Verboten! What do you NOT allow in your campaigns?

[AFGNCAAP]

With the plethora of rules, options, & materials available for D&D (not to mention any other sort of d20 materials out there), I was curious to see what kind of stuff isn't allowed in some games and why.

Is some of the stuff that you don't allow due to campaign setting concerns (i.e., it doesn't exist in that campaign reality), due to campaign style (i.e., no evil PCs), or purely based on preference (i.e., no half-elves or half-orcs; no paladins or spellcasting rangers, etc.)?

Please include what game system your restrictions are intended for: not allowing gnomes as PCs has a whole different meaning in AD&D/D&D 3.X than it does for OD&D/Basic D&D. Also feel free to be specific if their are certain conditions for such restrictions (e.g., a restriction that says no races with a LA for beginning 1st-level [ECL 1] characters, but those races are allowed if being used to make a higher-level PC or a replacement PC for an experienced party).

However, let me say that this isn't intended whatsoever as a thread for bashing other people's preferences or styles of gameplay. It isn't intended either for espousing some style of play/rule system/edition of a system as being "superior" to another, either. If a restriction is based on personal preference, then that's a good enough reason to provide on its own & can be left at that.

So, what don't you allow in your games?

 

[LondonReign]

Rules lawyers.

 

[Crothian]

We play 3.5

I don't allow ecl races at first level since it wouldn't be first level anymore. But i would construct racial levels like in AU if a person relaly wanted one.

No evil PCs. This is just a rule that myself and all my players agree with, we justy don't want to deal with it.

Really, there isn't much else that I specifically disallow. There are just so many things out there that I'd really have to have aplayer bring it to my atytention before I could really say no to it. Its not like I comb throguh my books looking for stuff I don't allow.

 

[MerakSpielman]

I've eliminated any concept of an Underdark from my Kalamar campaign.

I've also eliminated the standard multiverse in favor of one that better fits that world's dieties.

Other than that, I think I allow everything in the core rulebooks.

The most common disallowment seems to be Evil PCs, which is what most of these sorts of threads degenerate into a disscussion about. I will allow evil PCs, but I don't give them any special leeway. Do something evil and you will have to face the consequences, as realistically as I can think of them. And unless the rest of the party is evil, they're not likely to tolerate the presence of the evil character. I have seen evil characters in mixed alignment parties played quite well, though. That was with a very mature and experienced batch of role players, however, and is probably more the exception than the rule.

I wouldn't expect an evil character to stick around (or live) long unless I'm specifically running an evil campaign.

 

[moticon]

We play 3.5. I'm sure many people will disagree with this one, but I strongly discourage polymorphing because it is (to me) very complicated to keep track of which abilities (SA, SQ, SU, EX, etc) follow when. I don't like the extreme complications of having to look everything up every time someone wants to change shape, and I don't like the complications with having my relatively new players have to try and calculate all the final effects of every change.

So, except for wild shape, which is a key druidic ability, I generally discourage the polymorphine and also limit it's use on the part of PC's.

Beyond that, I strive for game balance, so if something gets out of whack we all work together to get it back in check for the good of the game.

Moticon

 

[scourger]

For d20, I don't allow anything outside the core books. That means the players only need the PH for D&D. For d20 variants, I generally stick to just the core book, too. Like Judge Dredd. Yep, just the main book for that game, too. I'm startting a Spellslinger game this week. Guess which books I'm using. Yeah, Just the PH, DMG, MM & Spellslinger books. My core restriction hails back to the AD&D 2e days when the brown books took everything out of control. Don't even get me started on the brokenness of Player's Option, etc. I was much happier when I took my 2e game back to the core, and I have continued to enjoy it for 3e. If I as a DM want to include something from a supplement or another game, I call that a house rule. I found the problem came when players took carte blance with all the bonus books and broken powers, especially players who also DM. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with a core game.

 

[Farrigan]

No Bards.

All good campaigns need good mysteries. Mysteries are a good way to "hook" characters into a plot line.

A bard, by definition, already knows (or has a good chance to know)all the myths and history and what not... I prefer to have adventures based upon a previously unknown historical element of the world.

It cripples the Bard to basically say, "nope, your bardic knowledge doesn't work..." Just because I want the adventure to remain mysterious.

Perhaps I would let bard be a prestige class. Otherwise, they are NPC's only.

 

[Khayman]

No psionics in any of our campaigns.
Prestige classes are scrutinized by the individual DMs before being allowed.
Feats from the splat books and non-WotC sources are also allowed on a case-by-case basis.

Everything else pretty much goes.

 

[Greylock]

When I joined in the campaign I'm playing, I was told "NO Elves! and "NO Wizards!" (unless I was feeling brave!), "Gnomes, humans, dwarves good!". Thought it all a bit strange at first. Once I got immersed in the game, it became readily apparent that this was not some peccadillo of the game boss. He simply required that any new char (new player, or deceased players new char) must originate logically in the region the party was currently in.

Good rule, and good thing I joined up when I did. Don't think I could manage playing a Boar-man so well.

 

[Tuzenbach]

WWWWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????


No bards, no evil PCs, no polymorphing, no Underdark, no psionics?!?! You guys might as well not allow any roleplaying while you're at it!