this post was submitted on 21 May 2025
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In my eyes, the Rule of Cool is best used as the opposite of the Air Bud Clause. (For those who don't know; the "Air Bud Clause" refers to a rule in basketball that basically says "it's not allowed just because there's no rule against it".) TTRPGs are imperfect systems, and you are going to run into a scenario that isn't covered in the rules. Rule of Cool is best used here, rather than to bypass rules that do exist.
But also; some systems can be really crunchy, and a lot of the time it can be more fun for everyone involved if you just say "you know what, that's cool, let's do it" than to pause for five minutes to leaf through some rulebook (because seriously; you can't always know the entire rulebook by heart) trying to determine if and why they can't.
Of course, doing this too much is dangerous. Hence "in moderation".
This is a reasonable take.
Yep, there are instances where rules lawyering way too hard can be detrimental in a situation where the rules... just fundamentally do not well handle a rather niche situation.
And likewise there are situations where disregarding the rules too often, in too many scenarios... well it can just destroy the entire point of playing a 'game', feels unfair, you might as well just be doing a collaborative creative writing session at that point.
...
If you find yourself frequently running into the first situation, perhaps come up with some modified homebrew rules, made clear to all players before hand, or switch over to a different game, a different ruleset that is better tuned to your players/playstyle.
If you find yourself frequently in the second situation, find a new DM/GM, or stop being a DM/GM, and just be a creative writer... or just make your own entirely new ruleset/game.
If either of these situations only occur rarely, you're probably doing a good job of being a DM with the given ruleset and given players.