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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 1478132" data-attributes="member: 14159">As opposed to the out-of-game resentment that the arbitrary, unexplained rulings foster.  Honestly, if a DM said out of nowhere, "No Druids in my game" and refused to explain any further, I would think he's a jerk, not for "restricting options", but for having a "I'm the DM and I get to say these sort of things" attitude.  I would assume that any DM I would play for would have enough respect for me as a player to at least say "there is a plot reason why druids aren't available, you can find out the details in-game."  Remember: Partnership, not opposition.  Teamwork, not competition. GM's should assume that their players are mature enough to keep basic OOG info out of game.  If they aren't mature enough, then perhaps keeping the game to a simple dungeon crawl until they can handle detailed plots is in order.If some PC's want to play Druids, then perhaps they wouldn't enjoy a campaign that makes Druids villains, and they would be better off spending their nights rolling dice with another DM.  The DM can write up all the detailed backstory and intricate plot he wants, but if it never shows up in game, or never makes it beyond some token mentions or the framework for a dungeon crawl/battle then it really doesn't matter.Also, if you're removing core options, you can make players feel better by introducing new campaign-specific options.If your setting doesn't have Paladins (like 2e & athas.org Dark Sun), perhaps you can create a new class for martial champions of a faith, like an Elemental Champion class (like people suggested Dragon should have done).  If you don't want someone to play a Druid because there is something going on with the druidic order, what about a Cleric of a nature or elemental themed deity (or a deity that has an order that is somewhat rustic or elemental).  What would a spiritual person who wanted to revere nature do in this world?  Are you just disallowing that character concept?  Most of the PHB classes are fairly archetypical of fantasy concepts, so disallowing them does remove some things that players generally want to play.  Most of the PHB races are also fairly universal races that are present in most common fantasy settings, so for most settings players generally imagine themselves playing one of these races.Campaign specific classes/spells/feats help to define a world, and if inserted in place of Core materials (especially into similar roles) help to let players play the general concept they want to play.  A player who may be upset that they can't play a Halfling may perk up when they hear about Kender (as an example), or someone who wants to play a Monk because they want to be a combattant who uses exotic techniques and no armor may like the idea of playing a gladiator, or if he had a more spiritual monk in mind, a hermit or a mystic may appeal to them.  If it didn't exist before, but it fits with the spirit of the world, working with the player to create such a class helps the player feel more involved (since he's developing the game along with the DM) and makes for a better game overall.</blockquote>

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