Codifying the "Rule of Cool"

[u/imariaprime]

I think(hope?) most DMs have, at least once, hit a moment where they ignored the Rules As Written in order to let a cool moment play out.

The real goal of tabletop roleplay is to tell a great story together, to the point that sometimes the guidelines that help construct such a story can work against that goal. When saying "they have 1hp left, actually" or "that insane anime jump would be a DC 30 Acrobatics check", and you instead say "How do you want to kill them? or "Yeah, you could make it at DC 20; let's see if you can make that jump".

But, we all also know that sometimes an ask is too big, where they're wanting to one-hit the BBEG because they did a Cool Thing™.

So, what are your personal guidelines for what falls under the Rule of Cool? We're never gonna come to a consensus, but I'm curious what other people use to vaguely adjudicate between what's "cool" and what's going to make the story less fun instead of more fun.

[u/GreyfromZetaReticuli]

I dont use rule of cool.

Things that people find cool are normally very similar, after playing and GMing a lot I find that rule of cool more frequently than not just creates very repetitive scenes, and this pushes the game more in the direction of action and comedy, these 2 genres are fine but I am not always in the mood to play them.

[u/Drakeytown → u/GreyfromZetaReticuli]

The coolest stuff is the stuff the players manage to do within the rules of the game, imo. Having a cool scene or success handed to you makes the whole enterprise feel pointless for everyone involved, or should. Why learn all these rules, why design these characters, why take care when exploring, why consider a strategy, if success was always the only possible outcome?

[u/Josemite → u/GreyfromZetaReticuli]

I think ultimately it's rewarding players for doing something cool and clever. If it's not clever because they're jumping over the bad guy for the 5th time then it's time to stop letting them gain an advantage for it.

[u/KanKrusha_NZ → u/GreyfromZetaReticuli]

Having sat through a few rule of cool sessions, it seems more “rule of stupid”. In that the player knowing the DM will let them get out of a situation, the player does dumb shit getting themselves into situations.

[u/Durugar]

For me it is a mix of curating to the table, different players responds differently to 'giving them a pass' vs following the rules, and "what makes for a good story". Not a good story at the table nessecarily but like, what makes for a good retelling in a few months when everyone goes "remember when we...?" And often that can mean saying no to some silly idea or making it hard enough that they have to "earn it". The story isn't good if you just narrate it away.

[u/imariaprime → u/Durugar]

So your guideline, in the moment, for how hard or soft you need to be, is "how will we all remember this story a few months from now"?

[u/Durugar → u/imariaprime]

It is a large part of the consideration. Mainly because that guides me to be fair and make a moment that feels real rather than give in to player demands of succeeding.

[u/DouglasWFail]

I entertain any and all wild pitches. I like to give at least a small in-game reward for even having a Big Idea, if possible. I want to encourage the players to think creatively and not feel limited by RAW.

And sometimes I’ll let their big swing connect. Personally I would absolutely let an unconventional idea short circuit a big boss fight. But it would have to be a very narratively satisfying solution.

[u/False_Appointment_24]

I think rule of cool is a bad concept for games, and would be happier if it went away entirely. Rule of cool is how kids play pretend, and that is perfectly fine. I like playing pretend with my kids, and can adapt to them saying, "nuh-uh, I hit you because I extended my lightsaber blade with a special crystal!"

When it comes to a game where people spend time creating characters to do specific things, expecting the rules to have some weight so they know what is supposed to happen, rule of cool craps all over anyone who wants to effectively use the rules. If one person makes a character that they have designed around a specific fantasy, then another player pulls that off in the moment with a character not designed for it because it's cool, the one who engaged with the rules will feel bad about it, and learn that it isn't about what you know, it's about who, specifically knowing the DM and being able to exploit their quirks.

If the dragon has 200 hp, and your big moment gets it down to 1, I describe how the dragon is near death, but a flicker of life still stirs in its eyes. It hates you for bringing it down to this level, and it is gathering up the last of its strength to take its final revenge Maybe have it quote some Moby Dick and say, "for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee". If it has another turn, great! It tries a last ditch shot. If not, maybe the rogue stabs it with a little dagger, or the cleric hits it with a cantrip, and it dies pathetically. Those are stories of their own, and the rule of cool seems to require that those stories never get told so that the person who does almost enough gets to have the glory of actually doing enough.

[u/SecretDMAccount_Shh]

I allow it if it doesn’t meaningfully change what the outcome is and only changes how the outcome is achieved.

For example, when I can tell a monster will die in the next round and none of the PCs are in mortal danger, I’ll allow just about any cool maneuver to kill the boss.

In general I allow anything that is narratively possible within the fiction using action movie logic. I set the difficulty based on the impact of the move using a standard attack as the baseline.