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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 9804434" data-attributes="member: 7006">The expectation (at least for me) comes from 'Yes, And'.  It's improv 101.  Of which roleplaying games use that concept as their entire foundation.  Roleplaying games only work when both the DM and the players agree on what is happening and going on.  The players agree to accept what the DM describes about the world, about the NPCs, about the events happening around them as being true... and the DM accepts that what the players state about who their characters are and what they are wanting to do as being true as well.  (With the caveat that yes, occasionally there are Deception checks, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule.)And to me, that 'Yes, And' doesn't only start at the first session.  My feeling on the matter is that when the DM has made the offer to run a game for their players and has made an offer of a setting expectation for the players to play in... the players-- if they wish to play in this specific game-- should say 'Yes, And'.  Because that is the improv response that allows a scene, a conversation, a game, to move forward.  "Yes, I will play in this game of yours, and yes, I accept the setting expectations as being true and real."  In my opinion the players should do their best to follow the improv social contract and go along with the setting designs the DM offered to them if the DM has made it known that they felt it was important.But when the players decide to try and play a character that does not fit easily within the parameters the DM has offered to them... they essentially are Negging the DM's offer.  They are saying 'No'.  "No, I will not play your game that starts from your expectations."  Which to me is a very easy way to have the game break down before it begins.  If the players won't even go along with even simplest request of the DM for the setting expectations they have designed their campaign under... why should the DM believe the players will go along with anything else?  Or why should the DM then accept and go along with anything the players might say?  It's not a very good foundation upon which to play the game.******Now that being said... I do want to put out two additional things.  First... I believe compromise happens a LOT more frequently than what all of us on these boards tend to speak on when we give our feelings and opinions about all these various things in these threads.  In real-life I don't think we are ever as hardline about our feelings and opinions as we make them out to be when we post here.  So honestly... while we are all making what feels like definitive statements about right and wrong, proper and improper etc. etc... I think in truth we are much more open to each other at the table and are more inclined to just accept each other's choices and work around and through them.  To compromise, more often than not.  Because at the end of the day... these are all just games.  And they are never so important that we need to pick fights over them.And second... I will also freely admit that for me personally...my comments and reasonings above are entirely a hypothetical response.  What I expect my feelings would be on the matter if it ever actually came up.  Because truthfully I've never actually had a situation where my friends who play D&D with me have ever deliberately refused to "play to type" in those occasional games of mine when I've made a request of them for genre or setting sake.  For instance, when I asked that my Curse of Strahd game be 'Humans only'... they all obliged, because they knew I wouldn't ask this of them if I didn't feel like it was for a good reason.   Plus they also knew they got to play whatever thing they wanted in the last campaign and will probably get to play whatever they want in the next campaign as well.  So there was no reason to not go along with my request.  And thus, my opinions about DMs and players saying 'Yes, And' about these kinds of things are how I think things should go in order to work themselves out, even though I've never actually ever had to deal with it.</blockquote>

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