D&amp;D Nerd

#d&d #dnd #dungeons & dragons #dungeons and dragons #rpg #homebrew #dming

One of my players sent this to the group chat, which is... super accurate rn

I’m starting a new D&D campaign, and I promised my players a short info packet with stuff to know about the new home brew setting.

A week later I ended up sending them a 67 page document of lore, home brew rules, and character options.

Oops?

From my Twitter. A serious pet peeve for me. I see if on the D&D Reddit all the time. Like yes, suggest another game for inspiration, but “play a different rpg” is such a moronic and unhelpful answer

If I may offer a counter argument...

As you said, not all RPGs are interchangeable and DnD 5e’s scope isn’t terribly flexible. If you’re not heroically killing monsters with magic, 5e doesn’t have a lot to offer mechanically beyond skill checks. It just doesn’t have mechanics to handle nuanced social situations or exploration or crafting or horror, so if the setting or theme you’re going for would benefit from those non-combat mechanics, trying to squeeze them into DnD is likely to be dissatisfying or a horrendous amount of work. At that point, yeah, you might well be served better by another game system.

Yes, people on reddit and twitter should be more nuanced themselves in their replies, but they’re generally trying to be helpful and save you time unless it’s reddit’s rDnD in which case they probably are just trying to be superior and not at all helpful.

Oh it’s definitely rDnD

And I definitely get that and see that, it’s not optimized for it, but there’s so many reasons someone might WANT D&D to be the game even if there’s more work and not optimized.

I mean just for myself, as an example:

The time I dealt with this was on rDnD, I was planning a Victorian/gaslamp fantasy inspired D&D game (which i’m running at the moment and it’s great by the way). I asked for advice and got the chorus of “play another game”, and those who actually tried to help suggested stuff like call of Cthulhu (which is a great game). But the problem is what I was looking for was Dwarves unionizing factories, goblin chimney sweeps, orcs who make their livings as security for nightclubs due to their size and light sensitivity. The other problem is I play with a bunch of people who are great but aren’t interested in learning other systems, I’ve tried, they just would rather play 5e, which they know.

So no matter how well intentioned the reply of “well really D&D isn’t the best system for that, try ____” is just supremely unhelpful and not answering the question asked.

Like I get that some people think they’re helping, but for folks like me I am as well educated or (not to sound too conceited) more about other RPGs than many of those who answer with stuff like that, and there’s a reason I’m trying to fit it in a D&D game instead, so those well intentioned answers have a real tendency to not help and come off as condescending as hell

RDnD is the BIGGEST of galaxy brains... To Dis with them all.

I getcha, and if you’re set on using 5e, godspeed. Were you just looking for world-building then?

Sidenote: If you’re doing gaslamp DnD, I would weep bitter tears if there aren’t shabby tophat-wearing kobolds working as gaslighters.

I mean really just looking for anything! Ideas for worldbuilding, homebrew for like... well anything, trains, etc.

And oh my god I can’t believe I haven’t had those yet, I’ll rectify that

From my Twitter. A serious pet peeve for me. I see if on the D&D Reddit all the time. Like yes, suggest another game for inspiration, but “play a different rpg” is such a moronic and unhelpful answer

If I may offer a counter argument...

As you said, not all RPGs are interchangeable and DnD 5e’s scope isn’t terribly flexible. If you’re not heroically killing monsters with magic, 5e doesn’t have a lot to offer mechanically beyond skill checks. It just doesn’t have mechanics to handle nuanced social situations or exploration or crafting or horror, so if the setting or theme you’re going for would benefit from those non-combat mechanics, trying to squeeze them into DnD is likely to be dissatisfying or a horrendous amount of work. At that point, yeah, you might well be served better by another game system.

Yes, people on reddit and twitter should be more nuanced themselves in their replies, but they’re generally trying to be helpful and save you time unless it’s reddit’s rDnD in which case they probably are just trying to be superior and not at all helpful.

Lol at "D&D has its own flavor". No, seriously, branch out a bit. Play something different.

You can stretch D&D a bit, but it's awful at modern settings. 5e is much more manageable than previous versions, but nonetheless.

If you're looking for a modern D&D setting you're going to have to mostly roll you own -- a tall order for those only familiar with one RPG.

I have played others. I have a whole shelf of rpgs. My players WANT things with D&D. And tbh it’s not awful in more modern settings if you and your players are doing it right.

Sure, roll your own and play what your players want! But don't be too surprised when other gamers recommend what's worked for them when asking for advice.

For my tastes D&D has nothing to offer a modern setting, and a pile of things you'd have to fix. More modern games with more emphasis on character background and social connections in particular are a much easier fit.

And do your players really want more D&D, or is it just that's all they're familiar with?

Again, played other rpgs, with my players. We’ve even really liked a few and still regularly play them. They want D&D.

And if someone is asking for advice on D&D, telling them to play something else, no matter how well intentioned, is not helpful and a waste of time

From my Twitter. A serious pet peeve for me. I see if on the D&D Reddit all the time. Like yes, suggest another game for inspiration, but “play a different rpg” is such a moronic and unhelpful answer

If I may offer a counter argument...

As you said, not all RPGs are interchangeable and DnD 5e’s scope isn’t terribly flexible. If you’re not heroically killing monsters with magic, 5e doesn’t have a lot to offer mechanically beyond skill checks. It just doesn’t have mechanics to handle nuanced social situations or exploration or crafting or horror, so if the setting or theme you’re going for would benefit from those non-combat mechanics, trying to squeeze them into DnD is likely to be dissatisfying or a horrendous amount of work. At that point, yeah, you might well be served better by another game system.

Yes, people on reddit and twitter should be more nuanced themselves in their replies, but they’re generally trying to be helpful and save you time unless it’s reddit’s rDnD in which case they probably are just trying to be superior and not at all helpful.

Lol at "D&D has its own flavor". No, seriously, branch out a bit. Play something different.

You can stretch D&D a bit, but it's awful at modern settings. 5e is much more manageable than previous versions, but nonetheless.

If you're looking for a modern D&D setting you're going to have to mostly roll you own -- a tall order for those only familiar with one RPG.

I have played others. I have a whole shelf of rpgs. My players WANT things with D&D. And tbh it’s not awful in more modern settings if you and your players are doing it right.

milkywayan

dnd is dnd. you can play it in any world you like, it is basically just a mechanic! youbdont need to use the lore. i for exapmle only ever played home brew worlds, and there are rules and spells and ao much home brew for modern stuff. and now woth artificier and warforged, you can do steampunk. there are so many other lists of pantheons and goda you can use, it is not made just for basic high fantasy.

and dnd has its own flavour. it is simple and logical nad can be used for power player and role player

other systems can be super complicated or are just very different, which is a hard change for players who may only have played dnd

other systems often also have an established world, like world of darkness, where you need to learn sp much lore to play.

for a one shot this is awful.

so yea, if you want to play a different rpg, good. but if someone asks for tips on different dnd settings which are fun to explore, dont just recommend other games that are totally different in their mechanics

From my Twitter. A serious pet peeve for me. I see if on the D&D Reddit all the time. Like yes, suggest another game for inspiration, but “play a different rpg” is such a moronic and unhelpful answer

If I may offer a counter argument...

As you said, not all RPGs are interchangeable and DnD 5e’s scope isn’t terribly flexible. If you’re not heroically killing monsters with magic, 5e doesn’t have a lot to offer mechanically beyond skill checks. It just doesn’t have mechanics to handle nuanced social situations or exploration or crafting or horror, so if the setting or theme you’re going for would benefit from those non-combat mechanics, trying to squeeze them into DnD is likely to be dissatisfying or a horrendous amount of work. At that point, yeah, you might well be served better by another game system.

Yes, people on reddit and twitter should be more nuanced themselves in their replies, but they’re generally trying to be helpful and save you time unless it’s reddit’s rDnD in which case they probably are just trying to be superior and not at all helpful.

Lol at "D&D has its own flavor". No, seriously, branch out a bit. Play something different.

You can stretch D&D a bit, but it's awful at modern settings. 5e is much more manageable than previous versions, but nonetheless.

If you're looking for a modern D&D setting you're going to have to mostly roll you own -- a tall order for those only familiar with one RPG.

I have played others. I have a whole shelf of rpgs. My players WANT things with D&D. And tbh it’s not awful in more modern settings if you and your players are doing it right.

From my Twitter. A serious pet peeve for me. I see if on the D&D Reddit all the time. Like yes, suggest another game for inspiration, but “play a different rpg” is such a moronic and unhelpful answer

If I may offer a counter argument...

As you said, not all RPGs are interchangeable and DnD 5e’s scope isn’t terribly flexible. If you’re not heroically killing monsters with magic, 5e doesn’t have a lot to offer mechanically beyond skill checks. It just doesn’t have mechanics to handle nuanced social situations or exploration or crafting or horror, so if the setting or theme you’re going for would benefit from those non-combat mechanics, trying to squeeze them into DnD is likely to be dissatisfying or a horrendous amount of work. At that point, yeah, you might well be served better by another game system.

Yes, people on reddit and twitter should be more nuanced themselves in their replies, but they’re generally trying to be helpful and save you time unless it’s reddit’s rDnD in which case they probably are just trying to be superior and not at all helpful.