What Creatures "Break" A Fantasy Game World For You?

[EricNoah]

Monsters - as - traps. Like mimics. That's just silly.

 

[DragonLancer]

For me its the proliferation of humanoids. I can accept the basic humanoids that we have in the core PHB and MM, but when every monster sourcebook that comes out has another 5 or 6 new humanoid races, I have to ask myself how and why?

As for the SCAP and dinosaurs, when I ran that I made a point of saying at the time we started that Cauldron was in an area not unlike southern italy and the mountains were surrounded by wild and untamed forest that was home to small numbers of dinosaurs. The only question that was raise by my players was how small settlements existed outside the city walls with dinosaurs running around? It was decided that their small numbers would keep them in check, that they would be prey for other monsters (dragons?), and that settlements survived the same way that other ones do in a world filled with monsters - IE, we don't need to worry about that because its part of what makes D&D what it is.

 

[Tetsubo]

Monsters - as - traps. Like mimics. That's just silly.

Why? There are real world animals and plants that are immobile and "hunt" by just waiting around for something to bump into them... a fantasy version seems perfectly normal...

 

[Tetsubo]

Dinosaurs wouldn't even "ping" my weirdness radar. In every campaign I've ever run (SF or Fantasy) there has always been at least one adventure that took the PCs into either a "magic" world or Earth in a Post-Apocalypse setting... every campaign... I love to mix and match...

 

[Midknightsun]

I guess dinosaurs do ping my "wrongness radar" for some reason, even when they are an established part of an existing setting (such as Eberron--which I do like otherwise, btw). Just doesn't jive with my particular idea of fantasy, though I wouldn't leave a group over it. I'd be more annoyed by the Druid who took it as an animal companion for reasons that, to me, seem blatantly munchkiny.

But, a few differences and oddities here and there I can tolerate. Its "kitchen sink" campaigns that really start to bug me. I like the campaign world I'm in to have a unique flavor and defining characteristics, not be a mishmash of every known fantasy genre in existence. To me, this actually detracts from my immersion and (ironically) leaves the setting seeming very bland. So really, a few jarring things wouldn't upset me too much, but too many would ruin the game.

 

[sckeener]

I can handle anything as long as my game breakers are one shots.

Gunpowder is one. Hence I have issues with Ptolus.

Sci-fi elements is another. I really can't handle warforged. I can handle Expedition to the Barrier Peaks because it was a one shot and everything would eventually run out.

I can handle psionics because I just see it as another magic system. I wish they'd rename the powers though.

Lastly...totally altruistic (or perfect) societies. I can't accept a perfect society.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Really depends on the setting. If a setting has a clearly-defined flavor, I'll be leery of anything that throws off that flavor. Especially if it is introduced late in the campaign. Mecha in what I was envisioning as an Arthurian setting? Bubbly 16-year-old girls with pink hair and silly names in Ravenloft? Illithids in Middle-Earth? Characters with my 21st-century liberal's view of democracy and human rights in a Conan game? No thanks.

On the other hand, I've run games in Mystara and Spelljammer, where pretty much anything goes. Some settings need to be restrictive to preserve their feel; others do not.

And the other thing is that certain creatures bring a whole lot of "flavor" baggage with them. By their introduction, they change the tone of a game. Dragonlance races (Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Tinker Gnomes) add a great deal of silliness. Warforged and half-golems add a pulp sci-fi flavor. Athasian halflings add their own flavor (tastes like people), and a "living vampire" or "vampire with a soul" from one accessory or another would add a different flavor (er, again, tastes like people). And, yes, dinosaurs do carry a fair amount of "flavor baggage" in my view.

Pretty well my view in a nutshell. Some critters carry more baggage, and thus need to leave a bigger "footprint" right from the start, so that their late introduction doesn't jar me out of my suspension of disbelief/immersion in campaign world.

I can accept a Victorian Steampunk world with wheelers (Return to Oz) and mind flayers. I can accept dino-riders. I can accept human PCs only. I can accept all these things together. Cthulhu help me, given the right campaign world I can even accept dragonborn and tieflings as a standard race.

Things that change the "feel" of the setting should be telegraphed far in advance, however (IMHO), and the more something changes the "feel" of the setting, the more it should be telegraphed.

RC

 

[Dragonbait]

After reading many things about genra and game-breakers on the internet, I've found that I have a high tolerance to that sort of thing. Who wants to play an intelligent slime? So we are fighting transformers? Ok. Their god is Azatoth? Sure. Humans are the only PC race? I can roll with that. Pokemon are this settings wildlife? Interesting. Freakishly high tolerance.

DUDE.

I SO want to play in a campaign like that. Just for the sheer squirting-Mountain-Dew-out-my-nostrils-and-suppressing-gut-wrenching-laughter-the-whole-time factor. That would be SWEET!

Well.. I didn't mean that it would be all in one campaign. That would just be silly..Seriously.. Azatoth in the same campaign where everyone is human? That's just too rediculous for me..

and back to the show!

Since the topic has moved away from monsters as game-breakers to whathaveyou:

* Evil PC campagins are game breakers for me. I refuse to play in them, but I suppose I can see why others would want to.
* Encounters designed to specifically defeat characters.
* I have a really hard time with GM PC's that are with the characters for every adventure. Especially if they end of becoming the group leader, save the day, or become the show-stealer (liek I heard on Heroic Cthulhu.. *sigh*)
* Campaigns where the villains seem to work on a different system than the heroes. They get fully equipped with magical items in what was touted as a low-magic world. They automatically make saves (I mean, at least *pretend* to roll!) blah blah blah

 

[Captain Tagon]

Depends on the setting for me. If I'm playing a human-centric campaign and there are like 8 billion sapient races, that bothers me. Actually that bothers me in general, but not enough to break a game for me.

Most of the gaming fantasy I like however has a wide range of things. Something has to really not fit the feel of the setting to break it for me. I'm fine with gunpowder, sci fi stuff, all sorts of weird monsters. Even the afore-mentioned pokemon.

 

[Voadam]

Potty humor based creatures come close. Not my brand of humor.

I like Hackmaster stuff a lot, but the crap jokes are a big negative for me.