Spirit vs. Letter

[sobrique]

A tough question in a roleplay game, is how much you balance the letter of the rules, against the spirit of the rules.
The art of a good GM is to let the players 'roleplay' without constraining them with 'you can't do that, because there's no rule for it'.
Time and again though, the subject arises. Do you follow the letter, or the spirit of the rules?
Do you fudge that diceroll, because otherwise the character will die in a short and pointless fashion? Do you let the character try to jump on the back of the troll they're fighting, and how do you arbitrate it when there isn't a mechanic.

Do you ever have a monster die when it's 'dramatically appropriate' or do you have it's hitpoints rigidly adhered to?

If you have a gun pressed to someone's eye socket, and pull the trigger, do they still get to dodge/use armour, or are they just toast?

If someone goes out of character for some reason (valid), are they still 'there' and therefore killable?

And does this make a difference in tabletop vs. live action, and player vs. monster, as opposed to player vs. player?

I could put up a poll, but I'll leave that for now. Let me know what you think.

Comments

[jorune.livejournal.com]

During the weekend freeforms they use a different measure. Each person has a clip on name badge and wearing the badge means you are IC. You are OC when you take off the badge and put it on the main table at Game central. This shows to anyone that you are currently out of the game.