Fear of house rules?

[boredgremlin]

Okay anyone ever have to deal with a player who just refuses to try anything but WoTC by the book? Even other OGL stuff and they run for the hills. Maybe its because i have played and GMed a ton of different games and systems back to old rifts and 2ed.

So anyway everyone else wants to try the newer stuff and this player seems fairly serius about the game so i would like to give him a shot (plus we could use another player). But the guy is phobic about non 3.5 stuff. He didnt even know what OGL stuff was.

Anyone have any advice for getting a gamer to at least give something new a try?

 

[lasher]

So this guy is phobic about anything that does not come from a 3.5 book...
If you have access to one, go and have a look at Unearthed Arcana, it is 3.5 and has MANY variant rules that are useful both to GMs and Players. If you can get that through, consider it the thin edge of the wedge for your other house rules.

If he continues to be unmoving about not wanting to play variants, consider this:

In the end it is your game and if he does not like it, he can always walk away.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

A good DM or player who creates house rules while keeping in mind with the spirit of the game and the rules of the game is fine in my opinion.
Maybe he has had bad experiences with house rules in the past. Or maybe he sees house rules as bringing chaos to order or as an unecessary risk (I eel that way more about published material than house rules my self).
Try to find out why he doesn't like house rules.

 

[Crothian]

I had players like that, I told them tough and now they love the third party stuff

 

[Nifft]

"Fine, only take stuff from those books... NPCs are not similarly limited. "

-- N

 

[Storyteller01]

Show him variant rules from the DMG...

 

[Nifft]

Show him variant rules from the DMG...

Like the infrequent and subtle "prestige" class?

-- N

 

[boredgremlin]

Lol this guy said he threw out his 3.0 books because he feels that strongly about 3.5. I am afraid if i show him UA his head will explode or something.

I really should just ditch him but i have this strong urge to help newer players branch out and try new things. There is so much out there from different sources thats better then WoTC stuff. Especially if your willing to mix and match things from different makers.

This group is wierd though on the whole, I got one guy who has played like 10 years and doesnt own a single book (he is pretty good though, very creative), a total rookie who just wants to play and doesnt care about the rules, a guy who played 2e for years and years and never even played 3e or 3.5 till a few months ago (and he hates it), lol and me any friend who have played so many systems we get rules confused sometimes as to what game they are from. Then there is the phobic.....

Lol i have no idea how i am gonna balance this group out. Anyone have any advice on good luck charms?

 

[Sravoff]

Like the infrequent and subtle "prestige" class?

-- N

Hail to the Undead Stalker!

-Sravoff

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I have a similar issue, altho not quite as disparate as yours.

Player 1: cringes at house rules... but has started to warm to some of them
Player 2: Wants to be able to look everything up in a book. Argues what he thought he read and sulks when a rule-0 keeps the game flowing...or when he doesn't know the situation fully.
Player 3: doesn't care about the rules, just wants to play
Player 4: studies the rules as to mon-max his character.
Player 5: Knows the rules very well.. and accepts house rules/ rule-0 without a blink.


Of course, Player 5 usually has work conflicts with our game time

My suggestion, talk the reasoning for the house/variant rule out so they can see the increased depth of the game, which increases potential enjoyment.
Involve them in crafting the house rules.. I am working on an EoM partial transform that my Player 1 instantly hated, until I explained how his Druid character could use the finished version in a way that fit his concept better than a full wildshape.

And lastly, ditch any house rules that don't go the distance to make the game enjoyable.

As to good luck charms.. were you talking in game or out?
The module I am running introduces Fetishes, items that can grant a +3 bonus to either an attack roll, save roll, or damage roll. Usuable once. A Feat is required to make on. A character can carry 3 fetishes at a time and can only use one per action.

Out of game, the best thing I have ever seen to getting acceptance of DM ruling is to keep books off the table. Preferably out of the room. I never have rules arguments when no-one has access to the books