D&D 5E DM imposed restrictions to the game (+)

[CleverNickName]

1. Anything official goes, but I keep my right to rebalance something that I see as completely gamebreaking, IE; I have changed GWM/SS -5/+10 to +1 str/dex before it was cool by WotC
also twilight cleric

I wrote a reply to this, but decided to move it over to its own thread so that I didn't derail this one.

 

[Voadam]

I generally allow in lots but some specific exclusions for specific games.

Nobody in my 5e games have asked for 3rd party stuff, I would evaluate that on a case by case basis. The closest was somebody wanting to use the UA playtest artificer which had a librarian build that I allowed with a little modification.

I generally do not like really alien or monstrous PC races so I have excluded monster ones like the bugbear when a player was interested in that.

In a 5e gothic horror campaign I wanted to focus on the human base experience for the horrors so I limited it to humans and classic D&D demihuman races (half elves and orcs but no dragonborn).

In one shots I have limited things to no multiclassing and no feats to keep characters more mechanically and narratively straightforward and quicker to build on the spot for the game.

 

[Professor Murder]

Honestly, it really depends on the campaign. If a given species or class doesn't fit with the plans, I just remove them from the options presented to players. Also as a rule, anything not 1st party published needs approval in any game I run.

 

[Micah Sweet]

As a plus thread, please don't put down, dismiss, judge, etc. other peoples' view or comments. Thank you!

From the direction this thread (D&D 5E - We Would Hate A BG3 Campaign) took, I became curious about what things different a DM might modify or restrict when they run a game. I'm not talking about modifications or homebrew, but pure restrictions--NOT ALLOWED.

You can choose multiple options, and feel free to explain why you make the choices you make if you care to. If you think of a type of restriction I missed, let me know and I'll update the poll. Thanks.

I'll go first.

BOOKS
Supplements

• Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
• Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons
• Monsters of the Multiverse
• Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
• The Book of Many Things

Campaign Settings

• Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
• Acquisitions Incorporated
• Eberron: Rising from the Last War
• Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount
• Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
• Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
• Spelljammer: Adventures in Space
• Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

Adventures

• Stranger Things: The Hunt for Thessalhydra
• Dungeons & Dragons vs Rick and Morty
• Wild Beyond the Witchlight
• Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
• Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
• Keys from the Golden Vault

3PP MATERIAL - None allowed. I might homebrew something based on 3PP, but that's pretty rare.
RACES - Only the "traditional" (dwarves, elves, halflings, gnomes, humans, half-elf, half-orc) are allowed.
CLASSES - no Artificier
SUBCLASSES - If the class and sourcebook are allowed, the subclass is allowed.
FEATURES - As subclasses, if the class, etc. is allowed, the feature is allowed.
MAGICAL ITEMS - Nothing too poweful (unique, legendary, artifacts) since my games run tier 2 generally.
NON-MAGICAL ITEMS - GUNS! No guns. Guns don't belong in D&D for me. Sometimes no plate armor, which is campaign dependent.
RULES - I play with a lot of rule modifications, but don't really restrict anything.

In most games I run, I allow anything from Level Up, anything referenced in my houserule document, and potentially anything from a 3pp source (including WotC) if I review and approve it.

If a game has a specific theme there will likely be restrictions. For example, one of my current campaigns uses the Level Up rules but takes place on a somewhat in the future but apocalyptic Earth, specifically my and my player's home region on the west coast. I provided a curated version of my allowed sources document to the players for character creation (only human and constructed heritage, for example), and we worked out the details in session 0.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I usually say anything in the PHB is fair game. Anything in a 1st party supplement book (e.g. Tasha’s, Xanathar’s, etc.) is probably fine, but let’s discuss how it fits into to the campaign first. Anything from a 1st party setting book (e.g. Eberron, Strixhaven, etc.) probably doesn’t exist in the setting, but I’m willing to discuss the possibility of reskinning it to fit. Anything from a 3rd party source is a no unless approved ahead of time.

The game I run for my kids is exclusively 5.0 PH on the player side, but that's only for their comfort level, and if they wanted more options I would be thrilled to accommodate them. DM side is unrestricted, pretty much.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I haven't used any third party books for D&D ever. I pretty much allow any official D&D product to be used, save for things that are specific to certain settings. You won't find any Kender in my Forgotten Realms.

I don't consider WotC's work any better or worse in general than 3pp (they're just another publisher to me, and not my favorite), so nothing is above being restricted if the campaign calls for it.

 

[GnomeWorks]

I run games exclusively in my homebrew setting.

Only two (tweaked) core races, my homebrew races allowed; variant human is default.

No core classes, only my homebrew classes allowed. Fighter and rogue are theoretically allowed but need special approval by me, with the understanding the character must pokevolve into a "real" class around 5th level (and by extension are definitely not allowed in any game that starts at 5th level or higher).

Feats are effectively mandatory, as everyone gets a bonus feat at 1st level (this can't be traded in for an ASI). I don't particularly care where a particular feat came from, but I reserve veto power on anything non-core. Half-human races are represented by taking a feat at 1st level.

Backgrounds from any source, so long as it makes sense or can be tweaked to make sense in-setting, and so long as it doesn't grant a feat.

I don't use alignment.

I don't allow multiclassing, and neither should you.

I have a few house rules, biggest ones are handling languages, what being at 0 hp means, and what is effectively a seventh ability score with effects dependent upon your class's role (there are no saves or skills associated with this ability score, but you can improve it with ASIs and such).

Any changes in 5e24 that would affect anything I use are ignored.

 

[MGibster]

I don't consider WotC's work any better or worse in general than 3pp (they're just another publisher to me, and not my favorite), so nothing is above being restricted if the campaign calls for it.

It's not about better or worse for me...sort of. I need to get over my fear of third party products that was inculcated in me during the d20 glut. I don't even own a lot of 5th edition D&D products. It's amazing to me how many books I don't own, so I'm just not likely to have picked up a third party product and I don't want to go through the trouble of having to vet every unofficial class/race/rule someone brings to my attention.

 

[mellored]

Generally no restrictions, and I will do light homebrewing if a player has a particular idea that want to play (i.e. acid sorcerer gets acid fireball).

It's rare but I have banned something for setting specific reasons.
I.e. I ran a dwarf vs elf war. Players had to pick a side. They picked dwarfs so elves where banned as PCs.

I don't do long campaigns with those restrictions though.

 

[Gorg]

Depends on which version we're playing.

but, for 5e:

I restrict character options to the 2014 PHB. With Dragonborn, Tieflings, Warlocks, and Sorcerors being banned. The latter, because the current spellcasting rules made it a moot point, really. EVERYONE'S casting now works like the 3e sorceror's used to. Now it's just an odd jumble of stuff... The former simply don't exist in my setting.

Back stories aren't banned, per se- but I never ask for them. We're writing our story as we go.

I reserve the right to introduce alternate stuff to the campaign via NPC's . Volos, is absolutely going to be used- as a monster expansion. (what it did for Gnolls is EXACTLY the sort of thing I like!!)

3pp. I am an enthusiastic collector of monster books- and new nasties will find their way into the game. Same for adventures. Rules expansions? Not so much.

The best part? The players rarely buy anything but the PHB, lol. So, it's mostly up to me to trickle in things like new spells, items, etc.

I'm really not trying to be a stickler or fun killer- just to preserve the flavor of game that drew us in in the first place. Ok, FINE- and powergamey stuff irks me, lol.