I think it's yet another example of the Gnome Effect. Whenever we talk about stuff getting banned, those of us that don't generally ban anything don't really have much to say. "What classes do you ban in your game?" doesn't get much of a response other than "none". Those that do ban material are generally doing so for a fairly specific reason which they will generally want to discuss.Still early days, and I've seen a situation like this completely reverse, but...
I'm real damn surprised to see a majority "no." Real damn surprised. I couldn't count the number of people over the years who have been so gleefully delighted about the stuff they're going to ban.
My players are all mid to late 40s so we rarely playing anything more exotic than a halfling or orc. I’ve never had to ban anything.Once again. . .
The premise:
True or False: "When Running a 5E Campaign I Always Ban at Least One Core Race, Class, or Sub-Class"
Note, it says "CORE" for the purposes of this poll not allowing stuff from non-Core books is not "banning" it is "not using an option," which is different.
I really don't know why people seem to think this is an age thing. My group is six players (including myself). Our current campaign line up is a tiefling, war forged, owl folk, dragonborn and the reified dream of an aboleth. The youngest member of the group is over forty.My players are all mid to late 40s so we rarely playing anything more exotic than a halfling or orc. I’ve never had to ban anything.
Dunno. I’m the DM. Haven’t been a pc is years.I really don't know why people seem to think this is an age thing. My group is six players (including myself). Our current campaign line up is a tiefling, war forged, owl folk, dragonborn and the reified dream of an aboleth. The youngest member of the group is over forty.
Last campaign? We had a kobold, goliath, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head.
I can't imagine playing D&D as long as we have an still sticking to Tolkienesque races. Don't you get bored of playing the umpteenth thousandth elf?
Probably an age thing.I really don't know why people seem to think this is an age thing.
I think age is a secondary factor that may or may not impact a more primary factor: To what degree the players have been exposed (or are interested in) what we could call "non-traditional fantasy ideas" and other aspects of geek culture.I really don't know why people seem to think this is an age thing. My group is six players (including myself). Our current campaign line up is a tiefling, war forged, owl folk, dragonborn and the reified dream of an aboleth. The youngest member of the group is over forty.
Last campaign? We had a kobold, goliath, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head.
I can't imagine playing D&D as long as we have an still sticking to Tolkienesque races. Don't you get bored of playing the umpteenth thousandth elf?
Completely agree. I don't really care about "balance," for example, so I'm not banning anything for that reason. I'm choosing which options are available based on the setting, tone, theme, etc. These are meant to enhance engagement and the play experience, not take away the players' toys. Creativity is also helped by reasonable constraints in my view.I take issue with the word "ban," because it implies that D&D is one, set thing and all campaigns are, at core, the same -- a simulacrum of the core rules.
I have always followed the premise that every campaign is different, every setting is different. To some extent, D&D is D&D - and every D&D campaign draws elements from the same tool box. But not only are there other possible tools in a given campaign (house rules, unique elements to the setting, etc), but every DM will utilize different tools, based upon the setting they've put together.
So it isn't banning, because it there's no one-size fits all version of D&D that we all play. Certainly, the official rules provide a default, but that doesn't mean that every game should assume to include everything in the official rules.
Maybe I'm nitpicking on semantics, but I think "ban" has certain connotations that implies that if a DM doesn't include certain elements in their campaign world, they're being restrictive.
I mean, it isn't unlike cooking - say, a soup. If you don't include every spice and ingredient in your cupboard in the soup, you're not "banning" anything. You're just making a soup with specific elements towards some kind of theme or flavor.