So I'm curious as to what everyone's pet peeves are as both players, and DMs. I'm honestly just bored at work and enjoy reading peoples opinions! Also I feel like reading a bunch of peoples opinions on peeves will help me with "what-not-to-do"
For me as a DM: I think my biggest issue is with players who slow down gameplay with technicalities. For example, There is a combat on a broken bridge and a player wants to jump into the relatively shallow river. I say sure, its difficult terrain but why not? and another player spends the next 30 minutes asking stuff like "Well which direction is it flowing? how fast is it? if i jump at this angle where will i land?" meanwhile I've been saying "its fine don't worry about it, we've got 7 players and combat takes like 2 hours (on a good day!)
As a player: its DM Party members. There is nothing worse to me than the DM having a PC with us during a fight. I think some DMs forget that even though their NPC's turn isn't any longer than the players, they're ALSO in charge of all the enemies so to a player it feels like "oh great, its DM's turn now, time to take a nap" This effect is only increased if the DMPC is stronger than the party because then when it finally IS your turn its like, "What's the point? Let them handle it I guess"
Keep in mind, these are just pet peeves, neither of them are so bad to me that I don't just deal with it. They're just minor problems lol
House rules that the DM thinks are making the game better but are worse than the RAW.
definitely with ya on the time wasters lol
players that have had ample time to learn how their character works but still need it explained to them week after week.
players that just want all their stats to be super high. If you’re playing a wizard you’re signing up to have a low AC and low HP so stop complaining about them.
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People who argue with the DM excessively. I don't mean like a friendly debate with the DM, but people who reeeallly argue their point even after a decision been made at the table. And then get grumpy and whiny afterward. It is just a game after all...
Also! PC's that never want to be with the party and always leave the group soon as they get a chance. The lone wolf types.
Treating 1's as fumbles, doubly so if it's also applied this way for ability checks. Triple so if the DM is the type of DM who has you roll for anything that takes more than a moment to do a hundred times, until you eventually "critfail" and have to start over.
Fishing for all manners of extra advantages, like "but I walked around the target so I'm behind them now, and it's slightly damp so they may have wet hair blocking line of sight, and I made sure I cleaned my boots real good this morning" and so on.
Murderhobos and/or players who attack NPCs moments after I have revealed they are villains. Like, I know its a cliche but I would like to monologue just a little.
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Fishing for all manners of extra advantages, like "but I walked around the target so I'm behind them now, and it's slightly damp so they may have wet hair blocking line of sight, and I made sure I cleaned my boots real good this morning" and so on.
THIIIIIISSSSSSS...... Usually the same perpetrators of the DM one that I posted lol
Players who take advantage of inexperienced, trusting, or simply lazy DMs to pull off really unfair homebrew. Shoutout to a player who used a homebrew elementalist class to turn into a tarrasque made of fire at level 5.
Oh, and DMs that give favoritist advantages to certain players for tangential reasons. Just because someone else is a Superwholock fan doesn't mean they should get to cast banishment without material components before my dedicated abjurer can even learn the spell.
1. The player that has to "brag" about their other characters in some other campaign. I really could not give a #$(&*#$. Worse, I am loath to hear about it. Want to make me dislike you as a person? Force me to sit through hours of a game I came to PLAY, being forced to listen to you wax on and on about some other character(s) in some other game.
2. That player(s) (usually more than one) that has/have to constantly talk about things unrelated to the game (more than one because they usually know each other and it takes two to carry on the conversation). Again, I came to play the game, not listen to you and another player talk about whether or not you saw dad's new lawn mower and whether or not he paid too much or whether or not he should have bought a different brand or...
3. Get off your phone unless you are using it to track your character or need to communicate to some....this often leads to #4.
4. Don't be unprepared when it comes to your turn in combat. Don't spend 10 minutes listening to all the other players and the opponents take actions, like you were watching a play, and only when it comes to your turn, start thinking about what you want to do. Have a modicum of a plan and adjust as necessary.
Mine is probably selfishness -- which is a many-headed hydra that has multiple manifestations. Examples of selfishness include...
Hogging all the RP all the time, and trying to make all the RP revolve around you
Your character having to be "the best" at everything
Making your character "more special" than everything else (Your BG is that you are "the king of the land", your BG says "you have slain 1,000 dragons", etc.)
RPing your character in a way that makes everyone else at the table unhappy (e.g., the thief who keeps stealing from the party) because "it's what my character would do."
Expecting the DM to make special exceptions to the rules, the setting, table etiquette, just for you or your character.
Refusing to fit your character into the world the DM explicitly explained to you beforehand (e.g., insisting on playing "Wolverine" in the Forgotten Realms)
Finding a reason why your character is the ideal person to receive each and every magic item the party finds.
Showing up late, being on your phone, not paying attention when other people are RPing, etc.
There are many, many more of these behaviors but they are all symptomatic of one thing -- selfishness.
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When the players ask questions about if something will work.
Like, if there is a written rule that doesn't make sense I get it, but when the question is "what would I have to role if I wanted to do this thing?" Or "How can I make this specific thing that isn't written in the rules happen?" Like, try it and lets find out. Learn by doing it. If it doesn't work it doesn't work.
While I'm on that...
Asking to recon something when it doesn't work the way they thought it would, when they do it in the wrong order or when they think of something else to have done
For example casting fireball but when it hits an ally saying "well I wouldn't have done it if I knew it would hit them", or using an ability to impose disadvantage on a single attack but wanting to take it back when the creature has multiattack.
Questioning the DM's ruling especially in combat
If I miss rule something, that's one thing. But if I want to make it so an enemy can attack a creature that you are currently carrying as they (the enemy) moves past you then that is something else. Especially when its in combat. Combat takes long enough, I really don't want to have a 20 minute discussion about how you would have body blocked the attack, except you already used your reaction and have no ablilty to take an attack or damage for an ally anyway.
Arguing with the DM is a big problem for me. You can bring something up, make a quick point about what you think and see what the DM thinks. After that, discuss it away from the table.
Players that have to make the other players wait over and over again so they can do that thing that is pretty tangential to D&D, like the rogue that checks for traps even in the tavern or in the King's great hall.
DMs who conjure up some real BS that negates your character's signature ability because they are tired of you thumping their monsters. These monsters are immune to magic but they cast petrify on PCs and any full caster class gets no save.
In some way, everything goes back to BioWiz. Anything that comes from a player or DM acting selfish ...
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Yes I think that selfishness is the #1 RPG killer. Not just D&D. I have seen tables break up over it. I have watched guilds split or fold over it.
And the reason selfishness is such an RPG-killer? Well, RPGs are a cooperative enterprise. Champions explains over and over again in the rules that RPGs are "cooperative storytelling", emphasis on "cooperative." Everyone has to work together or it blows up.
Back in the old MUD-MUSH-MUX days, the acronym "MUD" stood for "multi-user dungeon", but the acronym for MUSHes, which were considered far more "RP oriented" than MUDs... that was Multi User Shared Hallucination. Again... emphasis on "shared."
This RPG thing we do, is an experience we have together. If the group doesn't act cooperatively, you can't have it -- literally, you can't. You will be unable to share the hallucination and it all falls apart.
That's why I say my pet peeve is selfishness. All the damaging behaviors mentioned here and on other threads boil down to someone being selfish. (Or worse, several someones).
People to say dice rolls out loud before adding modifiers.
GM: Saving throw please. Player: Seventeen. GM: OK, you fail take (rolls) 16 fire damage. Next person? Player: That's twenty.
Don't get me wrong, I'm OK with people counting to themself, but I have more than one player who rolls the die then yells out the rolled value as if it is the final value.
So I'm curious as to what everyone's pet peeves are as both players, and DMs. I'm honestly just bored at work and enjoy reading peoples opinions! Also I feel like reading a bunch of peoples opinions on peeves will help me with "what-not-to-do"
For me as a DM: I think my biggest issue is with players who slow down gameplay with technicalities. For example, There is a combat on a broken bridge and a player wants to jump into the relatively shallow river. I say sure, its difficult terrain but why not? and another player spends the next 30 minutes asking stuff like "Well which direction is it flowing? how fast is it? if i jump at this angle where will i land?" meanwhile I've been saying "its fine don't worry about it, we've got 7 players and combat takes like 2 hours (on a good day!)
As a player: its DM Party members. There is nothing worse to me than the DM having a PC with us during a fight. I think some DMs forget that even though their NPC's turn isn't any longer than the players, they're ALSO in charge of all the enemies so to a player it feels like "oh great, its DM's turn now, time to take a nap" This effect is only increased if the DMPC is stronger than the party because then when it finally IS your turn its like, "What's the point? Let them handle it I guess"
Keep in mind, these are just pet peeves, neither of them are so bad to me that I don't just deal with it. They're just minor problems lol
House rules that the DM thinks are making the game better but are worse than the RAW.
definitely with ya on the time wasters lol
players that have had ample time to learn how their character works but still need it explained to them week after week.
players that just want all their stats to be super high. If you’re playing a wizard you’re signing up to have a low AC and low HP so stop complaining about them.
People who spell rogue as rouge.
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Those are my top two.
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People who argue with the DM excessively. I don't mean like a friendly debate with the DM, but people who reeeallly argue their point even after a decision been made at the table. And then get grumpy and whiny afterward. It is just a game after all...
Also! PC's that never want to be with the party and always leave the group soon as they get a chance. The lone wolf types.
Treating 1's as fumbles, doubly so if it's also applied this way for ability checks. Triple so if the DM is the type of DM who has you roll for anything that takes more than a moment to do a hundred times, until you eventually "critfail" and have to start over.
Fishing for all manners of extra advantages, like "but I walked around the target so I'm behind them now, and it's slightly damp so they may have wet hair blocking line of sight, and I made sure I cleaned my boots real good this morning" and so on.
PCs with unprovoked kleptomania...
I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.
Murderhobos and/or players who attack NPCs moments after I have revealed they are villains. Like, I know its a cliche but I would like to monologue just a little.
Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
THIIIIIISSSSSSS...... Usually the same perpetrators of the DM one that I posted lol
Players who take advantage of inexperienced, trusting, or simply lazy DMs to pull off really unfair homebrew. Shoutout to a player who used a homebrew elementalist class to turn into a tarrasque made of fire at level 5.
Oh, and DMs that give favoritist advantages to certain players for tangential reasons. Just because someone else is a Superwholock fan doesn't mean they should get to cast banishment without material components before my dedicated abjurer can even learn the spell.
Oh man, where do I start.
Most of my gripes are about players.
1. The player that has to "brag" about their other characters in some other campaign. I really could not give a #$(&*#$. Worse, I am loath to hear about it. Want to make me dislike you as a person? Force me to sit through hours of a game I came to PLAY, being forced to listen to you wax on and on about some other character(s) in some other game.
2. That player(s) (usually more than one) that has/have to constantly talk about things unrelated to the game (more than one because they usually know each other and it takes two to carry on the conversation). Again, I came to play the game, not listen to you and another player talk about whether or not you saw dad's new lawn mower and whether or not he paid too much or whether or not he should have bought a different brand or...
3. Get off your phone unless you are using it to track your character or need to communicate to some....this often leads to #4.
4. Don't be unprepared when it comes to your turn in combat. Don't spend 10 minutes listening to all the other players and the opponents take actions, like you were watching a play, and only when it comes to your turn, start thinking about what you want to do. Have a modicum of a plan and adjust as necessary.
Mine is probably selfishness -- which is a many-headed hydra that has multiple manifestations. Examples of selfishness include...
There are many, many more of these behaviors but they are all symptomatic of one thing -- selfishness.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Like, if there is a written rule that doesn't make sense I get it, but when the question is "what would I have to role if I wanted to do this thing?" Or "How can I make this specific thing that isn't written in the rules happen?" Like, try it and lets find out. Learn by doing it. If it doesn't work it doesn't work.
While I'm on that...
For example casting fireball but when it hits an ally saying "well I wouldn't have done it if I knew it would hit them", or using an ability to impose disadvantage on a single attack but wanting to take it back when the creature has multiattack.
If I miss rule something, that's one thing. But if I want to make it so an enemy can attack a creature that you are currently carrying as they (the enemy) moves past you then that is something else. Especially when its in combat. Combat takes long enough, I really don't want to have a 20 minute discussion about how you would have body blocked the attack, except you already used your reaction and have no ablilty to take an attack or damage for an ally anyway.
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"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
Arguing with the DM is a big problem for me. You can bring something up, make a quick point about what you think and see what the DM thinks. After that, discuss it away from the table.
Players that have to make the other players wait over and over again so they can do that thing that is pretty tangential to D&D, like the rogue that checks for traps even in the tavern or in the King's great hall.
DMs who conjure up some real BS that negates your character's signature ability because they are tired of you thumping their monsters. These monsters are immune to magic but they cast petrify on PCs and any full caster class gets no save.
In some way, everything goes back to BioWiz. Anything that comes from a player or DM acting selfish ...
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Yes I think that selfishness is the #1 RPG killer. Not just D&D. I have seen tables break up over it. I have watched guilds split or fold over it.
And the reason selfishness is such an RPG-killer? Well, RPGs are a cooperative enterprise. Champions explains over and over again in the rules that RPGs are "cooperative storytelling", emphasis on "cooperative." Everyone has to work together or it blows up.
Back in the old MUD-MUSH-MUX days, the acronym "MUD" stood for "multi-user dungeon", but the acronym for MUSHes, which were considered far more "RP oriented" than MUDs... that was Multi User Shared Hallucination. Again... emphasis on "shared."
This RPG thing we do, is an experience we have together. If the group doesn't act cooperatively, you can't have it -- literally, you can't. You will be unable to share the hallucination and it all falls apart.
That's why I say my pet peeve is selfishness. All the damaging behaviors mentioned here and on other threads boil down to someone being selfish. (Or worse, several someones).
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
When I come up with brilliant improv in response to the players' actions...the day after running the adventure.
Being unable to stop ruminating on missed opportunities and things I could have done better is my number one pet peeve, haha.
My personal pet peeves:
People who roll attack and damage seperately.
People to say dice rolls out loud before adding modifiers.
GM: Saving throw please.
Player: Seventeen.
GM: OK, you fail take (rolls) 16 fire damage. Next person?
Player: That's twenty.
Don't get me wrong, I'm OK with people counting to themself, but I have more than one player who rolls the die then yells out the rolled value as if it is the final value.
DMs who don’t balance their homebrew.
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LOL yes.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Always in the shower, or laying in bed after they all leave lol