D&D 5E Bad Wrong Fun

[Mecheon]

I don't expect characters to have backstories. A character's story begins at 1st level. Whatever he/she did before that is irrelevant.

Spoken like someone who's never brought back old rivals from the village they lived in, or people they scammed out of money while they were carousing the streets, or an old flame they had back but had to call off for whatever reason. Or, y'know, settle disputes in a land they were exiled from for whatever reason

Backstories are delightful to drag out at times. Give the other players a chance to narrate details of a story to the other players and hella engages them with stuff they were involved in

 

[Eltab]

Not just broken numerically. Broken narratively. Anybody who actually plays this build and enjoys it is definitely having badwrongfun.

( "this build" is Sharpshooter + Crossbow Expert)

You don't want a machine gun in your D&D?

 

[jmartkdr2]

What about the flip side of this? The player who can't deal with the fact that the DM has preferences different from theirs?

Also bad. Sometimes you just have to accept that other people will like things you don't like.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

Spoken like someone who's never brought back old rivals from the village they lived in, or people they scammed out of money while they were carousing the streets, or an old flame they had back but had to call off for whatever reason. Or, y'know, settle disputes in a land they were exiled from for whatever reason

Backstories are delightful to drag out at times. Give the other players a chance to narrate details of a story to the other players and hella engages them with stuff they were involved in

All of those can happen in game without backstories.

 

[jasper]

The weird thing is, "settings where some of the standard options don't exist or are different" already exist entirely outside of homebrew settings. Theros limits the races that are native to that world, it didn't feel the need to give dwarves or tieflings a stated place in there just because they're in the PHB. Likewise, Eberron has the standard races and classes, but they can be very different--no, you can't play a drow who is hunted by the priests of Llolth for being a renegade, because the drow are rugged survivalists from the lost continent, and Llolth doesn't exist in this setting.

But But ThOSE WaS DoNE DiDDDITED by PROS. No people like those Slimy Jasper with his KENDER GNOME HATER. Says the player who never played either.

 

[jasper]

What about the flip side of this? The player who can't deal with the fact that the DM has preferences different from theirs?

I AM THE PLAYER. YOU WILL BOW TO MY WILL DM. Other wise you just be writing fan fic worlds on your mom's Iphone. WITH OUT ME. YOU WILL NOT HAVE A GAME. BOW TO ME!

 

[Sacrosanct]

Every time these discussions come up between players and DMs and how players should have just as much say as what goes into the world as the DM and treat players and DMs as equals in EVERY way, I shake my head a bit. Because they aren’t equal. The DM puts in about three times as much work into the game (and often more expense as well). The trade off for that extra work has always been that it’s the DM’s world and they have final authority.

If you as a player think you should be able to play elephant races that shoots guns, great! Then you run the game. That simple.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Spoken like someone who's never brought back old rivals from the village they lived in, or people they scammed out of money while they were carousing the streets, or an old flame they had back but had to call off for whatever reason. Or, y'know, settle disputes in a land they were exiled from for whatever reason

Backstories are delightful to drag out at times. Give the other players a chance to narrate details of a story to the other players and hella engages them with stuff they were involved in

I love backstory, but I'm also happy to let players summarize it in a sentence, and then flesh it out as they play. I love it when something comes up during a session, and the player suddenly has an inspiration for their character, and so makes up a backstory element right then and there. Often it takes their character's personality in a whole new direction. The end result, in my experience, is much richer and more interesting characters than those that are extensively detailed before the campaign starts, perhaps because those who put all that effort in up front feel the need to stick to that plan, even if something better comes up during play.

 

[Azuresun]

I love backstory, but I'm also happy to let players summarize it in a sentence, and then flesh it out as they play. I love it when something comes up during a session, and the player suddenly has an inspiration for their character, and so makes up a backstory element right then and there. Often it takes their character's personality in a whole new direction. The end result, in my experience, is much richer and more interesting characters than those that are extensively detailed before the campaign starts, perhaps because those who put all that effort in up front feel the need to stick to that plan, even if something better comes up during play.

I'm kind of in the middle there. I like PC's with a backstory, but I like that backstory to have been developed with knowledge of the other PC's, the setting and what sort of game the GM is aiming for. I think if characters are developed in total isolation, then you run a risk of super-cool loners who don't talk to the other PC's or show any interest in plot hooks. Even then, a few sentences is enough, and I prefer some open-endedness, rather than ending up with a character who's only designed to play out one story.

Also:

Spoiler

 

[jmartkdr2]

Every time these discussions come up between players and DMs and how players should have just as much say as what goes into the world as the DM and treat players and DMs as equals in EVERY way, I shake my head a bit. Because they aren’t equal. The DM puts in about three times as much work into the game (and often more expense as well). The trade off for that extra work has always been that it’s the DM’s world and they have final authority.

If you as a player think you should be able to play elephant races that shoots guns, great! Then you run the game. That simple.

I think far too many people take "the players have less say" to mean "the players have no say." And that's not a good way to run a game.