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

[EzekielRaiden]

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.)

How about if you were working with a new group for whatever reason? Not a one-shot, something intended to be longer-term. E.g. let's say you have an acquaintance (not exactly a friend, but someone you've met and got along with) who got a wild hair and decided to run a new 5e game, and felt you would be a good fit for it.

Would you expect such a "hell no" response?

 

[Vael]

We've yet to not allow a 3rd party option, but tbh, I don't think any have been particularly great experiences.

I've played the Maverick Artificer and felt really limited, but I'm not sure if it was the subclass or the Artificer chassis itself.

We had player try a Dragoon (Final Fantasy class) and it was a one trick pony and the trick wasn't that great.

 

[Hussar]

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.

Although, let's not forget that we tend to skew DM heavy. While, as a DM, I have no problems with people bringing me 3pp, and often use 3pp in pretty much any game I run. I don't actually get to play very often. Which means that when I do play, I tend to use core D&D stuff, since, well, I HAVE that, and I haven't gotten to play with it yet.

I think if you were to ask DM's if they used (rather than allowed) 3pp, you'd find the numbers flipped. If nothing else, the shopping list of monster books from various sources will probably see some use at some tables. Never minding adventures or things like Griffon's Saddlebag for magic items.

For players, using 3pp means that you do have to jump through a few more hoops. 1. You need a DM who will let you do it in the first place. 2. You need to be in a position where you want to move beyond what the WotC books (presuming you're playing 5e) already offers - and given that you may play the same character for a year or more at a time, it does take some time to exhaust the options just in WotC for players which means that new and newish players aren't all that likely to be jumping up and down to play 3pp. 3. You need to be in a campaign where that 3pp actually fits.

I mean, it's all well and good that you want to play an intelligent skeleton (a PC in one of my games), but, that's likely going to be a harder sell to the DM than a dragonborn or a tiefling.

The point I'm trying to make is that using 3pp has a couple of additional hurdles in the way that make it probably less attractive to players. You need a player who is invested enough to go hunting for material outside of core, has enough experience with the system to have exhausted existing options, and has a DM who is willing to allow 3pp material. So, the results you are seeing here aren't really all that surprising.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I mean, it's all well and good that you want to play an intelligent skeleton (a PC in one of my games), but, that's likely going to be a harder sell to the DM than a dragonborn or a tiefling.

With the way some DMs act, nope. An intelligent skeleton would be exactly as hard a sell as a dragonborn, because dragonborn are weird and dumb so don't even dare ask. A sentiment I have seen, explicitly, in multiple different places.

The point I'm trying to make is that using 3pp has a couple of additional hurdles in the way that make it probably less attractive to players. You need a player who is invested enough to go hunting for material outside of core, has enough experience with the system to have exhausted existing options, and has a DM who is willing to allow 3pp material. So, the results you are seeing here aren't really all that surprising.

And my point is that 3PP is held up as the solution for fixing problems folks have with playing 5e. If what you say here is true, then that "solution" is unlikely at best and an outright falsehood in many cases.

 

[Hussar]

With the way some DMs act, nope. An intelligent skeleton would be exactly as hard a sell as a dragonborn, because dragonborn are weird and dumb so don't even dare ask. A sentiment I have seen, explicitly, in multiple different places.


And my point is that 3PP is held up as the solution for fixing problems folks have with playing 5e. If what you say here is true, then that "solution" is unlikely at best and an outright falsehood in many cases.

It's generally only a solution if you're the DM. I can probably sell a DM on letting me play a Dragonborn, most of the time. But, selling that same DM on something 3pp? Yeah, that's a LOT more of an uphill slog.

As a player? Yeah, 3pp is not going to help you too much. There are some serious hurdles in getting that to the table.

I still dream of using Middle Finger of Vecna's Book of Binders though. I WILL use that someday.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

It's generally only a solution if you're the DM. I can probably sell a DM on letting me play a Dragonborn, most of the time. But, selling that same DM on something 3pp? Yeah, that's a LOT more of an uphill slog.

As a player? Yeah, 3pp is not going to help you too much. There are some serious hurdles in getting that to the table.

I still dream of using Middle Finger of Vecna's Book of Binders though. I WILL use that someday.

Right. But I've been specifically told to do it as a player to fix problems I have with 5e. That's one of the reasons I made this thread. (The other was just that folks in other threads were agog and aghast at the idea that people would have so rarely seen 3PP content in games.)

 

[MGibster]

t's generally only a solution if you're the DM. I can probably sell a DM on letting me play a Dragonborn, most of the time. But, selling that same DM on something 3pp? Yeah, that's a LOT more of an uphill slog.

I don't think anyone has ever asked me to bring in 3pp rules into any 5th edition game I've run or played in. I have to admit that the d20 glut of the early 2000s really turned me off to 3pp products. I understand some of them were good, but there were just so many bad products that I'm scarred for life.

 

[Hussar]

I don't think anyone has ever asked me to bring in 3pp rules into any 5th edition game I've run or played in. I have to admit that the d20 glut of the early 2000s really turned me off to 3pp products. I understand some of them were good, but there were just so many bad products that I'm scarred for life.

I'm in the same boat. I have no problems with people using 3pp and I actually encourage it. Have done so since 3e. But, getting the players to actually bite? Rarely happens. Over the past ten or so years, I've seen an intelligent skeleton, a dream of an aboleth from ... I forget now where that came from and one player did bring in a pugilist fighter class and gifted me with a really nice pdf of classes.

But, other than that? Yeah, it's not going to happen very much. Again, like I said, the players most often want to use the books they've already bought. If you bought the PHB and Tasha's (for example), it's not unreasonable that that could keep you going for quite a few years as a player.

Now, if you've got major problems with 5e and you want to resolve those problems as a player and not the DM? Good luck with that. That's some serious uphill battling. You'd need to convince the DM that your problems are also his or her problems. Yeah, fixing 5e problems with 3pp is only going to work if you're the DM.

 

[Older Beholder]

There's still plenty of options in the official books that I've never had a a chance to play/use.
So, for me, I've never felt the need to go looking for 3rd party content.

As a DM I tend to limit the player options to books I personally own, which again is pretty much official content.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

As a DM I constantly use third party content for adventure hooks, monster statblocks, magic items, and system rules for harvesting, crafting. For this stuff I use third party content far more than official WotC content.

I would not allow third party classes, subclasses, races, spells, or feats though, and have never seen these be allowed at any other DM's table that I've played at. In theory I probably actually would if I reviewed it first and found it to be balanced, but in the rare cases I've ever seen anyone request anything it was because it was just obviously overpowered.