It can sometimes be a juggle to keep rules straight when playing Dungeons & Dragons. With many editions, and each campaign slightly different than the next, certain guidelines or game mechanics can easily end up forgotten. While some of these rules can make for challenging Dungeons & Dragons gameplay, others are often clunky and can slow down a campaign as players crunch tedious numbers or juggle numerous supplies.
Many of the rules in D&D can be bent or changed to accommodate a certain playstyle. It isn't uncommon for Dungeon Masters to use their own D&D house rules when running a campaign. This can include how death rolls are handled, how roleplay is acted out, and how certain spells might work. Because D&D is designed to be a creative playground, bending or changing the rules can create a better element for a specific story, or be changed to include homebrew content being utilized in a campaign.
However, there are also D&D rules many players learn early in gameplay, but they accidentally get swept under the rug in many Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. It isn't uncommon to forget to keep track of limitations like Encumbrance, the weight limit a character can hold at any given time. It might be something that is forgotten until a player is sifting through their belongings and they realize there are four broadswords and three sets of armor being carried in a standard bag. While some campaigns may simply choose to ignore the weight limit rules of D&D to allow players more freedom, others might need to reinstate this rule to help balance how many items players have access to at any given time.
Dungeons & Dragons Rules Over-Control Spells
Playing magic classes in Dungeons & Dragons can be a particularly difficult challenge with normal D&D rules. Spellcasters often have few powerful spells until they are at level 5, and are limited by what spells they have prepared and the number of Spell Slots they possess. To add to this, the official D&D rules restrict spell preparation using components. These items are often herbs, gemstones, and powders Wizards and other spellcasters must gather or purchase in order to use any spells. It isn't uncommon for spell components to be ignored, so those playing a spellcaster can have more freedom, and can be of more use to their party.
Another hangup for magic-based classes is Concentration. Many D&D spells require a magic- to concentrate for the duration. If they are hit by damage or are fighting in an area with physical disturbance, they must make a Constitution Saving Throw, which many magic-s have low scores in. However, it isn't uncommon to forget to keep track of which spells require Concentration, and it depends on the Dungeons & Dragons DM as to what counts as a Concentration interruption. Thankfully, if any of these D&D rules are forgotten, it is easy to reimplement them at any time during a campaign, or players can speak with their DM to continue to omit certain rules if their absence hasn't negatively impacted gameplay.
