When I begin a campaign I usually enjoy doing some moderate changes to the races, like having Wood Elves live in savannas like the Zulus, or be a mountain folk like the Temur clan in Magic the Gathering.
Some other alterations I like to make involve having dark elves live much more like an Orthodox Christian nation instead of being cooped up in the Underdark while they'll still be xenophobic against outsiders.
But I've had a few run ins with players who always roll their eyes at these changes, and they suggest (even as a DM of 8 years) that going against the books is extremely unprofessional, and that the way stuff is written in the book is how it needs to be done.
All I hear is "The books are allowed to be creative but you're not." What do you think Veeky Forums?
Ayden Martin
These sorts of players are overlooking the bigger picture. The very first page of most DMG books for systems state on that the books are meant only to be guidelines and that nothing in them is set in stone. Anything is subject to change to fit the DMs feel for a story and establish a truly unique setting.
Your players can't get mad at you for "not following the books" when the very first page states the books encourage DMs to make their own changes to begin with. In a sense, a good DM is following the spirit of the book by expanding upon what is initially written into them. So your players are little more than hypocrites if they scold you for this.
Carson Torres
>"hey guys, I'm gonna slap a bunch of fantasy races together with seemingly random RL cultures! wow such worldbuilding, very creative. wait til you hear this one: my wood elves...they...wait for it...they live in locales that have no woods! now let me consult the random numbers generator to see what the drow are like, hm it seems they're orthodox christians" maybe they just think your ideas are retarded. I sure do
Ethan Peterson
Yeah I can say for sure that it might be the personality of some of my players, they seem to see things as black and white and one in particular is very inflexible with what they think.
I remember one time they argued that rogues were strictly masters of their crafts and know all the mystical tricks in the world, while I was trying to argue that a rogue could ALSO be defined as someone who's a very dirty, dexterous fighter. Someone else stepped in and took my side but they still didn't agree. I might need better players.
Parker Russell
>We wuz elves n shiet Why do you butcher germanic and celtic mythology like this?
Andrew Nelson
Maybe everything things you're a faggot, I sure do.
Grayson Long
I didn't say it was revolutionary world building. But I am saying it's a better formula than than coming up with a 1, 2, 3, 4, campaign story and think of generic kingdom names that decided to be at war.
Nathan Cox
If you're the dungeon master it's your world. It doesn't make two shits difference what the players think. If they don't like it, they can run their own fucking campaign or play at a different table. Never got why players felt the need to nit pick. Most of them never run any games themselves and shit themselves inside out trying to think of something that's not a pre-planned module when asked to.
My advice is fuck them. Don't be a dick to them in game about it, but address it out of character. If you dislike my concepts, there's the door. If you dislike hearing this, let me show you my favorite finger, and be on my way.
Jordan Roberts
What separates Tolkien's works from this butchery, is that Tolkien's works draw on a long tradition, and mix faerie tale in with reality, where the elves were actually a race similar to men.
Taking Tolkien's work and jumbling it up doesn't add any actual depth. On the contrary, it takes away from it. IF you feel that people are too derivative of Tolkien in general and it needs a change, remember that in any story, the primary conflicts are human conflicts. The conflict should be something that people can relate to: temptation, adversity, loss of a friend, etc. and no matter what the setting is, the story should primarily revolve around these things. If you cannot captivate interest in the story, then you solution (inserting random foreign cultures) is only a very thin layer of paint that will chip off very quickly.
Brody Cooper
^ I agree with this guy. It's nice to add bits of splash here and there and alter things a bit. But overall story and plot points come first.
