D&D 5E Deal Breakers - Or woah, that is just too much

[KahlessNestor]

Oi! I'm a proud member of the stout folk, yeh bloody git! As if the beard didn't tell yeh!

 

[dewderino]

I'm not discrediting those who find evil pc's a deal breaker. I personally feel like completely ignoring any aspect of the game is silly. I personally feel that Rogues were made entirely too strong in 5th edition, and I personally dislike it. But I'm not going to ban them or have that be a deal breaker. Simply put my point is don't ban the aspect of the game, ban the Douchebigalow being purposely obnoxious. As stated before alignment doesn't and shouldn't reflect on role-playing. Just because they're evil natured doesn't mean they're going to play against the group.

 

[Azurewraith]

Oi! I'm a proud member of the stout folk, yeh bloody git! As if the beard didn't tell yeh!

Call that a beard? I thought a it was a shrub tree hugger!

 

[Sunseeker]

While it's perfectly fine to have "evil PCs" as a deal-breaker, and I won't actually tell anyone that's not ok, it is perfectly valid to let them know that hey, evil people actually serve the greater good successfully quite often, and make for fascinating characters. Throwing them out entirely is akin to tossing the baby out with the bathwater.

I would argue the underlying issue is that most people who want to play evil, want to play "chaotic the rules don't apply to me evil". Not a more high-minded lawful evil that understands how saving the world benefits him and advances his goals. Those characters are HARD to play and I just haven't experienced a lot of people willing to take the burden.

 

[Tectuktitlay]

As a DM, all of that sounds like something I would say no to.

Yeah, every last bit of that sounds like intentional power-gaming intending to outshine everyone else. And it is very telling indeed that the same player flat out bans homebrew from the games they GM. It sounds like this person is knowingly and purposefully running roughshod over this particular GM, to get away with as much abusive stuff as they can, simply because they can. This is a player that would, in our groups, a) very swiftly get a firm talking to; b) be point-blank denied these homebrew classes because they've proven themselves incapable of presenting anything balanced; and c) likely not welcome to the table anymore if it persists.

 

[Retreater]

Just recently left a group after two sessions.
1) DM-PC was a spotlight hog
2) No combat in either session
3) DM's significant other was given an epic level character to play when we were 3rd level
and allowed to use abilities to control other PC's actions
4) No other players were engaged in the plot
5) Most of the "action" revolved around buying mundane equipment and haggling prices
6) Inter-party conflict

Not my style of game.

 

[feartheminotaur]

I experienced a new "deal breaker" last night. the DM for my long time group is on deployment, so one of the players has taken over. She's a great DM and the game has been fun, but...she's a poor judge of players.

Our first replacement was a friend of a friend that thought this was Game of Thrones with dice. His cleric tried to sexually assault anything that moved - and stormed out in a huff (right ahead of being thrown out) when our poor mother of three DM didn't want to narrate that action and play the victims like any other NPC. We have a white board hanging with the house rules - number 11 is now "NO sex scenes. This isn't HBO"

So, for a while he had no cleric or other healer. The DM got tired of playing an NPC healbot and we got tired of getting nothing but healing potions for treasure. So, we started looking for another player. Our DM has a co-worker whom she chatted up on a smoke break and turns out he's into DnD and looking for a game. We met him last week, a little young, but a cool guy. He rolled up a dwarf war cleric and we were on our way.

Then he came to play last night. Well, not just him. See, he doesn't have a car. So his friend gave him a ride. Not a problem. Did the friend want to play? "Yeah, sure" OK. An NPC or a wandering mercenary along for a session or...

"No, we [our new player] will just play Healy Joe [the cleric] together"

The session that followed was the worst I've been in in years - and I had a kid throw up all over the place this summer.

When it was their turn, they wouldn't do anything until both of them had gone over the rules and discussed it. They (loudly) argued over what to do, what spells to cast, who to attack, where to move. They wanted to both roll the dice - not take turns, but roll two sets. And take the highest. Or roll another dice to determine who rolled. They had wildly different ideas on the character - he was a righteous soldier scarred by loss on the battlefield and he was a goofy layabout who only cared for dwarven ale and women with beards. They'd interact with NPCs like an ettin. Friend drank other peoples beer and soda, made bitchy comments about the DMs house and was REALLY loud, no matter how many times he was asked nicely to be a little quieter. It was a mess.

Finally, the friend's girlfriend called, so they both had to leave early. Once they were gone, we just started laughing. Except our poor DM, who had to deal with it.

So, on our big board of house rules we now have rule #12: One player per PC

 

[ad_hoc]

I'm not discrediting those who find evil pc's a deal breaker. I personally feel like completely ignoring any aspect of the game is silly. I personally feel that Rogues were made entirely too strong in 5th edition, and I personally dislike it. But I'm not going to ban them or have that be a deal breaker. Simply put my point is don't ban the aspect of the game, ban the Douchebigalow being purposely obnoxious. As stated before alignment doesn't and shouldn't reflect on role-playing. Just because they're evil natured doesn't mean they're going to play against the group.

This is the first time I have heard this.

I think that Rogues are the hardest class to play effectively, but when done so are fine powerwise. I actually discourage new players from playing them because I don't want them to feel inferior to the other characters.

 

[dewderino]

This is the first time I have heard this.

I think that Rogues are the hardest class to play effectively, but when done so are fine powerwise. I actually discourage new players from playing them because I don't want them to feel inferior to the other characters.

I'm not playing with new players. Rogues can easily be made to deal more damage than almost any class, until level 9 give or take a level depending on the class. To play one well and build one well I will agree takes knowledge.

 

[Lanliss]

I experienced a new "deal breaker" last night. the DM for my long time group is on deployment, so one of the players has taken over. She's a great DM and the game has been fun, but...she's a poor judge of players.

Our first replacement was a friend of a friend that thought this was Game of Thrones with dice. His cleric tried to sexually assault anything that moved - and stormed out in a huff (right ahead of being thrown out) when our poor mother of three DM didn't want to narrate that action and play the victims like any other NPC. We have a white board hanging with the house rules - number 11 is now "NO sex scenes. This isn't HBO"

So, for a while he had no cleric or other healer. The DM got tired of playing an NPC healbot and we got tired of getting nothing but healing potions for treasure. So, we started looking for another player. Our DM has a co-worker whom she chatted up on a smoke break and turns out he's into DnD and looking for a game. We met him last week, a little young, but a cool guy. He rolled up a dwarf war cleric and we were on our way.

Then he came to play last night. Well, not just him. See, he doesn't have a car. So his friend gave him a ride. Not a problem. Did the friend want to play? "Yeah, sure" OK. An NPC or a wandering mercenary along for a session or...

"No, we [our new player] will just play Healy Joe [the cleric] together"

The session that followed was the worst I've been in in years - and I had a kid throw up all over the place this summer.

When it was their turn, they wouldn't do anything until both of them had gone over the rules and discussed it. They (loudly) argued over what to do, what spells to cast, who to attack, where to move. They wanted to both roll the dice - not take turns, but roll two sets. And take the highest. Or roll another dice to determine who rolled. They had wildly different ideas on the character - he was a righteous soldier scarred by loss on the battlefield and he was a goofy layabout who only cared for dwarven ale and women with beards. They'd interact with NPCs like an ettin. Friend drank other peoples beer and soda, made bitchy comments about the DMs house and was REALLY loud, no matter how many times he was asked nicely to be a little quieter. It was a mess.

Finally, the friend's girlfriend called, so they both had to leave early. Once they were gone, we just started laughing. Except our poor DM, who had to deal with it.

So, on our big board of house rules we now have rule #12: One player per PC

Wow, that sounds a bit like a horror show. I hope you get lucky with your next replacement.