Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 6686954" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Gut reaction, without reading any of the post: Hell no. However, I do think that it is a very good idea to provide an open-minded campaign setting for first-time players. A person's first game is a specific kind of first impression. They will almost surely internalize aspects of the play they experience, which will lay the foundations for how they define "playing an RPG." These experiences will carry on to future games, and will color their perception of both the hobby as a whole, and the specific game you play. Being open to their ideas will foster precisely the kind of creativity and spontaneity that most D&D fans explicitly say they want to see (even though many fans' rhetoric is often very pro-tradition, anti-innovation, unfortunately).Ah, you meant "core" in the sense of "the traditional archetypes" rather than in the sense of "you can ONLY play dwarf/elf/halfling/human!!"I don't think there's anything wrong with playing something that is not the bog-standard setting...but there are a few things worth thinking about, in line with my initial response:1) If someone wants to play a character that isn't strictly in keeping with your perception of the setting, please really truly consider working with them to adapt it to fit. For example, if someone really wanted to play a Nordic-style barbarian, you potentially could--remember that, as sailors, the Vikings really got around, and the medieval Middle East was super big on trade in the Mediterranean, so they probably would've come into contact with the occasional Germanic sailor or Mongol tribesman wandered far from home. Will it be exotic? Certainly! But if they're on board with that, it could be a lot of fun. Similarly, if someone wants to play a race you're not keen on (Dragonborn, to my lament, are at the top of the list for this one) please consider letting them. Perhaps they are the legacy left behind by the dragons, which is why they are rare in this part of the world--the dragons were dying out, so they created the "dragonspawn" (or whatever) to continue their legacy; or maybe dragonborn are from the deep desert, where their scaly skin makes it easier for them to survive things a human could not.2) Be prepared for some degree of expectation mismatch--e.g. "Wow, I was expecting Tolkien, and this is...really different!" On the one hand, this can mean that people might be thrown off and need time to "get into it," but on the other hand, this can help establish the idea that D&D is no pigeonholed, that it is a much broader and more open game than they're experienced with. It's very likely that some of the people who have applied have played SOME kind of fantasy RPG (WoW, Skyrim, Zelda) and so many will be used to associating "roleplaying game" with Tolkien-style pseudo-European fantasy; giving them something other than that could be either disorienting or liberating, and you'll want to pay attention to their response. In other words, I think it's perfectly legitimate to pitch the idea, but be prepared for people to be surprised, and handle that surprise in appropriate ways (depending on if it's "good" or "bad" surprise, that is).3) Consider carefully the people you might be running for. Are any of them Arabic themselves? Do any of them practice Islam (not, at all, the same thing)? Did any of them serve in the military? (Remembering that, for some of them, an Arabian Nights-flavored setting may bring up memories, for good or for ill.) Basically, just give a thought to who you're DMing for, and whether there might be sensitive subjects to address (or avoid) as a result.</blockquote>

Verification