D&D General I’m Trying to Love D&D Again—and I’ve Got Some Complaints. Young Grognard posting.

Clint_L · 2026-04-15T19:24:25+0100

Xenolith234 said:
I think there’s an expectation that all 1st-party content will be allowed, which definitely wasn’t a thing I recall prior to 3e. Even restricting species/classes in the PHB should be up to the DM, but that’s a bridge too far for many.

I've never run into this - when I start a campaign I instruct my players what to toggle "off" on DDB and never had one complaint. That said, if a player has a particular character concept and I already have the material, or we need to homebrew a bit, I do my best to make it happen, taking balance into account.

@Dire Bare ask, yes. Absolutely! But that's not really how OP framed it.

AlViking · 2026-04-15T19:53:12+0100

Dire Bare said:
I think it's okay to ask!

If a new player came to my table with a character option from a 3rd-party source, I'd be okay with the ask, and I'd certainly consider it.

But if I decided to not allow the specific option the player was hoping to use, I would expect them to be okay with that also and not get upset.

I understand why many DM's are hesitant to allow 3rd party options, but I wish more folks were open to the idea. It's rarely campaign breaking (never, actually, IME).

I'm more likely to say "Yes" if the player is a friend that I trust. I'm also more likely to say "Yes" if I own the source myself, or the player can share the source with me.

The DM puts far more effort into the game then anyone else at the table, I don't begrudge them setting limits on 3PP or anything else. If someone wants to suggest some 3PP options and I have enough time to look at it and I think it will fit into the campaign everyone else at the table has agreed to play then I'll consider it. Sometimes the answer will be "no". I don't remember the last time it came up though, it's not like we're lacking options.

Whether something is campaign breaking is in the eye of the beholder, some people take a very different approach to campaign and world building than I do. If the only class you can imagine enjoying is a gunslinger in a game without guns then I don't think that's really a DM problem.

DarkCrisis · 2026-04-15T19:57:45+0100

Been playing since 2E.

I think WotC's half assed version of Dragonlance was the final nail in the coffin for me to be a 5E DM. They don't give a poop, why should I?

I'll play in a game but I have zero desire to run one. I'd rather run almost anything else. Like currently Daggerheart. Before that it was Shadowdark which really scratchs that D20 D&D style itch.

I have the Adventure Time TTRPG coming soon so maybe that will make me want to give 5E style another chance but IDK.

Luckily I have a physical RL group to play with, finding other games or new player is triple tough though. If I had to rely on Online Only I don't think I could even play.

Marc17 · 2026-04-15T20:00:01+0100

Dire Bare said:
I think it's okay to ask!

If a new player came to my table with a character option from a 3rd-party source, I'd be okay with the ask, and I'd certainly consider it.

But if I decided to not allow the specific option the player was hoping to use, I would expect them to be okay with that also and not get upset.

I understand why many DM's are hesitant to allow 3rd party options, but I wish more folks were open to the idea. It's rarely campaign breaking (never, actually, IME).

I'm more likely to say "Yes" if the player is a friend that I trust. I'm also more likely to say "Yes" if I own the source myself, or the player can share the source with me.

For me, it's more that I don't know what it does and can't even use it against you if it is too powerful. My usual response is to say that I'll allow it if they buy me a copy of the book. We have played several games where the official "book" was the online 3.x or PF SRD which were pretty much anything goes. Still, we were working with the same stuff and the couple of things that pC used that might have been overpowered actually did make for better story.

Xenolith234 · 2026-04-15T20:08:10+0100

DarkCrisis said:
Been playing since 2E.

I think WotC's half assed version of Dragonlance was the final nail in the coffin for me to be a 5E DM. They don't give a poop, why should I?

I'll play in a game but I have zero desire to run one. I'd rather run almost anything else. Like currently Daggerheart. Before that it was Shadowdark which really scratchs that D20 D&D style itch.

I have the Adventure Time TTRPG coming soon so maybe that will make me want to give 5E style another chance but IDK.

Luckily I have a physical RL group to play with, finding other games or new player is triple tough though. If I had to rely on Online Only I don't think I could even play.

Would you be willing to go back to 2e?

James Gasik · 2026-04-15T20:28:08+0100

Maxperson said:
If you use @ in front of a name, it sends them a notification. Just using a name like you did can easily be missed in posts. For example, @KnightofCaliban.

Though in this case, I did see it. : )

DarkCrisis · 2026-04-15T20:32:27+0100

Xenolith234 said:
Would you be willing to go back to 2e?

I have gone back to 2E. And 1E. And Basic.

Frankly Old School Essentials and Shadowdark do that all better IMO.

Maxperson · 2026-04-15T20:54:56+0100

James Gasik said:
Though in this case, I did see it. : )

Yeah. I didn't assume one way or the other on that. I just know that over the years I've missed such comments directed my way and only later noticed them quoted by someone else in a response to the person who mentioned me.