D&D 5E As a Player, what would be your Ideal Campaign?

[PnPgamer]

You are a player looking for a new game. You have just moved to a new city, so none of your gaming friends are available. If you could pick the ideal campaign, as a player, what would it be? What are the important elements that a campaign would need to have to keep you going back week after week?

• How important is the setting?
• How important is the theme or tone of the game?
• What character options have to be there?
• Which ones have to be removed/avoided?
• What optional, variant, or house rules does the GM have to play with?
• Which variant or optional rules will you refuse to play with?

>>>To keep this from devolving into an edition war, let's assume we are talking about a 5e D&D campaign.<<<

Setting doesnt matter, as long as i am fairly informed what i should do or not do if cultural stuff is asked, and i may retcon my actions for such occurrences.

Theme or tone doesnt matter, i like horror, comical, heroic, you name it.

Character options id like to have all things available to me. I want to create my own character, not pick a pregen.

Houseruling or removal of devils sight warlock invocation. Seeing in magical darkness is too good.

Variants, i want to be able to do the variant human. No encumberance variant, too much bookkeeping to always check how the weight is going, but i can live with it if i am outvoted on it.

Also dmg combat options are spiffy. I want to be able to use them if i want to. Except mark, which is just too heinous.

 

[was]

...How important is the setting? not very, I'm pretty much open to any setting.

...How important is the theme or tone of the game? very, good storytelling/roleplaying is a must. The group should also get along well.

...What character options have to be there? none, I can play core.

...Which ones have to be removed/avoided? none, there are some that I don't like but I can deal with them.

...What optional, variant, or house rules does the GM have to play with? none, I can play with them all.

...Which variant or optional rules will you refuse to play with? none, I find if you walk into a new group with a bunch of demands they'll quickly show you to the door.

 

[neobolts]

Setting: A well-developed setting, either a book setting or a homebrew with a significant amount of worldbuilding. I don't mind jumping into something only lightly fleshed out, but I prefer lore I can really immerse myself in: history, maps, nations, factions, faiths. No so much spotlight stealing high level NPCs, though. Occasional unique and memorable custom treasure is fun too.

Tone: I want a campaign that has high stakes as well as character-driven subplots. I don't want a DM that railroads me and dictates my actions, but if they deliver plot hooks, I'll do my part and take them. It's ok for a DM to restict the PCs starting alignments, based on the hooks they are planning. They can also put restrictions on intra-party conflict if it would detract from their planning. I prefer campaign with low character death/turnover, but also where there is an upfront understanding that a true TPK ends the campaign in failure.

Character/Rule Options In: The PHB including multiclass and feats, plus inspiration/action point systems, if they are bonus systems for rewarding roleplaying rather than entitlements. Any DMG rule could be added if there's a story-driven reason for the change.

Character/Rule Options Out: Feat combos need to be analyzed. I don't want forced tactical map play. Minis are fun and the battle map can support the story and keep everyone on the same page, but putting the focus on action economies and controlling tactical movement is a detractor. Battlemaster worries me.

 

[Blue]

Setting: A well-developed setting, either a book setting or a homebrew with a significant amount of worldbuilding. I don't mind jumping into something only lightly fleshed out, but I prefer lore I can really immerse myself in: history, maps, nations, factions, faiths. No so much spotlight stealing high level NPCs, though. Occasional unique and memorable custom treasure is fun too.

I'd like to play around with this idea a bit and you gave a great jumping off place.

I like a setting where it feels unique, and characters created there couldn't easily be transplanted into another campaign because it's an important part of who they are.

The flip side is as both a DM and player, I like working with broad strokes at first, only focusing to details where play requires it, and allowing player to contribute those details. For example, in one homebrew I ran one player had a character from rather far away. He came up with the culture, made up sayings, took the pantheon and breathed life into it, detailed about the slavers that had taken him from it. This inspired other players who also added a wealth of details. Dwarven clerics Create Food was gruel, and their Cure spells left scars as if healed naturally as opposed to clerics of other pantheons that leave new pink skin. I in turn wove these into the game, and it made things immensely richer, plus had buy-in from the players already.

 

[payn]

How important is the setting?
Not terribly important.
How important is the theme or tone of the game?
This is very important. I like sandboxes and I also like adventure paths so i'm fairly open to playstyle. Though I like a theme like, urban, political intrigue, undead horrors, etc. This helps me know what type of character to build and what the tone will be.
What character options have to be there?
Im not picky but im happy with the vanilla human, dorf, elf, halfling, half-orc
Which ones have to be removed/avoided?
I dislike monstrous PCs and mos eisley style games so id probably pass if thats the theme
What optional, variant, or house rules does the GM have to play with?
I dont like tracking XP so if the GM keeps that under the hood im cool with that.
Which variant or optional rules will you refuse to play with?
Not a big fan of crit fails

 

[pickin_grinnin]

My ideal game to play in:

- a sandbox world
- lots and lots of freedom and options in character creation
- as much roleplaying and general problem solving as combat, if not more
- something that isn't a Tolkien rehash

 

[77IM]

• How important is the setting?
  
  I want to have a hand in creating the setting, mostly elements that revolve around my character. E.g., if I'm a cleric I want to design my own religion; if I'm a noble I want to define my homeland; if I'm a wizard I might want there to be a mages guild, or I might want to say that there is not one and that powerful wizards tend to avoid each other.
  
  It should be a fairly generic D&D fantasy world because that's easiest to get everyone on the same page and you can fit a lot of ideas into that framework.
  
• How important is the theme or tone of the game?
  
  VERY important. This can make a huge impact on game-play.
  
  I love mysteries, conspiracies, and unravelling plots. I especially love villains and NPCs with realistic motivations. "Go through a series of dungeons to find the MacGuffin to prevent a demon invasion" is pretty damn boring to me. I much prefer, "NPC A has called in his favor, and wants you to figure out why NPC B (who the party ranger is in love with) wants to steal the MacGuffin from NPC C, who you know is plotting with NPC D (the party sorcerer's father) to summon a demon invasion, as a way to harm NPC A's power base (currently protecting the party's cleric's little sister from NPC E, who has the other half of the MacGuffin that B and C both want)..." So, intrigue and soap-opera tangled webs, plus abundant use of magic, stealth, and violence. (People hear "intrigue" and think of standing around court talking to nobles for an entire session... yawn. I want to kill stuff too, just in a more interesting context.)
  
• What character options have to be there?
  
  All of them. Or any that are removed need a damn good explanation why. As a player I only have control over my character, so I don't want the DM pre-emptively eliminating options unless doing so results in something awesome.
  
  Ultimately, the option to control my own destiny and affect the outcome of the game is the most important option.
  
• Which ones have to be removed/avoided?
  
  I guess I don't need the campaign to support evil PCs or inept PCs. (Yes, some people love playing total incompetents. I am not sure why. But I usually don't enjoy gaming with them.)
  
• What optional, variant, or house rules does the GM have to play with?
  
  None; although I am super in love with the "One Unique Thing" from 13th Age and think that it would work extraordinarily well in 5e.
  
• Which variant or optional rules will you refuse to play with?
  
  I guess, rotating DMs (a plot point option in the DMG)? The skill options (ability proficiency, background proficiency) also sound lame to me.
  

 

[Celtavian]

[*]How important is the setting?

Preferably traditional fantasy open to all options. As long as the DM makes it fun and interesting, I don't worry about setting too much.

How important is the theme or tone of the game?

I don't like humorous campaigns. Other than that, I let the DM handle it and do the best I can to support theme and tone as a player.

What character options have to be there?

I mostly like a hands off approach by the DM. I understand if they can't handle challenging powerful PCs and have to scale it back. I mostly like DMs proficient in challenging powerful characters. Though if a DM is very good at providing a fun role-play environment, I'll live with limitations on capabilities. If I feel the DM is lazy with encounter design or likes lots of character death because they believe it increases drama or challenge, then I'll pass. I don't like killer DMs. I don't like weak challenges where the players run over everything either.

Which ones have to be removed/avoided?

Only those the DM can't handle or are truly cheesy as in following the rules as written leading to an impossibly stupid result that usually leads to easy defeat of almost any challenge the DM can throw at the PCs.

]What optional, variant, or house rules does the GM have to play with?

I like to roll stats. Makes for interesting character building in my experience.

]Which variant or optional rules will you refuse to play with?

No magic or low magic world. Unless the DM is running a historical campaign set in the real world. In general, I want magic in the world and to be able to play casters. I enjoy casters more than any other class. I find it boring to swing, shoot, or throw a weapon over and over again without any other options. It would be like watching a house painter brush the paint on over and over again.

My ideal campaign would have substantial role-playing including well-developed romantic interests, family life, social life, politics, recurring enemies, moral dilemmas, and a challenging combat with an occasional cool magic item all occurring within a well-developed story that is occurs in a naturalistic way that immerses you in the game world and makes it seem real.