...in the past he has just given players crazy things happening without specific rolls/checks etc if their description of their actions is awesome (roleplaying derp) but after watching Saturdays session, I do have to ask the question, did he read the player's handbook?   When there were criticals rolled for attacks, they were still using the play test method of max damage plus roll a damage die and this has since changed to rolling double the damage die. Omin the cleric cast healing word on two seperate occasions, and both times he was allowed to heal himself for the full amount as well as a party member for the full amount rolled. He was War domain so the life self heal boost didn't come into play. The cleric also utilized the war priest feature to make another attack after making one weapon attack, except he cast sacred flame even though the text states specifically '...you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action'. His casting of healing word utilized the bonus action, preventing him from even using war priest.    These were just the things I noticed, and none of them were during times of great RPing (like when the rogue rolled a natural one on a dex save to avoiding falling at one point and he laughed and RPd enough to get the DM to allow his +10 acrobatics skill to be added) and to be clear, I am not slamming the podcast or the session or anything else, but there were times when he was reading the PHB at times of discerning cover etc, so I know he had access to it, and after the above events happened, I had to get my copy out and re-read them to make sure mine was not already out of date lol.
#2 CorwynnMaelstrom Sep 02, 2014 23:16:35	Do you imagine that listening in on an average game you'll hear 100% by-the-book calls? From what I've read, a lot of poeple who were heavily playtesting the game still use the "wrong" rules for plenty of things. I know for a fact that I've made "wrong" rulings repeatedly in our 5e game, in spite of having, indeed, read the PHB.   The livestream LMoP game has plenty of errors in it as well. I still laughed along and enjoyed it.
#3 superknud Sep 02, 2014 23:47:50	I get it, and I indeed still enjoy it, but I think I just expect the people that actually get paid to play/play test/ develop the game will follow the rules. It can just cause confusion for those of us that actually liked the playtest crit better than the PHB one lol.
#4 Devils-Advocate Sep 03, 2014 2:13:13	The thing is, they play tested every iteration of the rules, which I guarantee included WAY more versions and tweaks than the open playtestsrs ever got to see. I don't blame them, after playing so many versions of the same core rules with just little tweaks or variations here and there, it would be very difficult to keep straight what the current rules are. We also don't know what DM options they may be using. In these cases I think it was probably just a simple brain fart, but you never know, they may be using like an alternate crit damage rule from the DMG.
#5 Plaguescarred1 Sep 03, 2014 2:36:19	I noticed the crit rules too and thought it was either misrecall, houserule or a variant rule that will be found in the DMG. Not that there's anything bad with any of those, but if it was deliberate change some clarification would have been helpful as i already started to see confusion in the Rules Q&A thread and elsewhere about it.
#6 mellored Sep 03, 2014 6:24:13	I don't think cris ever followed the rules very closely.
#7 Elothan Sep 03, 2014 7:53:30	Well, I think it has something to do with running a game before a crowd as well, a bit of preassure, a bit of time contstraint and an felling for the need to entertain more than the table. While there probably was some call that were not by the book, I think the major focus was on creating a good time, and rules second, i.e rule zero.  Atleast I think this was a contributing factor.
#8 silentdante Sep 03, 2014 8:09:34	perhaps it's their way of showing that you can play any way you want, and even designers play with rules they enjoy, but use the base of the main rules as a starting point, not the ending point?   not saying people should be like this, but i found out a while ago, the less i try to critically look at or enjoy something, the more i actually just enjoy it. i also admit sometimes it's hard to put aside criticism when trying to enjoy something. it's certainly a skill thats hard to master, haha.   also the group has been playing together since early 4th edition, and the characters have been moved over between all the rulesets, so maybe Omin has special powers we dont know about? ah well, it was a great time, and i am glad they have kept it going for years on end. i do miss all the other "star" d&d games they used to host too.
#9 rettekram Sep 03, 2014 8:34:03	“Never memorize something that you can look up." ― Albert Einstein
#10 CarlT Sep 03, 2014 11:18:19	Possibility One:  He really doesn't know the most current rules, despite DMing on a weekly basis (last I knew he still ran a weekly game for the employees of WoTC).   This is possible, because he has played with so many different, shifting, versions.   Possibility Two:  He knows the rules, but because the players were built under an earlier iteration and because he can't count on the players necessarily knowing the latest version of the rules he stuck with many of the older, familiar, rules from the earlier playtests.   Possibility Three:  He knew the rules and expected the players to know the rules, but when the PCs misunderstood or abused the rules, he chose not to stop play (chose not to stop the show) to correct them and simply 'went with it' to keep the game moving and the excitement/ interest high. (Perhaps compensating for any undo advantage, perhaps not.)   Possibility Four:  He is using his own house rules.   Possibility Five:  He intentionally played fast and loose with the rules because he wanted to present 5E is a set of guidelines and empower DMs to focus on "rulings not rules," adjucating the situation as seems best at the time rather than worrying about adhering to the letter of the rules in every case.  By stopping play frequently and saying "You can't do that because..." he focuses gameplay on the rules; by being looser with the rules, he focuses gameplay on what is happening at the table and encourages other DMs to interpret/ modify the rules as they deem appropriate.     My suspicion is around 80% possibility five with a bit of possibility one (when he isn't sure what they did with a rule in the final game he uses what he recalls from the playtest) and possibiilty two (if the players take an action assuming the rules worked as they did beore he lets them get away with it because they may not be fully aware of the changes).       Carl
#11 alienux Sep 03, 2014 11:51:21	I noticed this too, and just figured that he was mixing up some of the playtest rules with the final rules, but also not worrying too much about rules lawyering during the game.
#12 CorwynnMaelstrom Sep 03, 2014 16:18:00	Unless I really *need* something I don't stop play. Doesn't matter what system. If it isn't readily available, I rule and move on. If a player gives me the rule later (because players have much more time to look things up than the DM) I'll often incorporate the "correct" rule when the same situation crops up later.
#13 MascisMan Sep 03, 2014 19:05:06	One other error, I believe, was when Jim used Benign Transposition as a Bonus action when it actually uses a standard action. No biggie though. It was a great listen. Laughed several times!
#14 Webster Sep 03, 2014 19:36:59	I once ran a demo of the basic intro box, and there were no rules for what one of the players wanted to try- they wanted to throw the halfling character at the monster as an attack. So, I made rules up on the spot. It's part of what a DM does.
(Reply to #14) JC999	Webster wrote:
#16 alienux Sep 05, 2014 12:37:58	superknud wrote:
#17 Flazzy Sep 08, 2014 4:26:39	Hunter's veil isn't even in the final version of the phb and only prevents magical tracking
#18 Cyrus_Shadowstalker Sep 08, 2014 12:47:58	I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and guess that as these are being recorded that they will play fast and loose with a lot of rules. How many times have you been in a campaign and somebody thought of something incredibly cool only to have the dice deny them and the DM either say screw it it worked or it worked but not to the level of coolness you had envisioned just for the sake of play.    He might have one set that he plays for private games where time can be taken to dicker over stuff and stick closer to the PHB vs an event at a convention where time is of the essence so that everyone can get to the next thing they have schdeuled on time and you kinda muddle through to have fun and give good demo.   Plus Rule 0 - The unwritten rule of it's the DMs table what he says goes for good or ill and the rules be damned.