D&D General The Monsters Know What They're Doing ... Are Unsure on 5e24

[Dire Bare]

I dont think it fully works, as depending on what is happening, the whole party could be impacted by the player playing that race, and other players may not be happy about it.

I ran a Dragonlance campaign recently, I said based on the world, there are the common races that are native to the world, but any race available in 5e is playable, they would just be outsiders visiting Krynn, and depending on the race may get quite a bit of attention, possibly unwanted, by npcs around them because of their unusual appearance.

I also said that Dragonborn are a step further, as due to the emergence of Draconians, many may be suspicious of another dragon looking creature, and so would make some interactions harder, and some potential routes / opportunities may get close off as a result , though campaign will still be doable.

If a player did choose to be a Dragonborn, then it would impact on the whole party for being associated with that character. In this instance, it may not have concerned the DM so much, but may have made other players unhappy, and in that instance, who takes precedence?

Good on you for trying to be open and collaborative. Even when you do everything "right", things don't always go well. We're all only human after all.

Suggestions for future games . . .

• The idea that "strange" looking characters will get frightened or hostile treatment from the locals . . . needs to die in a fire. It's not actually very realistic, and it doesn't promote good RPG storytelling. Well, maybe in a dark, Ravenloft game, it might, unless taken too far.
  • Your tortle walks up to the bar, and the bartender gives him the side-eye, "You're not from around these parts are you? Well . . . WELCOME to the Dancing Dragon Inn stranger! What will you have?"
• If a player wants to play a dragon-person in a Dragonlance campaign . . . they could play a dragonborn from another world, somehow transplanted to Krynn . . . or they could simply play a draconian using the PHB dragonborn to represent them. And again, even though most draconians are soldiers in the Dark Queen's armies (during the War of the Lance, at least), that doesn't mean every time the party walks into town, they have to get an overly suspicious or hostile reaction.
  • "Hey there, is that one of the Dark Queen's evil dragon-man soldiers with you there knight?
  • "Kravak has rebelled against the evil of Takhisis and now serves the light and fights against the dragonarmies with us."
  • "Well then, if you vouch for him, he's welcome in our town!"
• Session Zero isn't a cure-all, but it's amazing for working out potential upset before it happens. If the group isn't comfortable with a draconian or dragonborn PC, then the GROUP should say "No" rather than the DM. But don't assume they will, I think most groups would be just fine with a draconian PC in a Dragonlance game.

 

[Maxperson]

I see it the other way around, we already know the monsters will only last 2-3 rounds, so why bloat the stat block with skills they will / should never use during those few rounds

Because they aren't just for fighting.

 

[gban007]

Good on you for trying to be open and collaborative. Even when you do everything "right", things don't always go well. We're all only human after all.

Suggestions for future games . . .

• The idea that "strange" looking characters will get frightened or hostile treatment from the locals . . . needs to die in a fire. It's not actually very realistic, and it doesn't promote good RPG storytelling. Well, maybe in a dark, Ravenloft game, it might, unless taken too far.
  • Your tortle walks up to the bar, and the bartender gives him the side-eye, "You're not from around these parts are you? Well . . . WELCOME to the Dancing Dragon Inn stranger! What will you have?"
• If a player wants to play a dragon-person in a Dragonlance campaign . . . they could play a dragonborn from another world, somehow transplanted to Krynn . . . or they could simply play a draconian using the PHB dragonborn to represent them. And again, even though most draconians are soldiers in the Dark Queen's armies (during the War of the Lance, at least), that doesn't mean every time the party walks into town, they have to get an overly suspicious or hostile reaction.
  • "Hey there, is that one of the Dark Queen's evil dragon-man soldiers with you there knight?
  • "Kravak has rebelled against the evil of Takhisis and now serves the light and fights against the dragonarmies with us."
  • "Well then, if you vouch for him, he's welcome in our town!"
• Session Zero isn't a cure-all, but it's amazing for working out potential upset before it happens. If the group isn't comfortable with a draconian or dragonborn PC, then the GROUP should say "No" rather than the DM. But don't assume they will, I think most groups would be just fine with a draconian PC in a Dragonlance game.

I ran dragonlance,.as like the general lore of thr world around the War of the Lance up until Dragons of Summer Flame, and was running the 5e adventure. While I generally liked the adventure and updates to lore in there, I still tend to base it around the races being quite xenophobic until after the War and they finally came together, but means the humans, dwarves and elves all distrusted each other, the various Dwarven cultures hated each other, as did the Elven ones, the knights had a troubled reputation, wizards distrusted etc, and a feeling from the novels that strangers are generally distrusted especially if of a different race, with some exceptions (e.g. Gnomes, Minotaurs). So another race would run into similar, typically no worse, but some I think could incur even more. In this regard, I dont think Tabaxi,.Drow or Tortles would incur any greater reaction, Orcs may get more reaction for being similar to goblins / hobgoblins, though at same time Solace seemed to tolerate Fewmoaster Toade and his goblins (while distrusting Tanis etc despite them having lived there) , and so would have been case by case and in discussion with the players.

Re the dragonborn question, the characters were all strangers to each other, and the Towns / Cities they visited, so vouching wouldn't have worked. Their deeds / actions would get them there, just slower than otherwise.

 

[Maxperson]

And if the DM intends the monster to persist beyond a combat, then the statblock should be reformatted for a unique individual, with a personal name, and a more extensive list of features.

It's not typically up to the DM. The players are the ones who find ways to converse with or ally with the creatures.