Play Style Gripe!

[Hussar]

Sure, but some people aren't very good at min/maxing, or are in campaigns that disregard LA for races or otherwise monte haul the rules (the gestalt thing is a bit of a hint).

Now I'm confused. People play funky races because they want to min/max, despite the fact that it takes about thirty seconds to realize that funky races are a poor choice for min/maxing. Dwarves and humans, clearly superior choices from a min/max point of view, are only taken for role play reasons because everyone out there is a poor min/maxer.

Could it possibly be that people who play funky races actually want to try to play a unique character and see race as being primary to that?

Why is it, when people make different choices, the cry of "Munchkin" comes up immedietely?

 

[satori01]

Basically, Jeeves as a monk. Like, with the bowler hat, tuxedo, and all. In Greyhawk.

The idea of a quiet, respectful butler who can unexpectedly kick butt is a cool idea ... but anachronisms, not so cool.

That is so cool, I doff my bowler hat to the player. I think it is perfectly sensible that in any sustained Aristocratic society that a caste of Senchals will arise. It certainly happened in England. Given that Greyhawk is a lot more dangerous than our world, Senchals that can kick some but, makes sense as well.

Compromise, make the strange apparel the orders traditional aparel, or let the player keep the concept, and say his garb has to be something distinctive but more in line with the current style.

I prersonaly would rather have backgrounds like that then yet another Valley Elf claiming to be descended from the Mage of the Valley, or another player adventuring for revenge after his village was destroyed.. or the Dark Elf seeking to redeem himself for his rough upbringing.

 

[rounser]

Why is it, when people make different choices, the cry of "Munchkin" comes up immedietely?

Well, yes, gestalt does make for "different choices", but I think you'd draw a long bow to say that it's not "differently powered" as well. That style of play tends to bring other "rules customisations" with it, though not always.

 

[reanjr]

Something I'm really confused about though. How much do people play that they get tired of PHB races/classes? Maybe it's because I DM most of the time, but, jeez, with that many classes/races, you'd think there'd be SOMETHING in there that would appeal.

In my experience, what happens is I get a player who likes playing wizards and dislikes gnomes, halflings, and dwarves. So for variety, he needs to find more races and similar wizard-like classes to fill the void.

I, on the other hand, am as likely to play almost any character class with the exception of druid and monk (just not my cup of tea). I also like all the races except for gnome and elf. This gives me a wide variety of combinations to choose from, but many people want to stick to something they know, but something that's new anyway.

 

[Psion]

Character churn is your friend.

 

[Herobizkit]

Something I'm really confused about though. How much do people play that they get tired of PHB races/classes? Maybe it's because I DM most of the time, but, jeez, with that many classes/races, you'd think there'd be SOMETHING in there that would appeal.

I mentionned in an earlier post that I've been D&D-ing for nearly 20 years. 6 base races, 10 base classes... if you play RAW, there are only so many decent combinations you can pick and enjoy. I've been so bored of other races that I've actually switched to playing Humans, just to break the monotony.

That said, it's much more fun to play unusual races/classes than the same old, same old.

 

[Herobizkit]

Uh huh. It seems more likely to me that people just did it for the min/max.

Not to derail the thread, but IMO the whole idea of making a character is to min/max. You min/max your stats to min/max your potential in a party of other min/maxers to min/max your overall potential of survival.

Unless you roll 3d6 in order for your stats, or randomly roll everything about your character, you're min/maxing.

 

[rounser]

Not to derail the thread, but IMO the whole idea of making a character is to min/max. You min/max your stats to min/max your potential in a party of other min/maxers to min/max your overall potential of survival.

So it's best to just admit that a lot of folks choose exotic races because they've got a +2 or +4 to some favoured stat or kewl abilities, and not for any high-falutin' reason of roleplaying possibilities as is being implied in this thread?

 

[Greylock]

Not to derail the thread, but IMO the whole idea of making a character is to min/max. You min/max your stats to min/max your potential in a party of other min/maxers to min/max your overall potential of survival.

As an old DM of mine used to point out, a Min/Maxed PC is a live PC.

Yeah, I take advantage of every tool given me, then I make a viable pc.

 

[Hussar]

That would only be true Rounser IF those exotic races were actually better than what is in the PHB. Of course, it would really hurt to say that people who always choose humans are munchkins.