Character creation restrictions [Archive] - Wizards Community

Character creation restrictions [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
gamerd0rk
09-18-05, 09:39 PM My last character was a druid, and I got really bored with him by lvl. 3. So I killed him off. ( this means I had to eat my character sheet; house rule).

Any ways I had to make a new character of coarse. I wanted to play an elven rogue. Ah, but no, we just started a new campaign, and the dm had made the continent all split up as far as races. So the humans are in the upper right hand corner, the elves to the north. halflings to the south, and so on.

So the dm says that I can't play an elf because they don't live in this area of the map, you can only be a human or a halfling.

This is crazy. What should I do make my next character evil, and kill his?
Salla
09-18-05, 09:46 PM Well, your DM is being a bit of a twit.

Perhaps the elven lands are over here, and the party is over there, but there's nothing that says you can't travel. Just tell the DM that your character is in this section of the continent because he's (whatever it is he's doing). It's completely ridiculous to assume that all races stay to their happy little confines all the time.

If he won't accept logic, then make a placefiller character and kill him off when you get close to elven lands.
Deflare
09-18-05, 11:09 PM If he won't shut up, put it to him this way- RL races have their homelands, right? Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, specifically. Yet Europeans, Asians, and Africans can all be found throughout the Americas! Further, Africans and Asians are found in Europe, Africans and Europeans are found in Asia, and Asians and Europeans are found in Africa! How did this occur? Duh- their ancestors either moved of their own free will, or were moved without consent. Why would D&D races be any different?
Josheva
09-19-05, 12:15 AM It seems to me that you are being a little unreasonable yourself. Killing off your character at level 3 because you are bored with it? Hows that roleplaying? Take a minute and ask yourself if the DM let you pick races and stuff like normal the first time you made characters. If he did then you are completely in the wrong, and if he didn't sit down and tell him that he is not doing a good job making the game enjoyable for everyone.

Whatever you do, do not make a char and kill his out of spite, will only ruin the game. Whenever I run into something like that I sit down with the DM (not during gametime) and work out a story as to why my elf would be in the hman lands etc.

Another good idea is to offer to either...
a) Wait for a more reasonable time for your elf to show up (make sure the DM makes an effort)

b) Play an NPC character that he would like to have travel with the party. Next time you need a favor from him you can remind him of this time that you did him one by advancing the storyline.

Cheers!
Encard
09-19-05, 03:39 PM Eh... Just deal with it. Restricting characters to a particular race or nationality is really not very uncommon - if you really want to play an elf try and come up with some reason why your elf would be with the humans and propose it to the DM (or better yet, work with the DM to come up with a reason). If he doesn't let you, just play a human or don't play at all if you feel so strongly about it - don't do something as silly as making a character just to kill someone else's, though.

Oh, on a side note... It's a pity you killed off that druid - they really get fun (in my opinion) after level 5, once they get access to wild shape. After that things just keep going up and up.
likerpgs
09-20-05, 11:22 PM My last character was a druid, and I got really bored with him by lvl. 3. So I killed him off. ( this means I had to eat my character sheet; house rule).

Any ways I had to make a new character of coarse. I wanted to play an elven rogue. Ah, but no, we just started a new campaign, and the dm had made the continent all split up as far as races. So the humans are in the upper right hand corner, the elves to the north. halflings to the south, and so on.

So the dm says that I can't play an elf because they don't live in this area of the map, you can only be a human or a halfling.

This is crazy. What should I do make my next character evil, and kill his?

IN your defense:
I dont like the idea of "sleep in the bed you made"...in another words, if you make a character, you are stuck with it.
Everyone is human, we go into a game and we brainstorm maybe one or two different characters, we pick one, we play and we find that we like the other character idea better.
NO big deal on wanting to play a different one so long as it doesnt become a habit as in switching to another character for the 3rd time or 5th time.
Killing it off because you dont like it...thats lame, no reason to do so...if you dont want the character anymore, talk with the GM and have him written off, maybe the character decided to go back to his old occupation, maybe he lost his nerve, maybe decided to find jobs elsewhere, etc.

In GM's defense:
If the GM says you cant have an elf in the human lands, work with him on it to re-consider.
If (after presenting a valid case) he still declines, then you need to abide the GM's judgment, its his game.
Lord Gwydion
09-21-05, 02:12 AM I say quit whining. Yeah, you heard me. Quit whining. Deal with it.

Lots of DMs make restrictions on characters at the beginning of the campaign. It's one of the rights you get for sitting behind the DM screen. As a DM, I can say "I want to run a campaign set in the Dwarf Kingdom of Grellinstone, so everyone has to be a Dwarf or a Gnome." Usually, they have a good reason for it that you as a player may not know. This is when you should just trust your DM.

Now, on the other hand, if you come to the DM with an interesting story for your character, and a reason an Elf would be in the Human/Halfling lands, then the DM should really work with you and allow the character. If he doesn't, though, either drop the Elf or drop the game entirely.

Now, on a completely different topic related to your post--the DM, apparently, is running his own character, often referred to as a DM PC, but it's really just an NPC that goes along with the group. If you're considering a juvenile sort of revenge in killing the DM PC, that inclines me to think that the DM is using the DM PC as an ego booster, so he can get all the glory by figuring out the answers to his own puzzles and kill his own monsters and stuff. And if true, this quite possibly led to the boredom with the Druid.

Which leads me to this suggestion--if you're not happy with the way this guy's DMing (an assumption on my part to be sure, but I'd be willing to bet a dollar on it) why don't you get a new DM? In fact, why don't you take a weekend, read over the DMG, and give it a try yourself?

You might gain a little new respect for what it takes to run a game, and how hard it can be to please all the players all the time. And it will give the current DM a chance to run a PC and maybe get the glory hounding out of his system.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
gamerd0rk 09-18-05, 09:39 PM	My last character was a druid, and I got really bored with him by lvl. 3. So I killed him off. ( this means I had to eat my character sheet; house rule). Any ways I had to make a new character of coarse. I wanted to play an elven rogue. Ah, but no, we just started a new campaign, and the dm had made the continent all split up as far as races. So the humans are in the upper right hand corner, the elves to the north. halflings to the south, and so on. So the dm says that I can't play an elf because they don't live in this area of the map, you can only be a human or a halfling. This is crazy. What should I do make my next character evil, and kill his?
Salla 09-18-05, 09:46 PM	Well, your DM is being a bit of a twit. Perhaps the elven lands are over here, and the party is over there, but there's nothing that says you can't travel. Just tell the DM that your character is in this section of the continent because he's (whatever it is he's doing). It's completely ridiculous to assume that all races stay to their happy little confines all the time. If he won't accept logic, then make a placefiller character and kill him off when you get close to elven lands.
Deflare 09-18-05, 11:09 PM	If he won't shut up, put it to him this way- RL races have their homelands, right? Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, specifically. Yet Europeans, Asians, and Africans can all be found throughout the Americas! Further, Africans and Asians are found in Europe, Africans and Europeans are found in Asia, and Asians and Europeans are found in Africa! How did this occur? Duh- their ancestors either moved of their own free will, or were moved without consent. Why would D&D races be any different?
Josheva 09-19-05, 12:15 AM	It seems to me that you are being a little unreasonable yourself. Killing off your character at level 3 because you are bored with it? Hows that roleplaying? Take a minute and ask yourself if the DM let you pick races and stuff like normal the first time you made characters. If he did then you are completely in the wrong, and if he didn't sit down and tell him that he is not doing a good job making the game enjoyable for everyone. Whatever you do, do not make a char and kill his out of spite, will only ruin the game. Whenever I run into something like that I sit down with the DM (not during gametime) and work out a story as to why my elf would be in the hman lands etc. Another good idea is to offer to either... a) Wait for a more reasonable time for your elf to show up (make sure the DM makes an effort) b) Play an NPC character that he would like to have travel with the party. Next time you need a favor from him you can remind him of this time that you did him one by advancing the storyline. Cheers!
Encard 09-19-05, 03:39 PM	Eh... Just deal with it. Restricting characters to a particular race or nationality is really not very uncommon - if you really want to play an elf try and come up with some reason why your elf would be with the humans and propose it to the DM (or better yet, work with the DM to come up with a reason). If he doesn't let you, just play a human or don't play at all if you feel so strongly about it - don't do something as silly as making a character just to kill someone else's, though. Oh, on a side note... It's a pity you killed off that druid - they really get fun (in my opinion) after level 5, once they get access to wild shape. After that things just keep going up and up.
likerpgs 09-20-05, 11:22 PM	My last character was a druid, and I got really bored with him by lvl. 3. So I killed him off. ( this means I had to eat my character sheet; house rule). Any ways I had to make a new character of coarse. I wanted to play an elven rogue. Ah, but no, we just started a new campaign, and the dm had made the continent all split up as far as races. So the humans are in the upper right hand corner, the elves to the north. halflings to the south, and so on. So the dm says that I can't play an elf because they don't live in this area of the map, you can only be a human or a halfling. This is crazy. What should I do make my next character evil, and kill his? IN your defense: I dont like the idea of "sleep in the bed you made"...in another words, if you make a character, you are stuck with it. Everyone is human, we go into a game and we brainstorm maybe one or two different characters, we pick one, we play and we find that we like the other character idea better. NO big deal on wanting to play a different one so long as it doesnt become a habit as in switching to another character for the 3rd time or 5th time. Killing it off because you dont like it...thats lame, no reason to do so...if you dont want the character anymore, talk with the GM and have him written off, maybe the character decided to go back to his old occupation, maybe he lost his nerve, maybe decided to find jobs elsewhere, etc. In GM's defense: If the GM says you cant have an elf in the human lands, work with him on it to re-consider. If (after presenting a valid case) he still declines, then you need to abide the GM's judgment, its his game.
Lord Gwydion 09-21-05, 02:12 AM	I say quit whining. Yeah, you heard me. Quit whining. Deal with it. Lots of DMs make restrictions on characters at the beginning of the campaign. It's one of the rights you get for sitting behind the DM screen. As a DM, I can say "I want to run a campaign set in the Dwarf Kingdom of Grellinstone, so everyone has to be a Dwarf or a Gnome." Usually, they have a good reason for it that you as a player may not know. This is when you should just trust your DM. Now, on the other hand, if you come to the DM with an interesting story for your character, and a reason an Elf would be in the Human/Halfling lands, then the DM should really work with you and allow the character. If he doesn't, though, either drop the Elf or drop the game entirely. Now, on a completely different topic related to your post--the DM, apparently, is running his own character, often referred to as a DM PC, but it's really just an NPC that goes along with the group. If you're considering a juvenile sort of revenge in killing the DM PC, that inclines me to think that the DM is using the DM PC as an ego booster, so he can get all the glory by figuring out the answers to his own puzzles and kill his own monsters and stuff. And if true, this quite possibly led to the boredom with the Druid. Which leads me to this suggestion--if you're not happy with the way this guy's DMing (an assumption on my part to be sure, but I'd be willing to bet a dollar on it) why don't you get a new DM? In fact, why don't you take a weekend, read over the DMG, and give it a try yourself? You might gain a little new respect for what it takes to run a game, and how hard it can be to please all the players all the time. And it will give the current DM a chance to run a PC and maybe get the glory hounding out of his system.