How To Make Balanced & Fair Rulings

In my last post I talked about the maxim: “rulings, not rules”.

Living by this maxim can drastically speed up your game, as making a quick ruling about a situation and getting on with the game is obviously far faster than poring through the handbooks and trying to reach consensus on the “correct” way to resolve the matter, according to the letter of the law.

Meanwhile, game systems that empower GMs to make rulings can get away with being less detailed and technical, and needn’t intimidate new referees with thick tomes of seemingly impenetrable rules, in a bid to cover every possible outcome at the table.

GMing the rules light Paranoia RPG… ie. making sh*t up as I go along (Photo by Archivo Arcano).

Whether you’re playing a rules-light game that demands interpretation, or you’re running a crunchier system and you want to speed up gameplay on your table, being able to make balanced rulings is a key skill for any GM or DM.

When To Make A Ruling?

Typically GMs need to make a ruling when either:

1. The rules are unclear (or you can’t remember them, or don’t want to stop to look them up)
2. A player wants to do something outside the scope of the rules

Let’s examine each case…

1. When The Rules Are Unclear

Making rulings when the rules are unclear is nearly always a case of confidently making a judgement, based on what you think makes sense in the fiction. In the example I gave in my last post, I ruled that a target under the effect of a command spell is enthralled, and therefore not able to make opportunity attacks: it didn’t make sense that the party’s fighter could be grovelling before an enemy spellcaster yet attacking his minions at the same time.

If your ruling works out badly for a player, it’s good practice to explain your thinking, so they can understand the logic behind your ruling. This also gives them a chance to explain their own imagining of the situation, and you can maintain some room for negotiation. It often happens that DM and player have pictured the current scene quite differently, and reiterating the finer points of a situation can help players accept a ruling, or for you to re-rule if necessary.

Hang on… pretty sure the rules for spell scrolls are in here somewhere?

You can also poll the other players around the table, or even throw a dice to decide the outcome, if you wish to appear 100% impartial. If you’re making a ruling that is going to affect both monsters and PCs (at least until you look up the official rules between sessions), you should get a measured response from the players, and not just a reply that favours them in the moment.

So fairness and flexibility are key when making a ruling, but there’s also a time when you have to be firm in order to maintain the game’s integrity. As the DM, you’re the person responsible for running this scenario, and, while the players may wheedle and whine for the most favourable ruling possible, ultimately they trust you and will respect your decision… otherwise they wouldn’t (or shouldn’t!) be playing at your table.

Quick Tips For Making Rulings on the Rules

• Be confident / trust your judgement
• Be impartial
• Communicate the reasons behind your decisions
• Listen to player objections and consider them (in cases where you failed to communicate the situation well enough, cut them more slack).
• If in doubt, let the dice decide an outcome
• When necessary pull rank. “Guys, I’ve made a ruling that I think is fair / realistic. It’s time to get on with the game now…”

2. When Players Want To Act Outside The Rules

Part of the joy of playing RPGs, as opposed to board games say, is that just about anything is possible (….or possible to attempt at least!). We are not confined by the physical limits of a board, or by the inky cage of designated moves laid out in the manual, and most TTRPG players relish the chance to come up with creative solutions to problems they face in the game.

As GMs we absolutely want to encourage this, as the chance to be creative is why people love RPGs, and indulging that whim can lead to some of the game’s most memorable moments.

But, I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it can be really difficult to referee these moments; arguably even more so in a game like 5e D&D – which is crunchy enough to have existing rules for a lot of the kinda tricks players want to get up to, but which fences off access to many of those mechanics unless you’re the right class, build, level etc.

Anyhow, I think I’ve become reasonably adept at adjudicating these types of situations over the years, so let me share my advice on how I approach it. Hopefully this advice might help you too…. or at least provoke a conversation on how to do it better.

Hipster’s Equation for Acting Outside the Rules

Essentially, when a player wants to do something “off piste”, you need to balance a little equation in your head, one that weighs:

• The advantage / effect the player wants

vs.

• The risk they are willing to take / resources they are willing to invest

Important: Your framework for balancing this equation are the mechanics that already exist in the game. Whatever they want to attempt, that is beyond what they can officially do in the rules, needs to be balanced by an appropriate risk. So if they want to improvise a reckless charge in the hope of dealing twice as much damage as usual, you balance that by halving their chances to hit… or else you add a significant resource cost such as inspiration, ki points, superiority dice, hit dice, a level of exhaustion etc. And if they are trying a particular move which is usually only available to a different class, then you have to be sure it’s significantly harder for them to do it than it would be for the specialist class to whom the ability belongs (see the “Disarming A Foe” example below).

Three Examples: Rulings for Classic D&D Stunts

I think the best way to illustrate what I mean is by applying my equation to some classic 5e scenarios. Here are three stunts that D&D players love to pull, that aren’t covered in the rules, and how I would handle them.

I. Disarming A Foe

Experienced DMs will be aware of the Battlemaster’s Disarming Strike maneuver, and might be tempted to say other classes can’t attempt to disarm a foe as a result. However, you can easily make this maneuver available to anyone by ignoring the superiority die stipulation, and by enforcing disadvantage on the attack roll.

Reducing the player’s chance to land their strike by around 25% (which might be close to halving their chance off success), and still maintaining the target’s saving throw to avoid the effect? That sounds about fair to me!

That’s not what I meant by “disarm him” Obi, and you know it…

In fact, you can apply the same logic to several other Battlemaster Maneuvers and any other types of “called shots”. Want to shoot someone in the leg to stop them running away? Make a Trip Attack with disadvantage.

As long as the additional effect is roughly balanced with the additional risk the player assumes (in this case the increased risk of missing and doing no damage whatsoever), then you aren’t in any danger of breaking the game.

And, if a ruling like this introduces a viable new tactic then that’s great… remember the monsters can use this tactic too! (And if that tactic becomes so good that it’s used in every situation, then just admit you balanced the equation wrong and change the ruling for future sessions).

(Around this point of the post I should stop to tip my hat to my current DM, Michael B., who made Battlemaster Maneuvers available, as per above, in his campaign, turning me on to the same idea).

II. Cartwheeling Over Someone & Kicking Them In The Nuts From Behind

This rather specific example, or extremely close variations thereof, comes up surprisingly often! Especially with new players that haven’t been trained into thinking about the game mechanically, and just want to attempt some badass chicanery. It’s a tricky one to adjudicate because a) it’s a pretty ludicrous thing to do that only works in films and would be suicidal in real life and b) there is no “behind” in 5e D&D. Here’s how we handle it though… we offer the player a deal.

“Sure you can attempt that, but the bugbear chief is going to get an opportunity attack as you somersault over/under/past him…. your AC will be whatever you roll on your Acrobatics check! If he hits you, you will fall prone at his feet and your turn will be over. If he misses you get advantage on your attack roll (which also triggers your Sneak Attack)…. and I will say 19 is a critical hit too.”

This precise ruling might be a bit too technical for newer DMs to improvise on the fly. But the principle is something you can imitate easily. Offer a risk, one that rolling a standard attack roll doesn’t incur, and then offer a reward for if the player takes on that risk and wins. And, if you can, incorporate relevant skills that will give this stunt a different vibe to a regular axe swing.

The great thing about this technique is that we are almost guaranteeing something epic is going to happen next. The player is either going to end up in a seriously precarious position, or have a great chance to end a boss fight by stabbing/kicking the bugbear chief in the furry ones.

Of course, the player might not take the deal… which is also fine… or they might try to negotiate… but your goal is to set up a risk equal to the reward and let the player decide (which also gets you off the hook if it goes wrong). Using this technique you are giving players the agency of trying something, even if it’s probably a dumb idea, rather than shutting down their creativity.

Side note: if the players come up with a really clever idea that you think would have a better chance of success than just hacking away with a sword, then you can set the reward as much higher than the risk, as a prize for their sharp thinking. Throwing a net at a swarm of stirges? Great, you can make a normal attack roll but target 1d4+1 foes instead of just one. (As the acrobatic attack on the bugbear is more about doing something flashy, rather than coming up with a cunning plan or rocking a situational advantage, you want the equation to be more evenly balanced. Speaking of situational advantages… let’s go to our next example).

III. Swinging From a Rope or Chandelier

This classic film trope is something every player would love to try, should the opportunity present itself, and I think this is one where GMs can relax a bit and be generous with the risk / reward ratio. Since this is a situational stunt, which relies on being in the right environment, there’s no way PCs can spam your ruling as a regular combat tactic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgWJUKzgvR4
Chandeliers should dangle from long chains for maximum swing-age…

So, let’s imagine a sea battle where a rogue swashbuckler or fighter wants to swing from their own ship to another, and attempt to knock over a pirate or two as they board the enemy vessel. I would simply count the rope swing as their movement and then let them make a bonus action “Shove” attack, with advantage, to account for their momentum, on one pirate – and if they roll particularly well I might rule that they take out a second pirate too.

But, in a small nod to realism, before they can do that though, I would make them roll a pretty easy Dexterity check first to see if they manage to swing in the right direction to make their attack. Fail that crucial check, and they could find themselves entangled in the other ship’s rigging or sail instead, or maybe even slamming against the bulwarks, right below the enemy pirates.

Here we’ve got the golden ratio of offering a pretty sexy situational advantage to the players (taking out one or two enemy pirates with a bonus action, and then still having their action left over) but a decent chance of it going comically wrong. Maybe, as well, if they pass their rope swing check but fail their Shove attack you might rule their opponent effectively blocks them from boarding the ship and they are left dangling above the ocean. Since we’ve left the rulebook behind at this point, players are more accepting of improvised judgements that make sense according to what they tried and failed to achieve.

Quick Tips For Rulings on Crazy Stunts

• Weigh up rewards vs. risks / resources
• Consider the game’s existing mechanics
• Offer players a deal up front (if their idea is good make it a good deal, if it’s crazy make it a terrible one… but avoid shutting their creativity down!)
• Consider if a different skill can be used than usual, maybe even in lieu of an attack roll
• Remember you can be more generous with situational stunts, as players can’t spam them

So there you go… I guess the TLDR version of this advice is: “let the dice decide the outcome… but let the DM determine the odds.”

As always please share your own wisdom, anecdotes and advice in the comments section!

RPG Product Spotlight

Folks often get in touch with me asking me to spread the word about their beloved new RPG project, which they’ve clearly dedicated much time, talent and effort to. I would like to be more generous with my help, but I barely have time to write my native think-piece posts, or promote my own products, let alone pen a dedicated promo post on an adventure, tool or resource… even those that look cool. My solution then is going to be a brief mini-review at the end of one my regular posts, highlighting those select few projects that happen to align with my tastes.

The first of these product spotlights falls upon this attractive set of condition rings by Wasted Wizard, who kindly sent me a free box to check out for myself. I tried them out in a recent D&D session, and they go over the small counters we use for PCs and monsters, and fit well on the 1-inch-grid Pathfinder map that I use for my in-person games. I was running a pretty big messy battle, with plenty of monsters, and the condition rings certainly did their job of helping me, and my players, remember which combatants were suffering from which effects.

Hoping to become the second best Warhammer painter called Duncan Rhodes in the world…

The set includes 4 rings for 30 different conditions and common spells, covering everything from Concentration and Blessed to Exhausted and Unconscious, and they stack nicely (for when combatants have multiple conditions affecting them), and fit perfectly to the official D&D round-based minis. Sadly I don’t have any of those… so you will have to make do of a photo featuring some of my Bretonnian Warhammer knights instead (above).

And here you can see the rings fitted to the round base…