D&D General Wildly Diverse "Circus Troupe" Adventuring Parties

[Hussar]

I am a player in his games (have been for a bit less than two years now!) I have tried to keep my choices relatively constrained. We brought in a new player who did want something from outside FR for an FR adventure, but given it's already got an interplanar bent (Out of the Abyss), it didn't seem like the weirdest thing, generally speaking.

I've also tried to abide by his requests for limiting certain actions. I had, unfortunately, not realized that flaming sphere is actually a bit of a flaming PITA to run in Fantasy Grounds, otherwise I would not have relied on it so with my previous character. But in general I try to pick options that are effective, relatively low overhead, and thematic, and I avoided the specific spells he asked me to avoid.

Heh. The flaming sphere thing is actually pretty easy because it's not a monster. Which is why I adore the new 2024 summoning spells. SOOOO much easier to run.

But, that's the point. You're coming in at the tail end of all of this. Phandelver, other than "please be something from Forgotten Realms" had pretty much no restrictions. Out of the Abyss had even less. And, case in point, new player comes, what's the very first character created? One that has absolutely no ties to Forgotten Realms. It's hardly a new thing.

And,

You know, it's funny I've never heard about these entitled snowflake players until maybe the last few years and almost always in the context of this board. I'm not disputing anyone's lived experience, but I seriously question if it's as endemic as the Internet would have you believe.

Really? This has been a common complaint for years. I remember back many years ago listening to the Fear the Boot podcast and them talking about how players never bother with the DM's setting. Trying to get players to actually pay attention to the setting? That's not new. Heck, you want a good example, watch the Viva La Dirt League actual play Tales of Azerim and you'll see exactly the same thing going on.

I actually had a player take a level in cleric after about 6 or 7 levels into the campaign, when asked what deity his cleric was following, quite honestly ask, "What setting are we playing in?"

This is not new.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

This is not new.

It’s also not wrong. Gygax wasn’t into settings, which is why he really struggled when players started asking about the setting for his home game. His first attempt at writing a publishable setting was more suited to a wargame than an rpg.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Are there ways I can frame things in my mind to make it easier to get on with?

One thing to consider is that reading has declined significantly, especially amongst men and boys. So most D&D players aren’t learning their fantasy tropes from literature any more, they are learning them from video games.