Do you think that it's alright for a DM to do this?

[Breakdaddy]

Re: Re: Do you think that it's alright for a DM to do this?

*I* would tell that DM that your PC is not under his control. At all. Ever.

Thats not just silly to me, but wrong. The PC is sometimes under the control of the DM. What if he is charmed? Or held? Aside from this, as a DM, I would happily tell any player high-handed enough to spew this at me to take a hike. I strongly advocate working with your players, but I have enough respect for my players to treat them fairly. Such a statement would exhibit a lack of willingness to reach middle ground on the player's part. End result, player is in danger of being gone.

-B

edit: spelling

 

[Angcuru]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Do you think that it's alright for a DM to do this?

Totally lame. More importantly, that wasn't the point. The DM CAN enforce his will. He can punish all he likes. I may choose to accept those consequences, or not. What he can NOT do is tell me what my PC does.

Now, had this hypothetical lightning-bolting DM bothered to talk to the hypothetical funky-name-wielding player, perhaps it wouldn't have come to that, and avoided hard feelings, and got the campaign back on track.

So, yeah, what my PC does is STILL *my* decision alone. Period. And I may have consequences for my choices. The DM's choices are to kill the PC (great fun! Wonderful DM skillz! w00t!), kick the player out (possibly disrupting the group), or... gasp... talk to the player directly.

Ever hear about this little thing called a joke?

Normally I would let any char do anything they are capable of, but Blackshirt went so far as to suggest that his character is straight out of Studio 54, at which point I almost snapped. And the campaign isn't even started yet so...how can it get back on track?

Sarcasm duly noted and to you, sir.

 

[RakeRon]

Gah! Stay away from the boards for a while and see what I miss? First off blackshirt, please choose different names to use... PLEASE! Anyway some things of mine were shot down by Ancuru with little explination why. For example: I originally thought about playing a werewolf type character but that concept was shot down. Personally I like to play unusual characters with some kind of handicap, makes for more interesting RP imho. Right now I settled for a class that Ancuru was working on for a while. Personally I would still like to play some kind of werecreature or half-dragon (which I'm apperantly natorious for playing at least once in everyone's D&D campaine). As a PC I try to stay serious while playing although the first time I gamed one of Ancuru's campaines he was using an exerpimental system which my dice apperantly liked & abused. Now that I think about it, that was the campaine that I started the whole Half-Dragon bit.

 

[ergeheilalt]

This is a touchy area, one not clearly defined by any one ruling.

If I were DMing a game, I would say no to those names as well. Popping out of no where as Ted Nugent or Rimthruster sounds ludicrious in the extream. The tone of the game needs to be considered. If the game is a serious one, such names are normally not appriciated. I am all for DM rights, as more often then not, he or she will be putting in more time than a player will. As such, they have the veto button.

The situation you describe as disguising your heritage and such is a good one, however, a little tact is required. Come up with names that A) make sense, B) are socially acceptable, C) add something to the mood or game instead of detracting, and D) make the expierence fun for all (including the DM). Dont be surprised if these lies and such may change your alignment or come back to bite you in the rear... though that should be expected anyway.

Erge

 

[Angcuru]

You've already got a werewolf and a half-dragon in Blackshirt's game. You've got ECL overload! But if you can think up a good backstory, I'll allow it. Anyway, when you asked for it in the first place, you used that tone you use when suggesting something in a non-serious manner.

That was a fun game while it lasted though. Now you know not to trust suspicious Half Black Dragon ladies when they give you that come hither stare. And I know not to have the guards on the Baron's castle walls constantly drunk. And I learned that Iiajitsu focus is just evil. Although we did get two good traditions for the taverns in my games.

A - The bartender is missing an eye and an arm and has hilarious stories as to how each came to pass.

B - There is always a drink which requires you to make a fortitude save or die. I believe they even used the stuff as acid in a pit fight.

EDIT:
Now all we need is for chris' character to start saying "Love and peace!" constantly.

 

[Emiricol]

Re: Re: Re: Do you think that it's alright for a DM to do this?

Thats not just silly to me, but wrong. The PC is sometimes under the control of the DM. What if he is charmed? Or held?

Those are in-game reasons and totally appropriate. We're not talking about THAT, either, unfortunately. If that were the case, I doubt the player would be terribly upset.

 

[Emiricol]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Do you think that it's alright for a DM to do this?

Ever hear about this little thing called a joke?

Normally I would let any char do anything they are capable of, but Blackshirt went so far as to suggest that his character is straight out of Studio 54, at which point I almost snapped. And the campaign isn't even started yet so...how can it get back on track?

Sarcasm duly noted and to you, sir.

Joke? JOKE? Are you KIDDING ME? Oh wait...

 

[takyris]

One thing that I've learned as a fiction writer is that it's okay to be ridiculous as long as you're ridiculous in a way that's appropriate to your character.

Example:
D-Bang, a d20 Modern biker, wears the leather vest and leather cap with the studs on it. He's huge, has a pot belly, and is not averse to whooping butt when need be. But he's not just a stereotype -- he's a stereotype with notes of ridicule.

Sample lines:

"Geez, can we get this brawl over with? I'm gonna be late for my Pilates class."

"Actually, I'm a Wiccan. Well, a lapsed Wiccan. I only offer sacrifices to Odin on Christmas and Easter."

D-Bang isn't just throwing out lines. He really IS a Pilates student and lapsed Wiccan. As long as you're true to that and not just saying it to be cute, it works.

Stupid Name Example:

"Ditty" Flying Coyote is a Native American martial artist and guitar player. He's charismatic, good in a fight, quick with a song, and mysterious about his past. At the point where someone asked about his past, he hemmed and hawed and finally admitted:

"Well, I'm an Indian -- a small tribal offshoot of Cree, actually. And you know that joke about how Indians name kids after what they see when they open the tent flap on the morning that the kid is born? Well, my tribe is the source of that joke. We really do that. And my dad... well, he likes computers a lot. A lot. Really. A lot. So when I was born at home, my dad opened the bedroom door, looked out, and named me after what he saw.

"Did I mention that he REALLY likes computers?

"So anyway, that's how I ended up being named Dedicated T-3 Flying Coyote.

"Please just call me 'Ditty' for short."

 

[ThomasBJJ]

I once had a player who enjoyed "silly character names".

Over the course of our gaming together, his characters were:

Tofu - Elven Thief

Tora Muscle - Human Priest of Athena (Forgotten Realms campaign!?!?!)

Colon Ampersand - Bard


I simply changed his names to:

Toufou (prounounced as Tofu)
Toran Mousel (was known simply as Tora)
Collin Anfersandt

He could pronounce it any way he wanted, but his real name was what I wrote down.

I generally would not allow silly names in a serious campaign. No "Bob the fighter", no "Ted Nugent", no "Bilbo Baghands" etc.

 

[David Argall]

Of course he can

The DM has the absolute duty to ride herd on what your character does, and to tell you the PC won't do certain things. This is obvious in the case of the paladin who wants to torture somebody or the druid that wants to win an encounter by setting a forest fire... [It is also quite clear in various mind control spells and such, but they are not at issue here.]

Now what your DM does need to do is give you an explanation of why your PC can't/won't do what you want. So if he has not told you, ask.