My lawyer* has a great saying:

"If it sounds like a great idea, it's probably illegal."

I mention this because I recently broke a rule that I didn't know I was breaking. My actions seemed to make perfect sense to me IC, and even the other player who was involved agreed that I was playing it smart IC.

Once it was explained to me (thanks Wiggy), I understood and agreed with the rule, but I find it troubling that I don't seem to "get it" where some of the subtleties of what is or is not fair to other players is concerned. For instance, it would have never occurred to me to go hostile on a PC I was spying on, but I see in another thread that yes, that is what I am expected to do.

I have to resign myself to the fact that I don't think like a DM, and I have to have these sorts of things pointed out to me. Not all of these rules are listed somewhere, or if they are, they are scattered all over the forums. So I have a proposal.

For my own personal benefit, I've been making note of the rules I have broken, so that I don't break them again. Does the DM team have any interest in assembling all of this arcana in a single thread for players to reference as needed? If so, I would be willing to do the job.

* I have never been to jail. I have a lawyer because I sometimes need legal advice in order to do my job.

I guess we don't do that because it would be impossible to think of -everything- in one sitting.

We have this Q&A forum set up for exactly that reason. Look through the entire forum and combine everything here into a uniform whole thread detailing what you can and cannot do and you are a more patient man than me.

Added 'sitting' instead of 'setting'

It is a constant struggle to put everything together in one place. I've tried to do it in the rules journal entry, but already they're getting to be so long.

So, yes, if someone were to try to put together a single list for everything I'd appreciate it and I think it would be useful.

It would probably be a long list :/

As I write this stuff down, it seems like if I gather enough of it I'll be able to glean some general guidelines for "when in doubt" situations. I'll give it my best shot, we'll see what happens.

EDIT: Oh, and yes, I am being deliberately vague in order to avoid spoilers.