D&D 5E Humans Only

[Reynard]

Have you played Beyond the Wall & Other Adventures?

I do no like PbtA games.

 

[Aldarc]

I do no like PbtA games.

Umm... okay? Beyond the Wall is B/X OSR.

 

[iserith]

Umm... okay? Beyond the Wall is B/X OSR.

Pretty much the same thing, right?

 

[Reynard]

Umm... okay? It's B/X OSR.

Oops. I misremembered which game that was. A quick check of my DTRPG shows I own it. It has playbooks (which is why I confused it with a PbtA game, I think) but I'll see if there is anything in there to help. I don't do adolescent fantasy, but there are probably minable ideas.

 

[Dessert Nomad]

I voted no, because part of the enjoyment of a "typical" D&D campaign is having the option for playing elves, gnomes, and other non-humans, and a background where they're all around. "You have to be human in a typical D&D world" sounds more like the DM has issues with lots of pieces of the game rather than an interesting idea. In an atypcial D&D campaign I'd be fine with it, like the various campaigns people listed where the world is not a standard D&D world - but that's explicitly not the case in the question asked.

 

[Aldarc]

Oops. I misremembered which game that was. A quick check of my DTRPG shows I own it. It has playbooks (which is why I confused it with a PbtA game, I think) but I'll see if there is anything in there to help. I don't do adolescent fantasy, but there are probably minable ideas.

I would look at the village creation as part of character creation. There's also two adventures that are part of it: (1) Angered Fae and (2) the Hidden Cult. It draws a lot from Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. But there is a certain Post-Roman Britain or Mythic Britain feel to the game.

Edit: Also you do know that this guy will be in your "human only" campaign, right?

 

[Reynard]

On the subject of limited options in general: as my thoughts on this campaign coalesce I realize I am going to curate a lot of things, including limited class and subclass choice and categorizing spells into rarity classes (with rare spells being ones you must find in dusty old tombs and lost libraries). As I mentioned upthread, I want the wonder to be something PCs discover in game, not have on their character sheets or walking around the base town.

 

[Reynard]

I would look at the village creation as part of character creation. There's also two adventures that are part of it: (1) Angered Fae and (2) the Hidden Cult. It draws a lot from Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. But there is a certain Post-Roman Britain or Mythic Britain feel to the game.

Edit: Also you do know that this guy will be in your "human only" campaign, right?

I have one player who ALWAYS tried to get around whatever limits I put in place. When we were young I really loved his wacky ideas and energy and so I let it slide a lot. These days I am... less enamored with his shenanigans.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Unless it's with a DM I know has run non-human only games and isn't just someone who is trying to excise the fantastic from the fantasy, I'd be wary and have to make sure they haven't nerfed magic, plan to withhold magic items because it's supposed to be 'special', or something of the like. Even then, only if variant human is on the take. If I can't customize with race, I NEED feats.

 

[Maxperson]

Actually there are a bunch of assumptions in D&D, especially 5e. Going full on pirates changes a bunch of assumptions like items, equipment, encounters. With a trusted DM, no biggie. Without one, I'd want to see a guidebook or something.

Oops All Humans is a mild theme though.

Items? You can't buy leather armor as both a pirate and a non-pirate? Swords, bows, daggers, crossbows, maces, etc. aren't a part of both? You can't have sea encounters? I suppose you DO have to have a boat to be pirates, where you wouldn't on the land, but the PHB assumes boats as part of the game, so there is still no change to the base assumption of the game by playing pirates.

I'm going to refer you to the 5e DMG where it talks about sea adventures and encounters, which means that it is assumed as part of the game. Nothing changes except location. Being pirates is no different to the base assumption of the game than being a land traveling party.