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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 8869253" data-attributes="member: 50987">Well, first and foremost, you need to talk to the players.  You have to find out what style of game they want to play, and also describe the style of game that you want to play.  This is best done over a few slices of pizza and some pints, without any dice at the table at all.While you're chatting with your group, you need to be up front about specific problems you want to avoid.  Don't use nebulous terms like "powergaming" and "min/maxing," because these terms have different definitions and will only lead to confusion.  Instead, speak frankly and clearly, avoiding slang and being as specific as you can.  Instead of saying "No crit-fishing!", for example, say "I don't want players constantly re-rolling dice in hopes of getting a natural 20.  It slows the game down, and annoys other people at the table.  Let's talk about how we can keep that to an absolute minimum."You also need to listen to the players and be prepared to compromise.  Imagine a player tells you that they are very excited about the new spells in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, and shares their idea for an archfey Warlock patron and that new Pact of the Talisman, but you are excited to roll out your low-magic gritty realism campaign setting where characters can only learn spells through feats and magic items.  Clearly this is going to be a problem, and you need to resolve that conflict in a manner that both of you can both agree on."Just play something else" is often rolled out as a popular solution--whether it means the player picking a different character, or you picking a different campaign setting.  It's not really feasible though:  the player isn't going to be happy about not being able to play their character idea, any more than you're going to be happy about not being able to play your campaign idea...and it would be unfair for either side to force their preference on the other.  You are going to need a compromise, not a fiat or "put it to a vote."  So instead of saying "you can't play a warlock, this is a low-magic game," maybe you could say "this campaign has less magic in it than the last one we played.  Let's talk a bit about your warlock and the spells you were most interested in having...I'm going to be removing spells and spellcasters from the game, but I'll keep your favorites."There's a lot of other broad-brush advice in this thread (and on the Internet as a whole), which can be helpful.  Not using the multiclassing rules or feats (they are optional, after all) is fine, but it's not a substitution for talking to your players.  You still need to find out what everyone else wants and expects, and share what you want and expect, to ensure that everyone starts on the same page.THEN hand out some character sheets and start rolling dice.</blockquote>

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