Rule Zero

So Rule Zero and The Golden Rule are often confused for one another. In fact, I did it in one of my previous blogs. Basically what we're talking about today is more discussions about GMs declaring themselves "Me King A-Rab, You Pedestrian". Basically, The Golden Rule, or Rule Number One was born from the thick, slimy mire of Sperglords and Grognards who love acting like God and seeing characters run like rats in a maze. In response, Rule Zero was born...because Zero comes before One, that means it's more important. The unnamed man who invented the idea of Rule Zero is a fucking hero.

But let's stop everyone from being confused and define what these two opposing rules are.

The Golden Rule: "The GM is Always Right."

Rule Zero: "Roleplaying Games are entertainment; your goal as a group is to make your games as entertaining as possible."

Well, that sounds like something that's obviously true followed by something that's so baseline it's ridiculous we're even talking about it, right? Not really. Plenty of games mention Rule Zero in their books, usually by saying that you should change the rules or alter them if nobody's having fun, or by reminding you that the rules are only a guideline. A grand total of one book I've found mentions The Golden Rule, and that's Paranoia. If you don't know anything about Paranoia, that...might be a good thing. It's a weird little game of politics that can lead to a lot of fun as easily as it can lead to hurt friendships because it pits the PCs against one another as the point of the game. This book directly mentions you, as the GM, are within your rights to look at a die and say with a straight face that the die is wrong. More on that later. If you'd like to read that deliberately ridiculous passage in its entirety, here it is.

So games that aren't as bugfuck as Paranoia don't seem to mention The Golden Rule, yet it's ubiquitous. Why? Because GMs are arbiters, and thus feel like they're in a position of power. They can start to feel feel as though the players are 'lesser' and thus don't deserve to argue and need to put up with whatever the GM wants, because he's the one doing the work. Yeah. I get it, honestly. You feel like you're doing all this work and anyone who argues with you hasn't done a god damn thing except show up and MAYBE bring some Cheetos. You need to try and tamp that thought of being "God" down, though.

Because here's the thing.

First off, you're not always right. The rules and the dice are the fair arbiter between everyone. Between PC and PC, and between PC and You. Bending the rules or fudging the dice is unavoidable, but too much of it removes the player's agency. The more you remove a player's agency, the less fun they'll have. Period. Changing the rules on a whim isn't exactly any better, and too often people do it for their OWN fun without caring if the PCs are having any fun or not, or because they don't feel like looking up the rules and think whatever they came up with is "good enough".

"Well, if YOU don't like it, YOU GM next week."

I can't imagine anyone's ever said this calmly. It comes out of anger, and exasperation with someone who won't drop an argument. It's okay to be angry, and you will in fact have to use the Golden Rule eventually. Stuff like the above phrase isn't exactly copacetic, though. There's no "right" answer to something like this, because either they DO that, and either they feel justified in lording The Golden Rule over YOU in THEIR game, OR the group never plays your game again. I presume that's not actually what you wanted, or else you wouldn't have gone through all that work to put a campaign together.

The thing is, The Golden Rule is dangerous because it's handing you a hammer, and it's real easy to see anyone disagreeing with you as a nail. This is complicated further by the fact that you may very well have to flex this rule at some point, so you can't just throw it away and have a democratic hippy sit-in about every disagreement.

You want to try and start with a democratic hippy sit-in, though. Discuss rules and rulings after the session and see what everyone likes. This will work out more often than you think it will. Try to keep to the book rules unless it's clearly stated beforehand, and don't simply declare something "good enough" then quote the Golden Rule when someone points out that's not how it works. Move the game along, but try to take others seriously when they want to discuss the rules. Whip out your giant hammer if someone is impacting others' fun. Basically? Rule Zero really is more important, and you should treat it like that.

And finally, a word to the players about these rules. For God's sake, be cool. We do want to keep to the rules. We all should keep to the rules, but when something's been agreed upon by everyone else don't sit there like an asshole furiously flipping pages to find the book-written rule and win the 'argument'. If you have a problem with a 'wrong' rule, bring it up after the session or before the next, and especially don't derail a combat situation and bog it down. Keep interruptions to big things like "My character shouldn't have died, because grapple doesn't work like that." and be accepting if the GM compromises and says something like "Okay, but he's still unconscious.". The GM really does do a bit more work on this than you, and sometimes fudges or forgets.

~~~

We'll end with a fun fact. I did once lose a character over being wrong about the rules. I was playing a droid named Nomad in a Star Wars D20 game who was ambushed by a Jedi. They deal tremendous damage and Nomad was already hurt, so the Jedi put him at essentially -9. I did the math and thought "He's just going to bleed out next round, I'll just say he's dead."

I'm leaving this line break here so you can laugh at how dumb that thought is.

By the time I realized what I'd done, it had been months and I was already enjoying the new character and how versatile she was. Of course, when compared to the party Jedi Guardian she blew goats. Such is the plight of Star Wars D20, though. The phrase "All Jedi or No Jedi" doesn't come from nowhere.