0:00
this is a pretty common response I see
0:02
on basically any video discussing the
0:04
rules for D&D Pathfinder any tabletop
0:07
RPG really uh the idea that yeah you
0:10
just change the rules if you don't like
0:12
them for whatever reason and and that
0:14
makes sense rule zero in any RPG is the
0:16
rules are what you decide they are the
0:19
rules are how you interpret them and
0:20
you're free to change them as you see
0:22
fit but when we discuss these games
0:25
online I'm not at your table i don't
0:28
know how you have changed the rules and
0:30
probably nobody else does either so we
0:33
can't engage in meaningful discussion
0:35
about game rules if you come into the
0:38
discussion with a wildly different
0:39
interpretation or if your attitude is
0:41
just I'm just going to ignore that rule
0:43
i'm just going to change that rule um we
0:46
want the rules to be good as a baseline
0:50
we want the rules to work for as many
0:53
people as possible and sure there's
0:54
always folks who are going to change
0:56
things because of personal preference
0:58
but we want the rules to be understood
1:00
and playable from that baseline without
1:03
modification because if the game doesn't
1:06
work at its baseline the game doesn't
1:09
work at all and sure you can change the
1:12
rules a ton you can take a really awful
1:15
rule set and tweak it until it works for
1:17
you but it creates this kind of ship of
1:19
Thesius situation where like eventually
1:21
you have replaced so many parts in the
1:24
game it's not really the same game it
1:26
has the same shape it does the same
1:28
thing it has the same trappings but it's
1:31
no longer Thesius's original ship how
1:34
far can you change Dn D before it stops
1:37
being DND and it's basically some system
1:39
that you created with Dn D trappings
1:42
there's absolutely nothing wrong with
1:43
that but it does make it very difficult
1:45
to have rules discussions
