23
\$\begingroup\$

Imagine a DM that wants to introduce a certain house-rule into his game but is unsure about the gameplay/mechanical consequences of his proposal. So he decides to come to RPG.SE and ask a question along the lines of:

What are the mechanical and gameplay consequences of my house-rule?
I want to change [certain part of the game] with a house-rule. I have thought about it for a long time and came up with the following:

  • [foo]
  • [bar]
  • [baz]

Was asking such a question okay?

I'm curious about it because the other way round (asking a general question that gets answered with house-rules) is obviously acceptable. Are such feedback/rfc-style questions allowed even if they delve more into discussions than pure Q&A?

Return to FAQ Index

\$\endgroup\$
1

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
18
\$\begingroup\$

I don't find discussions of house rules without actual play experience very helpful. At least one side should be encouraged to use examples from gaming sessions that they've experienced.

Example:

Q: We've been using this house rule for the last few sessions. We like it because it solves this problem for us. Does anyone see any unintended consequences that we might not have thought of yet?

Example 2:

Q: We don't like <insert problem> so we are considering <insert house rule>. Has anyone tried a similar house rule that could give us some feedback? Alternatively, have you tried other solutions to the problem mentioned?

A: We tried <house rule> and ....

Using examples from actual play will help keep the question and its answers focused.

Basically, we need to heed the advice in the article Good Subjective, Bad Subjective.

\$\endgroup\$
5
  • 5
    \$\begingroup\$ So the idea is, that as long as there is a real reference to an actual gaming problem the question was okay? I also really like your Example 2 that asks for possible alternatives to the proposed house-rule in the same question. \$\endgroup\$
    – user660
    Apr 4, 2011 at 14:54
  • 5
    \$\begingroup\$ @Baelnorn - yes, exactly. When the question is just a form of "What if?" followed by a dozen answers comprised of people just guessing then I don't find the discussion very helpful. (This kind of happened on B&CG so I know of which I speak :)) \$\endgroup\$
    – Pat Ludwig
    Apr 4, 2011 at 15:10
  • 4
    \$\begingroup\$ @baelnorn Atwood also supports questions that promote experience (either personal or referenced) over theory: blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/good-subjective-bad-subjective \$\endgroup\$
    – AceCalhoon
    Apr 4, 2011 at 19:22
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ I agree. People have loads of opinions which are not really helpful. I like to see real results based on real play. There are many other forums where we can go to and see people holding forth on what rules are optimal or broken or whatnot despite never playing the game in question; those are not "expert" answers they are "irrelevant" answers. \$\endgroup\$
    – mxyzplk
    Apr 5, 2011 at 1:24
  • 6
    \$\begingroup\$ @bael "answers should be based on experience from actual play" sounds like a great rule of thumb to me. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jeff Atwood
    Apr 5, 2011 at 1:44

You must log in to answer this question.