fung@daemen.UUCP (Kenneth Worzel Fung) (04/27/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR CHARACTER CLASS *** Has anyone out yonder come across this situation: A player who encounters a new class NOT put out by TSR, and finds a BIG challenge to fight. He then complains that the class is unsuitable, or even (Heaven help us) illegal. My question is: Do I allow such a class not to exist just because one of the players haven't heard about it for it didn't appear in Dragon magazine or anything else by TSR. Please respond via net, for I thinnk others would also be interested in the results!!
billp@ISM780.UUCP (04/29/85)
Why should you let anyone tell you how to run your campaign. The folks
at TSR offer a product, not a religion. If you allow small-minded
people who have the "Not Official D&D" syndrome to participate in the
enjoyment of a work of art that you have spent time and resources bringing
to them, then you deserve just what you get: C--P. Anyone who has
played in FRP games any length of time knows that it takes the combination
of good scenerio creation, good refereeing and good playing to have
a truly terrific time. Good players usually have tried to create
and referee games before, and they know and appreciate the work that
a good referee puts into his/her game (yes, I have played with some fine
female referees too). If you put great care into the design
and refereeing of your game you should put great care into finding
the group of people which will most enjoy you game with you. If you're
not playing FRPs in order to have fun, of course, you can ignore
this premise. (I have observed some referees who have convinced me by
their actions that the only reason the bothe is to fulfill certain
sadomasochistic tedencies.)
"Bewhar' vor Jubjub-Vogel, vor
Frumiosen Bandeerschnatzchen!"
UUCP: ucbvax!ucla-cs!oac6.putnam
(`: If I wanted your opinion, I'd beat it out of you :')shp@crystal.UUCP (04/29/85)
> > A player who encounters a new class NOT put out by TSR, and > finds a BIG challenge to fight. He then complains that the > class is unsuitable, or even (Heaven help us) illegal. > > My question is: > Do I allow such a class not to exist just > because one of the players haven't heard about it for > it didn't appear in Dragon magazine or anything else > by TSR. > 1) If you play strict TSR stuff (I know of NO ONE who does!), then the class is illegal -- and so, probably, are most of your favorite variations. 2) Do you let your players refer to the monster books (no trademarks in THIS posting, other than TSR) each and every encounter? Point is, just because people haven't HEARD of it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. I try to deliberately perturb the environment, so that players who enter the campaign with "prior knowledge" gained from other characters in other realms are penalized (to keep things in balance). For example, kobolds may not be quite as wimpy as you think.... Anyway, the DM IS GOD (feel free to disagree), not the players. If they've not heard of it, "Well, you have now." If they insist on knowing everything, than you'll never have a problem fleecing them (re: previous net discussion), as you can constantly assess HUGE sage fees for all the unbased information. =shp
pkh@alice.UUCP (Paul Pavlidis) (04/29/85)
You ask if a character should not be allowed because the players have never heard of it. I say, absolutely not. What is the fun of springing a new NPC class or monster on the party if they are familiar with the "new and unheard of" class? I tried to keep my players from reading the Dragon so they wouldn't know all about the new things I liked to surprise them with. Do you let your players read the monster manual/ other monster books during the game? That's a definite no-no. The fun of D&D is fighting creatures/classes which are new and unknown. At least for me. I love to try to figure out what a monster does as we fight it; I constantly plague the DM with questions about what the monster looks like. If players complain about a class/monster because it is too hard to fight, perhaps you should reevaluate it for play balance. *Is* it really too hard for the party? If you see a serious problem, don't trash the monster, change it. Take away a couple of its minor abilities, or lessen damage. Try to do this before the game, so you don't find out that Megamonster will kill any party it encounters after the fact. For the record, I like Dragon Magazine's suggested NPCs and monsters because the SAVE ME TIME. in search of a party, Paul Pavlidis
sps@drusd.UUCP (ShaplandSP) (05/01/85)
In some of my previous campaigns, both as player and DM, non-TSR(tm) character classes have been allowed. First, the DM must COMPLETELY define the powers, advantages, and dis-advantages of the class. Thereafter, the player must live (or die) with the definition agreed upon with the DM. S.P. Shapland, aka Amlwch, Lord of the Karpian Dragons drusd!sps
bae@fisher.UUCP (Shiva the Destroyer) (05/01/85)
> > Has anyone out yonder come across this situation: > > A player who encounters a new class NOT put out by TSR, and > finds a BIG challenge to fight. He then complains that the > class is unsuitable, or even (Heaven help us) illegal. > ILLEGAL! This is fantasy role-playing - nothing is ILLEGAL. TSR, in the old days before the socialists took over, used to encourage creativity and innovation on the part of the DM. If your players are reduced to complaining that "it's not in the Rules According to EGG," then you are not being hard enough on them. My solution to dungeon-lawyers - death by means of Balrog! -- Brian A. Ehrmantraut Ad Maioram Gloriam Hasturi! UUCP: {allegra, astrovax, princeton, twg} !fisher!bae BELL: (609) 452-8991 / (609) 734-7761 USnail: 184 Little Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
ttorgers@udenva.UUCP (Troy Torgerson) (05/03/85)
In article <> fung@daemen.UUCP (Kenneth Worzel Fung) writes: >*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR CHARACTER CLASS *** > > Has anyone out yonder come across this situation: > > A player who encounters a new class NOT put out by TSR, and > finds a BIG challenge to fight. He then complains that the > class is unsuitable, or even (Heaven help us) illegal. > > My question is: > Do I allow such a class not to exist just > because one of the players haven't heard about it for > it didn't appear in Dragon magazine or anything else > by TSR. > Of course you should allow a new class (especially NPC)! It allows for lots of creativity and something else for the pc's to interact with! Would you create some horrible monster and introduce it into your campaign by showing all your players it's stats, weaknesses, etc. . . Of course not! You would have them run into it and let them fight/run with/from it! If they shout "unfair" them ask them why, and then tell them 'tuff! make it interesting for them and don't let them tell you how to run YOUR campaign. Troy udenva!ttorgers