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

[SkidAce]

Statblock creation for a unique character is done between sessions. Keep track of any decisions that were made on the fly until then.

This is the Way.

 

[tetrasodium]

Much like Pam in the Office, I can’t find the difference between these pictures. All 3 of those rationales are terrible.

Perhaps that shows your problem with interpreting the three is one of empathy where player to gm ratio at just about every table leaves the gm as an otherized position that has become synonymous for many with a service provider role expected to just do their job. by players who don't have a shred of responsibility expected of thebeyond have fun and "tell your story". Milgram Bonhoeffer & a little 1962 Jordan hall basement activity have a bit to say about what happens when groups of people develop an absence of empathy towards a. "Other like that.

 

[AlViking]

Any attempt at lynching a PC is likely to result in a massacre of the village, so it's not like it poses any real threat.

You play a different game than I do. The PCs are powerful but there are also powerful NPCs and everyone has to sleep sometime.

Bottom line, if the DM is willing, it is not only possible, it makes for an interesting story. If the DM isn't willing, it supports the "DMs are Evil" argument.

I could also say that if the player insists on playing something not on my curated list and is not willing to discuss actual compromise that supports the "Entitled Player Syndrome" argument.

 

[TwoSix]

If you're not interested in the game world I'm building, find another game. I'm not about to throw away months of work to "adapt" to an inflexible player who isn't willing to create something that DOES work in the game. And likewise I don't want to cramp your desire to play a Rastafarian Tortle .... go play one .... in some other setting.

And the point I'm making is that building a setting that isn't anchored in a group of players' interests and choices is a waste of time. Go outside, touch some grass, connect with friends, volunteer at a soup kitchen....anything besides spending effort on Tolkien Pastiche #12014172.

But that's not what you're writing. You're saying I have to have tortles because that's what the player wants?

What happened to my agency?

And when you're GMing, you have vastly more channels at your disposal to exercise your agency. You have every NPC in the setting. The player has one character. Quite simply, the player's aesthetic considerations for races/species for their character carry more weight than yours as a GM; unless you've made arrangements for a more limited campaign frame that the players have agreed to buy into.

 

[TwoSix]

I don't care one way or another if people know much about my world's lore. There's a lot of it out there in electronic format now, maybe someday I'll load it all up into an LLM to make a more digestible format. But if you join my campaign? I have a page of house rules and another few paragraphs on what the player needs to know about my world. All that documentation is for me so when they find themselves in that swampland and they find evidence of a dwarven encampment I have history behind why it's there and, if it matters or they care, how those events still affect the world now.

You may not care about that kind of depth and as a player you don't need to. But for the DM? It matters a lot.

I DM as often as I play, probably a little more. The setting simply isn't that important.

 

[Belen]

Let's say someone decides they want to run a game specifically about a group of halfings who have to leave their idyllic home and go on one or more adventures.

Is this an unreasonable idea for a game? Does it indicate the GM lacks vision or can only run railroads?

Is it reasonable for players to advise the GM they're on board with the game, but want to play a gnomish illusionist or dwarven fighter instead of a halfling?

If players do suggest such characters, is it reasonable for the GM to indicate that they'd really prefer their halfing game have halfling characters?

For myself:

If I pitched a "halflings go on an adventure" game to my players, and they started coming back to me with non-halfing character concepts, I wouldn't fight with them about it. I would start by asking, "Are you actually interested in a game about halfings who have to leave their idyllic home and go on adventures?" If the answer is yes, then I'd suggest that halfling characters are far, far more suitable for the concept. If a single player wanted something different, I'd probably be good with it, but more than that and I'd feel the original concept was being undermined and most likely I'd be a little confused about why they're saying they want a halfling game but don't want to play halflings.

If multiple players simply didn't want to play halflings, then I would not adapt the game to become a non-halfing one -- I'd scrap the whole plan (or save it for another day when I have players interested in engaging with the idea) and come up with an entirely new concept, looking for something everyone is interested in.

Importantly, none of this process involves players vs GMs or one side trying to win while other side loses, it's just a group of people looking for consensus and, if the final consensus is, "this particular game idea isn't going to go ahead at this point," that's perfectly OK. There is absolutely no need for any hurt feelings or demands for capitulation.

That said, if the entire group has agreed to a halfling game, and one player suddenly decides they don't want to play along at all, they may end up having to sit out until the next campaign. Most likely, they won't do this in a petulant way, they'll just say, "You know, this game isn't actually for me, I'm going to bow out for now."

My wife’s Halfling Musketeers game has long been a fan favorite among ENWorlders.

 

[SkidAce]

Yeah, that doesn't work for a game that flows. I'm not going to just shut down the session so I can make something for the next session. I need it in the moment, not the next week.

I dont understand. But interested.

Players take a liking to an NPC unexpectedly. DM roleplays interactions with the characters, taking notes, and carrying on with the game.

Next day (RL) the DM fills in any missing details for the NPC they might need.

Isn't this what DMs do anyway? Even if I had a "complete" statblock, I would still need to flesh out details on a random NPC that the group placed higher significance on than I expected. Heck, I would have to do that with a location, or building they randomly decided to "break and enter".

Now IF you are simply saying that statblocks need more non-combat info, or detailed equipment, rather than vagueness, well I kinda get that.

 

[TwoSix]

Perhaps that shows your problem with interpreting the three is one of empathy where player to gm ratio at just about every table leaves the gm as an otherized position that has become synonymous for many with a service provider role expected to just do their job. by players who don't have a shred of responsibility expected of thebeyond have fun and "tell your story". Milgram Bonhoeffer & a little 1962 Jordan hall basement activity have a bit to say about what happens when groups of people develop an absence of empathy towards a. "Other like that.

I GM as often as I play. GMs don't need some special form of empathy.

If you're GMing for people who don't appreciate your efforts, stop GMing.

There's no Prisoner's Dilemma around people engaged in a shared hobby activity.

 

[Remathilis]

You play a different game than I do. The PCs are powerful but there are also powerful NPCs and everyone has to sleep sometime.

Dang. I KNEW I smelled museum tourism! Burn down a village because they tried to lynch a fellow PC and suddenly 20th level archmages with gank you when you sleep. Teach those players to mess with my setting!

It always starts with "I have a carefully considered vision of my world" and it ends with "and I'm not going to let anyone change it unless I say so."

 

[TwoSix]

Yeah, that doesn't work for a game that flows. I'm not going to just shut down the session so I can make something for the next session. I need it in the moment, not the next week.

What kind of GM needs a statblock just to run a NPC? Just improvise!