I've recently finished drumming up my thoughts on the D&D 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, one of the biggest places where the system had room to improve—and they've done a decent enough job with what they have. One entry did, however, make me laugh out loud: «Players Exploiting the Rules.»
Now, don't get me wrong. Everything in the entry itself is wise advice. TTRPGs are, broadly-speaking, less about their rules and more about everyone having fun—the kind of loophole-driven exploits and broken builds you see floating to the top of forums are only ever interesting thought exercises, and they can (and should) be struck down in actual play unless the table is really into it.
But this entry quite specifically and harshly calls out a few infamous examples of player shenanigans, some of which my fellow PC Gamer writer and TTRPG enthusiast Robin Valentine actually showcased in this ridiculously broken builds list. Namely, the infamous peasant railgun and the vaunted «just have a bag of rats on you» tactic.
For context, the peasant railgun abuses the «ready» action to pass a spear down the hands of a thousand peasants, making it travel at an absurd speed in one round, six seconds. The «bag of rats» involves using vermin (or sometimes chickens) to trigger various abilities, such as ones with a 'when you kill a creature' condition.
The funniest part here is that, while it's definitely targeting these specific examples, it does so with the airiness of your passive-aggressive friend obviously vague tweeting at you. Here's the entry on «rules aren't physics:»
«The rules of the game are meant to provide a fun game experience, not to describe the laws of physics in the worlds of D&D, let alone the real world. Don’t let players argue that a bucket brigade of ordinary people can accelerate a spear to light speed by all using the Ready action to pass the spear to the next person in line. The Ready action facilitates heroic action; it doesn’t define the physical limitations of what can
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Robin Valentine