D&D General Requesting permission to have something cool

[Micah Sweet]

I have to admit, I have been VERY confused by the discussions related to 3PP.

It seems that the community demands these changes.
And yet, the community (in terms of DMs) refuses to allow 3PP with these changes.
Also, if no DMs allow 3PP, then there shouldn't be any 3PP, because why bother? It wouldn't sell.
....and yet, I feel like I've bought 3PP, and used it. And I know other people that do. And I've see tons of it for sale?

...I am so confuddled! It appears that there is a vast demand for products that people refuse to use, and, moreover, there is a vast supply of products that cannot be used in any games. I feel like economics has lied to me!

Yeah, I don't know where these WotC purist DMs are coming from.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Sometimes it's not the DM who refuses to allow 3pp material into a game session. I can imagine that there have been a number of D&D fans who decided to generate their characters on D&D Beyond, and found themselves unable to use the 3pp material they wanted to use because there was no means to import that material onto D&D Beyond.

I can imagine this is an IP issue. WoTC doesn't want it's D&D Players bringing in material from a 3pp source onto their D&D Beyond website. Especially material that puts theirs to shame. Hmm...I wonder if you can import material from DMsGuild to D&D Beyond. That would be neat, if it was possible. WoTC does control the Guild to a certain degree.

Which is one of several reasons I don't use DDB.

 

[Scribe]

Apparently D&D. That's half the responses on these forums.

The other half being 4e Non Magical but Mythical Martials?

 

[Corinnguard]

Indeed. The problem with 3.5 is that eventually every player was a caster and DMs couldn't stand the quantity of magic nonsense.

The 3pp products the DMs buy can be used.

The 3pp products the players buy cannot be used.

Did this happen to you in the games where you were the DM? I ask because I can't imagine this being the case for every DM or Player who has played D&D. Every DM is different in how they run their games and in what material they are willing to include in their games. Some are more willing than others to accept 3pp material after they and their players discuss it. Some won't after they look at the material because they find it to be questionable or too much of a game changer. And then there are those who won't look at it and not allow it even if it contains material that doesn't break the game.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I mean, I'm sure you know this, but it's because there is a very large contingent of players and DMs that are "official only", especially ones that favor (by preference or necessity) electronic play over in-person play.

Many people, unfortunately, don't have the privilege of playing with people who share all of their preferences in this regard, and are in the position of having to hope WotC will codify official material to suit their preferences.

And people can be stubborn! In one of my games, 3 out of the 5 players used various homebrew options, and absolutely loved having the options available. But 1 player wouldn't even consider it, and when it was his turn to DM, he was totally "official books only".

I will never understand this.

 

[billd91]

Yeah, I don't know where these WotC purist DMs are coming from.

Oh, they're around. AL DMs if nothing else.
But for me, as a DM, I will only use rules I have my hands on. So if a player wanted me to use a set of rules I didn't have, they'd have to supply it to me - at least to review and learn - and then bring to every session for reference. Since I'm buying a number of WotC products and not 3PP, it tends toward being WotC-only in my materials. But that's more by happenstance and little interest in digging through 3PP options than being a WotC purist.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The 3pp products the DMs buy can be used.

The 3pp products the players buy cannot be used.

You want to buy 3pp and use it? Let me see it, I'll probably say yes. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Minigiant]

Did this happen to you in the games where you were the DM? I ask because I can't imagine this being the case for every DM or Player who has played D&D. Every DM is different in how they run their games and in what material they are willing to include in their games. Some are more willing than others to accept 3pp material after they and their players discuss it. Some won't after they look at the material because they find it to be questionable or too much of a game changer. And then there are those who won't look at it and not allow it even if it contains material that doesn't break the game.

In 3.5e, I had a list and so did every other DM I knew.

It was impossible to vet and consider everything coming out back in the day.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Oh, they're around. AL DMs if nothing else.
But for me, as a DM, I will only use rules I have my hands on. So if a player wanted me to use a set of rules I didn't have, they'd have to supply it to me - at least to review and learn - and then bring to every session for reference. Since I'm buying a number of WotC products and not 3PP, it tends toward being WotC-only in my materials. But that's more by happenstance and little interest in digging through 3PP options than being a WotC purist.

I buy whatever looks good to me (not really WotC anymore), and let people play whatever looks good to me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

In 3.5e, I had a list and so did every other DM I knew.

It was impossible to vet and consider everything coming out back in the day.

How about just the stuff that interests you and/or is presented to you by players?