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DMs: What are your character pet peeves?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tyler Do'Urden" data-source="post: 5717241" data-attributes="member: 4601"><p>The subject says it all... as a DM, what kind of characters can't you stand. I'm not talking about distinct classes (though we all have a few we don't know what to do with- Monks, for me), but tropes that really drive you crazy.</p><p></p><p>For me, it has to be the "mysterious wanderer from a far-away land". The guy with no family, no attachment to the campaign setting/region... unless the player has a really good backstory which plugs into something important in the campaign down the road (and this is rare, because the "mysterious wanderer" is generally a case of either an apathetic, lazy player- or someone who really wants to play some class or race from a sourcebook they found that doesn't a place in the game I'm running). Really, what I want from a player is a character that is invested into their world. They have a family. Friends. Mentors. Community. Something to fight for... to long for... to protect. That I can work with... and build upon.</p><p></p><p>I think my second biggest issue is tangental to the first- the "problem race"- the guy who insists on playing a mind flayer, or a grippli, or a mongrelman, or even a drow... in a campaign setting that is relatively low-magic (and the environs the players start in are nearly 95% human). Now, if it's just one weirdo PC in a group of "normals", this can be okay... but the "cantina scene" party is something I'd rather avoid, because it generally makes my plots fall apart pretty fast- unless I'm playing in a setting where such a party is appropriate (like, say, Planescape or Oathbound, or even the Forgotten Realms under some circumstances). What makes it worse is that often the player who wants to play the most exotic race has the least exotic play-style... largely playing the character as a human with a set of special powers. Ironically, the deepest roleplayers most often play... humans.</p><p></p><p>To fight both these tropes, I usually tell people straight up what the scenario is, and how they need to integrate their character into it. I also tend to ban non-standard races in the early game (though I may allow non-standard races later, if they've become relevant to the campaign).</p><p></p><p>What about your game?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tyler Do'Urden, post: 5717241, member: 4601"] The subject says it all... as a DM, what kind of characters can't you stand. I'm not talking about distinct classes (though we all have a few we don't know what to do with- Monks, for me), but tropes that really drive you crazy. For me, it has to be the "mysterious wanderer from a far-away land". The guy with no family, no attachment to the campaign setting/region... unless the player has a really good backstory which plugs into something important in the campaign down the road (and this is rare, because the "mysterious wanderer" is generally a case of either an apathetic, lazy player- or someone who really wants to play some class or race from a sourcebook they found that doesn't a place in the game I'm running). Really, what I want from a player is a character that is invested into their world. They have a family. Friends. Mentors. Community. Something to fight for... to long for... to protect. That I can work with... and build upon. I think my second biggest issue is tangental to the first- the "problem race"- the guy who insists on playing a mind flayer, or a grippli, or a mongrelman, or even a drow... in a campaign setting that is relatively low-magic (and the environs the players start in are nearly 95% human). Now, if it's just one weirdo PC in a group of "normals", this can be okay... but the "cantina scene" party is something I'd rather avoid, because it generally makes my plots fall apart pretty fast- unless I'm playing in a setting where such a party is appropriate (like, say, Planescape or Oathbound, or even the Forgotten Realms under some circumstances). What makes it worse is that often the player who wants to play the most exotic race has the least exotic play-style... largely playing the character as a human with a set of special powers. Ironically, the deepest roleplayers most often play... humans. To fight both these tropes, I usually tell people straight up what the scenario is, and how they need to integrate their character into it. I also tend to ban non-standard races in the early game (though I may allow non-standard races later, if they've become relevant to the campaign). What about your game? [/QUOTE]
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