This seems pretty odd to me. D&D is a game played by more then just one person... Shouldn't EVERYONE playing have a say in how the game should work?
Actually, I agree.D&D is a game played by more then just one person... Shouldn't EVERYONE playing have a say in how the game should work?
IMO, DnD is a collaborative game. Everyone should be allowed to input on houserules/banning since they are all there for the same reason. Life is about give and take; playing this game shouldn't be any different.
Sure, the DM can drop a bunch of house rules and kill PC concepts, and those players have the right to tell the DM that they don't want to play in that game.
It's the DM's job to put together fun adventures, an interesting campaign world (or at least to portray an interseting campaign world), and possibly to develop an intricate plot.
It's not only the DM's right, but his responsibility, to ban material that's going to make it harder for him to do the above. And yes, that includes sometimes banning races, classes, alignments, or what have you. I rarely allow evil characters, for instance, and I feel not one shred of guilt for doing so. If I'm running a Conan-like game, I'm going to ban most of the non-human races for PCs, for the sake of the aesthetic.
This isn't about power, and it isn't about entitlement. It's about the DM creating the world and setting in which he wants to set his game, and nothing ruins a game faster than a DM who's not enjoying it.
Is it possible to abuse this? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean that it's always an abuse, or that it's unreasonable. Frankly, I'd rather a DM who has a strong enough sense of his intended aesthetic that he's willing to say "You know, X won't really work in this campaign" than a DM who allows everything, even if it won't work for the adventures or world he has in mind.
I sometimes --meaning: right now-- like to think of the DM as the democratically elected god of a constitutional republic, one that derives his or her power from the will and assent of the people...I'm just saying it's a give and take process, and no one player (DM or not) should be considered "God."
As a DM, I still feel entitled to ban things that are broken or overtly ludicrous.
As a player, I have asked every DM I have ever sat under "So, can I play a kobold?" and I have been told no. And I do not begrudge them for it.