#sweote

How many people run their games exactly as written?  Other people can speak for themselves, but I suspect the answer is not many.  Maybe you run the game rules as written (RAW) the first few times you play.  You should probably know how the rules work before you change them.  However,  you're likely to get a few rules wrong the first time you play so you're not really playing with RAW so much as rules as read (RAR). The more you play, the more you figure this stuff out.  However, the longer you play a system the more likely you are to realize that elements of the rules don't fit with you and your group's play style or what you're trying to achieve with the game.  In my view, whenever you have such a realization, you should create a house rule and change  

I  wrote that running Numenera is the most fun I've ever had as a GM in my answer to an earlier question. My game was initially RAW, or at least RAR, but about four sessions into the game I created a  house rule to address something I saw as a major issue with the game.  So, as much as I love Numenera, it's not the RPG I most enjoy using as is. Is there any game system I can answer this question with?  I think there might be even though I view the introduction of house rules as an inevitability, sort of, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire.

I started running Star Wars: Edge of the Empire in early 2017. The campaign is currently on hiatus having run for a little under ten sessions. That said, I was enjoying the game and hope to get back to it at some point.  

In case you're unfamiliar, Edge is a game that emphasizes the scum and villainy aspects of the Star Wars universe and is game published by Fantasy Flight Games.  This is the game you play if you want to play characters inspired by Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Boba Fett, or even Dr. Aphra.  FFG also publishes Star Wars: Age of Rebellion and Star Wars: Force and Destiny, which are respectively games about being in the Rebel Alliance and being a Jedi.

All of FFG's Star Wars games use the narrative dice system, which relies on dice with symbols on them rather than numbers.  These dice introduce narrative elements that may help or hinder the players regardless of whether or not their rolls succeed.  It's a great system and I was running it as written. Sort of.  There was actually one thing I didn't run exactly as written, encumbrance.  

At the start of the campaign, I told the players that I didn't want to bother tracking encumbrance. Edge's RAW encumbrance system is pretty restrictive regarding the amount of gear characters can carry.  It makes sense. Star Wars shouldn't be a game about picking up every blaster and random do-dad you come across.  However, there is no place on the official character sheet for players to record their character's encumbrance. I find this telling.  The encumbrance rules exist in case you need them, but they're not supposed to be important to the game.  Neither the GM nor the players should have to pay too much attention to it.  

This is why after I had told the players we wouldn't be tracking encumbrance, I also told them not to do anything too ridiculous or we would actually need to use said encumbrance rules.   After a blaster fight in game's second session of the campaign, one the player's suggested that they should grab all the blasters and other gear off of the gangsters they had just taken out so they could sell it all later.  I told them that the hand blasters and other gear didn't have a lot of resale value and that we would need to start tracking encumbrance if they wanted to carry it all.  The player dropped the matter, though one of the other characters grabbed a blaster for her personal use, which was perfectly fine.

While I did end up creating one house rule, I feel the change still works within the RAW's spirit, if not its technicality.  So I'm still going to count Star Wars: Edge of the Empire as my favorite game to run as is.