AITA: D&D Edition | Reading D&D Reddit Stories

What do you think? Was the Player in the right or wrong?

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Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:57 Sponsorship
1:40 Big Secret Ruined
8:05 Can't Understand NPC
9:41 AITA?
18:17 The Deadliest Fruit
22:06 Outro

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[SLNTIGamer]

For the AITA post. That was SUCH a minor reminder about rules. Also, there is no “failure” in D&D. Like sure, the party failed there objective but that just means their next quest is breaking their teammate out of jail. They didn’t lose, the goalpost just got moved.

[demonderpz]

For the AITA: I’m the person at my table who reminds people when they have advantage or disadvantage (because somehow they just forget), how spells work when it’s asked, etc. when it’s in their favor, when it isn’t. When it’s in my favor, and when it isn’t. My friends kinda see me as a living encyclopedia rather than a rules lawyer, and I try to ask the gm with rules questions what he wants to do because ultimately he has final say. This prevents the assholish nature of rules corrections because it still leaves the power up to the dm, but since the dm is kinda newer to 5e and I’ve been playing for 6 years, sometimes he doesn’t know how stuff workes RAW so I tell him “this is what it says, this is what is theoretically allowed, but if you like a different interpretation then we go with that” or something along those lines. I don’t think this guy is the asshole because I don’t think I’m an asshole. I just think he may need to learn what I had to, and play with a group that doesn’t mind knowing what the rules are

[cupcakesimulation]

Just the very opening with the "Father help!" caught me off guard and I had to go back to make sure I heard it right. Love it, love asdf.

[schwarzerritter]

Rules lawyering goes both ways.
If you insist the rogue can Sneak Attack even when not literally sneaking, you have to point out when a status condition breaks Concentration.

[jiji_lilzie_]

Also, I don't think OP is the asshole. Just the whole situatio went downhill quickly. I agree with Duke when he said that the DM should've just said "I'll let it slide" to the table instead of keeping it to himself.

[laurakinney]

I played in a game where the DM asked for backstories and asked that they be more than just a few lines. After 10 sessions there hadn't even been a hint of anyone's backstory. I told my DM that I was excited to see what he is going to do with my backstory he said, "nothing. No one's backstory will be brought up ever." I was so sad and determined that when I DM, I will make sure that I never do that to my players. If I want backstories, I will be bringing them up as reveals throughout the campaign. People put work and effort into these, so not even thinking about utilizing them is just awful. I don't want anyone to feel how I did when the DM told me my backstory was moot and wasn't going to effect the game ever except explain my personality.

[Dragoonnight]

To the rules lawyer, as a DM myself one work around I may have tried is that “sure the spell ends, but the wizard is able to use residual magic to turn it into a sort of glide, rather than just drop” but even then, there’s a lot of different ways this could have played out, it’s not wrong (unless someone’s being a jerk about being a rules lawyer) to point out when a “rule” is broken

[killianasheart]

“In my defense, if we had to cheat to win, it feels like an undeserved success.”
That… pretty much sums up the reason why I tend to rules lawyer or Dm closely to the rules. Now rule of cool still applies and if the dm says otherwise so be it of course, always check with DM and let them decide. Also I feel like it’s fair play if a person doesn’t know how a rule works, give them a chance to redo what they were gonna do. Letting them do something and going, “well you already did it even though you didn’t know, ” always feels shallow to me.

Though I will admit it was a very… surreal experience during combat, another player was trying to do something but didn’t remember how it worked, and neither did the dm. I just hear them call my name while I was planning my next turn and the dm asked, “hey so how does this work?” So apparently I’m the group’s rule and spell codex.

[hartthorn]

On the first story: the whole "Secret Background" can be fun, but it has to be seeded. I openly discuss my backstory with other players at the table, but we also maintain the separation to character knowledge. Another player had secret royal lineage as part of his backstory, and by the time it was fully revealed, we had plenty of moments of "wait, WTF was that? Why are you acting like that?"
For her, I'd think it'd be far more fun to be almost obvious about it, just playing THE shadiest MFer, but brush off any questions or accusations. We all know the character type, where people know to just not ask too many questions. Make the final reveal be more about confirming EXACTLY which mafia this character is in, not THAT they're in the mafia.

[WhizzerdSupreme]

NTA, and In defence of Rules Lawyers:

1) I am the Rules Lawyer/Note Taker of my group. I also DM. From a DM's perspective, having a player help keep track of things is great to have, and I'm pretty good at memorization but no way I have every rule memorized. Having someone to help fact check is great.

2) As a writer, verisimilitude is important, and maintaining consistency with rules helps keep the world consistent. So if it's not done to the level of constant nagging, I feel that having a Rules Lawyer can be helpful in that way.

3) I completely empathize with the "feels like cheating" sentiment. The satisfaction of winning a game, especially ones that involve planning/strategizing, comes from fairness on a level playing field, so that it feels like you earned the win. It would be no fun to win a game of chess where you only had to put your opponent in check once, but they still had to checkmate you normally.

[hanzohasashi]

A rule at my table that has worked for my players is that if i plan to intentionality let something slide for the rule of cool I'll confirm with players first. My players know that is they accept then that means in their next battle tye enemy has "a rule of cool token" which is essentially a luck token for me to use for the benefit of the enemy NPCs. Or sometimes some rule is slightly bent to benefit the enemy in a situation. I notify my group when I use this mechanic so as to not raise objections of "hey that's not fair". However when honest mistakes are made like when a player forgets a spell is an action and not a bonus action, i let them backtack to an extent with no strings attached.

[Willowoflesbos]

I have a secret back story but it is because me as a player and character doesn’t know and the dm is revealing it to me through the campaign and it’s really cool

[cupcakesimulation]

I'm very big on roleplay and would also be upset if my backstory "secrets" were metagamed.

[TheFoxfiend]

So, the AITA: I probably would have asked the DM, "Hey, this is going to end concentration on Fly, how are you wanting this scene to pan out?". The DM isn't against you, and if necessary he has the power to retcon something or BS some way to make the scene much more fun and exciting. Or with that realization he can go through with it and start figuring out the prison break scene that is going to happen which could be it's own cool story. It bugs me when I had a good time in a session only to after the fact realize an inconsistency that tells me that we had cheated it, almost retroactively souring the moment for me, so it is important that players and DMs be communicating and crafting the story together, and any deviations from the rules are discussed instead of let slide under the table.

[lanceareadbhar]

For the AITA post, if the DM was going to let it slide, they should have still let it slide and come up with an in story reason why in this case, concentration was not broken. The DM can also say that the group got lucky in this case implying that concentration would normally be broken in the future. Every D&D game is a homebrew to some extent and the Rule of Cool can always trump the rules if the DM calls it that way.

[xever]

An incredible easy way to amend that situation as the dungeon master is to give your players option. Instead of "he instantly drops between 12 guards", you could give the wizard or the other players options to try and salvage the situation, even if it isn't RAW. You could ask the wizard to make a check to hold concentration regardless, or make it not a check but make the wizard sacrifice the end of turn saving throw to escape the paralyze, or give the other players a 'quicktime' event where they can react to the fly spell ending. etc. etc.

suddenly it is an amazing moment where someone saved the day.

[YouWillBeHappyOrElse]

If anything, the DM was the rules lawyer. As other comments have noted, he could have simply let it slide, or finessed/massaged the rules of physics, or even pulled out a Big Dang Heroes moment.

But instead, he decided to play it Absolutely Straight. Like he was punishing the OP for something.

[gotelc]

For the rules lawyering. If the DM wanted you to succeed, he could have said the ranger lands between the party and the guards, allowing the party to grab him and the relic.

[FenrirWolf]

21:36 I love how there's this consensus about coconuts being there to be thrown more than to be eaten. Like, I had a barbarian that literally had a bomb-like thing with a coconut (from a really silly moment where my barbarian got hit by a coconut when trying to climb a palm) and elemental powder. We were running from beasts that were in their lair and our escort NPC tried to get us out of there since he knew that place was really dangerous (he was a bard that had lost his wife due to a fever in the desert, and wanted to help us get it for a player's character, because he knew there was a cure in that lair, the same one he tried to get for his wife, but arrived too late). He lost the instrument that he had (he used it since the beasts were blind, and used sound to know where their prey were, so he acted like a decoy) but managed to take him on my shoulder as we left. Those insect beasts followed, and my barbarian decided to throw the coconut, and our bomb-happy wizard (he was the type of wizard that memes talk about of always using fireball, since he was a pyromaniac) used a spell to detonate the improvised bomb, disorienting the beasts. The cave collapsed and in the end we could save our own bard, and then there was a beautiful scene where the NPC after recovering from his wounds played for his deceased wife (we spent the previous day trying to repair his violin as a way to thank him for saving our lives), with the whole desert lit by dancing lights and in the middle of his song, we could see the spirit of his wife, reassuring him that it wasn't his fault that she died, and that he had to keep on living. It was one of our best escort missions we had (I still wonder who was escorting who though, since if it wasn't for the NPCs bravery, we would've probably not been able to get close enough to the exit and make the escape)

[LocalMaple]

6:11 “not as invested into the story.” It’s because they believe the DM will make it narratively important, and hence will bide their time until the spotlight lands. I agree, such players usually don’t make their fellow tablemates care enough for the surprise to be impactful.
My first character hid his race for 12 sessions. But he was the biggest roleplayer, speaking with one character every long rest. One character earned my trust, so I told him away from table with the DM’s permission. Even still, when it came up, nobody else saw it coming, due to a colosseum 1v1 challenge they had the opportunity to roleplay without me there to defend myself, and when they reunited they saw my character nervous of their response.