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Message: <blockquote data-quote="phloog" data-source="post: 4646089" data-attributes="member: 59219">In the interest of being incredibly lazy, let me give my response to this and the forked thread at the same time about DM effort/reward. I've been in parties with the following character names: Sir Anus of ColonGowulf KhlobzDeMetrius Velveeta ThorndykeRandolph Lagenta Glitch(etc. - a list too long for the boards) and had a grand time...I've DMed games with similar goofiness (Archimedes Kartoffelopolis comes to mind.)  I've run grim and ultra-serious games, and I've run games where the group encountered Punchmunchkin the Riddling Gnome. In all cases, the party was either full of players of a similar mindset, or had players who preferred serious names but could immerse themselves without it being broken by the goofiness.   One of the issues I've had with a few of the directions these discussions have gone is they've tended to speak of a two-way conversation DM to player....everyone in the group has to remember that it's about making sure everyone has a good time.  If a player insists on silly names and it doesn't work with the group as a whole, that player should find another game.  If a player is in a group of silly namers and cannot abide, then that player should find another group. The DM has a responsibility to provide the framework of a good story.  A character concept, name, background, that is incompatible with that framework shouldn't be allowed, because it damages the whole for all players.  Having said that, I would add to the definition of a 'Good DM' the ability to understand clearly at what level a given 'difference' breaks that game.  If it really seems incompatible, you have to make the call to disallow. Interesting note, though...in the last ten years or so of my 30 years of DMing, I've never had a player argue with me when I ruled against a character choice, and it comes down to trust.  They understand that I'm not doing this lightly - any time I don't allow something it's because the game would suffer for everyone. However, I would also point out that if DMing is to not become a chore, and is to be in itself a 'reward' for 'all those hours' you put in, it's often a really good idea to let your players surprise you and beat on the limits. I think we start to go down a nasty road when we start talking about who 'owns' the characters....I think I'd rather switch hobbies if I found that an issue in my games.</blockquote>

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