D&D 5E World-Building DMs

[Fedge123]

Being a DM is like having guests over for dinner - I try to make something that everyone can enjoy, but at the end of the day I decide what's on the menu, I buy the groceries and do the cooking. I don't make a special meal for that one special person (unless I'm married to them), so if they don't like what I'm fixing, eat somewhere else.

On the flip side, if I'm a guest I try to be polite and respectful of the Host's house-rules. I try not to make a mess.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

And, honestly, saying I want to play a Gnome cleric worshipping from the Gnome Pantheon in a DnD game is more like asking to play a Jedi with midochlorians in a sci-fi game that includes jedi and midochlorians as options than asking to play a Jedi when approaching a DnD game. Now, if you decided your world was more Star Trek than Star Wars then obviously my concept does not work, but if we are playing Star Wars and the DM says he hates a wookies and therefore wookies don't exist then I would be surprised. If he said we're playing 200 years in the future and all the wookies were killed in the war, so I can't play one, that is more understandable.

What I think we're talking past here is reasonable expectations. If I come to a table expecting everything in the PHB to be allowed, and then I'm told things are not allowed, that is going to raise my eyebrows. I can't say I wouldn't adapt to your world, simply that if I came to the table with a set of expectations that was reasonable, I might try and understand the reasoning of why my concept was not allowed.

when I went to college, way back when, I joined a role-playing club. The guy running the d6 west end games star wars talk about how much he loved the (at the time not called this but) the expanded universe. I had read 90% of the books, and as such could hardly wait. I bought the core rpg book and showed up with my character. At the first game sesoin he layed his house rules...

No jedi, no force users at all, no droids, no one could own a ship, and aliens were frowned appon, mostly human only.

My first reaction was "so are we the empire?" and I was told no, we were set after the thrawn trilogy in the new republic... I didn't last long in that game since it never felt like star wars too me.

 

[Shasarak]

Perhaps because there are other unknown elements that may affect character creation? Point buy versus rolling versus array? Campaign theme? The interests of the other players? Am I playing a sandbox? Adventure path? One-shot? I can understand coming up with character ideas, but to create a full-fledged character without knowing the answers to these questions seems to me to be a wasted effort.

You do not have to have 20 levels of a character planned out, but really who cares if it is a sandbox, adventure path or one shot? What difference does that make to my character?

 

[Shasarak]

It is because of the demon lineage. One, I am not interested in including a race of people with a demonic lineage. Second, when Tieflings are part a campaign that I run, their role is going to be along the lines of Damien in the Omen series and similar 70's occult films not Marvel's Son of Satan, the half-demon from the Supernatural series or even Sam Winchester (although Sam only had a demon bleed into his mouth as a baby). It is not in a matter of nature vs. nurture issue. It is strictly nature. There is no free will in that scenario. The character is Evil with a capital E and I don't allow evil player characters.

Now I do not particularly care for Tieflings personally, but I have never ever heard of your version of Tieflings.

Essentially if you do not use your homebrew Tieflings rules then you would have no problem with the normal Tieflings in your game

 

[hawkeyefan]

So, just for the sake of discussion, for folks who would not allow certain races in their campaign....let's just say that you had to allow it. You're running Dark Sun, and there are no gnomes in Dark Sun because they were literally wiped out centuries before by one of the Dragon-Kings. It's a built in fact of the setting.

A player comes to you and says I want to play a gnome. How do you handle it if you can't simply say no? What would you do?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Corpsetaker]

So, just for the sake of discussion, for folks who would not allow certain races in their campaign....let's just say that you had to allow it. You're running Dark Sun, and there are no gnomes in Dark Sun because they were literally wiped out centuries before by one of the Dragon-Kings. It's a built in fact of the setting.

A player comes to you and says I want to play a gnome. How do you handle it if you can't simply say no? What would you do?

I wouldn't run the game.

My enjoyment is just as important as everyone else at the table. Part of my fun is sticking with what makes a particular setting unique so if that gets changed then my fun goes out the window.

PS. I wouldn't play in that game as well.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I wouldn't run the game.

My enjoyment is just as important as everyone else at the table. Part of my fun is sticking with what makes a particular setting unique so if that gets changed then my fun goes out the window.

PS. I wouldn't play in that game as well.

So no attempt to reconcile the player desire with setting details? One gnome, and that's it? Campaign over?

Seems extreme.

 

[Corpsetaker]

So no attempt to reconcile the player desire with setting details? One gnome, and that's it? Campaign over?

Seems extreme.

But it seems extreme that one player would choose gnome and nothing else even though he or she knows there are no gnomes.

It could effect the other players as well. I can't run games I don't have fun running, I just can't. I've tried and I just end up bored out of my mind which then causes the game to fall apart.

 

[Jacob Marley]

You do not have to have 20 levels of a character planned out, but really who cares if it is a sandbox, adventure path or one shot? What difference does that make to my character?

The structure of the game may not allow your concept to come to fruition. For example, a concept that requires significant downtime may not work well in a one-shot. Or, a concept based on social intrigue and political maneuvering may not work well exploring a megadungeon. Or, a concept based on fighting demons may not work well when playing Against the Giants.