What are the no-goes for you?

[Hussar]

Another time, a guy was playing a wizard with a frog familiar. We were fine with it through some initial combat encounters, where he was quite useful. But then we got to our first social encounter, and when an NPC directed a comment to him, we all looked over the table at this new player, and he had a plastic bullfrog perched on his shoulder and began speaking in a possessed-demon voice. I guess he thought it made his character seem scary or threatening, but I mostly just thought, "Who is this loon with the plastic toad? Is he drunk? Is he OK to drive home? Does he own a car? Does he have a home? Maybe he lives under a bridge?"

Ok, I accept that this is an anecdote and I'm only getting a very brief snippet, but, man, I wish I could get players that into their characters. Props? That's fantastic. I'd LOVE to have players that into their characters that they actually take the time and effort to try something like this.

Different strokes I suppose. The fact that of my current group, one typically takes characters with speach impediments and/or accents (not really sure which sometimes) another who does an amazing job of playing both his half orc barbarian and his soul eating battle axe, and some really great efforts on the part of all my players at one time or another, I can honestly say that I'd be so shocked and very disappointed to see a DM or another player boot a player for role playing and injecting a bit of theatrical content into the game.

 

[The Ghost]

Why all the PvP hate?

Simple, that is not what I want from D&D. When I play D&D it is to be the hero who saves the day - the good guy. When I play D&D it is to play with people who want to be the heroes and save the day. Good guys do not murder, steal from, or betray their allies. YMMV

Corollary question: though it's nigh impossible in the more recent editions, in older editions it was quite possible to hide one's true class. A Thief, for instance, could pretend to be an archer. An Assassin could pretend to be a Fighter. A Cleric could pretend to be whatever simply by hiding her faith. What's your take on that?

Even in the older days there has always been a lot of transparency at my game tables - we always knew exactly what everyone was. It could be interesting if played well.

 

[wedgeski]

Ok, I accept that this is an anecdote and I'm only getting a very brief snippet, but, man, I wish I could get players that into their characters. Props? That's fantastic. I'd LOVE to have players that into their characters that they actually take the time and effort to try something like this.

Indeed. Different strokes, of course... but I bet that guy has posted in threads like this with something like, "I was once booted from a game for speaking in character! Can you believe it?"

 

[TheYeti1775]

Player versus Player very bad
Character versus Character can be very fun indeed. One of the fondest in character friendships developed from two characters constantly fighting each other than when the fecal matter hit the fan it was an instant bond and teammenship.

Far as things I don't want at a table I game at.

Smoking:
I would say smoking as a general rule of thumb for the most part. Not opposed to it, but my house its a take it outside and throw the ball for the dog for a stretch break for everyone. If its your house, I'm cool with it. I like the occassional cigar as well with friends.
Other 'medicinical' smoking - I don't mind a partaking of it. But like smoking outside is best. And like drinking don't be the so stoned it takes you 40 minutes to roll your attack.

Drinking:
One, two is ok. Don't go full on bore drunk. Though I have broken this rule with some very good friends before. Everyone decided before hand to cut loose and just do a one shot. Lead to some funny moments, but also no one planned on driving home either.

Stinky/Smelly/BO - self explanatory. Course exceptions made for folks that had just come from sports practice or their manual labor jobs. But if you just stink like you haven't showered in weeks, well please no thanks.

Nudism - I promise not to get nude if you don't. Though there are a few I wouldn't mind, I've played in several groups with girls.

Really I'll game with almost anyone, anything else really is just Pet Peeves that I might not like.

 

[Montague68]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with no-goes.

Mine are ones that have been said before, namely no non-consensual PVP or griefing. No character outlets for sociopathic behavior under the guise of RP. Drinking a beer or two is ok, smoking outside is fine.

Oddly enough I like having a rules lawyer at the table, at least one I can trust to be correct all the time. Ones who constantly second-guess your rules knowledge but then turn out to be wrong can suffer in the 9th plane of Hell.

I get where Bumbles is coming from. There is nothing more uncomfortable than being in a game with two people in a deteriorating romantic relationship; often no matter how mature they try to be about it the tension is palpable. That being said I've also gamed with enough stable couples to not leave games with SO's out of hand.

Optimized characters I haven't had much problem with in 4E.

 

[thedungeondelver]

Out of game, but pertaining to the game environment:

- Smoking in the house. No. Way.

- Being a prick to my wife or kids or dogs. My family is my life, and I will be more than happy to crate up the dogs for the duration of the game.

- Disrespecting my house. Look, you don't like the fact I have an unfinished down-step between my dining room and den? Come over tomorrow, I'll put the mastic and trowel in your hand and you can fix 'er right up and I'll watch the kids while you do it. Furthermore, throwing a tantrum and hitting the walls or appliances or throwing anything at them. Does not go. The offenders, however, will.

- Drugs. I've gamed with (mildly) stoned (on pot) people before and it's no worse than gaming with someone with a beer buzz. However, leave both Cheech and Chong at home. Also don't even bring the harder stuff with you and tell me you've got it.

- Fighting/personal issues. I've had people at the table whose characters were mortal enemies, and obviously they're best of buddies. Conversely I've gamed with folks who had a real hate on for each other. Don't want that, don't need that. If you can't resolve it, don't show up. This goes for couples, too.

- Politics and religion. I game with one libertarian, one conservative, one democrat and the rest I don't know what their leanings are. I think it works because we all keep our mouths shut about it.

- Personal Hygiene. I can't MAKE you take a bath. Sometimes we've all got work to do - I've DMed after having done yardwork before, but paused during a snack break to grab a quick "navy shower" and come back so I don't stink up the room. But if you're gonna smell like warm bologna? Please reconsider that stance before coming to the table.

Now as to in-game (and assuming I'm the DM)?

- No MMO-speke. I don't mean the occasional joke (which even I make - someone in our current TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL game made the comment that they would just "farm gold" from the random encounters on the emptied 1st level of the temple, and I told them "Yeah but their drops are lousy"), no, I mean constant "Okay I'm moving my striker here, so-and-so is moving his tank and the blaster over there, I'm going to buff the..." Don't do it. Learn the terms - I'll help you! But learn the damn game lingo.

- CN/LN/TN characters are fine if you want to circumvent my "no evil PCs" rule (see below) but slapping CN on your character sheet and turning around and playing him as CE and obviously so and we'll have to step aside and talk.

- No evil PCs. Yes, like someone else said, I know there's plenty of people who've HEARD of games where evil PCs worked. I've never seen it. Typically it becomes a deathmatch that never leaves the city or inn or it's a bunch of nutcakes working out their weird and hateful fetishes through D&D. So. No thanks.

- Do not dictate to me what is going to be in the game when I've already established the parameters. Don't show up with a DRAGON magazine character class or race or something from ORIENTAL ADVENTURES or something you cobbled together out of one of the monster books and tell me that you're going to run it and it's Official and that makes it Okay(TM). If I say: "Using the three main rulebooks with some spells and items from UNEARTHED ARCANA...that's what I mean. Had this happen the other night in a TWILIGHT:2000 game. One of the other players decided the party "needed" a SpcOp sniper, so he (prior to the game on the way over) talked one of the folks he drove to the game into assuming the role and just handed me his sheet with "BARRETT .50 CAL SNIPER RIFLE, 50 ROUNDS" on it. I told him to get bent. There was this back and forth. I said, okay, gun but no rounds. Then a tantrum about how dirt common .50 cal would be in postapocalyptic Central Europe. Okay, you've got 50 rounds of fifty-cal. No gun. And around we go again. I pointed out the rarity of the Barrett in the equipment catalog. And on. And on. It wasn't that they wanted it, it wasn't that I didn't want them to have it. It was that I said: I need a driver, a medic, a gunner and a commander. You guys are a LAV-25 crew who picked up a medic on foot after the collapse of the Kaliz pocket. Suddenly, they're the friggin A-Team. Oh, same player also promoted himself to Major, despite me saying the highest rank in the party was the LAV commander (E4) and the gunner (also E4). God DAMN that was frustrating. So, to bring it back around: Do not dictate to me what's going to be in the game when I've already set the parameters.

- Don't cheat. This is self explanatory. A paladin having a set number of magic items does not mean "carried". It means PERIOD. Stuffing the +2 chainmail into your saddlebag doesn't mean you DON'T HAVE IT ANY MORE.

- Don't take me aside and ask me to do bad things to another character. A joke is one thing, but yes, I've had players earnestly request a theft, a curse, a disease, etc. on other players. If anything it makes me want to do it to the person making the request.

- Don't abuse my props. Don't throw my minis (I have lots of metal minis, some lovingly painted by myself and my wife) don't whack my Dwarven Forge around (yes, it's tough, it's not indestructible), don't use my books for drink coasters.

- If I give a ruling and it's wrong but it's consistently wrong for the monsters as well as the characters, you can always tell me about it during a pause in the action or take me aside during a break. If I give a ruling and it's inconsistently applied and screws the players or worse one player? Yeah, make mention of it. But please, no tantrums. I don't set out to "get" the players; odds are I've made a legitimate mistake.

- No tantrums period. Like my dad says: some days you git the bar, some days th' bar gits you.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Rules Lawyers and power-trip optimized with not a shred of roleplay or concern for other players scumbags (sorry, memory of a truly obnoxious git in a game years ago)

Smoking (stinks if for nothing else)

If you routinely drink a lot, bye bye (sorry, known too many friends/family who're alcoholics, not fun)

Folk who have no sense of humour. I love roleplaying and hard core over the top mayhem, but D&D is for FUN, so if I like whakcy gnomes, Boo (GO FOR THE EYES!) and flumphs etc, tough!

Not giving the DM thanks, hugs, snacks and much loving!! *cough*

 

[TheNovaLord]

couples can sometimes put me off......its ok if they dont sit next to each other, but a few ive known dont do that

smoking at the table...... having a 5 minute fag break is often good, and it gives everyone a quick break.

someone when given the game parameters (you are a team/group etc....) insists on playing the opposite/anthisesis of the rest of the team...... and then gets grumpy when no one gets on with his character

"Aha, my good man i which to purchase a fine cloak for myself this sunny day from your emporium.... 35 minutes of cloak buying banter goes on betwixt GM and player and i lose time in my life i will never get back... ah yes, fine shop-keeper it is most reminiscnet of the cloaks of the Praj of Zem, which reminds me of the time......"

people who clearly dont listen to what the GM/players are saying, and just ruin all flow for everyone. repeatedly.

loads others probably. boy im turning into an old fart this year of 2009.....25 years of gaming, maybe ive earned it!!

 

[Mort]

Getting back to a point I just made in another thread about not taking the game so seriously... Well, let's see...

The campaign I'm currently running has been going about a year and a quarter, slightly over 100 sessions, two interlinked parties, same players throughout except one came in partway along and another decided the game in general wasn't for her after about 2 sessions.

In that time there's been:
- at least 4 PCs intentionally and directly killed by the party,
- nigh-countless instances of indirect attempted murder (usually via hanging a character out to dry against a superior foe or poor conditions, or by accidental-on-purpose friendly fire),
- 2 PCs given over to slavery by the party,
- nigh-countless in-party arguments that came to non-lethal blows.

Keep in mind that, while their intentions may have at one time been pure, these are not exactly Good-aligned groups.

And the same crew of players just keep coming back, laughing all the way.

If you're group and everyone involved is having a ball then, absolutely, it seems to be working for you and keep doing it. That's why I limited my response to my own exprerience.

Depends on the story. In a situation where various secret organizations are trying to wipe each other out and-or establish their own agendas, and each PC may or may not be a member of at least one such (nobody knows who is allied with who), then the cloak-and-dagger stuff can quickly become more dagger than cloak.

Again if everyone's on board it can work. I've just seen too many instances where 1 or 2 people are the ones doing all the instigating and having a great time at the expense of the other players.

Corollary question: though it's nigh impossible in the more recent editions, in older editions it was quite possible to hide one's true class. A Thief, for instance, could pretend to be an archer. An Assassin could pretend to be a Fighter. A Cleric could pretend to be whatever simply by hiding her faith. What's your take on that?

From a purely roleplaying perspective, if the character is effective and contributes to the goals of the party, who cares what their class is (at least that's my take).

 

[77IM]

- Do not dictate to me what is going to be in the game when I've already established the parameters. Don't show up with a DRAGON magazine character class or race or something from ORIENTAL ADVENTURES or something you cobbled together out of one of the monster books and tell me that you're going to run it and it's Official and that makes it Okay(TM). If I say: "Using the three main rulebooks with some spells and items from UNEARTHED ARCANA...that's what I mean. Had this happen the other night in a TWILIGHT:2000 game. One of the other players decided the party "needed" a SpcOp sniper, so he (prior to the game on the way over) talked one of the folks he drove to the game into assuming the role and just handed me his sheet with "BARRETT .50 CAL SNIPER RIFLE, 50 ROUNDS" on it. I told him to get bent. There was this back and forth. I said, okay, gun but no rounds. Then a tantrum about how dirt common .50 cal would be in postapocalyptic Central Europe. Okay, you've got 50 rounds of fifty-cal. No gun. And around we go again. I pointed out the rarity of the Barrett in the equipment catalog. And on. And on. It wasn't that they wanted it, it wasn't that I didn't want them to have it. It was that I said: I need a driver, a medic, a gunner and a commander. You guys are a LAV-25 crew who picked up a medic on foot after the collapse of the Kaliz pocket. Suddenly, they're the friggin A-Team. Oh, same player also promoted himself to Major, despite me saying the highest rank in the party was the LAV commander (E4) and the gunner (also E4). God DAMN that was frustrating. So, to bring it back around: Do not dictate to me what's going to be in the game when I've already set the parameters.

If you set parameters up front, the players should be respectful of that (after all, you are doing all the work to prep and run the game). But I think this needs to be balanced with "let the players play the characters they really want to play." Too many restrictions (or worse, announcing them after I've created my character) is a real turn-off for me.

- If I give a ruling and it's wrong but it's consistently wrong for the monsters as well as the characters, you can always tell me about it during a pause in the action or take me aside during a break. If I give a ruling and it's inconsistently applied and screws the players or worse one player? Yeah, make mention of it. But please, no tantrums. I don't set out to "get" the players; odds are I've made a legitimate mistake.

- No tantrums period. Like my dad says: some days you git the bar, some days th' bar gits you.

Yeah, I totally agree with that one.


It seems that a common theme is, people like in-game drama but don't want drama around the table:
Character vs. Character: OK, except that it often turns into Player vs. Player
Gaming with Couples: OK, unless the relationship turns volatile
Rules Lawyers: OK, as long as they aren't putting any pressure on the DM
Rules Debates: Brief and to-the-point is OK; arguments are not
Politics and Religion: Not OK, tend to turn into arguments
Jerks and Whiners: Not OK
etc.

-- 77IM