What game mechanics etc. do you, the DM, forbid?

[Sejs]

Well, I was going to change Turn Undead to make it, you know, not turn undead on account of how I really don't care for how an entire category of monsters just has an instant-off switch (a.k.a the "Zombie horde? Pshaw!" Problem).

But then one of the PCs just had to go and decide to play a Spirit Shaman, which has an ability that while not identical, is sort of similar, and had be used a number of times without me saying anything. I figured it wouldn't be fair to disallow one class its turning while allowing another its fully, so in the end I just left Turn Undead alone.

 

[diaglo]

It's surprising that a grodnarg would say that the monsters can do what PCs can. That wasn't really the case in earlier editions, with the monsters being quite different from PCs in presentation.

monsters are everything not PCs.

that 5th lvl Lawful cleric that you went to for healing is a monster.

 

[The Shaman]

Item creation was homebrewed when I ran 3.0 Dungeons and Dragons.

I'll tweak little things here and there to get the flavor I want for a game, or because a particular mechanics bugs me, but item creation was the only "complete subsystem" that got hacked.

d20 Modern I play almost entirely as written.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Half my players hate AoO's with the heat of a thousand suns. The others love them like cake. There's no happy medium, really. I house ruled a small change to the mechanics that seems to have made both camps happy. I was on the verge of forbidding them just to keep the group together.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Oddly, I generally play without PrCs.

Don't like 'em. They always seem to just end up a level or two for powergaming purposes. "Dood, if you grab Spotless Carwarsher of Katan you totally can mix it with Mudflinger of the Jersey Shore to get +60 to all saves!!"

I have allowed ONE PrC in the entire history of me running 3.X, and that was Mighty Contender of Kord from a Dragon issue. The player was a great player, the background was perfect, and the only reason he wanted it was because his character was a cleric of Kord and he wanted to focus on that. Which is really what PrCs SHOULD be about, IMHO.

EDIT: Actually, thinking about it, I also disallow anything not contained in the PHB.

I'm a horrible beast, but I like to keep my games strict strict core and allow things in on a case-by-case basis. I'm all the way up to allowing most feats from Complete Warrior and Complete Adventurer.

Livin' on the edge, yo.

--fje

 

[Crothian]

So far I've only said no to templates on character since we are now 9th level and I perfer to see them at the lower levels and built with.

 

[the Jester]

I allow new stuff in piecemeal- I don't allow the pcs to take just any spell or class or race from a given book. So I disallow plenty, including the orb line of spells, most of the races in the various supplements and ninjae of the crescent moon.

 

[Bardsandsages]

For the longest time I completely banned psionics from my games, but with 3.5 I'm starting to allow it, so long as the players inform me of what powers they are taking beforehand. The rules were too cumbersome and the low-level powers were too unbalancing. But I'm starting to enjoy using psionic creatures now.

I've banned flying carpets. After multiple incidents of them being used as fighter jets. Mages can't make them. They can't be bought. They do not exist. Even if it gets rolled randomly for a treasure table, the roll gets rerolled.

I am, however, beginning to determine that I need to do something about summoned creatures. I've got a party of 18th level character right now with all the high level summoning spells. Possibly a one summoning per encounter rule. I'm getting tired of tracking the actions of 3 PC, multiple NPCs, monsters and summoned creatures.

 

[Warbringer]

Don't allow all spells. Plus, use common, rare, uncommon approach to spells. (Common - Core Books; Uncommon - WoTC books; Rare - Others)

Alos, in my homebrew, no scribe scroll, meaning no new spellbooks being written, or scrolls. (In 2e this was simply no -write/copy spells)

 

[diaglo]

I am, however, beginning to determine that I need to do something about summoned creatures. I've got a party of 18th level character right now with all the high level summoning spells. Possibly a one summoning per encounter rule. I'm getting tired of tracking the actions of 3 PC, multiple NPCs, monsters and summoned creatures.

having recently been reading my new Special Edition DMG (which i paid $40 for online) i can tell you that it covers your problem if you want to look it up.

use the optional/variant rules on summonings. make the player pick specific creatures.. give them names... and build them... much like the Pokemount for the paladin... but this does it for summoning spells.