Please, no more characters like this

[@theDMLair]

🔥 LAIRS & LEGENDS | Over 700 pages of D&D 5e GM resources: adventures spanning levels 1 to 15, 100+ new monsters, encounters, puzzles, traps, villains, NPCs, maps, and more! - thedmlair.com/collections/lairs-legends

[@MechbossBoogie]

I played a bard who was the lawyer of a thieves guild. It was amazing.

[@gbprime2353]

Charisma rogue here. Barrister. Funny thing, everyone assumed he was Lawful. Oh heck no, Chaotic... he knows the Law and all the glorious loopholes that let him get away with whatever he needs to justify. =D

[@MechbossBoogie]

@@gbprime2353 You want the most amount of freedom possible, know the laws better than anyone. Simple as.

[@BrainAbsoluteZero]

I was just discussing playing a contract loving lawyer warlock at my game last night.

[@ericgonzales419]

I am stealing this

[@evoturtles8723]

Better Call Bard

[@justinmargerum2559]

Rule 1 "Don't Be a Blacksmith," is poorly stated. In crunchy systems like Pathfinder, the party can benefit greatly from having a member who can repair and/or eventually upgrade armor. A better way to state the rule is, "Be an Adventurer." Make the kind of character who can plausibly survive adventurers AND help meet the needs of a balanced adventuring party. Also, Vibrant Thorns is a brilliant choice for a tank cleric; 1d6 automatic retaliatory damage to any attacker pretty much every time one casts a healing spell is a nice value-added bonus. Don't hate!

[@justinmargerum2559]

Every one of these rules boils down to "Make (and Play) a Character Appropriate to the Party and Campaign." So communication with the DM/GM and other players is good; gotta find out what "appropriate" means in that specific context.

[@devinalder4777]

​@@justinmargerum2559 I was able to make a blacksmith barbarian in P2E and he was pretty great! He would go out searching for items and materials from creatures and places and didn't want to pay adventures for them and wanted to test out his stuff himself.

[@sleepinggiant4062]

That's exactly what he said @2:18.

[@lofi-kaveh]

This came out 45 minutes before I made my character for the game where we're all strength based melee martial, by agreement of the players

[@saboogly]

I was a blacksmith on adventure to gain knowledge of new ways to Smith and gain materials lol was fun kinda played him like Vulcan from 40k too except with out a legion of space marines lol

[@DrPluton]

My current character (a rock gnome artillerist artificer) is a consummate craftsman who can do many things, but he's also very into creating explosions, figuring out mechanical locks and traps, and being the knowledge expert of the party (other members are aasimar paladin/warlock, human twilight cleric, and tiefling fiend warlock). He's definitely a craftsman turned adventurer, but he's leaned all the way into being an adventurer now.

[@MalloonTarka]

One of my characters was a blacksmith. They were a forge cleric and went adventuring to oppose tyranny and protect his friends. He used his crafting skills to great effect. The point is better stated as "build an adventurer". While you should avoid complete redundancy, this can still be achieved even if everyone plays the same class. Two rogues can be very different - one can focus on sneaking, the other on social interaction.

[@jierdareisa4313]

I love ALL the DM Lair videos!!!! ❤

[@sehCyclops]

#4 Don't be a Pacifist 7:07 is generally a good point. Bottom line, don't make any character that is super into murder or singing kumbayas with everyone. Build a character that prefers combat or prefers peaceable solutions, but still appreciates and understands the use of the opposite. Sadly, the end comment doesn't really work for newer players or people who want to play with already established friends. and yes, PLEASE STOP PLAYING D&D SOLELY FOR MEME PRODUCTION. (Also, thanks for the Druid idea, next city setting I shall be a druid who wild shapes into pigeons, house cats, and strays. As well as being into potted plants and rooftop gardens. (any Rangers out there, kindly explain to your DM how a City should count towards favored terrain, and choosing the humanoid for a favored enemy makes a great police officer/detective or drug lord/loan shark for city games).

[@ChoseeComprende]

Im honestly getting sick of constant mentioning that "there is lots of games out there" ... I mean sure probably is ... if you have your own community with hunderts of people ready and eager to play, you speak english so your potential spreads wold wide, and you can DM so people are pracicaly often beging you to play with you and not other way around. -_- Some of us dont apply to either ... Im czech ... there are aproximately 10M people worldwide who speak my language (make it half, if you only count those who speak it well) and during last decade i have found litterally two groups. :-/ I have no desire to leave my curent one, so thats fine ... but i just find it hard to believe that "there is plenty out there for EVERYONE" -_-

[@BlueTressym]

Yeah, some people forget that 'Lots of games,' does not necessarily mean 'Lots of ACCESSIBLE games'. You get the same thing when people trumpet on about how playing online is inferior and they're so gods-accursed condescending about it. They forget that not everyone lives in a community with convenient access to an LGS and an abundance of gamers to play with. My mother speaks some Czech, I think but I don't unfortunately, so I can't help you directly. Since you say you have a group currently, though, you could try running a one-shot if you haven't before, as a way to dip your toe into GMing with no major harm done if it doesn't go well and a confidence boost if it does.

[@MechbossBoogie]

@ChoseeComprende Man, I speak English as my first language and I can't get a group together. And I DM! The number of times I've gotten people interested, set a date for game 0, showed up, and gotten ghosted by an entire group of people is astounding.

[@ChoseeComprende]

@@MechbossBoogie That sucks man. :(

[@ChoseeComprende]

@@BlueTressym No need, im fine. ;) Im just making a point. :D Thanks anyway tho! :)

[@supervado7962]

Whenever I make a character it usually starts with a theme or playstyle. Then I theory craft what I want to do at each level to plan out what I care about to make it function the way I want to. Finally I come up with story reasons for those decisions I made using as much of the lore of the world the DM made.

[@KitsuKyo]

I will have to agree with what a lot of the comments have said. It should be "Play an adventurer". There are plenty of reasons for picking a farmer, lawyer, shop keep, blacksmith as a character concept. A lot of our story telling tropes involve heroes from humble beginnings. It also provides good background for level 1 characters if your campaign is starting out at level 1. You aren't going to be the HEROES OF THE REALM at level 1. You're gonna be the farmers, the shop keeps, the blacksmiths, the scion of a royal line so far removed from inheritance that you're expendable. For a second, MOTIVATION is the key. I have ran a game where one of my players wanted to be a "Reluctant Hero." It was a pain in the ass to get his character to do anything, his character had to be coerced or literally dragged to the adventure.

[@enersha6979]

I actually prefer to keep character class choice secret from each other when starting a new game and seeing what we end up with lol, maybe we have no healer or no tank and we have to figure out how to live with that

[@CMDRZero01]

My first character was a... lawful evil, dreamsight shifter, ranger; who was ahemm "tied up and put on a train out of town after it was discovered she had also been robbing some of the caravans she was paid to guard on travles through the forest." She was kind of an ass but a solid negotiator. Had a character flaw that caused all sorts of trouble. But she had a good heart, giving to orphans and stuff. I miss playing with that group.

[@donalddouds6033]

My next PF2e character is already built in my head (assuming it fits the party) a Tanuki Scoundrel Rogue Firework Technician archetype. Having the ability to change into a human or an inanimate object is going to be useful and hilarious

[@cskelton]

Healers are actually pretty nice in D&D with the 2024 edition doubling the effectiveness of Cure Wounds and Healing Word.

[@RoninXDarknight]

In a campaign now where we all just created characters separately. 1 barbarian, 1 fighter, 1 warlock, 1 fighter/sorcerer. We suck at social stuff so end up just murder hoboing our way through things. Had a couple close fights but no one has died yet. We're basically just a bunch of chucklefucks chasing after the shinies lol...and we're having a blast. :D Pretty sure this will at some point end in a TPK but I am here for it lmao.

[@blakenelson4158]

wait the warlock is Chrisma based why did that one suck at social stuff?

[@Mammothhunter9227]

I played a cleric who also served as a lawyer for the theocracy of Gildrena. Maybe it was just my dm or that i was studying law irl or both but it was fun

[@AnarchySystem]

PHB forces you to play some semblence of utility.. let me present you the barbarian. They do nothing in campaigns with zero combat. Depending on the subclass, fighters also end up in that area. Rogues is a not a good example. A thief rogue can be a great healer with Healer Feat, Alchemy and Herbalism kits for creating potions. You can make a viable combat medic that keeps the party alive by focusing more on wisom. Then you have the Mastermind, they can be a spy and support with help action as a bonus action. They focus on social interactions with charisma being their other focus in ability. Then there is the Soulknife, another great addition to the party with telepathy abilities and a focus on intelligence. Then you have different options, the muscle rogue, STR based that can grapple anything and never letting them go. You can also focus on other options such Arcane Trickster for extra utility, and have different skills. A group made out of Rogues can definitely work, it would work way too well, specially if each Rogue decides to pick Changeling as their species. They would make some sort of The Thing campaign where all of them are the Thing, imagine infiltrating all bases and because they can all be stealthy, they can get a surprise round and get advantage on their attacks. First round will probably kill most enemies they encounter.

[@vickieden1973]

Your original "three rules of character creation" document was the inspiration for my own version, which amounts to 1: Your character must suit the theme; you shall not be the 13th Warrior. 2: Your character must be motivated by its own hand; you shall be an adventurer, not a dandelion floating in the breeze. 3: Your character must not be more horrible than the bad guys; you shall not be a creepster, misanthrope, or psychopath, especially one whom the other players would rather leave behind in a jail cell or a shallow grave. Obviously, if it was an evil-themed game or whatever, Rule 3 would be phrased differently... but I don't run evil-themed games. I am comfortable with evil-aligned characters, but they need to be evil-aligned team players with motivations that suit the themes of the game.

[@ACreacher]

Long story short: a lot of problems can be resolved by communicating the themes and styles of your campaign in a session zero

[@blakenelson4158]

one the lone stranger works but only if you take hits from movies or shows. IE the lone stranger that always works alone suddenly works with the group, happens all the time in the moves and shows. as for druids in an Eldridge horror setting why not if said Horror wins nature is going to suffer Aswell right?

[@cyanideytcuriousseadoggo]

3:41 So if the group is all squishy characters time to go full Hp and AC stacking meme build. 5:14 So Wobbufett Cleric(Pokemon reference.)

[@TheReverendBread]

Tbf, the “summon 200 wights for a zombie nuke” thing is going to take some time at 2 wights at a time, burning an 8th+ level spell slot I welcome the challenge as I’d love to run the world reacting to a chain of disappearances that appear to be following the party

[@Subject_Keter]

I joke that "Dont bring a Necromancer to England or Fallout" the amount of bodies they can raise in like 5 mins 😂

[@rexking6241]

The Cleric is a under utilized class, if just used as a healer. It has more utility this any other class, best class to duel class with.

[@dukejaywalker5858]

Love the T-shirt

[@zamba136]

My only tip is to ignore everything this video says. Rule 1: create characters that are fun to play. Rule 2: create characters that have backstories and personalities that don't block the fun. No one character build is bad for it. I've played "the worst" build before and everybody had fun.

[@israelmorales4249]

Great video, thx for the avices! I wish i could be a player.....

[@tomleonard830]

What about former farmer, lawyer, or blacksmith?

[@MechbossBoogie]

I prefer to work it into why you're an adventurer. Farmer got barbarian levels from fighting goblins off of his farm. You're a lawyer or paralegal of the local theives guild. The blacksmith of the local church looking for trophies to work into his products so they stand out in the market.

[@Subject_Keter]

Everyone has a origin before the player picks them as their hero 😂 I dont see how you cant have them be a Lawyer who been studying magic cases, a smith now Artificer trying to sell his wares or a Farmer trying to find a way to animate things into Golems. Just need some reason they would grind to be a adventurer. Challenge level: Impossible 😂

[@tomleonard830]

@@Subject_Keter I"m currently playing a former farmer who was run off their farm and took to adventuring to make money and help people.

[@amogorkon]

I think it's a big mistake to make a character that has a well-paying civil job in general. Maybe they're curious and want to go on an adventure, but it can get really tricky to keep the character motivated in a horror plot if they could and rationally would just leave and go back to their old life.

[@shallendor]

I frustrate my DM's since AD&D! Especially with Illusions and my creative mind!

[@Subject_Keter]

"Dont be useless" Also: "Anyone that cant throw fireballs is useless" 😂

[@DigitalxGamer]

One of my favorite characters is a smith. However, he does not keep a formal shop in a city he has to constantly return to. Rather, he is a traveling smith, who brings a mobile forge with him everywhere he goes. He crafts weapons and armor from various materials collected from around the world, some more decorative, others more functional. He sells and trades with other travelers or merchant wagons, and yes, trades in a city where he can potentially rent a stall or stand or something. How does he accomplish this? By being a Battle Smith Artificer who keeps a Bag of Holding to hold all of his forging materials, including the collapsible forge complete with small anvil, as well as all of his potential wares. He can fight using what he crafts or anything else, and he upgrades or repairs party gear whenever he can and then keeps extra stock on his defender, which he rides like a wagon. His reason for adventuring was to see the world and see how people in different cultures or even cities in the same culture, varied in their styles and forging techniques, what materials were used, etc. so that he could one day become a crafter as good as the Wonderbringer himself. His ultimate goal is to become the best crafter in all the planes so that he can overcome his own sad past and just put more happiness into the world with the things he makes. I think this is a really fun character to play in a group, so there are always exceptions to the rules~

[@Joshuazx]

Response to rule #2, Cairn RPG has a rule that says players must work as a team. 👍

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Good points It’s all about your group

[@АнтонМихайлов-ъ3г]

> Don't be a blacksmith In D&D campaign of Viva la dirt league one of the characters is literally a blacksmith

[@Darkwintre]

When I run a game I set out to make it fun for everyone, however the other DM is a particularly nasty, uncreative jerk who doesn't feel happy unless he's screwing up something rather than running his game properly. Even after 3 years I can't help wondering what his problem was. I know it effected the others as I couldn't them to invest in the game I was running. Finally he got bored and jumped settings despite that nopt being possible as they were entirely different worlds. All he needed to do wa ask and allow me to run what I had planned and he would have been fine, but he couldn't do that and I still thinking walking away was the best thing to do as he would only get bored again and jump settings as he simply couldn't run his own game. My character was originally an elven Ranger converted into a Cleric at his request before he then crapped on the character by killing the only reason she was involved in his "campaign". In response to his stupid assertion I should just make a new character I simply revealed in the game I ran after his that my character was banished from another world entirely and was simply recovering from amnesia thus remembering her past now was seeking a way home or a way to contact her family there. My game was set on Exandria over a century before Vox Machina, I doubt he even noticed that. Of course he claimed his game had always been on Exandria when it wasn't but I left and cut ties. Still trying to understand his stupidity but I suspect it boiled down to the fact he simply didn't have a clue and destroyed what I had set up simply out of spite and couldn't be bothered to run his own game properly. Sorry brought back bad memories!

[@Pherim_]

Funny video to pop up just when i was about to create a new Character

[@killjoy197]

If every one can make their own character... And one character seems way more useful/powerful than the other players' characters... That seems like that would be the players' fault of the other characters to me. If I make a city based thief and we spend most of our time in dungeons, that's on me. If I make a social Charisma based character and we're playing hack and slash, that's on me. BAD CHARACTERS are often due to bad players, by which I mean they built them poorly and fail to utilize their skills properly. As for the LONER gamer, if I'm playing a thief in a party with an armored fighter, an armored cleric, and an armored Paladin; am I REALLY going to want them tagging along as I burgle houses at night? Some builds/classes depend on being alone or the character just makes sense alone. If my party's cleric and paladin want to do the slums to heal the sick and open a food kitchen for the orphans that day, what is my necromancer supposed to do, animate dead puppies to entertain the kids? Yes, it sucks when the party wants to break up in the dungeons (unless your thief is scouting and clearing traps like a common sense party would have them do) as that's tough on the DM but that's the nature of being the DM and you'd almost be better off having a co-DM during some campaigns for that reason.

[@morrigankasa570]

It's fun to be able to have your own Army if the Undead!!! It's fun to be super powerful! Your points are 99.9% invalid and dum in this video along with the majority of your other videos! Fun is relative, every person has their own thoughts and opinions about what is fun. YES, don't be harmful or deliberately antagonistic towards the party & DM. But otherwise you shouldn't have to nerf or change your character for the rest of the party outside of those 2 things. If you have fun being an über-powerful Wizard decimating enemies with Fireballs dealing the most damage that's fine, the DM can just add more enemies to encounters. If you want to be the Rogue that successfully swiped the Crown Jewels of some Empire, that is fine as long as you communicate with the rest of the party and don't use them as scapegoats. It's a Power Fantasy Escapism, that is what the game is!!!!

[@saraphys5555]

#1: I play an Artificer...I am the penultimate Blacksmith, a master of making mundane and magical gear, and being able analyse and safely handle any foreign/new items the party comes across... It's not that a Blacksmith, or a Farmer, or a Librarian is bad...its how you play them. The Leader of the Mandalorian Enclave is the Armourer...and she was deadly with her Blacksmithing tools. #3: This felt redundent... Is it not obvious to read the room/table and make the character accordingly? The only time this falls through is with "Adventurer's League"...and thats its own ocean of problems, which WotC are apparently continuing into this new edition... ...ok, maybe Im just too "old hat/grognard", but none of this seemed...well, it all seemed redundent! Whats the point? For every point you bring up, you usually have a counter-argument of "unless it fits your table"... I feel like this video's topic could have been structured better.

[@Taveren]

I played a pathetic bard who thought he was hot shit until a bunch of disembodies hands swarmed and tortured him and then as a way to save him someone moonbeamed all of the hands which unfortunately were grappling him so he also got tortured. He ended up having one eye burnt blind, gaining a face full of scars, and the emotional support animal he tried to get turned into a eldritch patron seeking his soul, man had no luck

[@Subject_Keter]

But most DM got a -1 in strength abd Wisdom. How you expect them to survive a fighter doing 1 more dmg then expected 😂

[@tylerwhorff7143]

I played a barbarian who is a blacksmith/carpenter for Curse of Strahd. It was fun, I love giving my guys a craft/creative outlet since I'm an artist

[@volksdude1970]

One argument about having a blacksmith character or farmer character... I don't see anything wrong with it, but at least give a reason WHY your character is delving into a dangerous dungeon. In the case of a Blacksmith, is he going into a dungeon to find a rare metal to smith into his Magnum Opus? Perhaps to find and learn about a lost weapon or sword design only spoken of in history books so he could replicate it and make a bunch of money? Why would a farmer leave their fields to go adventuring? Is it to find their family who was taken and kidnapped? Is it to find and carry out personal revenge on the person responsible for taking their family and killing them? Why would a lawyer decide to travel? What if he discovers a mostly evil party, and realizes they could be his cash cow, and decide to stick around with them to keep the money flowing and give the party plausible deniability? (I.e. Better Call Saul) What if he is a detective who also went to law school, and can both defend and prosecute, like Perry Mason or Matlock? Those kinds of "classes" could still work, but just give a reason as to WHY that character is risking their life going on the adventure. They could, however, be better used as a backstory NPC for a Player Character, but even then, give a reason why and a goal for that character. Part of D&D is about making character and watching that character grow from a lv 1 nobody to an almost mythical demigod during an adventure. I've heard some stories about how a person made a character intended for one role in a campaign, only for that character to experience an event that changed them into another role by the end of the campaign. Honestly, character creation can be as simple or as complicated as being the DM. It all comes back to trying to work with other players and the DM to figure out what would make a good setting for a story, and roll with it. It's all about cooperation.

[@vickieden1973]

I believe that was the point. He's not really saying "Don't play a character who's a blacksmith", he's saying "Don't be a character who's JUST a blacksmith and has no reason or desire or capability to go off on adventures to save the world or whatever the game requires" :) He just had to make the Rule Titles short and snappy, if less accurate.

[@sharktos3218]

We are in the middle of a campaign full of characters who don't know why they even would go adventuring, but it's our first game so it's understandable. The game rarely makes progress because nobody actually wants to achieve anything. What are we supposed to do know of we don't want to start a new campaign eith totally different characters?

[@vickieden1973]

Talk to everyone, preferably all together. If there is anything, even if it's just a footnote in someone's backstory, that can be used, try to draw them in with that. If someone only wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world, that's still a character arc that can be used to motivate them. However, if none of the characters genuinely have anything they want to achieve, then... honestly, it's time they all retired to NPC status and the team rolled new characters. No one's key motivation in a standard adventure-style D&D game should be "to find myself" or "live a peaceful life".

[@sharktos3218]

@@vickieden1973 It's not like they have no motivation. It's more like a "Well, what now?" situation after they stole a ship and went to a whole different country. It's definitely not impossible to find something related to someone's story, especially because one is a former pirate and the other a more or less known religious figure, but I don't really now what I can use to find them a purpose. It's not that the characters don't want adventure, but the players including me as the DM don't really get the picture of what's even going on and why. It's... idk, simply convoluted I guess.

[@grumpschan]

@@sharktos3218 then that's more of your fault, not theirs. You're supposed to create a world and a story, not just go "ok so you guys are in a jungle....What do you do?". What are they supposed to do? Walk around aimlessly?

[@sharktos3218]

@@grumpschan No, it's neither my nor their fault? Again, it's our first campaign. And there is stuff to do, that's not the problem. Currently they are on a mission to kill a forest witch who basically kidnaps every other child born in the region, but they are halfway through the forest and already pretty spent on resources, so when they arrive, they will have to haggle to even come out of the forest alive (or kill her if they want to try, of course). Then they can abandon their mission or try to gear up and "try again". There's also the option to "befriend" her and find out why she does what she does. There's a Demon/Devil around the area who is up to his own schemes and works against the witch (without him knowing) so the witch would potentially the thankful if adventurers took care of him. There is also a mystery of disappearing fish in the village where they parked their ship, so that's another thing they could go after. It's really not that I'm too lazy to write ideas into my world, it's just the question why the group would even do anything, you know? It's finding a reason for the group to do stuff. Not because they want to stay home and herd their sheep etc, but it's hard for my group to get into the heads/motivations of their characters, and least that's what I assume...

[@grumpschan]

@@sharktos3218 Ah okay, the way you phrased it before made me believe that you just had them spawn somewhere random and didn't contribute to pushing a story. I apologize

[@Subject_Keter]

I think if you were fighting a evil cult and you find a disgraced cultist who is willing to strike them down to show he was the better follower... or cuz his right arm is now a giant crabby shotgun. I would say that fits over "oh if we only knew the ideal masters want to suck our souls out! If only we listened!"

[@ZorValachan]

Completely disagree with the blacksmith/farmers take. The weaponsmith discipline in Earthdawn brings a lot to an adventuring group to a point my groups feel lacking without one. Players having a character that can make their own (and the group's) gear brings a personal touch that people remember decades later.

[@pugglesmchuggles]

Hm. I feel like so far each of these tips have good intent and good ideas behind them, but the execution in phrasing and explaining these happens to fall flat for me.

[@arkdeniz]

Played a mercenary cleric of the god of trade and wealth once. Only healed for coin or other material considerations. Fellow believers got a loyalty discount. Was disliked by the other PCs but garnered my god more worshippers. Doesn’t work in 5e tho. Too much free healing through rests.

[@arnelarboleda2870]

They: create character according to the campaign story. Also they: know the campaign story is metagaming.

[@ramonmenendez9938]

just getting back into the game and have found that RP is for the most part.. non-existent. I am also playing one shots that encourage min/max (murder hobos). The first one I went to I had created a fairly well rounded toon with a good background...... it appeared I had wasted my time. The other part I am finding hard is everything is point and rules driven.... kinda kills the whole RP thing. What happened to having fun and making toons from anything that was sentient.... as long as you didnt get overly stupid..... you can RP anything

[@GM_Lemmy]

"Don't sacrifice yourself" You know... That advice arrived 2 Paladins too late... 🤣

[@CrazyKungfuGirl]

We can be a party of rogues if we like, your just mean

[@gbprime2353]

A good DM can fix OP. Whatever power level the most powerful character gets produced with, the DM sets aside bonuses and items for the other players to acquire that brings them UP to the power of the OP character. Then you just have to make sure the OP character gets plots and stuff too... just ones that don't massively increase their power.

[@Frustwell]

A good DM would not hesitate to kill the character of someone who wants to treat the game as little more than his or her own personal power fantasy at the expense of everyone else at the table's enjoyment. It's amazing to me that one of the most unfair stigmas attached to those of us who played D&D back in its formative years has now been given a reason to exist with generations of people coming from video games prioritizing optimization over actual characterization and story

[@gbprime2353]

@@Frustwell No, you need to avoid punishing a player, that will just push them away. (Unless maybe that's what you want, but that's a whole different thread...) Just double up the rewards on all the others and make sure they get their turn in the limelight.

[@Frustwell]

@@gbprime2353 Many tables disallow min-maxing. That was not a controversial statement in the first half of the hobby's existence.

[@gbprime2353]

@@Frustwell True. I've always taken the approach of being an excellent power gamer and rules lawyer and using my powers only for good. =P I always help the other players punch up their builds a bit if one of the other players is too over-shadowy, and my trend to buff the least powerful PC's has caught on with the other GM's in the group.

[@Frustwell]

​@@gbprime2353 Knock yourself out. What you are doing though is not at all in the spirit of the game. I come from a time when players did not even own copies of the rules. The rules were there for the DM to inform his or her arbitration. Not so players could become problem players. The irony of your approach is how limiting it is. You are constrained by the rules. it limits the imagination with which any good DM can steer a game.

[@christianresel8051]

3:54 nope, nogo. Especiel those that actualy CARE about proper Role play. and that can only be done by a developed character that is NOT bound by "we have no mage, make a mage" shit. This would ONLY go for preset campaigns or boring stock DND stuff (aka, combat heavy), not for a proper role playing game, wich DND can be used as base for and, with a little bit of homebrew and changing, is better than ANY OTHER PNP RULESET out there with EASE. If one wants the typical ballanced group shit then play some oldschool mmo's, but dont even DARE bringing this up in dnd. If you cant overcome the being near phyiscal damage imunity with your 4 fighters, then your not fit to play anyway safe its boring dungeon crawling... the meme about the group not being able to solve a puzzle for 5 year olds comes in mind here...

[@RandomPerson-b1s]

Well, some part of it could make sense, but more by a roleplaying point of view. Something like not bringing a character that kills innocent people on a regular basis in a party where there is already a character that makes a point of protecting the innocent by any means necessary. That is just a recipe for character assassination.

[@shanebailey6341]

Please don't forget (2/3 way through and haven't heard yet) please don't keep getting sidetracked. I hate running a game for 4 hours but actually play 20 minutes of that 4 hours. That drives everyone crazy. We can talk about Karen at work when gaming is done. 🤷‍♂️

[@mkklassicmk3895]

No matter how many time you play test a game you will never find all the exploits. If you had ever developed a game yourself you would know that.

[@yumesuty6195]

Discouraging players from beeing crafters is kinda shaity move. Its fun, why most DMS have problem with that. Is there no creativity ?

[@NyctophileXIII]

Please make Pathfinder content.

[@codyhoney9101]

Your first point was stupid. I played a farmer that became a circle of the Shepard druid. You can be anything and figure out how to be useful and grow in usefulness as part of your story.

[@Joshuazx]

I agree with #5. Dont be a Druid. Fantasy Druids suck.

[@UndeadMark]

Played a game where one character was an armor smith and another was a farmer. Both required a place of business and long amounts of time spent in it. Pretty much made it very difficult for the party to actually go out and adventure. It pretty much became the Sims. Make an adventurer.

[@Rougesteelproject]

You could probably do something like that with the new Bastion thing. I'd rule that you can farm or smith when Bastion turns happen (once per in-game week), but you have to adventure otherwise.

[@UndeadMark]

@@Rougesteelproject Not sure how labeling it solves the problem. What do the other characters do while the farmer is farming? They made characters built for adventure, not a day job. It also constrains the adventure to be in one week bursts where returning to a safe place is necessary. Ive had many a campaign where we didnt even return to our own plane for the bulk of the story. Every time I encounter a game where a player has created a character that is tied to a particular place, it always causes a problem.

[@Rougesteelproject]

You do not need to be in the bastion for a bastion turn to happen. Bastion turns happen with or without you. If you can't be there physically, it does the last thing you told it to do. If you wanna play sims, wait for downtime. Otherwise it runs in the background. "What do the other characters do while the farmer is farming?" -Either also adventuring, or also taking downtime.

[@kschris]

There are plenty of ways to work around this. Everybody has a place in an adventuring party in the right context. Both could have left their shops in the charge of apprentices and/or Sons and daughters. The armor smith could be looking for more rare materials to forge better armor with. The farmer could be looking for the cure to a blight or removing an existential threat to their community. It's all about imagination and working outside of the baggage of expectations.

[@Joshuazx]

It is metagaming to optimize your character. Change my mind.

[@SirArchon]

Who tolerates that from edge lords?

[@spyromalin6618]

I disagree. Characters should be made without considering other player characters. Consult with DM though. You meet up and now you have to figure out the challenge ahead with the tools you have instead of cherry picking and making broken combos before game even starts. Failing at doing a thing in DnD should be be a bad thing, it's roleplay opportunity. Stop optimizing fun out of the game. Meta stinks.

[@purpleslushie]

I was part of a campaign where we were making a zombie army out of an island off the coast nearby baldurs gate. We had them build several ships that allowed us to ferry our way close enough the shore to be able to walk on the bottom under water undetected. I had warforged and the other guy was a lich so we walked under as well. Meanwhile our balor companion, having been promised as a gift for making such glorious sacrifices to make zombies, had flown ahead as a distraction.

[@SamBrockmann]

This is why I prefer Pathfinder 2nd Edition. The absolute nonsense that has been allowed since 2004 doesn't work, by RAW, in PF2E. 1) I so despise the "I'm just a NPC who left the farm/shop/castle". No, no, you're not. Stop that. 2) I have found that collaboration on classes has always been positive. 3) The loner never works. 4) The comedian has ruined the tone so often. Just don't. It's less crazy if you lean to the tone and then funny moments happen organically. 5) This is key. I don't know why so many people show up with the wrong build, when a 2 second question fixes it. 6) Never ever. 7) I always fit the backstory to the game. If it's a pirate themed game, I explain why I am on the pirate ship.

[@blakenelson4158]

Reply to number 1. i am a farm boy who just left the farm but i am also scarry good with a sword will work. or even a librarian whom was constantly, belittled burns down the library / lords home. and never looks back is scarry good with magic or makes a pact for power. reply to number 3 the "loner" can work if the char stops being the loner and joins the group (brooding is optional)

[@SamBrockmann]

@@blakenelson4158 , 1) No, no, that doesn't work. Have you ever worked on a farm? Without modern farming equipment and automations? No? Didn't think so. How would the farm boy HAVE TIME to become good with a sword? I've actually only seen one iteration of this working, and that's in *Neverwinter Nights 2*, where it's implied that you are a small village hunter's apprentice (and foster son). The village has a village militia, and YOU - along with everyone else who could swing a stick or pull a bow - were forced to train with the militia. Even the village cleric and the village wizard trained with the militia. (That means, if you chose to be a support cleric or a sorcerer or a wizard or a bard, etc., you still had militia training.) My point is, unless you explain HOW and WHY the farm boy HAD TIME to learn to swing a sword, then the farm boy is never going to be "scarry good with a sword". (Sidenote: it's spelled "scary", not "scarry". But whatever.) 3) They wouldn't be a loner if they joined the group . . .

[@blakenelson4158]

@@SamBrockmann right would not work in a game where you can go from fighter to wizard in a few weeks? whare was that years of wizard training coming from? Not a loner now THATS MY FREKING POINT. leave the loner part in the background.

[@SamBrockmann]

@@blakenelson4158 , ooooooh, boy. You're one of THOSE. 🤣🤣 Yeah, no. It wouldn't work. Also, it's spelled "where", not "whare". Please learn to use spellcheck. There is no reason, in 2024, to not use spellcheck.

[@Ahzpayne]

@@SamBrockmann There's also no reason to correct grammar when you didn't need to ask for clarification in order to do. If you were smart enough to use context clues and figure it out everyone else is going to be smart enough too.

[@Ahzpayne]

I come back every few months for advice on how to never run a table. So much consistently bad advice from an obvious control freak.

[@blakenelson4158]

explain please. because the heart of the advice is not bad don't play the brooding loner who never ever works with others. and don't make a completely useless character. on the last one trust me its no fun for the player what sounds good in your head kinda falls apart at the table.