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Rule Zero
- 85 statements
- 14 feature instances
- 13 referencing feature instances
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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. |
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Dropped link to ControllableHelplessness: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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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." | |
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Munchkin (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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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! | |
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Paranoia (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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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. | |
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The Big Bang Theory | hasFeature |
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Rule Zero / int_5ea35eb7 | type |
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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. | |
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Only War (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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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. |
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Rule Zero / int_705bb59a | type |
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Vampire: The Masquerade says that the only rule that matters is that There Are No Rules in its core book. | |
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Vampire: The Masquerade (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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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). | |
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Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do in an RPG (Blog) | hasFeature |
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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. |
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Knights of the Dinner Table (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
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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. |
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Magic: The Gathering (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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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: | |
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World of Synnibarr (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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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. | |
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Warhammer 40,000 (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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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. | |
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Statless And Tactless | hasFeature |
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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... | |
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The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
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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. | |
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Destroy the Godmodder (Roleplay) | hasFeature |
Rule Zero / int_f1fbeee0 |
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