Okay so I have a player who when we created our level 1 characters for the campaign that I'm running he created a level 1 human fighter we established from the very beginning with the entire group that we were running D&D core rules and no homebrews whatsoever we sat down created our characters together everything was fine and approved. Now this particular player I never did get a backstory from him and we've been playing for 2 years now it's not for lack of trying I really have continuously told him that I need his backstory as he does keep making comments about me not including him in some of the lore or the backstory stuff and I explained to him that if I had a backstory I could include him in that. All that besides the point about maybe eight sessions ago he's started doing some weird stuff with his character like he's always in a suit of armor no one ever sees him underneath it and for some reason I can't remember how his helmet got slightly knocked off in a fight and only one other player noticed this and when I asked him to describe what that player saw he described a skeletal form underneath his armor now I don't know about y'all but humans don't usually look like skeletons on the outside which tells me that he's not human he may have been human at one point but he's no longer human and now he is Undead when I confronted him about it because this happened a few times where he described his character this way he did continuously say that he was human but when I asked him if he could explain better he was very vague and dismissive about it which I found to be a problem. The main problem I find is that he has taken multiple Feats because he is a so-called human and a part of me feels like he's taking advantage of the situation when he's not in fact human but I'm not really sure how to handle the situation or if maybe I'm just looking too much into it. So has this ever happened to anybody or could somebody give me some advice on how to handle the situation because right now we are on the borderline of it becoming an OP problem with some of the Feats that he is taking and how he's using them for him to not actually be human. Again when he created this character in the beginning he flat out told me he was human and even modeled his character after Siegmeyer from Dark Souls I think that's Dark Souls I honestly don't remember I never played the game it looks like a giant onion LOL. So if he's really a skeleton under that armor does that truly classify as a human or is that considered Undead and how should I handle this. I would like to know that when he did describe his character multiple times this way everybody at the table was visibly confused because we all thought he was human as well so to see a face that's a skeleton is a little confusing.
Does it actually matter? At this point it's only flavor. Mechanically he's a human. Maybe a human under a curse where only his flesh is invisible. Unless he decides to try to change the mechanics, like saying he doesn't need to eat, drink, sleep or breathe, I don't believe you should worry about it.
(Although I do not allow my players' characters to gain the benefits of a long rest if they're sleeping in something heavier than Light Armor. So he'd better have his own tent.)
After a quick web search, it appears a lot of people do seem to believe that Dark Souls's Seigmeyer is an undead. I've never played the game, but this is probably what he's going with and why he never submitted a backstory. After you finish this campaign you may want to consider not inviting him to any others you decide to run since his behavior does seem to bother you.
Does he mean skeletal as in skinny, or skeleton as in exposed bones? Either way, if he's sticking to the RAW mechanics as a human, and not pushing for special exemptions, it shouldn't unbalance the game. Does it clash with the lore of the setting?
My group often reskins base mechanics to suit a unique character. We had a monk who could shift between a human and bird form (mechanically, they were an aarakocra, and had the same stats in either form), and a human cowgirl with a whip (mechanically, she was a bugbear for reach, with the ranger swarmkeeper subclass - but instead of summoning a swarm, she had a whip that could mimic all the uses of the swarm). The RAW mechanics give you decent numerical balance to start from, but if the DM is onboard, you can flavor it however you like to suit your table.
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Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
Two years and somebody is complaining about backstory relevance? And they didn't give you one? I would shrug that part off. Generally after this much time, either the bits are in the story or they aren't.
We can't be a lot more help unless you tell us the character's class, sub-class and level.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
How many feats has he taken? If his character is a variant human (even if he’s reskinned it - or de-skinned it - as a skeleton) then he gets one feat at level 1 then however many feats he acquired from levelling-up. He shouldn’t get “multiple feats” purely from playing a variant human.
If you feel that looking like a skeleton doesn’t fit with playing as a human, then chat to him about switching to the Reborn lineage from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. (Not sure whether that’s an option for you with the “core rules” restriction: does that mean just using PHB/DMG/MM, or do you allow other WotC-published sourcebooks?)
1) Flavour is free. If someone wants to describe their character as skeletal while using the stats for a human then it is up to you (and the other players) to decide whether their characters would adventure with another character who may be some form of undead in appearance. They are NOT an undead from a game mechanics point of view but they might role play the character that way which isn't really a problem unless it just doesn't fit your game world.
2) However, mechanics are a different story. Variant human gets one extra feat at level 1 and that is all. As DM, you should have full access to everyone's character sheets. You should know their stats, their abilities, their class and level and any other character details.
You mention "The main problem I find is that he has taken multiple Feats because he is a so-called human and a part of me feels like he's taking advantage of the situation when he's not in fact human". Humans only get one more feat than other choices. There is no way to take multiple feats "because they are human". The character gets ASIs at class level 4 etc which can be spent to improve stats or obtain feats. If the character has extra feats they should not have, then you should be able to just look at the character sheet to double check. I'd also add that after playing for 2 years, the DM should already be pretty familiar with the characters and their capabilities.
In addition, if the character uses the "rules" for being human, has the racial traits of being human, is mechanically a human in game terms, then they are a human even if they describe themselves as looking like a skeleton. Perhaps the character has a curse as part of the backstory that the player hasn't described that makes others see them looking skeletal even if they are not. This appearance would just look unusual (no effects in game) and not particularly scary (except perhaps with children). It has no mechanical effects - it is only for role playing.
3) "an OP problem with some of the Feats that he is taking and how he's using them for him to not actually be human". You need to be far more specific here. How does whether the character calls themselves human or not affect the feats they are taking? Are they a fighter that has taken Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert and boosted their dex once? A level 8 fighter has 3 ASIs. A variant human level 8 fighter has 4 which is enough to get Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert and boost a starting 16 dexterity from standard array or point buy to a 20 which can make them a very effective combat character but this has NOTHING to do with their choice of race except that variant human gets a head start due to the feat at level 1.
4) If they want backstory elements in the game then they obviously have to share the character back story so you can tie it in ... it should be pretty straightforward to explain that.
At my table, if a player hasn't expressly disclosed something to me in game or out of game, and we've not had an opourtunity to have a conversation about it, then it didn't happen/doesn't happen. Players can't make stuff up about backstory or current descriptions/abilities etc that the GM, at the very least, isn't aware of. A conversation about what is up with the skeletal description is definitely in order and if they don't want to discuss it with you, it doesn't happen.
I had a player whose backstory involved them leaving their fairly well-off merchant family in the night and never going back. When a bounty hunter showed up looking for them they tried to say that they'd been secretly wiring letters home to their mom assuring everyone they were fine. My response was that since they didn't tell me about that at any point leading up to this moment, the letters never happened.
I don't need to control everything about characters or the world, but I do need to know everything about charcters and the world well before things are revealed, and I do have a say in how things are implemented (yes, and/no, but). Surprise reveals are the GM's perogative only.
Honestly I guess it doesn't really matter flavor-wise but he has been causing issues as far as complaining that I haven't been able to incorporate any backstory regarding his character but I can't incorporate story and lore for a character I don't have any Story on if that makes any sense. I'm not sure if it's so much bothers me as it's sort of kind of feels almost like he's trying to manipulate or I don't know how to explain it I'm not very good with words maybe he's trying to get one over on me I mean I've been a DM for several years and I've never had really any issues but I'm not the most experienced DM if I'm being completely honest and I think he's more aware of that and maybe trying to pull one over my eyes I'm not really sure. I will say though you do bring up a good point that I hadn't even considered do Undead individuals actually sleep I wouldn't even begin to think of how that works but I do like your idea as far as the armor thing that's a unique mechanic. I've never played the games myself either so I don't know much about Dark Souls
Truthfully it's taken as long as it has because in the beginning the group was very difficult to keep on task because they're all a bunch of goofy dorks LOL and there were a lot of scheduling issues at the beginning so it's kind of a situation where it shouldn't have taken this long to get to the point that we are but hey it happens at least we're still together and functioning mostly. But yes the complaining about backstory relevance is frustrating and he definitely makes the most complaints about it but I agree I can't involve your backstory if I don't have one. A part of me wonders if he may be getting bored with the character that he's playing currently and is looking for a way to quickly end it but he won't tell me that or at least be honest with me about it so I'm not really sure. And as far as his character when he first created it he told me he was a level one human fighter.
Well if it makes you feel any better, 90% of the official adventures don't incorporate backstory at all. If the player brings it up again, just say it's not going to be.
It's also easy to track how many Feat a character can have by looking at their race, class, and level.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
he has been causing issues as far as complaining that I haven't been able to incorporate any backstory regarding his character but I can't incorporate story and lore for a character I don't have any Story on if that makes any sense.
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to Malice what can be easily explained by Stupidity. He may believe you have all you need because he told you the game character he based his character on. The next time he complains, ask him how you're supposed to incorporate a backstory that he never gave you. After that, just answer with a simple "What backstory?"
If you have someone that knows how to play D&D outside of the group, have that person check his character sheet. But it's pretty easy to check. If he's a variant human fighter then he started with a feat. His ASIs are at 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, and 19. So a level 10 fighter would have, at most, four Feats and no points in their Stats unless the Feat added it.
At this point if they really want a backstory tell them to make one or just be like okay and use what you have, has a basic human fighter probably traveled from where.
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Okay so I have a player who when we created our level 1 characters for the campaign that I'm running he created a level 1 human fighter we established from the very beginning with the entire group that we were running D&D core rules and no homebrews whatsoever we sat down created our characters together everything was fine and approved. Now this particular player I never did get a backstory from him and we've been playing for 2 years now it's not for lack of trying I really have continuously told him that I need his backstory as he does keep making comments about me not including him in some of the lore or the backstory stuff and I explained to him that if I had a backstory I could include him in that. All that besides the point about maybe eight sessions ago he's started doing some weird stuff with his character like he's always in a suit of armor no one ever sees him underneath it and for some reason I can't remember how his helmet got slightly knocked off in a fight and only one other player noticed this and when I asked him to describe what that player saw he described a skeletal form underneath his armor now I don't know about y'all but humans don't usually look like skeletons on the outside which tells me that he's not human he may have been human at one point but he's no longer human and now he is Undead when I confronted him about it because this happened a few times where he described his character this way he did continuously say that he was human but when I asked him if he could explain better he was very vague and dismissive about it which I found to be a problem. The main problem I find is that he has taken multiple Feats because he is a so-called human and a part of me feels like he's taking advantage of the situation when he's not in fact human but I'm not really sure how to handle the situation or if maybe I'm just looking too much into it. So has this ever happened to anybody or could somebody give me some advice on how to handle the situation because right now we are on the borderline of it becoming an OP problem with some of the Feats that he is taking and how he's using them for him to not actually be human. Again when he created this character in the beginning he flat out told me he was human and even modeled his character after Siegmeyer from Dark Souls I think that's Dark Souls I honestly don't remember I never played the game it looks like a giant onion LOL. So if he's really a skeleton under that armor does that truly classify as a human or is that considered Undead and how should I handle this. I would like to know that when he did describe his character multiple times this way everybody at the table was visibly confused because we all thought he was human as well so to see a face that's a skeleton is a little confusing.
Does it actually matter? At this point it's only flavor. Mechanically he's a human. Maybe a human under a curse where only his flesh is invisible. Unless he decides to try to change the mechanics, like saying he doesn't need to eat, drink, sleep or breathe, I don't believe you should worry about it.
(Although I do not allow my players' characters to gain the benefits of a long rest if they're sleeping in something heavier than Light Armor. So he'd better have his own tent.)
After a quick web search, it appears a lot of people do seem to believe that Dark Souls's Seigmeyer is an undead. I've never played the game, but this is probably what he's going with and why he never submitted a backstory. After you finish this campaign you may want to consider not inviting him to any others you decide to run since his behavior does seem to bother you.
Does he mean skeletal as in skinny, or skeleton as in exposed bones? Either way, if he's sticking to the RAW mechanics as a human, and not pushing for special exemptions, it shouldn't unbalance the game. Does it clash with the lore of the setting?
My group often reskins base mechanics to suit a unique character. We had a monk who could shift between a human and bird form (mechanically, they were an aarakocra, and had the same stats in either form), and a human cowgirl with a whip (mechanically, she was a bugbear for reach, with the ranger swarmkeeper subclass - but instead of summoning a swarm, she had a whip that could mimic all the uses of the swarm). The RAW mechanics give you decent numerical balance to start from, but if the DM is onboard, you can flavor it however you like to suit your table.
Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
Two years and somebody is complaining about backstory relevance? And they didn't give you one? I would shrug that part off. Generally after this much time, either the bits are in the story or they aren't.
We can't be a lot more help unless you tell us the character's class, sub-class and level.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
How many feats has he taken? If his character is a variant human (even if he’s reskinned it - or de-skinned it - as a skeleton) then he gets one feat at level 1 then however many feats he acquired from levelling-up. He shouldn’t get “multiple feats” purely from playing a variant human.
If you feel that looking like a skeleton doesn’t fit with playing as a human, then chat to him about switching to the Reborn lineage from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. (Not sure whether that’s an option for you with the “core rules” restriction: does that mean just using PHB/DMG/MM, or do you allow other WotC-published sourcebooks?)
A few comments ...
1) Flavour is free. If someone wants to describe their character as skeletal while using the stats for a human then it is up to you (and the other players) to decide whether their characters would adventure with another character who may be some form of undead in appearance. They are NOT an undead from a game mechanics point of view but they might role play the character that way which isn't really a problem unless it just doesn't fit your game world.
2) However, mechanics are a different story. Variant human gets one extra feat at level 1 and that is all. As DM, you should have full access to everyone's character sheets. You should know their stats, their abilities, their class and level and any other character details.
You mention "The main problem I find is that he has taken multiple Feats because he is a so-called human and a part of me feels like he's taking advantage of the situation when he's not in fact human". Humans only get one more feat than other choices. There is no way to take multiple feats "because they are human". The character gets ASIs at class level 4 etc which can be spent to improve stats or obtain feats. If the character has extra feats they should not have, then you should be able to just look at the character sheet to double check. I'd also add that after playing for 2 years, the DM should already be pretty familiar with the characters and their capabilities.
In addition, if the character uses the "rules" for being human, has the racial traits of being human, is mechanically a human in game terms, then they are a human even if they describe themselves as looking like a skeleton. Perhaps the character has a curse as part of the backstory that the player hasn't described that makes others see them looking skeletal even if they are not. This appearance would just look unusual (no effects in game) and not particularly scary (except perhaps with children). It has no mechanical effects - it is only for role playing.
3) "an OP problem with some of the Feats that he is taking and how he's using them for him to not actually be human". You need to be far more specific here. How does whether the character calls themselves human or not affect the feats they are taking? Are they a fighter that has taken Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert and boosted their dex once? A level 8 fighter has 3 ASIs. A variant human level 8 fighter has 4 which is enough to get Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert and boost a starting 16 dexterity from standard array or point buy to a 20 which can make them a very effective combat character but this has NOTHING to do with their choice of race except that variant human gets a head start due to the feat at level 1.
4) If they want backstory elements in the game then they obviously have to share the character back story so you can tie it in ... it should be pretty straightforward to explain that.
At my table, if a player hasn't expressly disclosed something to me in game or out of game, and we've not had an opourtunity to have a conversation about it, then it didn't happen/doesn't happen. Players can't make stuff up about backstory or current descriptions/abilities etc that the GM, at the very least, isn't aware of. A conversation about what is up with the skeletal description is definitely in order and if they don't want to discuss it with you, it doesn't happen.
I had a player whose backstory involved them leaving their fairly well-off merchant family in the night and never going back. When a bounty hunter showed up looking for them they tried to say that they'd been secretly wiring letters home to their mom assuring everyone they were fine. My response was that since they didn't tell me about that at any point leading up to this moment, the letters never happened.
I don't need to control everything about characters or the world, but I do need to know everything about charcters and the world well before things are revealed, and I do have a say in how things are implemented (yes, and/no, but). Surprise reveals are the GM's perogative only.
Honestly I guess it doesn't really matter flavor-wise but he has been causing issues as far as complaining that I haven't been able to incorporate any backstory regarding his character but I can't incorporate story and lore for a character I don't have any Story on if that makes any sense. I'm not sure if it's so much bothers me as it's sort of kind of feels almost like he's trying to manipulate or I don't know how to explain it I'm not very good with words maybe he's trying to get one over on me I mean I've been a DM for several years and I've never had really any issues but I'm not the most experienced DM if I'm being completely honest and I think he's more aware of that and maybe trying to pull one over my eyes I'm not really sure. I will say though you do bring up a good point that I hadn't even considered do Undead individuals actually sleep I wouldn't even begin to think of how that works but I do like your idea as far as the armor thing that's a unique mechanic. I've never played the games myself either so I don't know much about Dark Souls
Truthfully it's taken as long as it has because in the beginning the group was very difficult to keep on task because they're all a bunch of goofy dorks LOL and there were a lot of scheduling issues at the beginning so it's kind of a situation where it shouldn't have taken this long to get to the point that we are but hey it happens at least we're still together and functioning mostly. But yes the complaining about backstory relevance is frustrating and he definitely makes the most complaints about it but I agree I can't involve your backstory if I don't have one. A part of me wonders if he may be getting bored with the character that he's playing currently and is looking for a way to quickly end it but he won't tell me that or at least be honest with me about it so I'm not really sure. And as far as his character when he first created it he told me he was a level one human fighter.
Well if it makes you feel any better, 90% of the official adventures don't incorporate backstory at all. If the player brings it up again, just say it's not going to be.
It's also easy to track how many Feat a character can have by looking at their race, class, and level.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to Malice what can be easily explained by Stupidity. He may believe you have all you need because he told you the game character he based his character on. The next time he complains, ask him how you're supposed to incorporate a backstory that he never gave you. After that, just answer with a simple "What backstory?"
If you have someone that knows how to play D&D outside of the group, have that person check his character sheet. But it's pretty easy to check. If he's a variant human fighter then he started with a feat. His ASIs are at 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, and 19. So a level 10 fighter would have, at most, four Feats and no points in their Stats unless the Feat added it.
At this point if they really want a backstory tell them to make one or just be like okay and use what you have, has a basic human fighter probably traveled from where.