While the shared narrative of a roleplaying game is important, along with the ‘balance’ of the game’s mechanics, for many tables, the most important part of playing a tabletop RPG is the exhilaration of fun, awesome moments and the execution of particularly creative ideas. Though not an ‘official’ rule of Paths to Eternity, and certainly not mandatory, ‘The Rule of Cool’ is something that is encouraged, and can be described as follows;

If there is something the players want to do that suits a situation and would make the game more interesting, fun or awesome, but conflicts with the ‘letter’ of the rules, the Game Master should consider just letting them do it.

For tables where one or more members are particularly adherent to ‘the letter’ of the rules, Game Masters who are interested in using the ‘Rule of Cool’ are encouraged to discuss it during a campaign’s introductory session (aka Session Zero) before finally deciding whether to employ it or not.

<aside> <img src="/icons/bullseye_gray.svg" alt="/icons/bullseye_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Guidance - ‘The Rule of Cool’ Where the Rule of Cool can go ‘too far’ (and its biggest negative) is when the constraints imposed by the rules could actually **make for a more memorable and dramatic experience than what could occur if the rules are deliberately broken. In such cases, the GM could be accused of ‘robbing’ their players of a more interesting game session by giving-in to their requests or bending out of an impulse to be friendly.

Consider this example; the players want to save a friend but their movement speed is just 5ft too slow. They ask the GM if they could be allowed to make the distance anyway.

In such a case, allowing the players to save their friend despite being mechanically unable to do so could ‘cheapen’ the moment that such narrow failure could have created. It could also be ‘robbing’ them of an opportunity to coming up with a different plan of attack, overcoming the hazard through creativity instead (for example, realizing they could throw a rope instead of making the fruitless dash). A good rule of thumb when it comes to the ‘Rule of Cool’ is to err on the side of following the rules, but to make exceptions or allow slight bends when the players are being particularly creative rather than simply seeking advantage. As an example, think of Legolas using an embedded arrow as a handhold (The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King).

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