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

[Mecheon]

Don't think anyone cares that much about Gnomes. I've seen 3 rolled up in 30 years. 1 per edition.

There aren't many of us gnome fans out there, but we're devoted

As for alignment, I just don't use it

 

[Clint_L]

I don't restrict some alignments, I restrict all alignments.

 

[cbwjm]

I don't really bother with alignment, I do tend to ask my players to play heroic characters though. They might still write an alignment on their sheet but I'll never ask about it. Also tend not to write it on my sheet if I'm a player.

 

[CleverNickName]

I've never had a problem with alignment; I've been using it as-written since the 1980s. I think D&D would be weird without it, but don't let me (or anyone else) tell you what you should like.

 

[cbwjm]

I've never had a problem with alignment; I've been using it as-written since the 1980s. I think D&D would be weird without it, but don't let me (or anyone else) tell you what you should like.

I'd probably use it in an edition where it matters somewhat, but 5e ain't it. I didn't specify but my earlier comment about not bothering to use it were pretty much specific to 5e (maybe also 4e, can't quite recall how it interacted with mechanics, if at all, in that edition.

 

[Clint_L]

Yeah, I don't actually restrict alignment. Players can write whatever they want on their character sheets. It just doesn't exist as a thing in my D&D campaigns.

However, I do restrict plenty of character behaviours. If you want to play as a psychopathic murderer, that's totally fine; your fun is your fun. But I'm not the DM for you. If the game's not fun for me, I'm not going to do it.

 

[delericho]

I typically allow anything from the PHB except multiclassing, and then a few selected elements (especially subclasses) from other sources. But unless something is explicitly included, it is excluded.

Oh, and we don't use alignment. So I guess those are all excluded.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Well, then, I'll add it (honestly I don't know how I missed that ONE!!!

Especially since I don't do evil alignments myself.

NP, stuff happens.

And, as I said in the other thread, for me it is not "you are not allowed to play that." It is "I cannot run an enjoyable game for that." It is a fault of mine, a limitation in my abilities, not an issue with the choice itself. I am quite certain many people I know could play a very excellent "pure evil" character and participate fruitfully in many games with said character. From my own experience with RP, however, I would struggle just to run something adequate, let alone good, for such a character. It just runs counter to how my brain works.

If I did not have that impediment, I would--with caution, of course--permit players to play such "pure evil" characters. And certainly, for anything shy of sincere, fully unrepentant evil, I'm willing to figure out a way to make it work. Evildoer just starting to have a change of heart, ex-mafioso having to dredge up old contacts and hating every minute of it, good but morally grey person suffering terrible temptation...there are a lot of options. But "pure" evil, evil that is fully unrepentant and quite happy to stay evil? Yeah that's just...I can't work with that.

Other than that limitation, in general, I'm pretty close to an "anything goes" DM. I will shut down abusive, coercive, or exploitative behavior. As far as I'm concerned, anything that isn't in those three buckets is genuine, sincere player enthusiasm, and I eagerly seek out every opportunity to cultivate that. If the player can sell me on the idea (and it usually doesn't take that much), I'll find a way to make it work. It might be lesser, or reinterpreted, or take time to work out, or require an adventure or sacrifice before it manifests, or some other tweak or reframing or whatever. But if I can make it happen, in general, I want to.

 

[FrogReaver]

I voted everything because it depends on the campaign.

 

[Lanefan]

And, as I said in the other thread, for me it is not "you are not allowed to play that." It is "I cannot run an enjoyable game for that." It is a fault of mine, a limitation in my abilities, not an issue with the choice itself. I am quite certain many people I know could play a very excellent "pure evil" character and participate fruitfully in many games with said character. From my own experience with RP, however, I would struggle just to run something adequate, let alone good, for such a character. It just runs counter to how my brain works.

Thing is, oftentimes you-as-DM don't have to "run" as much for these types of characters; as in, there's less story-driving to do. Just turn them loose, react* to what their players have them do, sit back, and enjoy the entertainment.

Put another way, IME players of evil characters usually have something in mind which they'll try to set up on their own, which perhaps ironically makes running the game less work for me.

* - and yeah, sometimes that reacting includes having the locals go after the PCs with torches and pitchforks if it's what those locals would do.