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

[soviet]

nuh-uh it is true.

So if you allow one player to play something different, you must therefore allow everyone? How would this be enforced, exactly?

Also, why do all the players in your 'no tortles' game want to play tortles? Is it like a forbidden fruit thing? Are they not on board with the setting's deep lore?

 

[AlViking]

So if you allow one player to play something different, you must therefore allow everyone? How would this be enforced, exactly?

Also, why do all the players in your 'no tortles' game want to play tortles? Is it like a forbidden fruit thing? Are they not on board with the setting's deep lore?

If I say "yes" to a species not on my curated list and it also does not pass the "any exception must pass the looks like an existing species on the list", then I have no leg to stand on if someone comes along and requests another species not on the list. Do I just look at them and say "Sorry, Joe's character was an exception because he's my favorite"?

As far as why not, I'm tired of explaining.

 

[Wolfram stout]

So if you allow one player to play something different, you must therefore allow everyone? How would this be enforced, exactly?

Also, why do all the players in your 'no tortles' game want to play tortles? Is it like a forbidden fruit thing? Are they not on board with the setting's deep lore?

On what basis could you refuse?
I’m actually facing this right now. I have offered to run a D&D game e for some co-workers. All are fantasy movie and videogame geeks, 1 is an experienced D&D 5e player, one played in the 90s and 2 are new to ttrpg. Right off the bat the least experienced one ask if “all” races were allowed because he wants a loxodon. Not wanting to shut him down I say ok. Next up the most experienced says he wants a rat folk monk. Humorously he admits it is because he wants to play Splinter.
I feel like saying no to him would be arbitrary. Since I had not started the world building I can accommodate and make it a menagerie kitchen sink world.

I’m glad I didn’t have a LOTR style world already planned.

 

[Maxperson]

I was going to hit the laugh button for that but ... I just can't do it. We need an "appreciative groan" button.

Be grateful that I didn't say I wanted to be a one-legged tortle pirate so that I could be called tortle leanie.

 

[AlViking]

Be grateful that I didn't say I wanted to be a one-legged tortle pirate so that I could be called tortle leanie.

Dude you're killing me.

 

[Remathilis]

If I say "yes" to a species not on my curated list and it also does not pass the "any exception must pass the looks like an existing species on the list", then I have no leg to stand on if someone comes along and requests another species not on the list. Do I just look at them and say "Sorry, Joe's character was an exception because he's my favorite"?

As far as why not, I'm tired of explaining.

So if a player came to you with an option from a brand new book (say, a new subclass) and asked "can I play this?" You would have to say no because if you allowed it, you would have to allow Tortle gunslingers as well?

Corollary question: how through is your list and how often do you update it?

 

[billd91]

So if a player came to you with an option from a brand new book (say, a new subclass) and asked "can I play this?" You would have to say no because if you allowed it, you would have to allow Tortle gunslingers as well?

Corollary question: how through is your list and how often do you update it?

In my case, do I have the book? Because that's my requirement as DM for introducing an option from a new book. If I don't have it, it's a no.

 

[Remathilis]

In my case, do I have the book? Because that's my requirement as DM for introducing an option from a new book. If I don't have it, it's a no.

WHat if I bought you the book? Now can I use it?

 

[Maxperson]

A poster declared that in his game a tabaxi would be lynched by locals who think he is related to a raksasha. Another poster made a comment that if they went to lynch him, they would burn the village down. Which lead to another poster stating in his game, both that powerful agents of the government would hunt that PCs down for the arson and presumably murder, and that locals would shun them and sent armies to stop them. My retort was that immediately the world somehow instantly knows it's the PCs who did it and the world reacted in concert to punish them. Which is what lead to a series of questions:

Appropriate in fiction consequences for actions are not punishment.

 

[Maxperson]

Honestly, at this point, I'm probably going to bow out of any game that includes tortles because I have PTSD from hearing endless arguments about tortles in this thread.

I've only ever had one person in my game ask to play a tortle, and it was my 11(at the time) year old son. He made a tortle wizard and I really had to bite my tongue to keep from asking him to name the character Clothahump.