Tried using the Shape Water spell to freeze crap in a humanoid's body, tried using the Mold Earth to form a loose wall, and he tried to correct me on rulings when we got into territory that may not have been well defined in 2014 rules (what we were using at the time). Things like how much damage a flying humanoid going 60 mph would deal when it hit another humanoid. Correcting me on what stat block I'm using, not realizing I slightly adjust the stat blocks so that my players can't go "Erm actually, it has a resistance to fire, not an immunity". trying to completely eliminate the rule of cool except when it came to him. He watched one too many D&D Youtube shorts
In the words of the great philosopher, Unicorse, "Aaaannnnd why should I care??"
Best quote from a book ever: "If you love with your eyes, death is forever. If you love with your heart, there is no such thing as parting."- Jonah Cook, Ascendant, Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller. Highly recommend
Tried using the Shape Water spell to freeze crap in a humanoid's body, tried using the Mold Earth to form a loose wall, and he tried to correct me on rulings when we got into territory that may not have been well defined in 2014 rules (what we were using at the time). Things like how much damage a flying humanoid going 60 mph would deal when it hit another humanoid. Correcting me on what stat block I'm using, not realizing I slightly adjust the stat blocks so that my players can't go "Erm actually, it has a resistance to fire, not an immunity". trying to completely eliminate the rule of cool except when it came to him. He watched one too many D&D Youtube shorts
Lol those shorts definitely corrupt people
Said that he could cast Gaseous Form on someone, stick a sword in them, then deal massive damage once they came out of their particular state of matter.
Later, he polymorphed himself into an aphid and reproduced asexually, then polymorphed himself into a hawk and spent the rest of the session arguing that his 'children' were now hawks since they still were inside him. He made an army of hawks that terrorized townsfolk (and the rest of the party) until I decided to kill them all off with Fireball.
I think the problem here is that the examples are not rules, they are rulings. The rules don't say that if you put something inside a gaseous form and end the spell it then ends up inside the creature. The rules certainly don't say that if you reproduce in some alternate form that these off spring would even continue to exist or would even come into existence in the first place.
Players making rulings is basically the player telling the DM how their game will be played. The DM is free to (and should), just say no - the effect you want to use doesn't work that way.
The so called "rule of cool" ... only goes so far ... it is not called "ridiculous ideas rulez" for a reason.
Another example is a player insisting that they can take multiple short rests instead of a long rest since a short rest is an hour ... so a long rest is 8 short rests. Nope. Up to the DM, the rules don't say that explicitly .. a DM is free to rule that any length of time greater than the minimum required for a short rest and the minimum required for a long rest is considered just ONE short rest. (coffeelocks are based on this concept with a couple of other rules interpretations thrown in).
In any case like this, the DM just needs to speak calmly but firmly to the player and explain that "it doesn't work like that in this world, please adjust your thinking on this matter" .. give the table the interpretation and ruling that the DM will use going forward and move on.
It is easy enough to imagine someone's idiotic ideas - though I have no idea what the actual idea was in this case.
Create 10 gallons of water in someone's open mouth - isn't that a container (of sorts) and drown them?
Or.
Since the mouth could be considered a container ... just destroy 10 gallons of water in the body and kill the creature instantly.
Both of those. Thinking that they could use a 1st level spell slot to do more damage than using a 7th level slot to cast Finger of Death.
It's the kind of thing that causes me to cast GM's Smite. Which is where you roll every die on the table and inflict that much damage to the character. After setting a couple of the dice bricks I use for Shadowrun down.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I think the problem here is that the examples are not rules, they are rulings. The rules don't say that if you put something inside a gaseous form and end the spell it then ends up inside the creature. The rules certainly don't say that if you reproduce in some alternate form that these off spring would even continue to exist or would even come into existence in the first place.
Players making rulings is basically the player telling the DM how their game will be played. The DM is free to (and should), just say no - the effect you want to use doesn't work that way.
The so called "rule of cool" ... only goes so far ... it is not called "ridiculous ideas rulez" for a reason.
Another example is a player insisting that they can take multiple short rests instead of a long rest since a short rest is an hour ... so a long rest is 8 short rests. Nope. Up to the DM, the rules don't say that explicitly .. a DM is free to rule that any length of time greater than the minimum required for a short rest and the minimum required for a long rest is considered just ONE short rest. (coffeelocks are based on this concept with a couple of other rules interpretations thrown in).
In any case like this, the DM just needs to speak calmly but firmly to the player and explain that "it doesn't work like that in this world, please adjust your thinking on this matter" .. give the table the interpretation and ruling that the DM will use going forward and move on.
A player who insists "...that they can take multiple short rests instead of a long rest since a short rest is an hour..." would be correct RAW. The first clause of the rules glossary entry for short rests states "A Short Rest is a 1-hour period of downtime"
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"Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are to fast: I would catch it."
"I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation."
"Well of course I know that. What else is there? A kitten?"
"You'd like to think that, Wouldn't you?"
"What do you mean? An African or European swallow?"
The only think I can think of is to use all their hit dice instead of half, and since they only regain half their hit dice per long rest, this seems very minor. Although I suppose a fighter could chain second wind.
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DM, writer, and blog master of https://dragonencounters.com/ a blog dedicated to providing unusual, worthwhile encounters for each monster, making each one unique.
Also, suggestions for which monsters might be found together (for people tired of dungeons full of one humanoid race, and perhaps a few beasts and undead.)
The only think I can think of is to use all their hit dice instead of half, and since they only regain half their hit dice per long rest, this seems very minor. Although I suppose a fighter could chain second wind.
Sorcerer Warlock multiclass pcs can convert their warlock spell slots that reset on short rest into temporary spell slots that last until their next long rest.
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"Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are to fast: I would catch it."
"I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation."
"Well of course I know that. What else is there? A kitten?"
"You'd like to think that, Wouldn't you?"
"What do you mean? An African or European swallow?"
You can push and pull someone into a moonbeam lots of times in 6 seconds (like a dog shaking a rat) so they should take the damage from the moonbeam lots of times in that round.
Damage from spike growth happens each time you stop, so they drag somone an inch then stop, then drag them an inch then stop, doing full damage each time.
The worst I've seen is the coffeelock justification, "the rules don't say my character has to sleep, so they never sleep."
You can push and pull someone into a moonbeam lots of times in 6 seconds (like a dog shaking a rat) so they should take the damage from the moonbeam lots of times in that round.
Damage from spike growth happens each time you stop, so they drag somone an inch then stop, then drag them an inch then stop, doing full damage each time.
The worst I've seen is the coffeelock justification, "the rules don't say my character has to sleep, so they never sleep."
That's just not how the first two spells work, and the player would be correct for the last thing, which is why they added exhaustion for not taking long rests. - pretty realistic if you ask me
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"Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are to fast: I would catch it."
"I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation."
"Well of course I know that. What else is there? A kitten?"
"You'd like to think that, Wouldn't you?"
"What do you mean? An African or European swallow?"
You can push and pull someone into a moonbeam lots of times in 6 seconds (like a dog shaking a rat) so they should take the damage from the moonbeam lots of times in that round.
Damage from spike growth happens each time you stop, so they drag somone an inch then stop, then drag them an inch then stop, doing full damage each time.
Ah yes, the cheese grater tactic. Emphasis on the cheese.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
The most annoying for me is when a player asks about several individual details and rulings that could affect the plan they're coming up with in their head, instead of just asking about the planned action directly.
In some cases, it becomes an attempt to lawyer-in some result that wouldn't have been allowed if asked directly.
Other times, the player self-sabotages a cool plan. Asking the details first forces me to lock in with answers that would have otherwise been left undefined. Asking about the plan directly would have let me say that things *do* line up in the player's favor.
I had a player that tried to combine command with dimension door. What they would do is make the creature, who was arguably willing, walk through the door. The creature couldn't see where the door lead so it wasn't a suicidal command. We were in the underdark and there were cliffs everywhere. You see how that ends...
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- Igglywiv the Wizard
I played every class, now playing every sub-class.
You would not believe how much ADHD helps with creating campaigns!
I had a player that tried to combine command with dimension door. What they would do is make the creature, who was arguably willing, walk through the door. The creature couldn't see where the door lead so it wasn't a suicidal command. We were in the underdark and there were cliffs everywhere. You see how that ends...
It's exactly the title - what's been the most annoying way that a player has been a rules lawyer?
It's annoying for every DM - share your stories here!
DM: Westeros - A Homebrew D&D Campaign, Nocturne - A(nother) Homebrew D&D Campaign, Liquid Swords - A Historical Wuxia Campaign
Player: Marcus Aquillus Arcade (Quil) - 1st Rogue - Pax Romana
"Are you sure that you want to cast fireball?" - me, just before the wizard kills the entire party
Please handle with caution. Batteries not included.
Tried using the Shape Water spell to freeze crap in a humanoid's body, tried using the Mold Earth to form a loose wall, and he tried to correct me on rulings when we got into territory that may not have been well defined in 2014 rules (what we were using at the time). Things like how much damage a flying humanoid going 60 mph would deal when it hit another humanoid. Correcting me on what stat block I'm using, not realizing I slightly adjust the stat blocks so that my players can't go "Erm actually, it has a resistance to fire, not an immunity". trying to completely eliminate the rule of cool except when it came to him. He watched one too many D&D Youtube shorts
In the words of the great philosopher, Unicorse, "Aaaannnnd why should I care??"
Best quote from a book ever: "If you love with your eyes, death is forever. If you love with your heart, there is no such thing as parting."- Jonah Cook, Ascendant, Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller. Highly recommend
Lol those shorts definitely corrupt people
Said that he could cast Gaseous Form on someone, stick a sword in them, then deal massive damage once they came out of their particular state of matter.
Later, he polymorphed himself into an aphid and reproduced asexually, then polymorphed himself into a hawk and spent the rest of the session arguing that his 'children' were now hawks since they still were inside him. He made an army of hawks that terrorized townsfolk (and the rest of the party) until I decided to kill them all off with Fireball.
DM: Westeros - A Homebrew D&D Campaign, Nocturne - A(nother) Homebrew D&D Campaign, Liquid Swords - A Historical Wuxia Campaign
Player: Marcus Aquillus Arcade (Quil) - 1st Rogue - Pax Romana
"Are you sure that you want to cast fireball?" - me, just before the wizard kills the entire party
Please handle with caution. Batteries not included.
Trying to weaponize Create/Destroy Water.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Do please elaborate on this.
I CAN DO ANYTHING!
Can you solve my existential crisis?
EXCEPT THAT!
It is easy enough to imagine someone's idiotic ideas - though I have no idea what the actual idea was in this case.
Create 10 gallons of water in someone's open mouth - isn't that a container (of sorts) and drown them?
Or.
Since the mouth could be considered a container ... just destroy 10 gallons of water in the body and kill the creature instantly.
I think the problem here is that the examples are not rules, they are rulings. The rules don't say that if you put something inside a gaseous form and end the spell it then ends up inside the creature. The rules certainly don't say that if you reproduce in some alternate form that these off spring would even continue to exist or would even come into existence in the first place.
Players making rulings is basically the player telling the DM how their game will be played. The DM is free to (and should), just say no - the effect you want to use doesn't work that way.
The so called "rule of cool" ... only goes so far ... it is not called "ridiculous ideas rulez" for a reason.
Another example is a player insisting that they can take multiple short rests instead of a long rest since a short rest is an hour ... so a long rest is 8 short rests. Nope. Up to the DM, the rules don't say that explicitly .. a DM is free to rule that any length of time greater than the minimum required for a short rest and the minimum required for a long rest is considered just ONE short rest. (coffeelocks are based on this concept with a couple of other rules interpretations thrown in).
In any case like this, the DM just needs to speak calmly but firmly to the player and explain that "it doesn't work like that in this world, please adjust your thinking on this matter" .. give the table the interpretation and ruling that the DM will use going forward and move on.
Both of those. Thinking that they could use a 1st level spell slot to do more damage than using a 7th level slot to cast Finger of Death.
It's the kind of thing that causes me to cast GM's Smite. Which is where you roll every die on the table and inflict that much damage to the character. After setting a couple of the dice bricks I use for Shadowrun down.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
A player who insists "...that they can take multiple short rests instead of a long rest since a short rest is an hour..." would be correct RAW. The first clause of the rules glossary entry for short rests states "A Short Rest is a 1-hour period of downtime"
Homebrew spell: dominance
Extended signature
Why is chaining short rests a problem?
The only think I can think of is to use all their hit dice instead of half, and since they only regain half their hit dice per long rest, this seems very minor. Although I suppose a fighter could chain second wind.
DM, writer, and blog master of https://dragonencounters.com/ a blog dedicated to providing unusual, worthwhile encounters for each monster, making each one unique.
Also, suggestions for which monsters might be found together (for people tired of dungeons full of one humanoid race, and perhaps a few beasts and undead.)
Sorcerer Warlock multiclass pcs can convert their warlock spell slots that reset on short rest into temporary spell slots that last until their next long rest.
Homebrew spell: dominance
Extended signature
You can push and pull someone into a moonbeam lots of times in 6 seconds (like a dog shaking a rat) so they should take the damage from the moonbeam lots of times in that round.
Damage from spike growth happens each time you stop, so they drag somone an inch then stop, then drag them an inch then stop, doing full damage each time.
The worst I've seen is the coffeelock justification, "the rules don't say my character has to sleep, so they never sleep."
That's just not how the first two spells work, and the player would be correct for the last thing, which is why they added exhaustion for not taking long rests. - pretty realistic if you ask me
Homebrew spell: dominance
Extended signature
Ah yes, the cheese grater tactic. Emphasis on the cheese.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Casting Catapult at 5th level and saying since the human skeleton weighs about 25 pounds, it rockets out of the creatures body.
Roll for Initiative: [roll]1d20+7[/roll]
Proud member of the EVIL JEFF CULT! PRAISE JEFF!
Homebrew Races: HERE Homebrew Spells: HERE Homebrew Monsters: HERE
MORE OF ME! (And platypodes/platypi/platypuses) (Extended signature)
Would that not immediately impact with the rest of the human, and effectively just be a worse single target damage spell.
Just a goober doing my own work when I want to. I like the idea of not just high fantasy dnd.
You can reach me over discord as well, Handle is royalsupsi as well
I am open to work on joint homebrew projects, just DM me.
All my projects so far are in the extended signiture
Extended Sig
The most annoying for me is when a player asks about several individual details and rulings that could affect the plan they're coming up with in their head, instead of just asking about the planned action directly.
In some cases, it becomes an attempt to lawyer-in some result that wouldn't have been allowed if asked directly.
Other times, the player self-sabotages a cool plan. Asking the details first forces me to lock in with answers that would have otherwise been left undefined. Asking about the plan directly would have let me say that things *do* line up in the player's favor.
Telekinesis with extra steps
I had a player that tried to combine command with dimension door. What they would do is make the creature, who was arguably willing, walk through the door. The creature couldn't see where the door lead so it wasn't a suicidal command. We were in the underdark and there were cliffs everywhere. You see how that ends...
- Igglywiv the Wizard
I played every class, now playing every sub-class.
You would not believe how much ADHD helps with creating campaigns!
uh oh
DM: Westeros - A Homebrew D&D Campaign, Nocturne - A(nother) Homebrew D&D Campaign, Liquid Swords - A Historical Wuxia Campaign
Player: Marcus Aquillus Arcade (Quil) - 1st Rogue - Pax Romana
"Are you sure that you want to cast fireball?" - me, just before the wizard kills the entire party
Please handle with caution. Batteries not included.