Weiley31
Legend
Player: I feel the DM was RAILROADING me and therefore is impeding upon the session or my ability to play.
D&D General DM Authority
- Thread starter Oofta
- Start date
He can have it both ways if the players have signed on to the premise of his game. He's told them that they'll retain freedom of action and emotion, so long as they do not succumb to evil. As long as all the players agree, I see no issue.
Thomas Shey
Legend
Yeah. I've made it perfectly clear that I don't consider unlimited player decision-making in character personality and actions a virtue, but I'm up-front about it; if I don't want evil characters or whatever other traits I think will produce a bad game, I'm absolutely limiting what they can have their character do at least (in practical terms, I can't tell them what their character can think because of they never act on it, its functionally invisible).
Thomas Shey
Legend
I think the issue is that "freedom of action" and "as long as" are contradictory to some views.
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
On the first part ... You can't do that yet. At least for me, I don't like to be beholden that you're only locked into what some other game designer (who isn't at your group's table) wrote on the page. If a player comes up with something out of the box that strikes me as interesting, why not run with it? In fact, that monk tornado trick (and a few similar actions) is something I'm going to add to my homebrew rules*.
As for the latter, I have had plenty of players over my years of gaming who have never owned or even broke open a PHB (relying on the DM to walk them through character creation and leveling). They'd show up and play and be invested in their character, but often were turned off by the idea of sitting down and poring over the books - no interest in digging into the games guts and just wanting to have a good time and let the DM worry about the game mechanics. (And then there is my wife, whose learning disability makes it frankly impossible for her to sit down and read the PHB front to back, if she wanted to - but that's an unusual case in itself).
On the monk...
~24 MPH? Sure, until the monk busts a chi point into it and turns it into supernatural speed.
Off the top of my head homebrew rules...
WHIRLWIND OF BLOWS (6th level)
Alternate monk feature for Disciple of Elements
As an action, you expend 2 ki points and choose a target within 30 feet of you, who is no closer than 15 feet away. In a burst of sudden speed you move adjacent to the foe and begin whipping about the opponent, buffeting with winds or blows created by circling them rapidly, like a tornado. You make an attack as if using Flurry of Blows. If a blow hits, the target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the target is knocked prone and stunned until the end of your next turn. Regardless of the number of hits, the target only makes one save.
STEPS OF THE WIND (9th level)
Alternate monk feature for Disciple of Elements
In the blink of an eye, you draw on your inner ki and run or leap to your destination, faster than those around you can react. As an action, you can expend 5 ki to use Dimension Door on yourself.
FLASH TRAVEL (13th level)
Alternate monk feature for Disciple of Elements
By will or inhuman speed, you instantly transport yourself to a destination of your choice. As an action, you can expend 8 ki to use Teleport on yourself. You can expend an additional ki point for each additional willing being you wish to accompany you, up to a maximum additional beings equal to your Wisdom modifier.
Off the top of my head homebrew rules...
WHIRLWIND OF BLOWS (6th level)
Alternate monk feature for Disciple of Elements
As an action, you expend 2 ki points and choose a target within 30 feet of you, who is no closer than 15 feet away. In a burst of sudden speed you move adjacent to the foe and begin whipping about the opponent, buffeting with winds or blows created by circling them rapidly, like a tornado. You make an attack as if using Flurry of Blows. If a blow hits, the target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the target is knocked prone and stunned until the end of your next turn. Regardless of the number of hits, the target only makes one save.
STEPS OF THE WIND (9th level)
Alternate monk feature for Disciple of Elements
In the blink of an eye, you draw on your inner ki and run or leap to your destination, faster than those around you can react. As an action, you can expend 5 ki to use Dimension Door on yourself.
FLASH TRAVEL (13th level)
Alternate monk feature for Disciple of Elements
By will or inhuman speed, you instantly transport yourself to a destination of your choice. As an action, you can expend 8 ki to use Teleport on yourself. You can expend an additional ki point for each additional willing being you wish to accompany you, up to a maximum additional beings equal to your Wisdom modifier.
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Look at it this way. If I commit a crime, I'm free to take that action, but, if I'm arrested for said crime, I might lose out on quite a bit of the campaign after being replaced with a fresh, level 1 character who hasn't been sentenced to life in prison for various war crimes.
So, basically, I agree with you.
It's not something I'd incorporate in my games, but placing limits on action aren't unjust if the players are aware of them beforehand.
Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
Which you’d think might be a strong indication that “the top-down approach” might not involve much Holy Scepter lifting.
I really don’t think that the two sides of this latest dispute are really doing anything much differently than each other. It’s just the tendency to characterize the other side hyperbolically that gets people’s hackles up and leads to argument.
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Lanefan
Victoria Rules
That you're up-front about it is good.
Me, as player I see following your character wherever it leads you to be pretty much the purest form of role-playing*. As DM I'm not quite completely 'anything goes' but I think I'm a lot closer than most; evil characters are allowed, PvP is allowed (IME, like any storm it tends to roar up once in a while and then blow over), it's on the players to sort out that just because Bob's character Falstaffe killed Mike's character Dwalin Bob and Mike are still friends outside the game, and if it spreads out-of-character then out comes the smackdown hammer.
* - in the game I play in, we're in a situation right now where several parties are all in town at once, meaning we all have multiple PCs present. This is always a powderkeg; and sure enough an in-party brawl (a bar fight that got carried away) broke out last session which ended up with two of my own PCs throwing down on each other; one of whom was legitimately swinging to kill. Others broke it up before any real harm was done but they both came away down a bunch of h.p.
Lanefan
Victoria Rules
As for my take on DM authority, to save myself a whole lot of typing I'll just direct you to @Jack Daniel 's post #75, upthread, which about sums up my position perfectly.
Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
“What your character is doing constitutes evil behavior, and evil characters aren’t allowed in this campaign. If you go through with it, your character will become an NPC” is not telling the player what their character thinks. It’s giving the player an ultimatum: you character can think this way, but if they do they will no longer be appropriate for this campaign.” @Oofta ‘s two statements do not contradict each other.
