Hail! I've noticed that with as many GM's/DM's/Players, what are the typical questions for experienced players to ask their GM/DM? My house rules are always complicated or complex to follow, so I end up just having a forbidden books list. (FYI, scroll of Ice-Assassin from Frostburn is ridiculous!!!)
I've banned Psionics (unless they're monsters in the MM's), Book of Exalted Deeds, Magic of Incarnum, and Tome of Magic (it's silly actually), and a few minor (or major) things (such as Warforged in a pre-warforged and gunpowder era). I'm also debating whether to ban Campaign settings outside of my own campaign, due to the fact that it's something that would be different that what it would be in that particular world, than in my own.
Sorry, went-off on a rant again. Tell me what you've seen in the past or things that have been asked in your games!
Hail! Sorry, I forgot to add that I use a 4d6 system for ability scores and Critical Threat-->Critical Hit. I know some of my players prefer to use a Point Buy-In system, but I don't agree with pure dumb-luck VS Meta-gaming.
Back in 3.5 I banned Psionics as well to avoid basically having to use Psi-counters in my games and all all this extra stuff. I banned mostly usual stuff, ending up tossing Book of Nine Swords out the window because no one used it.
I do get a player who keeps trying to homebrew magic items in my setting, despite the fact that I have a homebrew magic item already designed for most of them (Spell in a can item that fatigues you if used too often).
I banned BoVD due to drugs and ridiculous fort saves. I played some pretty twinky games back in the day, but most of the time the ban list was limited down to singular things.
Anyway, most experienced players just ask me for what homebrews I'm using. I tell 'em I'm using ititerative Combat Maneuvers (Can continue to try Combat maneuvers besides grapple as part of a full attack but uses current BAB instead of full), Used to have a banned spell list (And by banned I mean if you use it I will use it on you later) made unnecessary by PF, and here is all my homebrew equipment and whatnot, as well as campaign info. Some players ask how long of a background to give me (I love them) and some have asked me about things I have already banned (Like vow of poverty). Oh and if they freak out about DMs who change their character's alignments on them willy nilly I assure them that they will have to want their alignment to change aside from cursed items/artifact's effects.
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Good house rules are written down, discussed by the group (for the most part) and aren't created in the middle of play unless absolutely necessary.
You should always let your players know what books/rules you don't wish to use for the campaign before hand but if someone wants to take something from one you should be open minded enough to look at it and talk with them about it. If they have a good reason and you don't think it will upset the balance of your campaign you could allow it. Make it case by case for the noncore books your using.
Your players will probably be alright with most rulings, it's when you get into the realm of changing how something works without them knowing ahead of time that will upset them most. Most players take feats/spells/weapons for a reason so make sure everyone is clear on your rulings before play starts. If something comes up and seems broken but outside of your house rules, play it RAW until after the session and then talk about what can be done to fix it.
...Oh and if they freak out about DMs who change their character's alignments on them willy nilly I assure them that they will have to want their alignment to change aside from cursed items/artifact's effects.
Oh right! I forgot about alignments. Well, I like to think in RL I'm Lawful Good with Chaotic tendencies, so others in a game of D&D should be about the same (Whatever alignment they are, so long as they don't turn evil to any degree). Unless you play a Paladin or a Druid, I don't believe there's a strict code of conduct most players have to follow.
I've argued back-and-forth about the use of laptops in my games, mostly due to the fact that there are too many temptations and distractions when they could be paying attention. Also, I'd like to see player rolls, not a computer generated roll. I know the odds should be the same either way, and it's much easier to roll 4d6 rather than see a spray of dice on the table, but at that juncture you probably shouldn't be playing a pen & paper RPG if that's the case. That's just my opinion of course.
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In my games we use point buy mainly because we didn't like seeing one person getting better stats due to random chance while another person would end up getting stats that a commoner would be ashamed of. That, and people kept begging for rerolls until they got workable stats, so it made so much more sense to establish a baseline that emphasized player choice.
I always use my laptop for reference material, but when I'm on the player-side I try to use it as little as possible, mainly because I don't want it on my lap the whole time (as the table is already full) and I don't want it to be on while I'm not actively using it. We don't use dice-rolling programs at my table because we just have so many dice it would be a shame not to use them.
Alignments... Are usually just guidelines for us. But, most people have a default alignment in our group, so one player will almost always play a LG character that is probably a divine caster, another likes to be a CN glass-cannon, and another person makes paranoid NE characters. We find a way to fit all of it into a coherent group, and for all but the Paladin, alignment is usually forgotten until someone has to justify why they did a particular action.
I don't usually ban whole books, but I hate BoED. I don't want to deal with it too much because it can be a real pain GMing for a group that has an exalted character and someone that just wants to make that character break his vows... But everything else is on a case-by-case basis, I'm usually open to most things. I find that when I'm more open as a GM, the other players are more lenient when it comes to be their turn to GM and I have some zany idea for a character... But that's also why I have to be careful with my rulings, and remember that we're all here to have fun.
In one group no "other" books were allowed whole hog, but we could come to the DM with a specific idea and our intent and he'd usually allow it.
We then had to come to the game with that material, or it would be disallowed.
For example- there was a Familiar Pocket spell I got allowed. One photo copy later it was attached to my sheet, and I kept it forever after.
For most of the things we've done, one major rule was concerning things like Sunder, the various magical-item destruction methods and such was:
the DM will never do them unless we start doing them.
But if we start sundering his toys, he'll start sundering ours.
It lead to a pretty decent game. (disarm still worked blessed-ly wonderfully!)
-S
the one major rule we all follow in my game is if it is written in the book then it is law unless every one wants to change it, this is a rule we developed to protect us from any one DM from forbidding something that everyone or even just one person likes.
basically everyone in the group DM's from time to time so we needed house rules to keep it fair for everyone.
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I don't ban anything. Instead, I specifically indicate which sources are allowed. And I have a Campaign Rules PDF that extends or otherwise supplements the core rules. Some of my house rules are completely new (adding bbn rage abilities, for example) and some are clarifications (Haste adds to crawl speed). This makes it very easy for players (and myself!) to know what's valid and what isn't.
We're currently playing CotCT in Golarion, so the Player's Guide is also valid, but I generally don't allowing setting-specific materials because it means I need to read and memorize all the various crap going on in the world and I have a hard enough with reality than worrying about a fantasy world is just too much work. ;)
Hail! Do you believe laptops, books (for D&D's sake) such as Expanded Psionics Handbook, and food be a part of house rules? They seem to be major topics in my group.
Drake, what do you mean by that? Are you asking if we allow them at the table?
I always have my netbook at the table, and I used my laptop before that. I like this thing a lot better because I can just look over it to talk instead of having to park it off to the side (I'm not incredibly gifted in the height department). Food is fine provided it doesn't make a mess (And if it does make a mess it gets cleaned up) and books we usually limit to the books used for game. I encourage players who do stuff at the table to have it pertain to game. A good friend of mine is an artist, and he would listen and draw simultaneously. He just liked hanging out. He would commonly draw his character or something he got inspired by in the game and was cool with it. It can add quite a bit to the game if you have someone who likes to do it.
Books go to those who need it, and I get priority since I'm GMing (And I know where things are in the books the best). The Netbook also serves as another "book" at the table thanks to PFSRD.
Hail! My questions above pertain to all games but allow me to elaborate; should players be able to use laptops for a pen & paper rpg? Especially when there is a high risk of them not paying attention, possible cheating of dice rolls, neglectful of either creating or remembering to bring their character sheet, and music/videos being played and creating havoc for other players who are trying to play.
The second involves whether banning books should be part of homebrewing rules. Many of us have been for or against.
I just tend to point out the laptop as the issue when they don't hear me when I'm talking (And I let whatever misinformation the other party members tell them proceed to full comedic effect). When I PC I use the laptop for rules looking and note taking. I also tend to DJ our encounters when I'm DMing and PCing, provided no one has a problem with it. Laptop people also are there to help us look up things when PCing or DMing. Most of my PCs don't use laptops so as not to miss out on what's happening.
We all use physical dice, but in a recent game of mine the DM uses all electronic, which no one has complained about thus far. I use physical because I like the sound (And because my dice will turn on me if I don't use them regularly). They get hot against PCs sometimes, and they will often ask me to change dice when something's beating the crap out of them.
I don't ban entire books unless there is nothing of salvage or if it's all part of the same system that I don't want to tack onto my game. I often salvage things that are of value to me. I don't believe in 3.5 logic where if a book just came out it's allowed. I evaluate them all before allowing any.
We haven't used laptops at the table, yet.
But I could see it largely dependent on who is using it, what they are doing, and how much room there is.
I've done alot of play with the mini's on a low coffee table, where a laptop set to the side wouldn't be an issue. I've also played on dining room tables where not only would the machine take up alot of real estate- it also blocked line of sight.
As for food:
If you mean food at the table (like chips and such) we usually didn't mind that, as long as it was put aside for that players turn.. and that the food didn't consume their attention so much that they ignored the game except for their turn.
That being said- we did have a time set aside to actually halt the game and eat. Either in the "supper is ready lets eat" variety or the "lets go get something to eat" thing. The last group I was in, all fended for themselves. Bring your own snacks and drinks. Bring your own supper or be prepared to purchase it at a local establishment of some sort.
The group before that, the DM usually provided most of it though we were typically informed before hand of what, and were asked to bring something to go with it. Or one of us would make/prepare something and bring it while the rest brought side dishes and such.
(cept me. I convinced them i couldn't cook, and that they didn't want to test me on it. they took my word for it ;p )
-S
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The last time we allowed laptops at the table, one dude played WoW during the game, and tried to pretend that he wasn't.
Never again.
Even in the 'normal' cases, it seemed that every time somebody brought in an application on the computer 'to speed things up,' it always took twice as long as it would have taken to flip open a book. (Granted, I'm a pretty fast book-flipper-opener, and it always seems that, although sucking at math and being the poster-child for dyscalculia, I can do game-math faster in my head than the computer guys can with the calculators in their computers. They're all *better at math than I am,* but the presence of the machine seems to suck the brains right out of their heads!)
Or the inevitable, "I statted up all of the encounters at work. Oh crap, I forgot to download them. Let me drive to work real quick..."
Grr.
Can't have televisions on within viewing (or listening) range of the game either. Some of my fellow gamers are totally immersive and even get cranky when the game goes off-course. Others, well, they have the attention spans of tsetse flies, and the boob tube draws them like moths to a flame, to the point where they will *complain* after watching something for a half-hour about how stupid it was, while everyone else walked out 29 minutes and 30 seconds ago, having already determined that a show called 'Dancing with the People Who Were Twelth-Billed in a Movie Once and Think They're Stars' or 'Survivor: A Bunch of Manipulative Pricks Backstabbing Each Other For Cash on Some Island You've Never Heard Of' wasn't going to be more entertaining than doing the dishes or flossing one's teeth.
Hmm. Run-on sentence, not long enough. Must work on that. Also not nearly enough CAPLOC OF RAGE!1!!1.
:)
Greetings! Here is a list of what I have come up with thus far for my own homebrewed rules:
(1)Please create a background story for your character including a physical description, home, family, adventuring education, and any special life events.1
(2)For determining Ability scores, players will use refer to the 4d6 system: Roll 4d6, re-roll the lowest roll. Do this 6 times for your ability scores.
(3)The rules of Critical Threat-->Critical Hit apply.
(4)The books Expanded Psionics, Book of Exalted Deeds, and Magic of Incarnum is NOT allowed. Source books regarding other campaigns (ie. Dragonlance, Eberron, Forgotten Realms) are also, not allowed.
(5)Please show respect for the other players, and the Dungeon Master. Wait patiently for your turn and pay attention to the DM. Everyone is here to enjoy both the company and the game.
(6)Attendance is important not only for the DM, but the party's balance. If you are running late or can not attend the scheduled session, please call or text me. The last one to arrive will be the one grabbing drinks for everyone when asked.
Please know what your character can do to save time. Please eat before each session. Donations to the Dungeons & Dragons fund is always appreciated and spent on visual aid and refreshments. Any questions or comments about the campaign or the game is greatly welcomed.
This is of course a compilation of both what has been posted, and a few that I have personally found to be helpful.
I'm about to start a new campaign next month, and have prepared a 3 page list of house rules for it. Most are pretty simple, just a different way of doing some things or adding something entirely new that will hopefully make the PC choices broader.
But as someone said earlier always write them down and give them as handouts to the new players. I have some homebrew races and a history of the campaign world up the point the players are at, too. I plan to put them in binders for everyone in the group.