D&D General DM Authority

[Charlaquin]

It's a board game. I have never seen someone throw away the boot in Monopoly for "reasons". Yet this is what I see in most discord servers in the LFG section.

But point out that Free Parking doesn’t do anything special or that you can’t buy houses or hotels if there aren’t any of those pieces left, and people give you funny looks, or else protest, “yeah, sure, but nobody plays that way.”

Dubious board game analogies aside, excluding PHB options is perfectly normal and even explicitly encouraged within the rules themselves. There’s a reason races are separated between “Common” and “Uncommon,” and that several rules are clearly marked as “Variant” and/or “Optional.” The baseline expectation in 5e is that the DM will pick and choose which options are available and which are not, possibly with the players’ input.

 

[FrogReaver]

What system mastery is required to play a game with only humans?

Dang you! I regret not immediately focusing on that part.

 

[Imaculata]

If the DM claims to want to run a game of 5E and then does not not allow the PC races that are in the PH...

I don't think it's "Entitlement" to expect to be able to play something in the book that you bought as an eager board game enthusiast?

It's a board game. I have never seen someone throw away the boot in Monopoly for "reasons". Yet this is what I see in most discord servers in the LFG section.

Few things here. First of all, I have seen plenty of boardgames where certain options were excluded for one reason or another. Boardgames have come a long way since Monopoly, and a lot of boardgames are around these days that play like a dungeoncrawl or RPG. Many of them have optional content.

I wouldn't call 5E a boardgame, although it can certainly be played a bit like one. Especially when you use miniatures, it can easily resemble some of the dungeoncrawl boardgames that are popular today.

But unlike a boardgame, 5E (and D&D as a whole) is mostly just a system of rules for a roleplaying game. These rules are designed so that they can be tailored for any flavor D&D game you want, including one without any of the default races or classes.

 

[Blandco]

What system mastery is required to play a game with only humans?

None. My answer comes from the perspective of a new D&D player who might have their interest piqued by something in the PH or free rules.

 

[Blandco]

Boardgames have come a long way since Monopoly

I picked Monopoly specifically because rules variation ruined most games played in 90s.

 

[FrogReaver]

None. My answer comes from the perspective of a new D&D player who might have their interest piqued by something in the PH or free rules.

So what used to happen was we would get our friends together and get everyone on board and then we'd play the way we wanted to. Looking for a random group of players via online is a much different thing. If you want a more structured environment of random people playing together, I think they still do LFR play? Or maybe will start doing it again after covid?

 

[Don Durito]

The game is designed so that level 1 characters require less cognitive load to play as there are less things to learn and then you add complexity slowly. Mearls specifically called that out as a reason why Druids don't get wildshape until level 2.

This means that starting at level 1 may be better for introducing new players - not that it necessarily will be.

 

[Charlaquin]

I picked Monopoly specifically because rules variation ruined most games played in 90s.

Did they ruin those games though? They certainly lead to a different experience than the designed one, but if the people playing had more fun, who’s to say they the game was “ruined”?

 

[Blandco]

Dang you! I regret not immediately focusing on that part.

Again no system mastery is considered. An experienced player will be less disappointed by restrictions than a brand new player who just read the PH and was looking forward to playing a dwarf. That's all. Just considering the perspective of the player.

 

[Don Durito]

I picked Monopoly specifically because rules variation ruined most games played in 90s.

No. That's too simple. In many ways Monopoly is a better game when played by the rules.

But if you think about the common house rules they all served a purpose.

• Leaving out the obligatory auction made the game more child friendly and just generally more random and less competitive.
• Free parking gave a player a chance to get back in the game if they were struggling.

Basically Monopoly drifted as a way to basically make it a more family friendly activity. The changes were purposeful.

Edit: even the game dragging on and on in some ways makes it more suitable for wiling away a rainy Sunday afternoon.