D&D 5E (2014) DM imposed restrictions to the game (+)

Lanefan said:

Nothing specific to your table in particular. I just don't like being told how to play my character.

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given they didn't quote the section on playing your character i think they may be more referring to your 'worldbuilding is the domain of the GM not the players' point (even if you keep it from both sides of the table), but i could be wrong in that interpretation.

Lanefan said:

Nothing specific to your table in particular. I just don't like being told how to play my character.

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I'm sorry, I'm feeling poorly this morning and I'm a mite tetchier than normal. That's a healthy reflex, truth told, but like the "DM's authority" it's conditional and negotiable. If the character you want to play doesn't fit the game on the table–for reasons of their "personality, alignment [or] outlook on life"–then you're not playing in my game... same way if I take my Viking Hat DM BS too far and step all over your prerogatives as a player, you're going to walk out and I'm not running a game for you.

In my case, I don't want to tell people how to play their characters... I just want all of the players to have good reasons for why their player characters are having the kinds of misadventures the game's supposed to be about. Good reasons to put up with each other, and good reasons to not put up with each other in interesting ways.

That means that I need the players to be invested in the world and the other PCs, so I give them things to be invested in.

Lanefan said:

If you're the DM and I'm a player then worldbuilding is your job, not mine or any other player's. Doesn't matter whether it's in-person or online, I'm here to explore and discover what you've built, which I can't do if I helped build it.

However, creating and playing my character (within whatever class-species restrictions you have set, of course) is my job, not yours nor anyone else's at the table. You don't get to tell me anything about my character's personality, alignment, outlook on life, or how to roleplay it, though: that's mine alone to determine via whatever means I choose.

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I disagree. I can tell you that I don't want a character that is a lone wolf antagonistic to other characters because they're "edgy" because it's a team game. I can tell you I don't want evil characters because I don't care for that kind of game. In fact I'll tell you this and a handful of other restrictions when I let you know there's an opening.

You are not the only person at the table and I don't feel bad about weeding out before they join or even kicking out someone that insists on running a character at the table that doesn't fit.

If that means you have to find a different table, that's fine. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. If I ever end up being the one I'll reconsider or quit DMing but it hasn't happened yet.

AlViking said:

I disagree. I can tell you that I don't want a character that is a lone wolf antagonistic to other characters because they're "edgy" because it's a team game. I can tell you I don't want evil characters because I don't care for that kind of game. In fact I'll tell you this and a handful of other restrictions when I let you know there's an opening.

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Honestly, I can cope with edgy loners and bastard heroes. The one that breaks my teeth is that I can't run Street Fighter: the Storytelling Game without the first application–every time–and more than half of the applications being players who don't want to play PCs who fight.

What do you even do with that?

DammitVictor said:

Honestly, I can cope with edgy loners and bastard heroes.

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For me that's a question of whether the other players at the table will enjoy that character. I know at least one player at my table - my wife - who would not. I've had people at the table who played that character because in an anime cartoon the character was awesome. They aren't awesome at the game table, they come off as annoying and someone who can't ever share the spotlight.

DammitVictor said:

The one that breaks my teeth is that I can't run Street Fighter: the Storytelling Game without the first application–every time–and more than half of the applications being players who don't want to play PCs who fight.

What do you even do with that?

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I'd explain that I won't treat their character any different than anyone else and when they're fighting monsters if they don't fight back they will get eaten. If they want to sit at home on the porch instead of fighting the monsters, they still get eaten because no one was fighting the monsters that were running around eating everyone sitting on porches.

The 5-7 people at the table have to agree on some basic idea of what game they're playing. While I don't expect everyone to play a blood crazed murder hobo or to always get along with everyone linking arms while skipping down the road singing in unison, when playing D&D there is going to be a mix of RP and combat because we're playing D&D not Kittens and Puppies. I try to let people know what kind of game I generally run ahead of time and every once in a great while it doesn't work for the player and I wish them luck finding a different group. Not sure what else you can or should do.

AlViking said:

I disagree. I can tell you that I don't want a character that is a lone wolf antagonistic to other characters because they're "edgy" because it's a team game. I can tell you I don't want evil characters because I don't care for that kind of game. In fact I'll tell you this and a handful of other restrictions when I let you know there's an opening.

You are not the only person at the table and I don't feel bad about weeding out before they join or even kicking out someone that insists on running a character at the table that doesn't fit.

If that means you have to find a different table, that's fine. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. If I ever end up being the one I'll reconsider or quit DMing but it hasn't happened yet.

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i can't say that's how i interpreted their post personally, just because they want to reserve the right to sole ownership of describing their character doesn't mean they intend to be a loner or the antagonist party member, more things like, you can't tell me that just because i picked a paladin i need to play them as some holier-than-thou missionary otherwise i'm doing it wrong or that my noble 'reacted wrong' to certain reveals or plot beats.

CreamCloud0 said:

i can't say that's how i interpreted their post personally, just because they want to reserve the right to sole ownership of describing their character doesn't mean they intend to be a loner or the antagonist party member, more things like, you can't tell me that just because i picked a paladin i need to play them as some holier-than-thou missionary otherwise i'm doing it wrong or that my noble 'reacted wrong' to certain reveals or plot beats.

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If someone wants to join my game I'll let them know that I have certain boundaries of what personality types are allowed at the table. While I can't tell you if anyone didn't join specifically because of my restrictions, over decades and dozens of players it's only been an issue once where someone decided not to join us for the next campaign. Even then we parted ways amicably and all the players that remained at the table were happy with the outcome.

I'm not telling anyone details of their characters outside of what is not allowed.

No uber evil characters. Have a reason to work with the other members of the team. No halflings (they don't exist in the campaign).

That's usually about it.

AlViking said:

If someone wants to join my game I'll let them know that I have certain boundaries of what personality types are allowed at the table. While I can't tell you if anyone didn't join specifically because of my restrictions, over decades and dozens of players it's only been an issue once where someone decided not to join us for the next campaign. Even then we parted ways amicably and all the players that remained at the table were happy with the outcome.

I'm not telling anyone details of their characters outside of what is not allowed.

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sure and giving players restrictions on what kind of characters 'aren't allowed' is far from the same thing as telling them 'how they ought to be playing their character', but the latter is what i think Lanefan was referring to when they said whatever it was to the effect of 'nobody gets to tell me how to play my character but me'


unrelatedly, has anyone else been getting alot of connection issues with ENworld recently?

Yes, 502 Bad Gateway.