Old School Forever DMs /u/Routine-Ad2060 DnD: Roll for Initiative!

I’ve been a forever DM since the early 80s. As such, I’ve adopted a hodgepodge of rulings and the way I game. I’m even reasonable when it comes to players trying to quote rules for the current edition. If it makes sense, I will usually make a change in the way I do things. With each new edition, there are things that had been omitted, things that more or less stay the same, things that have been streamlined, and things that have changed so drastically as to no longer be recognizable for what they were. I play the game to have fun and try to do so in a way my players have gun as well.

In the preface of 2e PH it states, and I paraphrase, “ Do not let some barracks room lawyer dictate the rules, for it is not the letter of the law, but the spirit of the game that makes it enjoyable.” I hold this attitude to heart.

Now, when I post on any of the reddits I belong to when players or new DMs asking for advice, I usually post about the way I would rule. if I’m unsure about it, I would look it up, and still give a response of how I would rule. Now I don’t mind when there are others out there that would rule differently, hell, you do you. What I find as something difficult to deal with, however, is when my responses illicit arguements about sticking to one set of rules in whatever edition other members think is the right and only way to play the game, often calling me wrong.

I’ve been a forever DM since the early 80s. As such, I’ve adopted a hodgepodge of rulings and the way I game. I’m even reasonable when it comes to players trying to quote rules for the current edition. If it makes sense, I will usually make a change in the way I do things. With each new edition, there are things that had been omitted, things that more or less stay the same, things that have been streamlined, and things that have changed so drastically as to no longer be recognizable for what they were. I play the game to have fun and try to do so in a way my players have gun as well.

In the preface of 2e PH it states, and I paraphrase, “ Do not let some barracks room lawyer dictate the rules, for it is not the letter of the law, but the spirit of the game that makes it enjoyable.” I hold this attitude to heart.

Now, when I post on any of the reddits I belong to when players or new DMs asking for advice, I usually post about the way I would rule. if I’m unsure about it, I would look it up, and still give a response of how I would rule. Now I don’t mind when there are others out there that would rule differently, hell, you do you. What I find as something difficult to deal with, however, is when my responses illicit arguements about sticking to one set of rules in whatever edition other members think is the right and only way to play the game, often calling me wrong.