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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack Daniel" data-source="post: 8150574" data-attributes="member: 694">I do agree that the divide is more where you say it is than the OP. (Which is not to say that [USER=7023840]@Snarf Zagyg[/USER] is wrong to notice a correlation between the belief that the DM should not exclude game options and the belief that the RAW have some special status. That's totally a thing.) Authoritative DMs can be DIY or RAW; collaborative DMs can be DIY or RAW. But—just because a particular group adheres to a more traditional model where the DM owns the rules, the setting, and the table and has authority over the game-world as well as the in-game adjudication of the rules, that does not automatically make the DM a tyrannical Viking Hat who forces players to "kowtow." You do not have standing to be offended on behalf of DMs and players who prefer this way of playing.I consider myself to be a D&D player, not a tabletop role-player. Playing D&D (and specifically OD&D) and creating content for D&D is my hobby; playing RPGs is not my hobby.See above. You can have restrictive or inclusive DIYers. I suspect that most of the OSR (which prides itself on its DIY ethic) would scoff at the notion that the DM isn't the absolute authority over the setting, the rules, and the game-table. And rightly so—in that sub-culture, holding that kind of authority over both the campaign and the design of the rules is definitionally what it is to be the DM.(This, incidentally, is completely orthogonal to the oft-cited quote from the Holmes Basic Set that a player character in D&D can be practically anything, like a werebear or a dragon, so long as they progress in levels. One has little to do with the other.)Then maybe rein it in with the needlessly provocative "throne" and "kowtow" business, because that isn't at all what you implied with your earlier post.Others have already pushed back against this, but—lots of players also have a play expectation that they'll be tourists in the DM's carefully crafted sandbox. (Tourists, that is, until they amass enough wealth and power to be lords and masters of their particular corner of said sandbox.)Not every gaming situation is five bros sitting around a dining-room table deciding on how they'll build a campaign world and a cast of four plot-invincible main characters from the ground up.A typical campaign for me does not start with me and my friends having a session zero. It's me and my friends setting up a table at the ol' FLGS, laying out blank hex-paper and graph-paper and a stack of more blank character sheets than we think we'll need. They roll up characters (3d6 in order, natch), we start playing, and anybody else curious enough to ask about the game or sit down can do the same. Maybe the campaign has been going on for weeks or even months; doesn't matter, there's always room for one more.If a player asks what they can play, and they look like they've never played D&D before (which, frankly, many haven't), we keep it simple. "Fighter, thief, cleric, or magic-user. There are other classes, like elf, but it's best to wait until you've got a handle on the game before trying one of those. For now, just roll up some stats, pick a class, and dive right in." And less than three minutes later, they're crawling the dungeon alongside the old pros and having an grand old time. Details are always a thing that can come later.</blockquote>

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