D&D 5E 5e Players: How often have you been allowed to use 3PP?

[TwoSix]

On a related note: how much do people think the reliance of many groups on D&D Beyond, which has limited 3pp offerings, influences the willingness of DMs to allow 3pp or players to want to use 3pp?

Of the 2 DMs I have who are "official only", I know one is primarily motivated by keeping everything in D&D Beyond.

On the flipside, my preference for 3pp is exactly why I don't use D&D Beyond.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I'm usually the DM, so I've only been a player once in the last couple of years, but when I asked my DM if I could play a Ruin Dwarf (from Keith Baker's Exploring Eberron) I got an immediate "yes". So that would be 100%. But I suspect, like me, if a player asked to use something that looked broken or out of tune with the campaign, it would be "no".

Think of it this way.

I don't give a flying fig whether the DM forbids particular 3PP for one reason or another. Even if it's a crappy reason.

I'm asking if you're allowed at all. Any actual 3PP, not just table-specific homebrew. Has any 3PP been allowed?

 

[Zardnaar]

So I'm putting togather a Norse themed 3pp Norse campaign set on Midgard from Kobold Press.

Stuff I would be more likely to say yes to.

1. Norse related archetypes, races things like that.previous themes have been Drow and Egypt.

2. Relatively simple feats espicially ones that buff things that aren't the -5/+10 feats, and weaker options. Missing spell support as well eg a ranged lightning cantrip.

3. Clean mechanical designs that a relatively straight forward.

Things I'm not likely to say yes to.

1. Off theme stuff. Eg Norse. Your desert raider class might be fine mechanically but no.

2. New classes in general unless it's filling a whole where appropriate. Eg psionics in Darksun a lot more likely to say yes. Shorter the better as well.

3. Over or under powered or messy/confusing mechanics.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

So I'm putting togather a Norse themed 3pp Norse campaign set on Midgard from Kobold Press.

Stuff I would be more likely to say yes to.

1. Norse related archetypes, races things like that.previous themes have been Drow and Egypt.

2. Relatively simple feats espicially ones that buff things that aren't the -5/+10 feats, and weaker options. Missing spell support as well eg a ranged lightning cantrip.

3. Clean mechanical designs that a relatively straight forward.

Things I'm not likely to say yes to.

1. Off theme stuff. Eg Norse. Your desert raider class might be fine mechanically but no.

2. New classes in general unless it's filling a whole where appropriate. Eg psionics in Darksun a lot more likely to say yes. Shorter the better as well.

3. Over or under powered or messy/confusing mechanics.

That's a game which contains 3PP. Hence, you have said yes to some amount of 3PP.

 

[jmartkdr2]

On the one hand, every time I've asked.

On the other hand - I think I've only ever asked to use someone else's homebrew once.

I've asked for homebrew/custom stuff that I personally designed before. That was always with dms I already knew would be cool with the idea and I usually went out of my way to make sure it wasn't better than PHB options.

 

[jmartkdr2]

That, and "if anyone happened to ask, would it have been allowed, to the best of your knowledge?" If you simply don't know because nobody asked, then that's essentially a non-entity, though if that makes up the vast majority of your experience then that's sort of a different story.

E.g. if everyone just always presumes 3PP is forbidden, they'll never bother asking.

I think there's an even subtler dynamic at play. Lots of players don't ask, because even if they're aware of 3pp stuff (many are not) they might want to play that or a 1pp option, and in that case it's ... safer? ... to just use the 1pp and not worry about permission at all.

If the dm comes right out and says the campaign will use such-and-such 3pp material, you'd probably get a lot more takers.

 

[Zardnaar]

That's a game which contains 3PP. Hence, you have said yes to some amount of 3PP.

Yup I'm using Midgard Heroes book over Tashas.
. If ou want sonething outside those books I'll look at it. If you have something Norse I would probably allow it as long as it's not to OP/crap or lots of subsystems.

Big reason I'll say no is to weak, strong or off theme.

 

[ezo]

Very rarely --- but more so because my groups prefer to create our own homebrew stuff than use 3PP, which we often find OP or ridiculous.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I know this poll can never really be statistically useful data in the proper sense, despite my measures to improve its quality (e.g. unchangeable votes, can't see votes until you've voted, finite polling time, vote names are public). But it is interesting to see the early trends remaining consistent even with far more votes.

I will say, it seems pretty telling that the distribution is the way it is for a group of people who skew, as folks are so keen to point out, in the direction of optimization, system knowledge, and awareness of 3PP and other such things. It would seem to imply that the average player is even less likely to be allowed to use 3PP, given the low probability that such content is even known to them. And, further, my overall intuition--that 3PP is generally not used--is not precisely accurate, but isn't wrong either. It's about evenly split between the first two options and the last option; you get a one-vote majority by combining the first three.

 

[LordEntrails]

Almost always. But that's because for the last 6+ years I've been playing with the same group. We trust each other as players and DM. We all are interested in balance between the characters so we can all shine and have fun.

If I'm running a con or one-shot or new players, then yea, no 3PP and probably only specified official sources. (But, haven't done that in years.)