A rules lawyer is a type of player who insists on adherence to the rules (often specifically the rules as written) at the expense of the enjoyment of other players in their group.
When you only have a max of three players, everyone's going to have more time in the spotlight, so you'll want to make sure that you all have something to do when the spotlight is on you. Typically a party will pick a “face” to handle talking to people, but your party might be served by splitting that duty up.
In the series, The TVA stands for Time Variance Authority. The Time Variance Authority is a fictional organisation that exists outside of time and space and essentially monitors everything across the Marvel universe. They exist in the original Marvel comics and protect all timelines and realities within the multiverse.
D&D Duets: How Dungeons & Dragons Can Be Played With Only 2 People. Even those who can't find a group can still play D&D. A Duet is a type of one-on-one campaign that only needs a player and a Dungeon Master to work.
Can a Dungeon Master Play a Character? Technically, there are no rules against a Dungeon Master playing a character in a campaign. However, most D&D veterans highly discourage it because traditional tagalong DM NPCs that group up with the party are just as useful and not as game-breaking as a full DMPC.
Somatic (S) If a spell requires a somatic component, the caster must have free use of at least one hand to perform these gestures.
Elemental Evil Player's Companion | Dungeons & Dragons.
to be announcedTBA abbreviation. TBA. abbreviation. Britannica Dictionary definition of TBA. to be announced — used to indicate that the time or place of something has not yet been decided and will be announced at a later time.
It's important to remember that the "rul es" of D&D aren't definitive rules, but rather guidelines. At the end of the day, everything is really up to the players. Sure, the Player's Handbook says that certain spells work in certain ways, but depending on the circumstances, the DM might allow things to work differently. No, it doesn't always make sense to blatantly go against these guidelines, but, again, it's all circumstantial. It's also primarily up to the DM; the DM gets the final say in most cases. This is not to say everyone must be strictly obedient to the whims of the DM, but rather, they should be respectful of the DM, who is trying to make sure everyone's enjoying the game and that things run smoothly.
All that said, handling rules lawyers isn't as easy as handling metagamers. It typically comes down to the specific rules that are being brought up and how often particular players actually argue over them. If it's something simple, like how an action or spell is supposed to work, and it only comes up once in a while, it's fine to just let that player dictate what they're trying to do.
Every Dungeon Master will likely have to deal with rules lawyers and metagamers. These are players that, respectively, micromanage the exact rules of Dungeons & Dragons way too much, or constantly break the immersion of the fictional world they're in. It's neither fun nor easy dealing with these players, but there are ways to handle them and cut out their bothersome habits.
If certain players are rules lawyering every turn or they're really arguing with the DM, then dealing with them may require a more forceful approach. DMs should never be afraid to just put their foot down when it comes to these kinds of players. Again, the DM gets the final say in most matters. If it comes to it, penalize the player. Finding peaceful solutions is ideal, but it's not always possible.
How to Play a Devil like a Lawyer from Hell. Devils look at mortals as sheep, just as demons do, except devils see themselves not as wolves but as shepherds. Shepherds fleece sheep by the season and slaughter them as needed. A shepherd likely kills the wolves that threaten its sheep. But then again, shepherds always expect to lose a few sheep.
For instance, a mortal who calls upon Mephistopheles (such as Faust in the Goethe play of the same name) might deal with the archdevil Mephistopheles himself if the mortal is sufficiently interesting, but odds are their deal will be arbitrated by a lesser or greater devil in Mephistopheles’s service.
There’s another way for devils to win the mortal souls they so crave, and many see it as the most efficient way to success: serving a cult. Many devil cults enter into contracts en masse, with potentially hundreds of mortals signing away their souls—or at least committing soul-damningly evil acts, as described above.
Most devils earn their souls by making deals and creating infernal contracts, in which the signer’s soul is used as collateral. Some contracts offer power in exchange for a mortal’s soul. Some contracts essentially hold the signer’s soul in escrow, keeping the soul if the signer violates the terms of the deal, or returning it undamaged if the signer upholds the terms. Exceptionally intelligent devils such as narzugons, ice devils, and amnizus intentionally place deceptive or outright predatory clauses within their deals in an attempt to sucker mortals who fail to read the fine print.
Each time a devil signs a contract that pledges a mortal’s soul to the Nine Hells, that devil receives credit for the achievement. A stronger soul, such as a mighty warrior who leaves mortality behind to become an ice devil, is worth more than a simple peasant likely to be consigned to existence as a lemure.
The archdevil Bel, former ruler of Avernus, still has worshipers on the Material Plane, and may grant them power directly. Rarer still, lesser or greater devils have been known to escape from the Nine Hells and exist in secret on the Material Plane.
Violence is rarely a devil’s first thought when facing a mortal being. Even the mightiest pit fiend, whose skin is tough like steel, whose fangs drip venom, and who can hurl fireballs with a wave of its fingers, does not immediately think to crush a mortal under its heel at first glance.
Basically, if the players taking fun away from the game, talk to the player out of game, and away from the other players. Just be polite and open. If the player is reasonable they will understand.
The other kind will only cite rule knowledge when it is to their advantage. There are many ways to deal with this kind of player but in my experience it is best to discuss the matter with them outside of the game, away from other players. Find out why they are so concerned with getting their way. If they are being disruptive to the group or flow of the game with their behavior, be sure to express that. In my experience this usually results in asking the difficult player to leave the game. Don't give them the chance to rant in front of the group if you can.
Simply put, if you and I agree to play american football, a touchdown is worth 7 points (or 6 plus the extra point kick that most sandlot football does not do). If I score a touchdown and you all of a sudden decide that it's only 3 or 4 points, then I am going to cry foul. I have played in RPGs where as the new guy, I try to do something to be told "that's not possible", yet an established player character does something so similar a few rounds later that I could not tell a difference. "Hey, you said I couldn't do a Spinning Death Attack, but George can do a Twirling Kill Attack!" A player in this situation will do one of two things; either they will leave your group/the rpg community because "those guys screwed me over"; or they will learn that rulebook and everything in it so when they want to do a Twirling Kill Attack/Spinning Death Attack, and the DM says "nope", they can say "Actually, yep. I use [feat], [skill], and [action]".
The easiest solution is to re-skin or tweak monster stats. Give it a name that's not in any manual, borrow another monster's stats, and change up the weapon and description of the attacks. Now it's a monster they don't know anything about!
One of the holes in all the answers thus far is that they take an adversarial approach to rules lawyers. That will only antagonize him more, which will only exacerbate the problem and build up to a "dude, leave our group you jerk-face" moment. Defuse the hostility and you can go back to being friends again!
Oh yeah, Rules are used and not used at the DM's discrection.
Ideally, the DM should himself respect the rules well enough at least to know if the rules laywer's position even has merit to begin with.
Characters in DnD 3.5 are defined by their level, race, and class. You might describe your character as a “Level 5 Elf Wizard”. While this doesn’t tell you all of the great details of your character, it helps to explain to everyone else roughly what your character is and how it works.
Combat in DnD 3.5 is turn-based, so each character takes one turn to act in each round. More information on Combat will be covered in later sections of this guide.
DnD 3.5 physical copies are out of print. The core rulebooks are available from DnDClassics.com.
I made a fairly rough homebrew lawyer prestige class if you're interested. You'll have to be level 5 to start getting into it but until then go bard or warlock.
Devil: "Hey man. Got a bard outside of town, willing to gamble his soul, wondering if you could go over and finalize the details for me."
Warlock Fiend/Fey (Tome)- contract negotiator, Your tome is a book of ancient law, accords, treaty, or etiquette.
It would be hard to beat a gang all of whose members study law and the perfection of the body at the same level that a monk would invest.
No one successfully negotiates a favorable contract with the Lord of the Ninth.
also if you pick the charlatan background you can lie to everyone about where you got your law degree or that you were first in your class.
cleric is a good alternate if you don't feel like playing a bard. just pick a deity who represents law and order. knowledge domain would make the most sense, but i'd avoid using suggestion because that would be illegal in a court. all the other spells will help you "gather evidence" for you cases.