D&D 5E Bad Wrong Fun

Fauchard1520 · Aug 13, 2020

What sets off your personal “that’s bad-wrong-fun” alarm? PvP without a Session Zero agreement? Stealing form the party? Tacking a critical miss chance onto the system?

And from a more philosophical perspective: Do you think it’s possible for a group to enjoy that kind of bad-wrong-fun despite its downsides?

Comic for illustrative purposes.

aco175 · Aug 13, 2020

We have not had these problems in a looong time, there needs to be some sort of social agreement among the players. Today, the most problems come from one player wanting to take a side quest and dominate the night instead of just moving the story along. I end up giving 10 minutes and them going back to the main story. The rest of the players need their spotlight as well. Now the rest of the party could join in and the whole night becomes an improv without getting back to the story.

We have introduced the scouts to the game on a few occasions and it tends to break down to attacking each other before leaving the tavern.

Sacrosanct · Aug 13, 2020

For me, conflict between party members. I have always viewed the game as a team sport, and when certain PCs start fighting and arguing with other PCs, that's no fun for me. PvP is straight out.

I'm currently in a campaign with Avernus, which seems to be an official promotion of said behavior with the way it's written, and I don't like it, storyline and "dark secrets" and "redemption paths" be darned. It causes arguments between friends and breaks down trust.

Helldritch · Aug 13, 2020

Sacrosanct said:
For me, conflict between party members. I have always viewed the game as a team sport, and when certain PCs start fighting and arguing with other PCs, that's no fun for me. PvP is straight out.

I'm currently in a campaign with Avernus, which seems to be an official promotion of said behavior with the way it's written, and I don't like it, storyline and "dark secrets" and "redemption paths" be darned. It causes arguments between friends and breaks down trust.

That is why I have no intention of playing Avernus. The Companion, in my FR, is a force for good. Not what the official campaign made it to be. I'll have to make major rewrite for Avernus to fit into my campaign. Though I did like to read it. It won't be played as is.

Charlaquin · Aug 13, 2020

I mean, if everyone at the table is having fun, I don’t care. I think doing anything that has a high risk of upsetting players - PvP, exploring certain sensitive subject matter, etc. without establishing that everyone is onboard ahead of time is an unnecessary risk. But if you took that risk and it turns out everyone in the group actually does enjoy it? mazel tov, I guess.

Oofta · Aug 13, 2020

I know some groups may enjoy PvP and/or having disruptive characters but it doesn't work well in my experience. That guy who runs the disruptive PC because their favorite Anime character is an ass? Yeah, he's just annoying to the rest of the group and comes across as an attention grabbing prima-donna.

So I make it clear that everyone should expect to be part of a team, don't play a complete loner, don't go out of your way to create conflict. I don't expect PCs to always link arms and sing kum-ba-yah, but I've also played games when one guy played an obnoxious a-hole. It was just annoying. He had fun, most of the rest of the group (including the DM) did not after a while. The campaign was at a conclusion when it came to a head and we stuck together for "one last fight" but if it had not been, most of the group was ready to kick the disruptive PC out. I can't imagine that would have ended well for the players.

As far as the OP's example, it shouldn't matter if the person stealing from a PC is a fellow PC or not. If the PC getting robbed would attack the thief or seek to get them arrested then it should happen.

jmartkdr2 · Aug 13, 2020

Protip, for both players and dms: your lovable wangrod character isn't lovable - they're just a wangrod.

Other than that, when you see people saying "don't do the thing" on a forum, it's usually because they did the thing, and it was a bad time, and they don't want you to have a bad time, so they highly recommend you not do the thing. Please take this in that vein - it's a suggestion, often form experience. If you're certain that your group won't have the same experience, rock on, but you've been warned.

Seramus · Aug 13, 2020

Arguing too much at the table. I really like @iserith recommendations on how to keep play moving at the table. Anything more than 10 minutes of planning and it starts to grind my gears.

Negative Metagaming. I really hate @iserith position on what characters can know. It bends my immersion over a table and violates it mightily, but I do understand and respect his viewpoint.