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Rules lawyer

Person who uses rules for their own benefit

Summary

Person who uses rules for their own benefit

A rules lawyer is a term used to describe a participant in a rules-based environment who attempts to use the letter of the law without reference to the spirit, usually in order to gain an advantage within that environment. The term is commonly used in wargaming and tabletop role-playing game communities, often pejoratively, as the "rules lawyer" is seen as an impediment to moving the game forward. The habit of players to argue in a legal fashion over rule implementation was noted early on in the history of Dungeons & Dragons. Rules lawyers are one of the "player styles" covered in Dungeon Master for Dummies. The rules of the game Munchkin include various parodies of rules lawyer behavior.

References

References

  1. Fine, Gary Alan. (2002). "[[Shared Fantasy: Role Playing Games as Social Worlds". [[University of Chicago Press]].
  2. Beattie, Scott. (2007). "Voicing the Shadow: Rule-playing and Roleplaying in Wraith: The Oblivion". Law, Culture and the Humanities.
  3. Kaufman, Daniel. (2002). "[[Book of Challenges]]: Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles, and Traps". [[Wizards of the Coast]].
  4. Swanson, Mark. (January 1979). "Trapped: Four Years in the Gilded Hole". Different Worlds.
  5. Edwards, Ron. "A Hard Look at Dungeons and Dragons". [[The Forge (roleplaying game website)#The Forge.
  6. (2006). "Dungeon Master for Dummies". [[For Dummies]].
  7. Garner, Bryan A.. (1995). "A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage". [[Oxford University Press]].
  8. Herbert, Don. (2007). "63 Days and a Wake-Up: Your Survival Guide to United States Army Basic Combat Training". Basic Training Book.
  9. "language lawyer". catb.org.
  10. Jemielniak, Dariusz. (14 May 2014). "Common Knowledge?: An Ethnography". Stanford University Press.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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