D&D General PC creation freedom and campaign setting fit

[TwoSix]

I'm saying that knowing my players are going to be roleplaying in a very narrow look anyway... I'd rather have them at least have their characters fit into the theme and baseline of my campaign as best as possible so that they can navigate the world and open up more avenues for adventure for me as a DM.

Any attempt at creating some weird, wild, at the margins type of character within the setting (because they think it makes them special) ends up being pointless if the weird, wild, marginal character is played no differently than a "normal" character from the setting. The only difference is me as DM having to keep trying to justify this bizarre choice over and over again with NPC reactions and the like. It may not matter to them as players, but it does to me as a DM.

But like I said... this attitude does make me look like bit of a dick, admittedly. It's a cross I bear.

Out of curiosity, if you had a player who DID care quite a bit about mechanics, and was looking for a certain mechanical concept, would you let them skin that as a generic fighter type if they roleplayed it that way?

 

[DEFCON 1]

Out of curiosity, if you had a player who DID care quite a bit about mechanics, and was looking for a certain mechanical concept, would you let them skin that as a generic fighter type if they roleplayed it that way?

Oh yeah... I'm a huge proponent of jerry-rigging bits and pieces together and doing all manner of feature swaps to get the player the mechanics they want. I have a pretty good idea of what is relatively balanced, so if someone wanted to play say a dual-wielding cleric... I'd have no issue getting them the Two-Weapon Fighting Style in exchange for a different cleric feature they give up.

But in truth... the players in my circle are all community theater actors like me... so characterization holds much more importance to them than mechanics, which makes things much easier for me. They might not go researching the settings and the backgrounds as much as I do to really fit their characters to where they will be adventuring... but they don't ignore it either. Which just means I've done a good job of cultivating my playerbase to make a group that all works best together to create games we all are inspired to really delve into when we play.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I wonder if your expectations are very high for what amounts to “roleplaying differently”, or if we just have exceptionally different groups.

Most of my players are all community theater actors like me, so we all know what it means to embody specific characters to fulfill the narratives we are in. So I presume that in comparison to D&D players on the whole across the globe, yes my expectations would probably be considered "high". But for what I know of the people I play with and what kinds of characters they can and have done in the various plays and improv they have done... my expectation on the kinds of characters they could play that fit the narrative I put forth is within reason I think.

If we were going to perform a production of Romeo & Juliet, we'd all know the kind of performance that was expected of us for the play. So if I offer up a game set in the Greek-inspired setting of Theros... my expectation that the interested parties would know and care enough about that setting and theme is not out of bounds. And thus they should be more than capable of making a compelling character that was merely a human hoplite, rather than an orphaned medusa who was stolen from their parents as a child and raised by a band of minotaurs on the slopes of a volcano to eventually be sacrificed as an offering of the gods until they swore a paladin's oath of vengeance against them and killed their captors before escaping to the nearest polis.

So yeah... my expectations may be considered "high".

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Most of my players are all community theater actors like me, so we all know what it means to embody specific characters to fulfill the narratives we are in. So I presume that in comparison to D&D players on the whole across the globe, yes my expectations would probably be considered "high". But for what I know of the people I play with and what kinds of characters they can and have done in the various plays and improv they have done... my expectation on the kinds of characters they could play that fit the narrative I put forth is within reason I think.

If we were going to perform a production of Romeo & Juliet, we'd all know the kind of performance that was expected of us for the play. So if I offer up a game set in the Greek-inspired setting of Theros... my expectation that the interested parties would know and care enough about that setting and theme is not out of bounds. And thus they should be more than capable of making a compelling character that was merely a human hoplite, rather than an orphaned medusa who was stolen from their parents as a child and raised by a band of minotaurs on the slopes of a volcano to eventually be sacrificed as an offering of the gods until they swore a paladin's oath of vengeance against them and killed their captors before escaping to the nearest polis.

So yeah... my expectations may be considered "high".

Okay

 

[Mind of tempest]

Most of my players are all community theater actors like me, so we all know what it means to embody specific characters to fulfill the narratives we are in. So I presume that in comparison to D&D players on the whole across the globe, yes my expectations would probably be considered "high". But for what I know of the people I play with and what kinds of characters they can and have done in the various plays and improv they have done... my expectation on the kinds of characters they could play that fit the narrative I put forth is within reason I think.

If we were going to perform a production of Romeo & Juliet, we'd all know the kind of performance that was expected of us for the play. So if I offer up a game set in the Greek-inspired setting of Theros... my expectation that the interested parties would know and care enough about that setting and theme is not out of bounds. And thus they should be more than capable of making a compelling character that was merely a human hoplite, rather than an orphaned medusa who was stolen from their parents as a child and raised by a band of minotaurs on the slopes of a volcano to eventually be sacrificed as an offering of the gods until they swore a paladin's oath of vengeance against them and killed their captors before escaping to the nearest polis.

So yeah... my expectations may be considered "high".

well, I know who I can never game because of my lack of acting ability.

 

[turnip_farmer]

I'm saying that knowing my players are going to be roleplaying in a very narrow look anyway... I'd rather have them at least have their characters fit into the theme and baseline of my campaign as best as possible so that they can navigate the world and open up more avenues for adventure for me as a DM.

Any attempt at creating some weird, wild, at the margins type of character within the setting (because they think it makes them special) ends up being pointless if the weird, wild, marginal character is played no differently than a "normal" character from the setting. The only difference is me as DM having to keep trying to justify this bizarre choice over and over again with NPC reactions and the like. It may not matter to them as players, but it does to me as a DM.

I've tried the whole 'okay, you can play that; but bear in mind no one in this setting has ever seen a Dragonborn before so the villagers will all be fearful or amazed' approach, but honestly I just find it exhausting as a DM to have all the NPCs thinking 'what the hell is that?!' every time the party approaches a village.

Now, it's either a cosmopolitan setting, or you have to play something that doesn't look too weird to whatever the locals are. Anything else ruins the feel of the setting to me.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I've tried the whole 'okay, you can play that; but bear in mind no one in this setting has ever seen a Dragonborn before so the villagers will all be fearful or amazed' approach, but honestly I just find it exhausting as a DM to have all the NPCs thinking 'what the hell is that?!' every time the party approaches a village.

Now, it's either a cosmopolitan setting, or you have to play something that doesn't look too weird to whatever the locals are. Anything else ruins the feel of the setting to me.

you could always have the native welcome the player playing a land jellyfish as an old friend that will super mess with people.

 

[DEFCON 1]

well, I know who I can never game because of my lack of acting ability.

I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be gaming together even if you DID have acting ability. Those skills aren't the roadblock here.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be gaming together even if you DID have acting ability. Those skills aren't the roadblock here.

true.

 

[SehanineMoonbow]

I've only actually played a few times, and never DMed, but I voted for Option #4, though #3 works, too.