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What happened to the punk aesthetic in D&D?
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<blockquote data-quote="epithet" data-source="post: 7003110" data-attributes="member: 6796566"><p>I feel slightly disoriented and altogether old. Could someone please give me a definition of "munchkin" in this context?</p><p></p><p>Anyway, all I can do is shake my head at your situation. At the risk of having liver spots burst out on my wrinkled hide, I'll tell you - back in my day, the shame would have fallen on the DM who was afraid to tweak the game and make a few new rules to tailor the system to the group he was playing with and the game they wanted to play. Just the idea of feeling like you're bound to the "official" rules is strange to me. I can't help but feel as though a DM who lacks the imagination to even incorporate professional 3rd party content (for example, classes published here through En5ider) is unlikely to be running an engaging or entertaining campaign, because whatever he's doing is just paint-by-numbers unless he's willing to take ownership and control of the game.</p><p></p><p>My own bias aside, though, I think the way to start that conversation is to describe your character concept, focussing on the key elements that make it unique. Then, offer examples of independently published material that could realize that concept, including when possible the pedigree of the developer of that material. For example, if you wanted to use Matt Mercer's witch hunter class, you might remind your DM that Mercer has worked with WotC, that Chris Perkins of WotC has upon occasion joined his game as a player, and that the class was published, reviewed and tested by players, then revised and improved based on that feedback.</p><p></p><p>If the class you're wanting to play is your own creation, after you have described the concept on which it is based you should show the DM your new class bit-by-bit, tracking the guidelines for class creation in the DMG. Describe the factors that went into each of your design decisions. When you are done, don't ask for the class to be allowed in the game, instead ask the DM to help you refine and polish the class into something useable. That way, he will have a chance to play around with it and understand it before agreeing to it, and will feel a sense of shared ownership in the finished product.</p><p></p><p>Finally, if your DM refuses to even consider anything beyond "official" content, you need to start thinking of the group and not the game. Pick another member of the gaming group and ask him or her for help developing and perfecting the homebrewed class. Then, look for an opportunity for one of you to run a one-shot adventure, where the other one actually plays that class in the game. Ask the other players what they thought of the character class in action, listen to their feedback, and find something they suggested to incorporate into the class. Do it again with another one-shot. Now, you have a class that your table group has helped develop. Then it's time to start asking other members of the group what they might want to do for the group's next ongoing campaign, and hopefully you'll find one of them who is interested in DMing (maybe after having run one of the one-shot games where you tested the class out.)</p><p></p><p>I think an important thing to keep in mind is that the campaign belongs to the DM, but the game belongs to the group. It seems like some of the DMs out there have developed god complexes, and get a little power rush whenever they refuse to allow something in the game. It's like a tank in an MMORPG telling the raid group what to do - everyone wants to play and therefore needs a DM, so they tend to tolerate a lot of primadona crap from whoever is willing to sit behind the DM screen. That doesn't make it any less stinky, though - crap is crap.</p><p></p><p>If you focus your effort on the group and not the game, you might not be able to play exactly the character you want to in the campaign you're starting right now, but you could be investing in a group that will have fun campaigns for years or decades to come, and one day you'll be an old grognard talking about how the game was played back in your day, and wondering what the hell these kids mean when they call someone a "munchkin."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="epithet, post: 7003110, member: 6796566"] I feel slightly disoriented and altogether old. Could someone please give me a definition of "munchkin" in this context? Anyway, all I can do is shake my head at your situation. At the risk of having liver spots burst out on my wrinkled hide, I'll tell you - back in my day, the shame would have fallen on the DM who was afraid to tweak the game and make a few new rules to tailor the system to the group he was playing with and the game they wanted to play. Just the idea of feeling like you're bound to the "official" rules is strange to me. I can't help but feel as though a DM who lacks the imagination to even incorporate professional 3rd party content (for example, classes published here through En5ider) is unlikely to be running an engaging or entertaining campaign, because whatever he's doing is just paint-by-numbers unless he's willing to take ownership and control of the game. My own bias aside, though, I think the way to start that conversation is to describe your character concept, focussing on the key elements that make it unique. Then, offer examples of independently published material that could realize that concept, including when possible the pedigree of the developer of that material. For example, if you wanted to use Matt Mercer's witch hunter class, you might remind your DM that Mercer has worked with WotC, that Chris Perkins of WotC has upon occasion joined his game as a player, and that the class was published, reviewed and tested by players, then revised and improved based on that feedback. If the class you're wanting to play is your own creation, after you have described the concept on which it is based you should show the DM your new class bit-by-bit, tracking the guidelines for class creation in the DMG. Describe the factors that went into each of your design decisions. When you are done, don't ask for the class to be allowed in the game, instead ask the DM to help you refine and polish the class into something useable. That way, he will have a chance to play around with it and understand it before agreeing to it, and will feel a sense of shared ownership in the finished product. Finally, if your DM refuses to even consider anything beyond "official" content, you need to start thinking of the group and not the game. Pick another member of the gaming group and ask him or her for help developing and perfecting the homebrewed class. Then, look for an opportunity for one of you to run a one-shot adventure, where the other one actually plays that class in the game. Ask the other players what they thought of the character class in action, listen to their feedback, and find something they suggested to incorporate into the class. Do it again with another one-shot. Now, you have a class that your table group has helped develop. Then it's time to start asking other members of the group what they might want to do for the group's next ongoing campaign, and hopefully you'll find one of them who is interested in DMing (maybe after having run one of the one-shot games where you tested the class out.) I think an important thing to keep in mind is that the campaign belongs to the DM, but the game belongs to the group. It seems like some of the DMs out there have developed god complexes, and get a little power rush whenever they refuse to allow something in the game. It's like a tank in an MMORPG telling the raid group what to do - everyone wants to play and therefore needs a DM, so they tend to tolerate a lot of primadona crap from whoever is willing to sit behind the DM screen. That doesn't make it any less stinky, though - crap is crap. If you focus your effort on the group and not the game, you might not be able to play exactly the character you want to in the campaign you're starting right now, but you could be investing in a group that will have fun campaigns for years or decades to come, and one day you'll be an old grognard talking about how the game was played back in your day, and wondering what the hell these kids mean when they call someone a "munchkin." [/QUOTE]
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