What are the no-goes for you?

[Noumenon]

The easiest clues are when the DM has banned something for reasons of personal preference unrelated to the creation of a quality game.

I banned Fireball because it meant I couldn't have any monster under 4th level survive past round 1. Too power trippy? I might change my mind.

 

[bouncyhead]

Lighten up friend, life it too short to not joke, even about smoking. And alcohol in modest amounts is fine, last I checked.

And the more I smoke, the shorter my life gets, the more jokes I have to pack in to less and less time Nowadays I would always step outside though.

As for beer... we pretty much only play in the pub now.

 

[CharlesRyan]

Yeah, this. Every game I've played in since college has included multiple couples, and in the majority of them, the DM was one half of one of said couples.

And how often did that turn out to be a problem? Exactly zero times.

My experience as well.

Immature romantic behaviour is exactly as disruptive as any other immature behaviour.

 

[wedgeski]

I don't mind if players want to smoke, but it's gotta be done outside the house. To this point, I haven't encountered any player who hasn't been completely considerate to this point of view.

My wife plays a PC in my main 4E game, it doesn't seem to have bothered anyone. If anything, I go *too far* in not favouring her over the others, but that's my problem.

As for what I avoid, I couldn't play in a house where people smoked at the table, but other than that, I haven't really played in a game that I would have left by choice. This means I'm either very easy-going, or have been very very lucky.

Edit: Actually there is a major no-go at my table, which is the presence of pirated PDF's. I don't stand for it and it's the clearest house-rule on my list.

 

[S'mon]

I guess player disempowerment. PCs need to be the stars, and have a reasonable degree of freedom of action.

Smoking at the table, or excessive swearing & vulgarity, might be a turn-off these days; dunno though.

Being banned from having a beer at the table would be a turn-off, I might accept it if the GM was otherwise great.

A mean GM who picks on me - interpersonal relationship stuff. That's what made me walk from one game, years ago. It had been building for a long time though, basically my wife and the female GM didn't get along, and it soured things.

Also, a rules system I hate. From my experience of Indie Narrativist systems, they suck. YMMV.

Edit: Illegal drugs at the table would definitely be a no-no. Even talking about smoking pot. Keep it to yourself.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Smoking indoors, people being actually full-on drunk (as opposed to tipsy, mellow, etc.), anything illegal going on at that time and place (there might be exceptions, but none come to mind right now), abusive behaviour, and asshats in general I suppose.

Something like that.

 

[NiTessine]

Smoking at the table is the only dealbreaker for me. Technically, there are also a few gamers in the local scene that I refuse to play with, but the feeling is mutual and the GMs sided with me when it became an issue.

Apart from that, anything goes. Large amounts of alcohol usually doesn't contribute to the kind of game that I enjoy, but there was one time that worked, too. Special circumstances, though, and unlikely to be repeatable since Living Greyhawk is over now.

And, well, then there's 4E.

 

[malkav666]

So I was thinking, what things cause people not to play in some games?

My personals include:

Drinking alcoholic beverages or smoking at games.
Having romantic relationships between players/GMs
Playing longer than scheduled.

I'm sure there's others, but those are my three. Try not to make anything personal in your responses, there's no need to be derogatory.

wow,

We could not game together. All of my players used to smoke. But over the last decade all of us have managed to quit, but it was never an issue. there was even smoking at the table until, my group started popping out kids that wanted to play. Society punishes smokers enough for me to not have to make them refugees when they come to game as well. As long as they don't mind stepping out onto the screened area in the back yard and tossing their butts in one of the ashtrays then they are welcome smoke at my house. Hell on special occasions my group will all go out on the back deck and have cigars.

My group sometimes contains up to three couples from the the married folks, and the unmarried ones sometimes bring their significant others around to play. It was only a problem a very few times over the 17 years my folks have been tossing dice (and I can assure it had to do with individuals as as opposed to the practice in general).

As for drinking. Not only is it allowed at our games. But we tie it into the game. We give out wench points to players who shirk their gaming responsibilities, act dishonorably, or have a string of bad luck in play. The player with the most at the end of the session is the beer wench next session (making all of the other players their drinks). It has never really been an issue for us. The basic idea is that I am hanging with these folks, and I would go out drinking with them normally, so they can get into their cups on game day. Sometimes it goes too far and ends a session early, but that is fairly rare, and its certainly not a dealbreaker for me when it does.

As for finisihing on time. Well that just does not happen. Its always early or later than a clock time we set. But I figured out over the years that if pne of my player has something to do, they will leave when they need to do it. It is not uncommon for player to tell me upon arrival that they will be having to leave at a specific time, and I will try and pace my game so that that specific time does not fall in the middle of an encounter.

In fact the only real deal breakers for me are the following-

Mean people~ I don't want to game with folks who have dispositions that would make me not want to hang out with them in other scenarios.My general rule is that if its not the kind of person that I would call up and enjoy haning out with in general then its probably not a good match for our group.

Sketchy people~ this is a catagory for those folks who will always tell you they are coming and then call you the day afte game day and tell you why they could not make it. I don't ever give my player grief when something comes up, but I expect to know about it so I can adjust the encounters, (and if we are serving food make less). My players can getaway with thsi some time to time and just get a little grief when it happens. But players who regularly do this have been removed fromt he group.

Stinky people~ This has been a reoccuring problem over the years. And its a touchy topic, but lif is too short to hang in a room with someone for 6 hours who did not bathe or that has been walkiing around in 100 degree weather with no socks on for a few days. My gaming group spans lots of social spectrums (I have gamed with homeless gutter punks and medical doctors atthe same table) and some of them kids are stinky. I aint dealing with it. I will pull a stinky player aside and givethem a towel and send them to the shower room to scrun those pups off or straight up take a shower. I have lost a couple of good stinky but sensitive players over the years. But thats just the way it goes.


There are other things that pop up from time to time, but those are the major three.

love,

malkav

 

[Loonook]

I am a (reforming to non) smoker... so I wouldn't imagine stopping players from smoking... or doing most things at a table when I'm DMing. However, if you want to be part of a group in this sort of gaming environment... it may be best to follow any specific group's restrictions. Alcohol? If all of the players are of the age of majority... surreptitious drinking at table has happened (of course unbeknowst to those of legal age) at some of my games...

Drinking, other things are completely fine unless they destroy the game. Usually I give a rewind to any player at the beginning of a campaign and a group rewind when everyone is having... a very bad day.

Playing with spouses or SOs works as long as there isn't preferential treatment... of course, let he who has not conned his SO into a game cast the first stone .

Usually these sorts of out-of-game considerations are made pre-campaign, and up for debate after each major arc is completed. My major pet peeves are:

- Changing the entire setting to fit your character in. I don't mind adding a clan, a merchant house, etc. into the game... don't ask me to recreate an entire nation-state for player amusement. As a DM I love player additions to the game, but if we have a specific feel going don't introduce something completely antithetical to the game's conceits for your own amusement.

- Making over-connected characters. I'm not going to bring in DMPCs in the game... please don't build the character who is the long-lost brother of the King, half-nephew of the Big Bad, and great-great-grandson of the God of Epic Smiting... unless approved by the DM (which isn't happening unless we're running some sort of Saga-styled campaign with large amounts of divine intrigue).

As a player? DMPCs, large-scale moodswings... plenty of other things. Though sadly I most get to be the DM... and so mostly I'm player-peeved .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[Clavis]

1) Rules Lawyers. I kike a fast and loose game. Too much arguing about rules, or looking up rules, at the table is a major turn off.

2) Too much emphasis on optimization. The process of mechanical Character Optimization gets boring for me very quickly. I do NOT want to spend hours figuring out character "builds".

3) Assuming a want to play a Lawful Good character, or that I'm, going to agree that Lawful Good is the "right" Alignment. I play D&D to play an adventurer. That is, a social rebel who has decided to make their own way in the world outside of the society's rules and expectations, and has the power to do it. I want my character to overthrow kings, not support them. I want my character to loot gold from ancient tombs and squander it, not return it to its rightful owners. I want my character to be involved with hot elven princesses, dangerous demonesses, and lusty sorceresses, not settle down in lawful matrimony. I want my characters to wield fearsome and forbidden magic for petty and self-indulgent reasons, not decide that it's "too much power for a human to have". My character may even get around to eventually doing the right thing, but I want to be free to have him do it for the wrong reasons.