Question about a Druid feat

[Celebrim]

Point was settled.

The game group voted (by email), and four out of five of the "off book" feates and options the player of the Druid asked for were rejected, including the Greenbound Summoning feat.

The feat is so imbalanced that even CharOp boards typically note the expectation that DM's won't normally allow it. This is the expected result.

Afterwards he said he didn't want to play with us, that he felt our style and his weren't compatible. I can't say that he's wrong.

I can say that I wish he was.

I played with a group on a long running 1e campaign that went through a RL years long period of 'paragon' tier play as kings leading armies into battle and eventually went through RL years of 'epic' play with interplanar travel and apocalyptic 'alien' invasions. After I left the group, they rebooted a new campaign with a grittier low magic feel as a change of pace. A player asked to join the group. He arrived with a character sheet for a game that at the time was 3rd level, with his loot already filled out including a Vorpal Sword and a Wand of Wonder and about a dozen other potent items. At the time, the group had a single magic item - a +1 dagger. They tried to explain the situation to him, and tried to explain to him that generally speaking, characters can't just choose their own loot (remember, this is 1e era, long before 'wealth by level' and fungible wealth and magic marts are accepted as a thing). He got mad, stormed out, and my friends had a long laugh before shrugging their shoulders.

Do you really wish your style was compatible with the player? Where you voting to allow it?

 

[Greenfield]

The points we voted on were:

1) The Greenbound Summoning feat (Failed 5 - 0 )
2) The Ashbound feat (Failed 4 - 1 )
3) Shapeshift (from PHB II) that replaces Wild shape. (Passed 5 - 0 )
4) The Dragon Below domain from a Cleric level. (Failed 5-0 )
5) If a Cleric serves a "Holy Cause" instead of a deity (from the PHB), does said cause or purpose have a Favored Weapon? (He'd chosen to serve Nature, as a Cleric, and chosen the War and Dragon Below domains, thus entitling him to Weapon Focus in the deity's Favored Weapon). Failed (5-0)

He got the Shapeshift, and I was alone in voting that Ashbound wasn't a problem.

I'm not wishing our group style was more like his. I was wishing he could relax, lose the "Me against the DM" attitude, and have fun playing with us.

 

[Imaculata]

Well, sometimes you're better off without players like that. I have had my share of groups in which one player was absolutely obsessed with having the most powerful character, and it always broke the group apart.

My current group is made 100% of players who are in it for the role playing, and are very cautious with what expansion material we introduce into the game. They don't just verify new feats with their DM, but also with each other. If they feel a feat or ability is overpowered, we either agree on a houserule for it, or we veto it.

One of the best and worst things about 3.5, is all the material for it. And not all of it is going to be balanced.