In context with the post I responded to, based on and inspired by mean the same thing. In either case, you can take some creative liberties with the source material to produce something else. What we have here is something else. I mentioned "rules lawyer" earlier in the thread, and I sincerely believe that this is what is at play here.
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A rules lawyer is 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.[1] The term is commonly used in wargaming and tabletop role-playing game communities,[2] often pejoratively, as the "rules lawyer" is seen as an impediment to moving the game forward.[3] The habit of players to argue in a legal fashion over rule implementation was noted early on in the history of Dungeons & Dragons.[4][5] Rules lawyers are one of the "player styles" covered in Dungeon Master for Dummies.[6] The rules of the game Munchkin include various parodies of rules lawyer behavior.
As I said earlier, it's not limited to a sub-class of the GM class. Despite claims made in this thread, players do have to know the basic rules, at the very least. Now, as I have repeatedly pointed out, there are parts of this game that are broken in so far as mechanics go, such as "anyone can use scrolls". That takes creative license a bit too far, and needs to be corrected, the same with wizards being able to scribe any scroll, even for spells they shouldn't be able to learn. These need to be fixed, and likely will be. With these exceptions, we're pretty much getting what Larian promised, a game based on 5e DnD.
