I just want to preface I am new to DnDBeyond, just made my account recently to find some help as a DM because well, DM's that understand on ol discord are hard to find.
But as for the main issue I have been a DM for 2 years now, my craft has majorly improved since when I first began. But now and only now I have been starting to deal with some nasty stuff in a living world campaign. Multiple players wanting so many different plotlines at once. And some of them are in direct contradiction with my world, I am fine with little add ons, in fact I have a full homebrew race that is allowed (mostly for testing it out and make it nice and not stupidly powerful) but the issue is two players, one playing a lizardfolk Zealot barbarian who comes from the Saurians (for those knowing Warhammer fantasy unlike me at the time of the characters creation) and a gold half dragon wizard (that is the homebrew I have been trying to work on) but the issues with these two is the fact that they have both attempted heavily to well, make their own lore without coming to me about it.
For the barbarians character it seems like he switches how his own race works nearly every time, one part saying "Oh the saurians don't believe in racism" and the like to a few weeks later in game time trying to crucify the tiefling paladin saying the freak needed to die. Then to saying his people are not conquerers but only conquer when they see a threat to their unity, then going back to "No I must conquer this village in the name of the Saurian empire!"
And the gold half dragon may be arguably worse especially with all of the dumb crap they made up without telling me, making an organization that was home to the greatest mages in the world to even having magic and I quote "That could destroy a small continent" alongside being neutral good and in character wanting a whole settlement set ablaze due to the actions of a single person, and directly derailing the campaign and nearly getting party members killed due to her reckless actions. And trying to tell me how my race that I created work, A red half dragon is going to see you as a freak that needs to be purged, not a demi god that has chosen to bless him in his shift of guarding a camp.
And that is only the surface level of problems I am facing, that's not to say we have a few munchkins in the party and one person who shuts down any potential character feuding that could lead to actual friction and drama in between the characters. Like she beat up a person for so much as looking at another person the wrong way.
And it just doesn't help on average I am stuck with at least 3 to 4 sessions on average for it. With some players demanding a time out of me when they just fire out an idea without me prepping. And a few players refusing to work with other player due to some real issues.
Id advise adding a 'tour guide' NPC character that joins or follows and interacts with the party and keeps them on task and on the plotline. As for characters being over destructive add it to youre story that they are powered down for certian parts of the game either shackled or silenced for what ever reason then give them something big to destroy. Worse comes to worse kill the party off 1 by 1 when they ruin the game, they keep coming back to play so they obiously enjoy playing so they will just come back with a new character which you can set limits to Hope this helps
I would say, firstly, that as DM your world and narrative takes priority. If a player is trying to introduce a backstory element that doesn't make sense in your world, I would say its a good idea to at least discuss modifications to it with them to make sure it makes sense. Additionally, while some DMs arent too strict about this, if a player does something that directly contradicts their alignment or the agreed-upon backstory, then you should tell the player as much.
It seems to me like most DMs like to try and accommodate their players and give them freedom so that the game is fun for everyone, but it seems to me that in this case you may need to do the opposite and pull them in.
I'd say that it would be best to look at your world like a cup, and the players, NPCs, and events as the liquid. The players have freedom to move and change and affect things within the world, but must still conform to the rules and history of the world put before them. Right now, it seems more like the world is acting like a balloon and the player characters like a gas. They are spreading as far as possible in opposite directions trying to prioritize their character arcs and their desired gameplay over the rest of the world.
My suggestion would be to hold another "session zero" where you discuss with your players exactly what their backstories are and how they fit with the world, then inform them that for continuity-sake, you are going to hold their characters to behave along those lines within reason.
As for any real world problems between you and the players or between players themselves, thats something that should also be worked out outside of game. Letting annoyances unrelated to the game (or related in a meta - fashion) work their way into the game will ruin the fun for everyone.
Alot of the advice you get from here will probably summarize to "talk to your players" (this, of course, includes my own as you can probably tell). There isnt a simple solution and, depending on your players' level of maturity, it may be a difficult task. But if you, the DM, are not having fun, then no is going to have fun.
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
IMHO, you need to take control of your game. Tell your Players, "you have your Characters, I run the rest of the world. If you want to add lore to your races, and backstories to your Characters, that's awesome - but I have veto what goes into my world. We can talk, we can negotiate, we can compromise - but the final choice as to what goes into the world is the DM's". Work with your Players, if you can, but ultimately, the choices lie with you.
Also - tell your Players that you are running the NPCs, not them - they don't get to decide how NPCs behave.
I would also strongly recommend you sit down and have a - belated - Session Zero. Make sure all the Players, and the DM, have a firm agreement as to what the campaign and game style are going to be like. Recognize that there might not be one agreed on consensus, but you might find a middle ground where some Players will allow other Players their time in complex tactical combat, with the knowledge that they'll get their own time for character role playing ( for example ).
As for Players being inconsistent ... well, Players do that. You can ignore it. Simply have NPCs react logically and plausibly to what the Character does, It really doesn't matter if the Player ( or the Character ) states "saurians don't believe in racism" - if the Character acts in a racist manner, then NPCs will treat them as if they're racist. The same holds true for alignment issues, "I'm neutral good, but I'm burning down this village!" - simply have NPCs react to them according to their behaviors.
I would not start vengefully killing of Characters. If you want the Players to play the game reasonably, then you need to do so as well.
Ultimately, you may simply have Players with which you don't want to play with - your approach and styles may be incompatible. Rather than trying to beat your head against the wall, perhaps find a group of Players which suits your style better ( and that group might even contain some of your current group ).
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Yeah I am not one for killing off characters. In my two years I have only ever killed 4 PC's, all of which had done something dumb, by dumb I mean them rushing headfirst into battle without their party members backing them up.
I don't believe in killing over Meta, I believe in killing by what the dice say. The dice roll enough damage to kill your character I'm sorry, I can only be merciful if there is an honest mistake on my part.
Talk to your players. Remember DMing needs to be fun for you too. Any lore things needs to be run by you, you have every right to change your players alignments, if they act like another one. (chaotic good and burning a whole village? Dude your strip that "good" from there you are neutral maybe evil..) mind you, the character might think of themselves as CG but in reality they are something else, (in the way everyone is a hero in their own story). Remember you can say NO to them. Take them aside after a session, or hold a session zero as the other people here advice, remind them that they are playing a story together (With you that is.) and everyone especially you needs to have fun. Drama is cool, party conflicts is not.
Tell me to your players like/know each other outside the game? A great way to make a better dnd party is that you all are friends outside of the game, trust me it helps. Maybe meet and do something else for once. (especially if you need to talk to them).
Yeah I can see this as an issue. I have run into players that have crazy backgrounds and want the game to progress around their back story for example. I just wont deal with it. I make it clear that the game is not about their character but about the whole group having fun (players and the DM) Im fine with a player having a fancy detailed background but its simply not about them. Sadly I have ran across quite a few player like that. With my games and I know some will disagree with it but I will not use a characters background within my campaign. Every now and then I might use it in some way but not as a major part of the game. I try to encourage the players to point out elements in their background that they could use in various situations within reason so the use of a background still has a use in the game. When I run into a potential player that needs a group and then goes on about their character background and how it will fit in the game or how they would like it to fit in the game (usually them simply wanting the story to be about their character and the others just are more or less along for the ride). I put a stop to it right away and put my foot down and if they dont like it then they simply try to find another group. More often then not it would seem that these are new players who have played little or not at all.
Some players will come up with some crazy backgrounds that just make me cringe and then expect it to be fully implemented into the game. Now I have no issues if a player comes to me about using something within their background as long as it is within reason and will not cause issues with the other players. Im ok with it. Again though, some players just expect far to much. Im not dealing with the whole "my character is a prince/princess therefor the campaign should be about them" garbage.
In short. I try to treat backgrounds as if they were a skill set and nothing beyond that.
Talk to your players. Remember DMing needs to be fun for you too. Any lore things needs to be run by you, you have every right to change your players alignments, if they act like another one. (chaotic good and burning a whole village? Dude your strip that "good" from there you are neutral maybe evil..) mind you, the character might think of themselves as CG but in reality they are something else, (in the way everyone is a hero in their own story). Remember you can say NO to them. Take them aside after a session, or hold a session zero as the other people here advice, remind them that they are playing a story together (With you that is.) and everyone especially you needs to have fun. Drama is cool, party conflicts is not.
Tell me to your players like/know each other outside the game? A great way to make a better dnd party is that you all are friends outside of the game, trust me it helps. Maybe meet and do something else for once. (especially if you need to talk to them).
To the last part we are all on discord, states apart, some of the people are still good friends, but for the most part none of us really know each other IRL.
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I just want to preface I am new to DnDBeyond, just made my account recently to find some help as a DM because well, DM's that understand on ol discord are hard to find.
But as for the main issue I have been a DM for 2 years now, my craft has majorly improved since when I first began. But now and only now I have been starting to deal with some nasty stuff in a living world campaign. Multiple players wanting so many different plotlines at once. And some of them are in direct contradiction with my world, I am fine with little add ons, in fact I have a full homebrew race that is allowed (mostly for testing it out and make it nice and not stupidly powerful) but the issue is two players, one playing a lizardfolk Zealot barbarian who comes from the Saurians (for those knowing Warhammer fantasy unlike me at the time of the characters creation) and a gold half dragon wizard (that is the homebrew I have been trying to work on) but the issues with these two is the fact that they have both attempted heavily to well, make their own lore without coming to me about it.
For the barbarians character it seems like he switches how his own race works nearly every time, one part saying "Oh the saurians don't believe in racism" and the like to a few weeks later in game time trying to crucify the tiefling paladin saying the freak needed to die. Then to saying his people are not conquerers but only conquer when they see a threat to their unity, then going back to "No I must conquer this village in the name of the Saurian empire!"
And the gold half dragon may be arguably worse especially with all of the dumb crap they made up without telling me, making an organization that was home to the greatest mages in the world to even having magic and I quote "That could destroy a small continent" alongside being neutral good and in character wanting a whole settlement set ablaze due to the actions of a single person, and directly derailing the campaign and nearly getting party members killed due to her reckless actions. And trying to tell me how my race that I created work, A red half dragon is going to see you as a freak that needs to be purged, not a demi god that has chosen to bless him in his shift of guarding a camp.
And that is only the surface level of problems I am facing, that's not to say we have a few munchkins in the party and one person who shuts down any potential character feuding that could lead to actual friction and drama in between the characters. Like she beat up a person for so much as looking at another person the wrong way.
And it just doesn't help on average I am stuck with at least 3 to 4 sessions on average for it. With some players demanding a time out of me when they just fire out an idea without me prepping. And a few players refusing to work with other player due to some real issues.
Id advise adding a 'tour guide' NPC character that joins or follows and interacts with the party and keeps them on task and on the plotline. As for characters being over destructive add it to youre story that they are powered down for certian parts of the game either shackled or silenced for what ever reason then give them something big to destroy. Worse comes to worse kill the party off 1 by 1 when they ruin the game, they keep coming back to play so they obiously enjoy playing so they will just come back with a new character which you can set limits to Hope this helps
I would say, firstly, that as DM your world and narrative takes priority. If a player is trying to introduce a backstory element that doesn't make sense in your world, I would say its a good idea to at least discuss modifications to it with them to make sure it makes sense. Additionally, while some DMs arent too strict about this, if a player does something that directly contradicts their alignment or the agreed-upon backstory, then you should tell the player as much.
It seems to me like most DMs like to try and accommodate their players and give them freedom so that the game is fun for everyone, but it seems to me that in this case you may need to do the opposite and pull them in.
I'd say that it would be best to look at your world like a cup, and the players, NPCs, and events as the liquid. The players have freedom to move and change and affect things within the world, but must still conform to the rules and history of the world put before them. Right now, it seems more like the world is acting like a balloon and the player characters like a gas. They are spreading as far as possible in opposite directions trying to prioritize their character arcs and their desired gameplay over the rest of the world.
My suggestion would be to hold another "session zero" where you discuss with your players exactly what their backstories are and how they fit with the world, then inform them that for continuity-sake, you are going to hold their characters to behave along those lines within reason.
As for any real world problems between you and the players or between players themselves, thats something that should also be worked out outside of game. Letting annoyances unrelated to the game (or related in a meta - fashion) work their way into the game will ruin the fun for everyone.
Alot of the advice you get from here will probably summarize to "talk to your players" (this, of course, includes my own as you can probably tell). There isnt a simple solution and, depending on your players' level of maturity, it may be a difficult task. But if you, the DM, are not having fun, then no is going to have fun.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Yikes.
IMHO, you need to take control of your game. Tell your Players, "you have your Characters, I run the rest of the world. If you want to add lore to your races, and backstories to your Characters, that's awesome - but I have veto what goes into my world. We can talk, we can negotiate, we can compromise - but the final choice as to what goes into the world is the DM's". Work with your Players, if you can, but ultimately, the choices lie with you.
Also - tell your Players that you are running the NPCs, not them - they don't get to decide how NPCs behave.
I would also strongly recommend you sit down and have a - belated - Session Zero. Make sure all the Players, and the DM, have a firm agreement as to what the campaign and game style are going to be like. Recognize that there might not be one agreed on consensus, but you might find a middle ground where some Players will allow other Players their time in complex tactical combat, with the knowledge that they'll get their own time for character role playing ( for example ).
As for Players being inconsistent ... well, Players do that. You can ignore it. Simply have NPCs react logically and plausibly to what the Character does, It really doesn't matter if the Player ( or the Character ) states "saurians don't believe in racism" - if the Character acts in a racist manner, then NPCs will treat them as if they're racist. The same holds true for alignment issues, "I'm neutral good, but I'm burning down this village!" - simply have NPCs react to them according to their behaviors.
I would not start vengefully killing of Characters. If you want the Players to play the game reasonably, then you need to do so as well.
Ultimately, you may simply have Players with which you don't want to play with - your approach and styles may be incompatible. Rather than trying to beat your head against the wall, perhaps find a group of Players which suits your style better ( and that group might even contain some of your current group ).
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Yeah I am not one for killing off characters. In my two years I have only ever killed 4 PC's, all of which had done something dumb, by dumb I mean them rushing headfirst into battle without their party members backing them up.
I don't believe in killing over Meta, I believe in killing by what the dice say. The dice roll enough damage to kill your character I'm sorry, I can only be merciful if there is an honest mistake on my part.
Talk to your players. Remember DMing needs to be fun for you too. Any lore things needs to be run by you, you have every right to change your players alignments, if they act like another one. (chaotic good and burning a whole village? Dude your strip that "good" from there you are neutral maybe evil..) mind you, the character might think of themselves as CG but in reality they are something else, (in the way everyone is a hero in their own story). Remember you can say NO to them. Take them aside after a session, or hold a session zero as the other people here advice, remind them that they are playing a story together (With you that is.) and everyone especially you needs to have fun. Drama is cool, party conflicts is not.
Tell me to your players like/know each other outside the game? A great way to make a better dnd party is that you all are friends outside of the game, trust me it helps. Maybe meet and do something else for once. (especially if you need to talk to them).
Fake it til you make it.
Yeah I can see this as an issue. I have run into players that have crazy backgrounds and want the game to progress around their back story for example. I just wont deal with it. I make it clear that the game is not about their character but about the whole group having fun (players and the DM) Im fine with a player having a fancy detailed background but its simply not about them. Sadly I have ran across quite a few player like that. With my games and I know some will disagree with it but I will not use a characters background within my campaign. Every now and then I might use it in some way but not as a major part of the game. I try to encourage the players to point out elements in their background that they could use in various situations within reason so the use of a background still has a use in the game. When I run into a potential player that needs a group and then goes on about their character background and how it will fit in the game or how they would like it to fit in the game (usually them simply wanting the story to be about their character and the others just are more or less along for the ride). I put a stop to it right away and put my foot down and if they dont like it then they simply try to find another group. More often then not it would seem that these are new players who have played little or not at all.
Some players will come up with some crazy backgrounds that just make me cringe and then expect it to be fully implemented into the game. Now I have no issues if a player comes to me about using something within their background as long as it is within reason and will not cause issues with the other players. Im ok with it. Again though, some players just expect far to much. Im not dealing with the whole "my character is a prince/princess therefor the campaign should be about them" garbage.
In short. I try to treat backgrounds as if they were a skill set and nothing beyond that.
To the last part we are all on discord, states apart, some of the people are still good friends, but for the most part none of us really know each other IRL.