D&D 5E How do you decide which Races to disallow (and/or Classes)?

[Sword of Spirit]

Every bit of work a DM puts into their world is entirely elective and voluntary and doesn't entitle them to anyone's appreciation. Of course, that can be part of a DM's fun, and a DM who derives a lot of fun from that should probably find a group that is going to appreciate that effort and let them have fun making worlds, but the DM isn't owed anything by their efforts. But just because my DM invests a lot of work into his world doesn't mean I'm obligated to simply passively accept it as a player.

I think where we're differing here is that I have a different technique for putting together a game. In the past I did attempt to sell friends on games I wanted to run. It proved as irritating for me as it likely did for them, so I stopped.

Now what I do is send players invitations about a game I'm going to run and they actively choose to play in it or don't. I also encourage them not to work on characters until they know more details, because I have no desire to have to disallow something--but I will if it won't fit. They decide if it interests them, if the parameters are acceptable, and if they are they tell me they are interested.

For example, I'm planning on running up to 3 stand alone D&D adventures in my world this year. I sent an email to a dozen people inviting them to let me know how much interest they have in those games. Those who express interest will receive more information, and if they decide they're in, we'll meet up for a pre-game session to iron out the parameters and begin character creation. If there isn't sufficient interest in a particular game, it will be placed on a shelf until there are players interested in it.

As a player, that works for me too. My friend who DMs still likes 3e (I lost interest in it as soon as the playtest convinced me I'd like 5e better), and I'm in his current game because I like the story and my character. If he invites me to another 3e game after this I will be sorely tempted to not play because I have basically no interest in playing any D&D edition except 5e. My struggle will simply be to find a way to bow out of it without making him feel bad because he wants to run 3e and I don't want to play it. But it's his game and I'd rather he run it how he wants than have him change it for my benefit alone.

 

[Hathorym]

I'm not looking for a "allow this" or "disallow that", but more a general idea of the thought process that DM's put into making such overarching decisions.

Maybe this isn't easy to answer, but you guys don't seem to shy away from the difficult stuff. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I don't sweat the new or unusual races until someone is actually interested, then, from the point of view of "It's my world, it's my game, how best can I fit this race into my world, into my campaign and add to the mystery? I use it as an exercise into creation and world meddling. Already I have Aarakocra (A long though extinct race recently reappearing as part of a God's omen) and Genesi (Abducted humans altered to slave away their lives in their new elemental environments) I may change physical or cultural aspects to make them more appealing to my world, but the fact remains I make them mine. Just my $.02

 

[Gronin]

For me it is case of if the players want it I figure I can find a way to make it work in the world we are playing in. That being said there are sometimes downsides to playing certain races. For example in the current campaign I am running (a home brew world) the world was once overrun by demons and the character playing a Tiefling is facing some discrimination. His feeble response of I am not a demon I am more of a devil isn't really buying him a lot of tolerance.

Regarding this ....

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That's it. I'll get comfortable and then Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes will all show up. Later in the story other intelligent peoples will arrive. Magic will return much closer to the DnD5 standard (main difference being that I don't believe in at-will cantrips).

.....

Don't you find that this takes a significant amount of the power out of the spellcasting classes? (especially at lower levels) After all the melee types get at will sword swings....

 

[bedir than]

Don't you find that this takes a significant amount of the power out of the spellcasting classes? (especially at lower levels) After all the melee types get at will sword swings....

Except that spellcasters get at will melee weapons too

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Except that spellcasters get at will melee weapons too

But their weapon skills don't (really) improve. Only classes that are to some degree "meant" to fight get those kinds of bonuses (e.g. Extra Attack and/or attack riders like Divine Smite), and only (AFAIK) Bards and Warlocks even have the potential to have both cantrips and melee attacks.

I'm all for caster/non-caster balance (I'm very much a 4e fan, after all), but cantrips--while being a very "overt" magic effect--are not where (most) casters get any real power. "Most" because a Warlock with enough invocations has a fairly powerful Eldritch Blast, but they need to invest something like 3-4 invocations to get that, passing up many other, potentially more powerful, alternatives--and they spend most of their careers being able to cast only 4-6 spells per day, total, anyway.

 

[MechaPilot]

Hi, guys. I've returned to D&D after something like 20 years away. So glad to have found this forum to help hash things out, too. I've been reading diligently, but I'm wondering how different DM's decide whether or not to allow a certain race and/or class?

In our initial start-up adventures, I said anything in the PHB is fair game. Now with the new Elemental Evil new races, it has me thinking a little more critically about it. Do I really want Tieflings or Dragonborn or Warlocks in my revived Greyhawk campaign, for example?

I'm not looking for a "allow this" or "disallow that", but more a general idea of the thought process that DM's put into making such overarching decisions.

Maybe this isn't easy to answer, but you guys don't seem to shy away from the difficult stuff. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I'm fairly permissive in what I allow. Even if a race isn't a good fit for being a natural part of that setting, I have no problem allowing a PC of that race as long as the player comes up with a reason for why a PC of that race exists in the world.

For example, Dragonborn aren't a good fit for being a major race in Ravenloft (unless I were to homebrew a domain for them), but the mists can snatch up anyone from anywhere. As long as the player consents to the character not being a native of Ravenloft, I'd allow a Dragonborn PC in Ravenlonft.

Of course, I'd also feel obliged to warn the player that my acceptance of the character should not be taken as evidence that regular people will accept the character.

 

[Stormonu]

Disallow it all.

Then only allow something if it fits the current game and if either you, the DM, or a player comes up with a good idea why it should be allowed (on a probationary basis). When the latter occurs, players feel like they've successfully changed your mind. In the former, it makes the item's appearance significant - even if it isn't.

 

[baradtgnome]

Hi, guys. I've returned to D&D after something like 20 years away.

Welcome back prodigal son.

.... a general idea of the thought process that DM's put into making such overarching decisions.

I have a homebrew world which we have used for 35+ years. It has survived conversion from 1E to 3/3.5E, and is now being converted to 5E. My answer is in this context.

What is already in the world, is in the world. Races and classes which are there can be used. Long time players know what is there, I give a run down to new players to help them get started. I have lots of documents from the current campaign on a web site. Material not appearing in the world is not available to be used, unless/until a player comes to me (DM) and asks.

I want to say yes. However, nothing comes in which will mess with the flavor or balance. Much work has gone before and will not be thrown away. Nothing comes in which will spoil existing players fun. Using the dragonborn example: want to play a dragonborn? Work with me to figure out how a one off fits in the world. You will have to deal with the fact you are 'different' and probably are not initially welcome in most places. I do have dragonborn in the world, but they are not a 'race', and do not look like the creatures described in the 5E PHB. I will allow that stats for the most part with some minor adjusting to fit how the player helped me make it fit into the world.

I have been talking about my campaign conversion on my little old blog, including a post on races allowed.

I want new players to have fun, doing what they like, but they need to respect the work and story which has come before.

 

[Gronin]

Except that spellcasters get at will melee weapons too

Fair enough. However, spellchuckers don't get significantly better at melee weapon attacks, whereas melee types do. Also I was never a fan of the "I have cast my 1 magic missile and now I am going to go and hide behind the mule" type of thing.

Regardless, as I said, your point is fair and thanks for the reply.

 

[bedir than]

Fair enough. However, spellchuckers don't get significantly better at melee weapon attacks, whereas melee types do. Also I was never a fan of the "I have cast my 1 magic missile and now I am going to go and hide behind the mule" type of thing.

Regardless, as I said, your point is fair and thanks for the reply.

My limitation on use is each cantrip can be cast 1 time plus the character's casting level times plus the character's controlling attribute per short rest. I've also decided to add damage based on the controlling attribute's modifier.

If the character encounters 4-6 combats in that long rest and each last 3-5 rounds (that's all I've experienced so far) and they have just two combat cantrips with a 16 on related attribute and are just 2nd level they will get to use those combat cantrips 24 times a day (assuming a single short rest midday). That means they could still cast one every single round. This basically puts the use of cantrips on par with the use of a bow/x-bow.

This twists the magic dial back only a tiny bit.