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My .02... For what it's worth I agree in spirit with the original poster; but it's really more of an "official" question. Here's how it works...

1) New players go to the website and they download the character creation guidelines.

2) Said guidelines dictate the usable and official sources for generating characters. Nowhere does it say anything about other documents, messageboards, etc.

3) The administrator of the program says he's going to make changes - he's nice enough to post the changes he's going to make. Most people follow them...

Now here's the kicker; you can't enforce them. I'm sure Mr. Tulach will incorporate this information into the next update which is listed as December 5th. He may even do a hurried posting if he considers it necessary; but I don't believe he can enforce rules that do not follow his own structure for how to create and post rules.

This is how it works for all the real world examples folks have brought up; in the case of speeding laws in the US there is a default speed limit for most roads (as well as default reckless laws and such); if it is changed to a different limit that change must be posted, etc... If 90% of the folks choose to follow this limit that's great - the 10% who do not are not liable for any crime as no crime currently exists. In an area I lived they did just that; they moved a school thus moving a school zone - the speed limit slows but until such time as the area is posted as a school zone in an official manner the mandatory speed limit could not be enforced.

You cannot legally change the rules of a competition or an organization without going through proper channels otherwise could you really use the word "organization"? I'm sure Mr. Tulach would agree that he should follow the rules and he should post all of the rules in a clear way.

pedr wrote:

Besides, if your GM, or the Senior GM, believes that you need to follow the rules in the Characters in the Realms document, then you need to follow those rules.

At an event, there is no higher authority than the Senior GM, and most will understand the mechanisms of RPGA rules issuing which by convention do require at least some attention to be paid to the message-board posts of campaign staff. Discussion of what's 'official' is somewhat moot, as the final say lies with the Senior GM.

Senior GMs who act in entirely inappropriate manners can be reported to the RPGA after the event, but requiring a player to comply with rules which are clearly intended to be part of the LFR set up is not going to raise any eye-brows at RPGA HQ!

Exactly but that's the problem with everyone who is saying the OP is wrong. His senior DM did make a ruling and because an unofficial document disagrees (yes it comes from someone important and yes it may soon be official) the masses are breaking out the stones.

Also the final "say" doesn't lie with the Senior DM; I believe that it is a hierarchy of rules and regulations. We have a high-level document, the CCG, that must be followed. Beneath that anything not covered or left open to interpretation is the purvue of the senior DM at an event. Anything he fails to cover is then the purvue of the table DM, etc...

So, if I come to a gaming table, my PC will follow the CCG completely. If the Senior DM tells me I have to follow something else as well, that's fine as long as he has a copy and he allows me to make the necessary changes AND, most importantly, it doesn't violate anything laid out in the CCG. If the Table DM wants something on top of that, well I'd think the same rules apply.

This is how it works at poker tournaments, bridge tournaments, etc... Why not here?