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Rule Zero

85 statements
14 feature instances
13 referencing feature instances

Rule Zero	type	FeatureClass
Rule Zero	label	Rule Zero
Rule Zero	page	RuleZero
Rule Zero	comment	In many a Tabletop RPG, game balance is hard to achieve, since there is an unlimited number of choices available to the players. In such a situation, it's inevitable that there's going to be a Game-Breaker, strange applications of the mechanics by the Rules Lawyer, attempts by the resident Munchkin to min-max beyond the pale, and things which are done in such a way that it's clearly Not the Intended Use. For these reasons, to protect the sanity and well-being of the average Game Master, most tabletop roleplaying games include some version of the following rule: The Game Master is always right. Rule Zero (as this is frequently called in tabletop gaming circles) is a reminder to TTRPG players that the GM has to exercise some common sense at their table if they want to keep things going. As such, the GM is permitted to supersede, change, interpret, or flat-out ignore the rules when the rules would ruin enjoyment and fair play. You could cite all the rules and mechanics you want that say you just got a One-Hit Kill on the Big Bad by using the Infinity +1 Sword to invoke the Chunky Salsa Rule. But if the GM says it didn't happen, then it didn't happen. While a GM has the authority to exercise Rule Zero at will, excessive and/or arbitrary use of overriding the players' actions will eventually lead to an empty game table. This is also known as "Rule -1: The GM is not always right, but what the GM says goes. If they say enough stupid stuff, the players will go as well". Can be worded very positively, as in "Rule Zero: if an interpretation of a rule is more fun, do that" or very negatively, as in "Rule Zero: don't give the GM ideas." How the rule is expressed is usually a good clue to the GM as to how far they can push it. Sometimes the rule is expressed as: "GM" is interchangeable with other authority figures. Railroading is an example of excessive (ab)use of Rule Zero. Compare Because I Said So and Screw the Rules, I Make Them!, especially for other media. Also see House Rules, which is when there's a change to a rule that applies every time the rule comes up for a particular person.
Rule Zero	fetched	2024-04-10T06:00:45Z
Rule Zero	parsed	2024-04-10T06:00:45Z
Rule Zero	processingComment	Dropped link to ControllableHelplessness: Not an Item - FEATURE
Rule Zero	processingComment	Dropped link to LoadsAndLoadsOfRules: Not an Item - FEATURE
Rule Zero	processingComment	Dropped link to RulesLawyer: Not an Item - FEATURE
Rule Zero	processingComment	Dropped link to ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Not an Item - FEATURE
Rule Zero	processingComment	Dropped link to SeriousBusiness: Not an Item - FEATURE
Rule Zero	processingComment	Dropped link to TheJuggernaut: Not an Item - FEATURE
Rule Zero	processingComment	Dropped link to TropeNamer: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
Rule Zero	processingUnknown	TropeNamer
Rule Zero	isPartOf	DBTropes
Rule Zero / int_1a8d488a	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_1a8d488a	comment	Subverted with Munchkin, which has a Rule Zero that rule in the rulebook that reads "Any other disputes should be settled by loud arguments," followed by a Double Subversion, adding "with the owner of the game having the last word."
Rule Zero / int_1a8d488a	featureApplicability	-0.3
Rule Zero / int_1a8d488a	featureConfidence	1.0
Munchkin (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_1a8d488a
Rule Zero / int_36ee2abe	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_36ee2abe	comment	Paranoia is notable in that it's one of the few tabletop games in which arbitrary use of Rule Zero is encouraged. The GM is allowed to fudge rolls, to let other plays fudge their rolls or fudge each other's rolls, and generally discard the rules as long as Rule of Fun is observed. The justifying reason for this caveat? Any player who tried to call the GM out on it would be acknowledging they have read the rules, which are above their security clearance. note For reference, the rules are Ultraviolet-level, the top of the ladder, whereas most players are Red, just one rank above the bottom. Possessing knowledge above your security clearance is punishable by summary execution — of the player's character, not the player himself!
Rule Zero / int_36ee2abe	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_36ee2abe	featureConfidence	1.0
Paranoia (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_36ee2abe
Rule Zero / int_4e45b093	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_4e45b093	comment	Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory required Leonard to sign an extensive Roommate Agreement (and later Amy to sign a Relationship Agreement) which he sees as the final word on any conflict. When the rules go against him, he has told both outright that they are missing the point: that the agreements exist for his benefit.
Rule Zero / int_4e45b093	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_4e45b093	featureConfidence	1.0
The Big Bang Theory	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_4e45b093
Rule Zero / int_5ea35eb7	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_5ea35eb7	comment	OnlyWar directly specifies early in the general rules section that the Game Master should exercise common sense and discretion to make things work ideally and many rules refer to "Game Masters' Discretion" for things where any specific rule set would be impractical.
Rule Zero / int_5ea35eb7	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_5ea35eb7	featureConfidence	1.0
Only War (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_5ea35eb7
Rule Zero / int_69071a1b	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_69071a1b	comment	Mutants & Masterminds is notable for having a game mechanic for Rule Zero called "Gamemaster fiat". The Gamemaster is permitted to arbitrarily create setbacks to keep his story on track (such as having a hero slip and fall if he's about to catch the bad guy long before the adventure says he should) but requires that the Gamemaster award the hero a hero point (which players can spend later on to perform impressive feats normally beyond their abilities). Players can go a step further with "complications" which are specific recurring dramatic setbacks that a GM can use on a player that fit the player's character concept. A common example is the secret identity.
Rule Zero / int_69071a1b	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_69071a1b	featureConfidence	1.0
Mutants & Masterminds (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_69071a1b
Rule Zero / int_705bb59a	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_705bb59a	comment	Vampire: The Masquerade says that the only rule that matters is that There Are No Rules in its core book.
Rule Zero / int_705bb59a	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_705bb59a	featureConfidence	1.0
Vampire: The Masquerade (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_705bb59a
Rule Zero / int_77a899a	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_77a899a	comment	Rule Zero is used often in games played by Mr Welch of Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do in an RPG to protect the game from his more creative excesses. Usually, there is no rule stating he can't do what he wants to do. In general The Loonie is a Player Archetype that will often require the exercise of this rule to keep the game on track (though knowing when not to crush a Loonie's creativity with Rule Zero can be just as important).
Rule Zero / int_77a899a	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_77a899a	featureConfidence	1.0
Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do in an RPG (Blog)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_77a899a
Rule Zero / int_86772227	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_86772227	comment	Knights of the Dinner Table: B.A. averts this. He plays every rule for better or for worse. He eventually seized control of his game through the use of a GMPC and his control over non mechanical story elements (even in the PC's backstories.) To a degree, this is true of almost every GM in the Knights universe. A HackMaster GM is accredited by a national association before being allowed to run an "official" campaign. Years' worth of legal precedent have gone towards removing the concept of Rule Zero from accredited, tournament legal campaigns. After all, since tournaments usually involve opposing groups and characters competing against one another, it makes sense to ensure that they're all playing on the same page. This has evolved into the "Rules of Fair Play" doctrine, where all rules introduced into the campaign apply to both characters and NPCs without bias or discrimination, effectively removing a GM's judgment from the equation. This environment makes B.A., and other GMs, extremely creative umpires who arbitrate how invoked rules play out within their games. Weird Pete is the opposite extreme enforcing Rule Zero through demerits that can result in level loss and can only be undone by working them off in his gameshop unpaid.
Rule Zero / int_86772227	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_86772227	featureConfidence	1.0
Knights of the Dinner Table (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_86772227
Rule Zero / int_a825da3e	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_a825da3e	comment	Magic: The Gathering: The official rules cite The Golden Rule of Magic as some variation of the following: "if the cards and the rules-as-written ever contradict each other, the cards are right". The one and only exception to this rule is that a player can concede a game at any time, regardless of what the cards say. This is to prevent a player from being stuck in a tabletop game version of Controllable Helplessness where their opponent is clearly going to win, but there's nothing the player can do but just sit there and watch. This is one reason why MTG has Loads and Loads of Rules: all official tournament referees are allowed to invoke Rule Zero if there is no precedent for how certain cards interact with each other. Their decision then gets stuck in the big list of errata/clarifications. In tournaments, the head judge has the power to make any ruling he wants, and his word will be final, even if he turns out to be wrong. That is to say, even if the decision was actually against the official rules of the game, whatever the head judge of a tournament says goes, and that's that. The only recourse a player has if they don't like what the head judge ruled is to make a complaint afterwards. And while these types of incorrect rulings do happen, such a thing is quite rare.
Rule Zero / int_a825da3e	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_a825da3e	featureConfidence	1.0
Magic: The Gathering (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_a825da3e
Rule Zero / int_b671ebfe	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_b671ebfe	comment	Averted in World of Synnibarr, which actually imposes limits on what the GM can and cannot do:
Rule Zero / int_b671ebfe	featureApplicability	-1.0
Rule Zero / int_b671ebfe	featureConfidence	1.0
World of Synnibarr (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_b671ebfe
Rule Zero / int_bcadd7cb	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_bcadd7cb	comment	Warhammer 40,000 has a version of this, which is notable for an adversarial game with no impartial storyteller. A callout in its core rulebook called "The Most Important Rule" that boils down to a mutual version of this: if you aren't sure how something works, whatever you mutually agree at the tabletop is fine, and if you can't agree then roll-off to pick a side and get on with it. The game has an incredible number of moving parts, with a standard game involving the core rules and two codices that have additions and exceptions to them, so this helps keep a game moving without diving into the manual every turn. Like other games mentioned above, competitive-level games tend to defer to the referee or tournament organizer who's more familiar with the rules and errata.
Rule Zero / int_bcadd7cb	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_bcadd7cb	featureConfidence	1.0
Warhammer 40,000 (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_bcadd7cb
Rule Zero / int_bd0c7dd4	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_bd0c7dd4	comment	Dane from Statless and Tactless agrees to give up rule zero in relation to a player to get him to bring a friend. It doesn't go well.
Rule Zero / int_bd0c7dd4	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_bd0c7dd4	featureConfidence	1.0
Statless And Tactless	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_bd0c7dd4
Rule Zero / int_d796465d	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_d796465d	comment	In The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers it's mentioned that Skyquake had carved out his own mini-empire. However, when Megatron sent orders for him to take the Autobot prison of Garrus-9, he immediately marshals his forces to go on the attack. Too bad for him Overlord showed up...
Rule Zero / int_d796465d	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_d796465d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_d796465d
Rule Zero / int_f1fbeee0	type	Rule Zero
Rule Zero / int_f1fbeee0	comment	In Destroy the Godmodder, the GM always has the last word on if an attack, charge, entity, sidequest, or plotline can go through. Always.
Rule Zero / int_f1fbeee0	featureApplicability	1.0
Rule Zero / int_f1fbeee0	featureConfidence	1.0
Destroy the Godmodder (Roleplay)	hasFeature	Rule Zero / int_f1fbeee0

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Rule Zero	processingCategory2	Laws and Formulas
Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do in an RPG (Blog) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
Knights of the Dinner Table (Comic Strip) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
Harry Potter and the Natural 20 (Fanfic) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
The Gamers: Dorkness Rising / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
Destroy the Godmodder (Roleplay) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (Tabletop Game) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
Mao (Tabletop Game) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
Mutants & Masterminds (Tabletop Game) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
Star Wars: Roleplaying Game (Tabletop Game) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
The Dresden Files (Tabletop Game) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
The Witcher: Game of Imagination (Tabletop Game) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero
JoCat (Web Animation) / int_92248a9	type	Rule Zero

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