D&D General How am I a D&D outlier? How are you one?

[Reynard]

I go for the kill. I try to balance encounters and I am a fan of the PCs and all that, but once the violence starts (and assuming the adversaries want the PCs dead) i pull no punches. I kill downed PCs. I focus fire. The villains/monsters want to win.

 

[DemoMonkey]

Against current common wisdom, I think there actually IS a right way to play D&D.

And I'm not telling you.

 

[Reynard]

I deviate from the norm mostly because my gaming group has been playing together for almost a decade, and we still meet twice a month to play (although lately we've been "meeting" online, in FoundryVTT + Discord.)

Is that not the norm? My IRL group is 15 years old and my online groups are with people I have been playing with for 10 to 25 years.

 

[CleverNickName]

Is that not the norm? My IRL group is 15 years old and my online groups are with people I have been playing with for 10 to 25 years.

Data point of one, but yeah...I think that's unusual. I've been a member of several gaming groups over the years, and few of them last more than 6 months.

 

[Reynard]

Data point of one, but yeah...I think that's unusual. I've been a member of several gaming groups over the years, and few of them last more than 6 months.

That would explain a lot of the group complaining I see on Reddit, I suppose.

 

[bulletmeat]

11. I am not a fan of VTTs and remote play (though I do the latter when necessary and use Owlbear Rodeo a little bit).

This has probably killed my gaming the most. I did it w/podcasts in 07/08 & tried it again a few years ago but the excitement just is not the same.

 

[Oofta]

As a DM?

1. I have a world I first drew up in high school. I still use it and many campaigns and actions of PCs have added to it, large and small.
2. I have my own cosmology and the gods of humans are based on Norse mythology, although I did borrow most of the non-human deities from Greyhawk and FR.
3. I run campaigns up to level 20 with an occasional beyond.
4. I sometimes start PCs at level 0.
5. Raise dead is difficult, resurrection is practically unheard of.
6. I don't think I've ever used a published mod, although I do get them sometimes just for inspiration.
7. One of my first PCs is still an NPC because he became essentially immortal in my wife's campaign (we share the same world). A true neutral wizard, I kind of accidentally created my own cranky atheist Elminister.
8. I don't remember the last time a dungeon was the focus of a game and I rarely use dragons.
9. The bad guys are almost always human.
10. People can contribute to the lore of my campaign with backgrounds, but I retain editorial authority to make sure it doesn't contradict anything. They can have major lasting impact as PCs.

As a player?

1. I don't care much about optimization and don't really read optimization threads especially when the "massive" difference is a point or two of DPR based on a specific set of assumptions.
2. I've played all sorts of races and alignments (other than evil).
3. Every elf I've ever played dies before they get to 3rd level. There have been quite a few.
4. I did once try a half elf to see if I could break the curse. He got to 3rd level and then died.
5. The personality and motivation for my PC matter more than race or class.
6. I kind of dislike playing dex based characters, especially those who hang out in the back trying to avoid all damage possible.
7. I occasionally write short stories about my PCs either revealing bits of their history or what's going on between adventures.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I am a pure player never a dm(I likely have a mental disorder that would make dm hell for me.)
I have never quite found a race I just gel with ever most people find one fairly easily.
that I attempt to solve the latter problem by homebrewing one that fits what I like.
I have only played in failed campaigns.
I was the guy who brought all the stuff for the game, not the dm.
I love the monk and the idea of the psion.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

How am I an outlier?

1. I’m a black dude.
2. I like- no, LOVE- multiclassing.
3. I like the old, 9 position alignment system. It helps set D&D fantasy apart from other FRPGs.
4. I like psionics in general.
5. I like having meaningful distinctions between arcane magic vs divine magic vs psionics.
6. I enjoy melee where reach, position, cover, LoS, etc. make a difference.
7. I don’t think combat optimization is the be-all end-all of character design, and like exploring the nooks & crannies of the possibilities the system offers. (And I have found some doozies.)
8. I encourage thought out PC backstories because I think they help ME run a better, more immersive game.
9. I rarely use plot armor. If your PC or party does something silly, naturally forseeable consequences will not be handwaved away. Camp in the road, you WILL get run over.
10. I generally run my campaigns in an open and permissive fashion. Not quite kitchen sink, but close. But if I say “X doesn’t exist in this setting.” You’re probably wasting your breath trying to convince me to change. I may, however, work with you to reach an approximation.
11. I’m a black dude.

 

[Reynard]

How am I an outlier?

1. I’m a black dude.
2. I like- no, LOVE- multiclassing.
3. I like the old, 9 position alignment system. It helps set D&D fantasy apart from other FRPGs.
4. I like psionics in general.
5. I like having meaningful distinctions between arcane magic vs divine magic vs psionics.
6. I enjoy melee where reach, position, cover, LoS, etc. make a difference.
7. I don’t think combat optimization is the be-all end-all of character design, and like exploring the nooks & crannies of the possibilities the system offers. (And I have found some doozies.)
8. I encourage thought out PC backstories because I think they help ME run a better, more immersive game.
9. I rarely use plot armor. If your PC or party does something silly, naturally forseeable consequences will not be handwaved away. Camp in the road, you WILL get run over.
10. I generally run my campaigns in an open and permissive fashion. Not quite kitchen sink, but close. But if I say “X doesn’t exist in this setting.” You’re probably wasting your breath trying to convince me to change. I may, however, work with you to reach an approximation.
11. I’m a black dude.

Out of curiosity (as I am a GenX white dude whose gaming peeps are mostly GenX white folk) have you seen a marked increase in people of color playing D&D in your gaming cicles (whatever those may be)?