You are the GM for a fantasy campaign. During character creation...

Try to work with him to make a character exotic enough for him without being obnoxious or a snowflake.

Say no. Just because you are willing to negotiate doesn't mean you have to accept everything he requests. Negotiation implies that things might fall through, if that happens don't take it personally just say "I honestly don't think we can come up with a character concept that will satisfy us both. You can accept one of the options I mentioned as being acceptable but barring that I am going to say no, maybe next time."

>I'd like to either play a character from some exotic, faraway culture you haven't mentioned who would be unique and stand out, or a monstrous character that would struggle to overcome the trials and adversity of living in your setting's society.

Hey man, that's cool, I'll have to finagle some rules depending on what we land on, but how about we talk about it after today's session and then we can work you in next-

>If I can't have either of those, then I'm probably going to drop out of this campaign, since none of these other options interest me.

Oh, cool, seeya.

"Well, there's a reason there's the loose confederation of small nations banded together tucked into that corner, lot of weird things that got pushed out from elsewhere. It exists specifically to be a kitchen sink for weirder shit."

First posts best posts

Fucking normie! WHY CAN YOU HANDLE THESE SITUATIONS AND I CAN'T? REEEEEEEEEE

>>Thanks, but before I make my sheet I wanted to run a homebrew class that I saw that was pretty neat.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with an entire homebrew class. Maybe we could take the mechanics from a class in the core book and fluff it as this one you want to be?

Because we're better than you, mostly.

Seriously, going mad for a request like this? What the fuck?

Homebrew is a whole another beast. Of course a sane individual would state -if the game in question has lot of homebrew- his stance on that before the game. You do that, right user?

>If he's not a friend
Sorry to hear that mate, hope you have better luck with your next game.

>If he's a friend
I guess I could take a look at coming up with something else. Any preferences?

>"I asked for your input when creating the setting, same as with everyone else. The race of catfolk are entirely your doing. If you wanted something different involved, you could have mentioned it sometime in the last few weeks."

Why would you say something so mean user-chan? I'm just a cute 1,000 year old dragon girl who thinks you are baiting just as hard as I did so we should be friends

Eh. I've done it before.

I'll just mention that he'll have to run it by me for approval first, and I have the authority to retroactively make balance changes to the homebrew if it brings up any problems.

So long as you expect to be screamed at, hunted, and generally shat on and fucked with for no reason. If you are ok with that and won't bitch when it happens then go ahead.

Is that a minotaur_(male)?

Yeah, I don't think this is the group for you. Thanks for stopping by, best of luck in finding a game more to your liking.

The request is fine, it's the attitude that's the problem.

I ask him what he wants to play, and if it isn't too overpowered and doesn't clash with the tone I'm going for, I'll allow it. Adventurers aren't ordinary people, it's okay to have one of an unusual race.

I have exotic and monstrous races available, so they wouldn't really have an argument.

I let them make the character they want. Monstrous or exotic PCs are only really an issue with shitty players that refuse all the downsides that comes with the character. They want to play a minotaur because it's cool or a kitsune because they're sexy, but they start bitching when their choice of race effects them negatively like being hated or stigmatized because they're a fucking monster. A player explicitly excited to explore those difficulties is always welcome at my table.

>running gurps

Sure, just take the race advantages out of your starting points, and give me time to veto before our first session.

No user, I'm not baiting. Only retards that shouldn't be playing don't consider simple facts like these.

pure shit GM incoming
>So, I had a look at the campaign setting
i don't have one we play offline diablo where we do the math with dice instead of clicking on the monsters

>I'd like to either play a character from some exotic, faraway culture. or a monstrous character
what the fuck ever, you'll just get stuck in with the boys and clear out dungeons and ruined churches, monster PCs welcome as long as the relative power level's around the same

Now, you and the rest of the party, with whom you've travelled for a month and got to know them, find yourselves in front of a village, flames rising from the hovels and corpses of the hapless victims strewn about. A few shadows of what seem to be children disappear into the carnage. Seems you were spotted, what do you do?

My GM actually went along with that. Was a good campaign.

Sure, it was the GURPS Banestorm setting, so that made things easier, but still.

Pitch me your character concept for either in a sentence and we'll go from there.

I'm doing that now and it feels great.

If you can't vet the power or efficacy of homebrew presented to you, you don't deserve the DM hat. If you let a player run game on you by not vetting the homebrew before they used it, that's on you.

The GM should know the game as well as, if not better than, the players. They're the ones running it.

I'm actually ok with players contributing to the setting, but I'd really have to see where they were wanting to take this before I would give it an ok. I have to make sure they aren't using this as an excuse to cheese the system or play a fun draining sad sack.

>you don't deserve the DM hat
Oh fuck off.

This is why we have next to no GMs in the hobby. GMing is not a right you earn. It's something that should be encouraged. It's a skill that has to be learned and improved upon. Nobody starts off GMing perfectly.

>FUCK OFF YOU DON'T DESERVE TO GM
>Shitposter-kun proceeds to cry in a GM gripes thread about how he's the only one who ever GMs in his area

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here.

No, it's because people are faggos that can't see if a homebrew is shit. And so veto it.

This should be required for GMs, or the game will be a gigantic failure, but anyone could do that (and should).

This thread has gone to heck in a handbasket

>How do you react?
Sure, tend to fluff things out as we go along to tell the truth, see no reason why I can't slip something else in, have anything in particular in mind?

>>Thanks, but before I make my sheet I wanted to run a homebrew class that I saw that was pretty neat.
Mind if I take a look?
>Depending on the class
Been a few homebrewn classes I've wanted to play myself over the years but gotta make sure things are balanced, let you play the first couple of levels as is but I may tweak the features or your XP growth if you start looking under or over powered

Or

Y'know we could just refluff X and change a few traits around if that's what you want? Just saying it looks very similar, Yes/No? Alright

Also this user has it right, no reason you can't let him play it, just let him know you may tweak things to keep things balanced compared to the rest of the party.
You don't even need to modify the mechanics if it isn't too bad, tweaking XP granted to each PC is actually a pretty good way to keep the party equal in power if they have different tier classes, hell I've let PCs play a gestalt in nongestalt games in return for slower level progression and it worked out fine

All homebrew is shit. That's common sense. Only morons think what they cooked up in five minutes is better than what professionals who get paid can do.

>cooked up in five minutes
This right here tells me you've done no homebrewing

Well then I guess it comes down to how much I like them and how much of a pain in the ass they are going to be during play.

>I am a master game designer, my senses of balance honed through decades of exposure to the ins and outs of the art of the table top rpg. You dare make light of my work, nay, my passion?! I'll have you know I spend hours perfecting my homebrews, and all of my players agree that what I write is far superior to first party material. Why the only reason my work isn't already formally published is because I refuse to pander to the nu-male libcucks who have infested this once great hobby. I suggest you think before you run your mouth next time, child.

god, that picture is just adorable.

Y-S is best

I don't want to save it cause I don't want people to think I'm a pedo.

Write him up a unique race of snowflake elementals.

Nice rant user, just saying making 5 level Prc takes at least 10 minutes

this

>Monstrous character
I'll let you play as a mutant or freak that's an outcast from a regular culture or race. Choose up to three deformities or I'll make a table for your to roll for randomized deformities. If you get drawback deformities I'll let you get some free points to spend elsewhere. Your backstory should probably involve a circus or freak show of some kind.

"As long as you're willing to work with me in developing it."

I ask what they had in mind

If it clashes too hard with the intended tone, or I suspect they're just doing it to be a special snowflake, I shut it down hard and tell them that the game is probably not for them.

If they're being reasonable about it and just want to play a character Stranger in a Strange Land style, then I tentatively okay it, but I'll need to give it a few sessions to see how it goes before I'm fully on board.

I tell the player to take his homebrew class and shove it real far up his colon.

I have a brother who is like this literally every game i run. I tell him the same thing every time.

Whatever bullshit special race/culture doesn't fucking exist in this world. Something in the books exists to make it option but its only an option, not a requirement for me to include in my world that i design.

This desu

If a player threatens to drop out before even getting an answer to his original query or discussing his issue in more detail, then he's 100% going to pull that card again before the game is done.

I've literally dealt with this shit before. They don't even realise they're being coercive, half the time, but especially in the case of somebody like me who spent years of therapy getting over a desperate need to please everyone that was basically killing me by inches, it's a pretty horrible exchange to have.

If I can't play a kobold then the game is unplayable and the dm doesn't know how to run good games enjoy your shit session scrubs.

No kidding

>DM puts forth all the effort into making a cohesive setting
>Player shits all over it because he wants to be a special snowflake
What the fuck is with Veeky Forums and entitled players?

This is why I tend to give people at least a week to do a think and hash it out with me and the rest of the group. My response to this will vary depending on how close to game night this conversation is being had, and to what extent group dynamics (in and out of character) being considered or disregarded. Goes double if the setting is being well received and everyone else is on board.

If he's showing up to game night totally unprepared, and we're talking about this long after everyone else is ready to go, then he doesn't have the option of playing: he can choose to leave or I can eject him - but him leaving is how it's going down.

Now, if I sent out the setting info on Sunday, and he's getting back to me in an email on Tuesday then chances are we can come up with something. A fish out of water foreign character might be just the thing to highlight certain aspects of the setting by way of contrast. I make it clear that the setting comes first, and that the character will be expected to integrate or be chased back to where it came from. I also make it clear that weapons from the character's homeland will confer zero mechanical advantages.

>professionals
Dude, one glance at companies like Paizo proves that having a title and a paycheck doesn't mean shit. Some of the most amateurish slop I've even seen was in official rulebooks and modules. If you take everything that has an official seal of approval as gospel truth and reject all homebrews as substandard deviancies, then you're doing yourself a huge disservice. Check everything, regardless of source, and only let through what passes muster.

>tfw you are running a lower power campaign
>that guy comes with an exotic race with an exotic class that needs niche circumstances in order for their class to excel at one over the top stupid thing then wonders why their class is effectively a shitty fighter all game when the setting has no access to astral bullshit magic

>We had this talk already Jared, you can't play an Inugami no Samurai, I don't care if you already typed up 10 pages of backstory and stats, we made it clear you can use it in the Five Rings game. Not this one. Drop it.

Yeah, just because you're getting paid and have experience doesn't mean it'll be good.

So how much of a moron do you have to be to think you're capable of doing better than the garbage spewed out by people who have both?

If they'd looked at my setting, they would have seen that it has both of those already available to players.

So, since they're liars and can't be assed to look before asking, they get politely ejected from the group.

When did the gender (gender) thing get so widespread? Why not just say trap?

How long have I known this player? Do they try to pull this shit every game? Having an outsider type character can be fun if the person can handle it and they don't just want to do it to be a special snowflake. If his reasoning is solid and I think he is up to the task then I would probably let him do it.

It's a meme. It'll run out of steam when it stops being funny or relevant. My guess is that we'll see the last of it before 2019.

Wow, user, you previous-leveled yourself. Good work.

None of my players would do that.
And if they did I'd give them the option if they for some reason already didn't have it because they'd be less of a fag about asking for it and I'm not a mean GM.
Just don't play with bitches.

Depends - are they a special snowflake egocentric faggot - then I guess they're dropping out of the campaign.

If they value roleplaying and just want something like that to play as something different - I'm sure we can work something out.

I actually have the exact opposite problem. I asked to join a game with someone I hardly know, and his policy for his world is no dwarves, elves, orcs or any of the more standard races because "it's all been done before". He wants everyone to focus more on more unique species like satyrs and bullywogs and whatnot. I get what he's going for, but I feel like by doing this, he's being more restrictive than creative.

On a sidenote, I'll still probably play as a centaur or bird person.

A lot of autists think presenting an ultimatum is being diplomatic

I'd wish them the best and assume they will be back the next day asking to play regardless.

I mean, if you're leaving no room for your pcs to influence the world during character creation then maybe you should go write a novel instead.

I'm not saying you should bend over backwards to accommodate literally everything, but if everyone is specifically limited to only the very basest of concepts within the space you define for them then it comes off as you being more interested in telling a story than GMing an RPG.

I was okay with it until that last sentence.
Honestly, I love it when players try to add to the setting, but the way that last sentence was worded stirs something angry within me.

>So, I had a look at the campaign setting and none of the cultures or races you listed for player characters really appeal to me. I'd like to either play a character from some exotic, faraway culture you haven't mentioned who would be unique and stand out, or a monstrous character that would struggle to overcome the trials and adversity of living in your setting's society.
Definitely worth talking to them to try and figure out what they're actually after. So long as they're a decent person we can probably figure something out or reach some kind of compromise.
Even at face value there's nothing inherently wrong with either of those ideas: they still give space for interesting characters, even if they are cliché and overused.

>If I can't have either of those, then I'm probably going to drop out of this campaign, since none of these other options interest me.
Bye.

It turns a nuanced situation with room for negotiation into a binary ultimatum where it's their way or the highway.

>You want to be a beast race? Ok heres Volos Guide to Monsters. Pick a beast race from within. If you dont see anything here that interests you then my game probably isnt for you.

And a very limp, ineffectual ultimatum at that "give me thing or I'll go away and stop crying for thing" is a damn easy choice for most people

I don't know, the effectiveness of it is dictated by the size of the local tabletop scene. If you can't reliably get another player, one of your existing players dropping out could have a big impact on the viability of a campaign.

>implying players aren't a dime a dozen

>imblyign players aren't a diamond dozen

Where do you live where tabletop players are that easy to find?

Depends on the setting I'm running and how good a player he is.

If I don't know the player, it's a massive red flag.

Any major city.

this

I'd be inclined to tell them to fuck off after they give me an ultimatum because fuck ultimatums. But otherwise it would depend on how well I know the player, and what kind of campaign we're doing

>Of course a sane individual would state -if the game in question has lot of homebrew- his stance on that before the game.
No, not really. If it's not mentioned beforehand, you should assume that homebrew is not allowed by default(though the GM may make an exception if there's something you really want and you ask nicely). This isn't rocket science. How much homebrew the system has available is wholly irrelevant.

Just run it with one less person, worst case staple a skill monkey or heal bot to the party to round it out.

My work would be considerably better since I'd put in the time and effort to think it through and take into consideration all factors, instead of just cashing out an easy check and pandering to the lowest common denominator. That's what separates enthusiasts from corporate drones.

>Why can't you see that my paper airplane is better than any aircraft an engineer could design? They're just corporate drones! I put real effort and dedication into my paper airplanes!

Equating a soulless corporate drone doing the bare minimum to get paid to an aircraft engineer is absurd.

>he actually thinks the people who design games are soulless corporate drones who do the bare minimum for a paycheck

The original source is a terribly translated hentai doujin and the particular panel isn't work safe enough to posting a blue board, but it's quite hilarious in context.

Go ask /d/ for the source

Aircraft engineer here, we are soulless corporate drones because the pay is shit for the work involved, and usually boring as fuck

My ability to say no to stupid shit doesn't magically disappear.