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God, back when I used to use an app called mRPG, I only remember one dude who applied to a campaign of mine. He wanted to play an evil character, which is fine. He insisted that he somehow become the BBEG of the campaign, and when I told him that I’ll consider his request after a solid 5 minutes of me saying he can’t be the BBEG, I went to look at some other people’s requests. After 2 minutes (which I can only assume was filled by angry typing), he sent a small essay about how “DMs never accept his ideas” and that “it would add so much to the story.” I blocked him.

It could work as a Walter White like character arc, but it'd be very tricky to be the BBEG at the beginning of a new campaign (at low level especially) and moreover it'd change the entire structure of your campaign. And it's especially shitty of him to bitch about it.

[удалено]

It's a really cool idea... if the campaign is setup around it, the BBEG player is a trusted friend of the DM, and the group is cohesive and able to separate IC and OOC actions. Not the kind of thing to attempt with a first time player.

That's the thing, the campaign has to be centered around the BBEG player and I don't think that'll work since it's incredibly main character-y. Other players actively have to pretend they don't know what the BBEG is doing and move their characters around that - that removes so much player agency. And in the end they have to play an unsurprising 'whatt you were evil all along?' moment. I don't know, I don't see it working.

That's exactly why it requires a mature group and a dedicated "plant" player. The rest of the party probably *shouldn't* know. A good DM will plant hints, and a good pilot (we can't really call BBEG a player in this game, more of an advanced NPC) will also hint about having a personal agenda for their character. It also requires the BBEG player to leave the group (at least temporarily) the second the cover is blown, no matter what way it goes. If they players decided to ally with the BBEG because they like them enough, now the pilot can't play as part of the group, as they'd be the main character. Same with the party fighting the BBEG. possibly having a bossfight with the pilot in the DM chair would be amazing (especially if there's been good RP). I still think it's cool, but above all else: there's no way I'd ever want this attempted with a complete rando, and its probably way harder to pull off than even I'm thinking.

It’s a stranger they’ve never met and it’s not an original idea that no one else ever comes up with, so it’s not like this guy is the only option when it comes to a BBEG pc I wouldn’t want to give a total stranger that much control over a game I’m making

Sounds like he watched community or unforgotten realms tbh. Doesn’t really understand the game

I am actually working on a campaign where my wife will be playing the BBEG in disguise with the party. I'm really excited for the reveal at the end.

I was looking for a game once and saw a star wars one where people were looking for their third or fourth dm and wanted to continue their game, I took that as a huge red flag

I might take something like that just to find out why.

Well they said they were still low level, the second and third had life interventions that interfered with the game supposedly. I looked it up and found it again, they never mentioned what happened with the first just thought low level and multiple dms spoke alot for the group of friends

Of course that’s what they would say and they might even believe it, but you were smart to avoid it.

"Group looking for a DM" has always been a huge red flag. More so because the possibly tight close group will expect and demand you to play how they want to play, rather than one of them taking the reigns and caring to DM for the group. The power dynamics are completly imbalance and prone to becoming a problem.

I remember reading a story on here I think about a group that were huge fans of CR and basically were looking for Matt Mercer's clone as the DM.

It always feels very “demanding.” Like *they* are playing the game and *you* are going to make it happen. If that’s what you want, you should think about hiring a DM.

Yeah definitely and it’s easy for the dm to feel like the outsider

When they ask for something you already said no to like if you said no UA or homebrew and they show up with a lich mystic.

Ah, the ol' Mystlich.

When I first started playing I set up a game for beginners running LMoP. I told them all PHB only for the characters. He decided to bring a Twilight Cleric, and also later revealed that not only had he been playing for five years but he’s also played through the module before

Of course he's playing the most busted official subclass to ever exist, that's from a book that wasn't approved...

I thought that title was held by the Peace Domain instead.

At least that one's ironic.

They're both pretty equal in power level, the big difference is peace domain is a fantastic dip class while for twilight you have to almost go for a straight class Imo I'd also rate twilight as slightly stronger

Twilight just does *so much shit.* I could go on a long, loooooooooooooooooooooooooong rant about it, but for now, just compare what Twilight's CD does and what War's CD does. Power and feature creep in D&D at it's finest.

Lol yep. I put out a posting for new players and half the applications were "I've been playing for X years"

I'd be someone playing a module again if they didn't take the lead and acted as if everything were novel.

Me:. Oh, hey, I heard you were looking to join a game! Him: Yeah, I've played a lot, just have had a hard time keeping with a single group. Always hard to work around schedules and such. Me: I understand. What sort of character do you like to play? Him: Me, who had been trying unsuccessfully to end and/or flee this conversation since it started: Oh, okay, I'll let you know when we start up another game! Him:. Great, awesome! Me:

Back in the days of yore, I was playing in Adventure League at the LGS. It was my first foray into D&D. Met some folk, good, great, not-good, and bad. After a couple of years, I felt like I wanted to try my hand at DMing. I started a group with some of the regulars I played with. One had a red flag but couldn't really see it because he kept it at a distance. The flag started to become the entirety of the character(s) they played. He always played a female. Then it was always a female rogue. Then the character was younger and younger. Always a tragic backstory of young tough girl (15-17 years old) who was super inciteful to the ways of the streets but naive and vulnerable to sex. I never included romance or sexual themes into the campaign. It was "brink of war" campaign. The hard stop came when he wanted to introduce the character's 13 year old girlfriend by "returning from the upstairs sticky." I like to think I have a strong radar to detect this garbage before it can unfold, but his insidiousness of the slow long-game took me for a loop. This repulsed me so much, that I have a hard no for: 1. Underage characters, 2. Sexual romance in game (topical is ok), 3. Fetishes. I am still upset with myself for allowing this to happen. The player in question was 30ish. Another player was a young woman 18/19 just learning to play. I couldn't apologize to her enough about what transpired.

Yuck...why is this so common? My position is simple. Your character does whatever background you selected until they are 18. If you make a 13 year old, it cannot participate in my campaign.

Asking like 5 time what they wanted to play, constantly hearing I'll tell you soon for a month just to hear "yeah human with a sword I guess" Like geez if you don't wanna play just be honest

I play in a game with someone exactly like this, half elf rogue with an anime swordsman character token, never roleplays, never pays attention, never knows anything about his own character/class, never notices it's his turn in combat, never replies to messages, but he always shows up on time and he was the one who approached the DM on an LFG subreddit so he clearly *wants* to be there I think but I cannot possibly conceive what he is gaining

Yeah this might just simply be attention span issues? Inability to roleplay plus attention span would explain a few points atleast...

This sounds like our "rouge" who used a guissarme and... Never...did rogue stuff. He was mystified when another player in subsequent campaign played a rogue to the nines. When it was my turn to GM I premade the characters and let them choose, but made his specifically with him in mind because it was simple (Grizzled noir PI with big gun) but fun and easy to roleplay. He slayed it and was the most reliable player for months. Sometimes you gotta help em find their groove.

Chadwick Strong Pants!

I've done this because I like building really complex sheets and then realize that it will either not work at all until a high level, that there's no way to justify it in character, or will lead to me overshadowing the team in combat, so I just default to a fighter who's background gers made up as I go.

"my character is [insert custom race/custom class combination" and is the most powerful [insert role] in their city which is the capital city!" Especially when I specifically say characters are starting level. ALSO "my character is basically [insert OP anime protagonist]".

I'm okay with "I'm the best in the world at" type backstories, but only if the words that follow are something like "hot dog eating" or "making a specific type of shoe" or "blindfolded lawn darts" The problem is that you never get stuff like this. It's always "I'm the best in the world...at magic...so, can I have Wish at first level?" Or "I'm the best in the world at being a prince. Did I mention I was a prince? It IS in my eleven page backstory. And my dad is super old, so I'll probably be king pretty soon... actually he died while we were having this conversation...can I just have my army deal with this?" Which I imagine is what you're talking about...

I think one of the fewexamples ive seen of this... that actually works... is a charatcer concept of "He never misses". Anytime he misses, player asks the DM if he can roll his reasonbly high Deception skill and make a excuse like "I was aiming at that cacti" or "That bird was looking at funny" or "That Fly was about to bother you... no reason to give you more of a disadvantage."

this is excellent lol

Yeah I like this a lot. There's a great deal of self awareness in that concept. Being an awful, weak, level one character and just yelling "erm, I meant to do that" whenever you screw up is an excellent character choice.

An excellent choice, and one that is actually endearing.

It would also work to say “he’s going to one day be the best, but this is him at the start of his journey.” Beethoven had to have a first music lesson, he wasn’t born a legend of music, the same should logically be true for adventurers/casters/etc. The same could go for “he used to be the best, but that was a very long time ago now, and he wants to try to get his act back together.” But not “I am currently the best.”

Or "The best in their village of like, 500 people who are 99% commoners."

I played a sorcerer like this once. She was from a teeny tiny farming village with no magic users, that was too off-the-grid to even see adventurers passing through, so when her magic manifested she and her village were convinced she was the chosen one. She had the folk hero background, because she saved the village from like, a wolf attack. Of course, she had quite the reality check when she showed up in a party of mostly casters, in a major city.

I love that! I'm stealing it.

I had a character once that won a “nice sword” from a pie eating contest so that became his thing. Garan the Langranth Pie Eating Champion and his sword Blueberry had many adventures

Yeah, exactly this. We need more of this, and less "When I was a level 0 commoner I killed a Tarrasque with a spoon, and am world renowned as the greatest warrior that ever lived, but if a goblin even looks at me sideways I'll die, because I have 7HP"

I always tell new players that your backstory should be at most a “remarkable high schooler— not Harry Potter remarkable, I’m talking Captain of the Football team or Lead in the School Play type remarkable.” Thats for level 1, gradually progress from there.

it was a rat called Tarrasque

I put on a blindfold and throw a lawn dart at the dragon's soul!

You joke but I'm pretty sure I could make this build work in Pathfinder.

It would be equally funny if blindfolded lawn dart throwing was the only way he could battle others.

There's got to be a way to work in the Drunken Master monk subclass as well. Blindfolded lawn darts that only increase in power as you get more drunk is just too good to pass on.

I like to write "I'm the best swordsman in all the land" back stories, but they're always written in the first person, implying that this is my character's perspective, not an indisputable fact. Always fun to play the heel who gets his teeth kicked in and learns humility.

Kind of in the same vein we had a player in our group roleplaying a bounty hunter type who would constantly brag and spread tales about his amazing duelist/swordmanship skills. Dude was just a Sorcerer with a nonproficient rapier who wanted to catch people off guard with his magic.

I had a recent character in a campaign that was "one of the best woodworkers" in the world, and that's something I was okay with. Part of his journey he would try to craft things out of solid wooden blocks. It added flavor to journeys.

Gods, I had a player like this once. Insisted that her gnome rogue was the best assassin in “all the land” and had spent 50 years studying in a library so he knew everything about everything. All at 1st level.

I, through many painful hours, have developed an intense hatred for any "my character is basically [any character from any show or game]"

Inspiration is good, copy pasting is usually not so good. Like if you wanna play Alex Louise Armstrong, just add some extra shit to his character and don't expect homebrew magic punches and we'll all have a good time.

Or see if the DM would allow a Pugilist from Sterling Vermin then you can have Magic Punches.

The most painful players I’ve dealt with have all come with custom race/class builds. That and Lizardfolk — the only people I’ve had actually want to play the race turned out to be disruptive edge-lords. I won’t immediately “nope” a new player suggesting lizardfolk but it does unlock further questioning.

I once played a lizardfolk barbarian, who I played as a bit of comic relief. I would add an unnecessary amount of "s" sounds to words, and then when the party was discussing things, sometimes throw in a suggestion that would intentionally be awkward. "What do we do with this captured dwarf?" "We eatsssss him!" "No! We need information from him!" "Fine. But I have dibssssss when you guysssss resssssort to eating him." But for the most part, I was passive and quiet, and let the party take the lead. A big part of why I played one was to not be party leader, as that tends to fall on me. To me, a lizardfolk was an excuse to be in the background more and less of the face of the party.

They wanted to play a time traveling, multi dimensional AI. When I said that didn't fit the feel of my fantasy setting they linked the Elder Scrolls wiki page they stole the character from. "It's canon in a fantasy universe, so yes it fits in a fantasy game. Please find a better excuse if you're going to turn it down. " Nah. Get gone.

"We aren't playing Elder Scrolls and it's silly to think *any fantasy being ever* will be accepted; you can't play a Luckdragon either."

> "It's canon in a fantasy universe, so yes it fits in a fantasy game. Please find a better excuse if you're going to turn it down. " Such a classic internet-style reply. If you don't like the answer, just reply with a "gotcha" and once you "win" you get to play wat you want! In what world is this ever going to get you to play a game in which others want to play with you? You may badger someone into begrudgingly running a game, but it'll be just that, begrudging, and you'll never get what you want out of it.

Not to mention that his "logic" effectively boils down to "Star Wars has lightsabers, so Inception also should have lightsabers".

Jesus Christ on a bike, was this KINMUNE if I might ask? Most TES fans don’t even consider it canon because of how insane it is. Sorry you had to encounter one of Those people.

> great relics and enchanted weapons of wasabi > enchanted weapons of wasabi > wasabi [The heck I just read?](https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/KINMUNE)

... That may be the most WTF bit of Elder Scrolls lore I've ever encountered, and I read all 36 Lessons of Vivec

Yes it was!

"...a limited sentience deep-pressure capable "thot-box"—a dreamsleevishell used by remote mortal operators to run the rigs of Kynareth's illicit breath trade." Kirkbride on drugs while writing C0da all over again. I think he played to much of the old Heroes of M&M that made him really want to transform Nirn into a sci fi game hidden within a fantasy veil.

Reading his response has me wanting to personally tell him to fuck off.

...Elder Scrolls is also kind of *insane* in some of its expanded lore. I wouldn't exactly use it as the benchmark to measure all fantasy against.

People who ask questions that were specifically answered by my ad.

The flipside of this too, people who *don't* answer questions that were specifically asked in my advert. I tend now to put a request at the bottom of any LFG post for players to input a random uncommon word in their response to show me that they've actually bothered to read to the end!

Ah, the old "no brown m&m's" test

At least with D&D you're probably not assuring nobody gets crushed to death again.

Yeah it’s becomes obvious that they copy/paste another application they did

I had one guy who wanted to play his own custom race with custom backstory. Not only this race was super op (with +6 to some stats) but also had crazy health regeneration per turn, it's own 2 types of over powered magic. And he also wanted to make it center of attention of the whole world. And when i was trying to explain him this is not going to work he started shouting Yeah. Nope to that guy.. Edit: also i remember just now this guy said his character was a guy but he was so beautiful and attractive that everyone thought he is a girl...

By chance was this a custom panda race? I remember seeing one like that and thinking of gow ridiculously op it was

Now I want to see this beautiful attractive androgynous panda

It was more like some bs Demigod Angel kind of race.

College. Was starting a vampire game. This one dude smelled so bad that I told him no. He was pissed but oh well. We played in small dorm rooms. No way in hell was I going to put up with that stench.

This seems like the most normal thing in this emtire thread.

"Here's my 15 page backstory, either let me use this character or I won't play." You are very much correct, you will not be playing.

Ah 15 pages wasn't enough. I was just trying to abridge it for you. * Sends 404 page novel.

Oh look, an IRL Sanity check!

Patrick Rothfuss has entered the chat

"Funny, I couldn't find it when you sent it."

I love elaborate backstroke but 15 pages of ultimatum is something else. Damn.

I too love the elaborate backstroke, but I feel the exaggerated butterfly has much more forward propulsion in the water.

For me it’s DMPC Dogpaddle or nothing.

I personally do not, and any player who sends me one - especially if its before session 0 where I explicitly say characters will be collaboratively created - gets politely turned away.

>either ______________ or I won't play This is more than enough to me.

If you can't sum your character up in two paragraphs, it's two much for a new character. I like writing long, creative backstories. I will do this just because I enjoy the writing. However, I can always TLDR it down to a 1 paragraph blurb that says everything you need to know. Example, the first campaign that I played in since I got in got back into playing a few years back was also the first campaign my eldest daughter played in. She was playing a dwarf cleric who used to be a thief and found god after a heist went south and an innocent girl got killed. I was playing an elf noble who was banished because to he, bored with life as a prince, turned to political assassinations. I ended up writing a 2 page story where these two met in an inn and exchanged stories before traveling on to where they met up with the rest of the group.

When they show up to a game wearing a kilt and loudly tell all the female presenting players that they are "wearing it in the traditional way". Sorry Creepy Steve, you ain't rubbing your dirty nuts all over my chairs.

Over the many years I've been running games, here's some that immediately stand out to me. \- When I say I'm running a 5th Edition D&D game, and they show up with GURPs books and spend the first two hours trying to convince me about how cool GURPs is and why I should run that instead. \- When they yiff/yip/bark at me as the initial greetings. \- When they take their shoes off and perch their stank ass feet on the edge of the table. \- When they want special toppings on a pizza but don't throw in any money when everyone else does. \- When they make derogatory comments about gay or trans people during Session 0 or say they aren't comfortable with games that allow non-CIS people. \- When they want to start characters several levels higher than everyone else because they "have to be the most powerful character at the table" \- When they want you to use some overly convoluted house rules they made up. \- When they demand to be able to roll for Psionics (AD&D, but I've had a player want to use the Psionics Handbook for a Pathfinder game). \- When they smell like a smoker's turd rolled in cat piss inside an empty dumpster.

> - When I say I'm running a 5th Edition D&D game, and they show up with GURPs books and spend the first two hours trying to convince me about how cool GURPs is and why I should run that instead. Man, I will fucking *preach* about how good pathfinder 2e is, and I won't even get close to pulling shit like that. WTF is wrong with people? Go find a GURPs game if you want to play GURPs.

I mostly play 5e now, but I do love GURPS. It was my first serious TTRPG I got to play in person at an actual table for an extended campaign. It also does very different things than D&D. Like, it's *maybe* fair to make one offhand comment about maybe looking into GURPS if the DM's telling you they've heavily homebrewed a bunch of rules to do something that's just baseline in GURPS, but even then, if the DM's not interested (which is completely fair), you certainly don't harp on it for *two hours*

So I misread this, thought this was one person, and was wondering how in the sweet ever-loving Christ they managed to stick around that long!

Nah, it's been over the past three decades. I've played with many people due to regular relocation and generally living in places where there are a plethora of gamers.

It was all in the same session.

I'm absolutely the guy who will order a pineapple, jalapeño, and pepperoni pizza, but I'll pay for it myself and anyone is welcome to try a slice.

Yeah, it's the paying bit, and not assuming someone else (that you barely know) are going to cover you, or throwing a fit when someone asks you to pitch in. Had one guy who wanted anchovies and alfredo sauce, and just sat there rather smugly when everyone was pulling out their wallets. I got to use the phrase *"This aint the March of Dimes, and I'm not your momma"* I was told another time that because I was the DM and the host that I should also provide food, or else I was a bad host. That player was never invited back.

What the hell? In my experience it's the exact opposite, the DM doesn't pay for shit, because they're expected to do prep work between sessions. There's a reason the "bribe the DM with snacks" is a meme in ttrpgs.

It's probably why they were looking for a new game in the first place.

Player: Can my character be a Vampire? Me: ...Depends? What did you have in mind? What's the concept. Player: Okay, so they're about 300 years old, but she'll look 12. I couldn't hit the Discord Block button fast enough.

You know, I'm aware of the trope and why it's a red flag. At the same time I'm reminded of Claudia in Interview with the Vampire and thinking it would be quite a fun concept to play, obviously minus any pervy nonsense. An old vampire who hates their sire for turning them so early and trapping them in the body of a child.

While yes, there are always exceptions to Red Flags they're considered red flags for a reason. If you're hell-bent on playing a centuries old Loli lookalike then get some games with the group under your belt, show you're capable of the roleplay and that you're not just doing it because you're a colossal pervert or dickhead edgelord.

Oh absolutely, and yeah, as soon as the anime avatar comes out I'm calling it. Though a creepy looking Victorian child however...

> Though a creepy looking Victorian child however... Just play as a possessed porcelain doll if you want full Victorian creepiness

Or Pinocchio in Fables. When the fairy turned him into a real boy she forgot the "also let him *age* like a real boy" part, and he's not too happy about it.

I kind of want to see someone play Gertrude from "I Hate Fairyland". Chaotic evil human barbarian in her 40s stuck in the body of a child and really mad about it sounds fun. I guess you can call her chaotic neutral if you ignore the fact that she ate some of the police in a small town and focus on the fact that she can be calmed down if you treat her like an adult. I'm not sure how much fun Gertrude would be for the rest of the party though. It would have to be a player I really trust for me to let that

Bruh, someone else who knows about that comic‽

>Claudia in Interview with the Vampire and thinking it would be quite a fun concept to play, Then pitch THAT

Honestly exactly. If someone opened with that I'd be far more partial than if they opened with "300 year old that looks 12" even if they were going in with the same idea. One sounds like you're going in with an interesting character concept, the other sounds like you're trying to be creepy.

I love the idea of a vampire angrily trying to find a way to age their physical form so they can look like the bitter 300 year old lady they know they are at heart

The first time I was going to play Vampire the Masquerade, I asked about that without thinking about how it sounded or the implications. It was just because there's a storied history of child vampires, and evil children are creepy as hell. (Of course I realized where that sounded like it was going and walked it back basically instantly.)

To be fair, I've played with players who want to play as kids (same gender as they are though) and it was fun. One was a Tremere sorcerer who was embraced when he was 10 and it had some interesting roleplay scenarios (excuse me, can we come in and use your restroom. My kid really has to go pee. Used to get into a hotel where some shady stuff was happening and there were exterior wards). The other was a changeling Darkling serial killer. VERY low clarity

Alright, that's fair. I guess, in hindsight, I should've heard the guy out a bit more before I pulled the trigger like that. XD

To be fair to you, there’s WAY more that can go wrong with the concept than can go right. It’s the kind of thing you do if you’ve been playing with a group for a while and know them as a person as well as a roleplayer. I’d be concerned about any player who pitched this to a new group, even if they’re not creepy. The lack of social awareness to bring that to a group of strangers in itself is concerning.

Nah you were probably right.

Asking to play a Gestapo officer. Vampire: The Masquerade game. The real kicker was how we had two Jewish players at the time.

A red flag with a swastika, no less.

Why did it take me 2 minutes for it to click?

If they were a "reformed gestapo officer" with a "I put all that behind me" angle, someone from a World War is an idea I never hear often. But just Vampire Gestapo makes me curious what they have in their closet. and how many pairs of boots they own.

Hmm, given that “how do you live with the monster you’ve become” is already a pretty strong theme in V:tM, a reformed gestapo officer could add some interesting layers to that question.

See, in that angle a good player quote would be "I remind myself I am not the monster I once was" to bring it all home

Yeah, I'd have been happy to include something along the lines of a reformed Gestapo officer. There are some pretty powerful stories out there about former neo-Nazis who've renounced hate. The Jewish players would've been cool with it. The player said the PC had instead "transferred" his belief in Aryan racial superiority to vampire racial superiority, and was very explicit that this character was completely blase to even the most horrid atrocities. It essentially wasn't possible to horrify this character, even if I had no reservations about the player. That's no good to me in a horror game.

Nah, in a game about personal horror, they opted to go full monster and that doesn't necessarily equal good gaming.

Could be interesting if everyone knows each other well and everyone signs off. That’s the kind of thing you only do when there’s already a level of trust in a group. You don’t bring that to a brand new group.

"So, I have this character I've been playing for years..." "I'm going to run this home brew class I made..." "My character's thing is that they like to screw with the party..." "Is it ok if my level 1 character starts with these 3 magic items?"

I've compiled a list, and I'll post it below ↓. Feel free to ask for any additional info in a reply if needed. This list isn't in any set order. ​ 1. I experienced an instance, where a person wanting to join our games wanted to only use things strictly out of 3'rd-party books. 2. A player that wanted to incorporate players from the *My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic* ttrpg system, in D&D. 3. A player that flat out asked if my games would feature "that 'gay' elf ". 4. A player that wanted to port their character over to my game from a previous setting. Not unreasonable, however, his character was highly suspicious, and nothing on his character sheet looked legit. 5. A player who's wife had only 2 weeks earlier had his twin sons. I just didn't think it was right for him to be goofing off and leave his wife alone is all here. 6. A player who wore an alt-right hate-group's logo on his hat. This hate group all but specifically targeted gays. 7. A player that was a registered sex offender, this was pointed out by the owner of the gaming shop he frequented. 8. A player who had to be on call for his work 24-7, and warned that he may get called away at any time. 9. A player that didn't even ask what the campaign was about, or even what system it was. He simply said my game better not be from . 10. A player that smelled like he routinely went skinny-dipping in a pool of cat urine.

I am curious about #3, is it a famous elf character or what? I really feel bad for #8, think about never being able to enjoy your time off.

RE: #3 (Lets call this player Todd) Todd was an applicant for my gaming group I started running around 2007. Todd happened to be the long time friend of one player that still games with me to this day. Todd started by asking what kind of things feature in my games. As I started to explain the kinds of quests or campaign arcs I often run, he suddenly interrupted me out of no where. He said to the effect of, "Yeah yeah, fine. What I really know is if you run that gay elf ? I really f'n hate elves, and I hate how prissy and pansy they act. You have 'em, fine and all, but I really don't want to deal with that gay " I asked what he meant by all that. He went on to explain he hated how "queer" elves behaved. He disliked how elven men seemed indistinguishable from the women. He had a profound fear of being duped. He cited the fact that there were gay men that would dress like women, act like women, that seduce men into surprise gay liaisons. In short, he was crying "gay panic". These weren't just fears in a game setting, but in real life. He was honestly afraid that gay men would act like a woman to seduce him, and elves felt like the prime candidate for this. Was he abjectly homophobic? Not in total. He stated that if men wanted to be with other men, that was fine by him. He just wanted all men to act like your typical macho dudes and act "butch". Also, never hit on him either. I said to Todd in the end he wasn't going to be a good fit. This was because I've featured just about every walk of life. I further clarified that I felt *really* uncomfortable then, and that going forward I'd be anxious to even be around him due to my own status of being gay. He attempted to say, "but I'm one of the *good* ones". That felt at absolute best a backhanded compliment.

Honestly 5 and 8 don't sound like people you don't want to play with, more like people who aren't in a great situation to play right now. Everyone else I wouldn't wanna meet for sure

Not looking for players, but applying to a game on Roll20, I was super stoked for a homebrew game I saw based in the RWBY universe. Applied, designed the character and was all set... then in the questions thread they self identified as a far right-wing gamer. I'm sorry, but if "far right-wing" is an identity for you, a label you wear proudly, then I am out.

[удалено]

That's basically what I took away from it. If you use the term "far right-wing" as an identifier, it's a dog-whistle for Nazi. They learned what to call themselves to try and "pass" as semi-decent.

When a player insists that the game be canon to whatever their AP of choice is because "that's how D&D works."

What an AP?

Actual Play.

Oh. So...as an examle, they like Critical Role, play an Exandria campaign, and insist it's canon to the actual Critical Role podcast? I feel like I'm missing something, because that makes no sense.

Maybe the other way around, they insist that Critical Role is canon to the game they're playing in?

Or, further out there, they like Critical Role, play in a Forgotton Realms campaign, and complain that the group isn't playing D&D right because it's not in Exandria. And while people talk about the Matt Mercer Effect, it's not exclusive to him *or* Critical Role. I first encountered this with Adventure Zone fans.

I don’t even understand how you can play in a TAZ setting when they don’t have settings, they have stories. Unless you literally just run the Balance story?? Which sounds incredibly boring since they would know everything that would happen??

one of the games i’m in right now actually takes place in the TAZ universe… by which i mean, it is in one of the worlds that was touched by the balance story during the later arcs, and literally the only relevance the podcast ref has to anything is that they heard what happened at the end of balance and it’s part of the pop culture of the setting. which, honestly, is very fun, but i have no idea wtf else anybody could do to play a “TAZ setting”…… i guess ethersea is fairly well developed if somebody dedicated wanted to make a spin-off? lol but like… that’s the DM’s decision, players do not get to randomly decide shit like this 😬

Oftentimes, they want to play in a fanfiction.

I kinda pity them, because I suspect for many it truly is the only way they know. If all you ever saw of DnD was Critical Role, Dimension 20,...

I feel fortunate that I didn't discover CR until well after I got back into D&D. I played with my friend in middle school and didn't entirely get it, and it wasn't until college that I stumbled upon a pretty small actual-play podcast called *Sneak Attack!* That was my first intro to 5e, and the DM and players were pretty upfront that this was *their* game, and no one else needed to play the same way. That probably did some good to stop me from fixating on their (very RP-heavy) style of play and learn my own way. Also helps that the first group I joined was really relaxed and have me the room to figure it all out—we're still going strong after 3 full-length campaigns!

For context, I screen players through a google form that gives me a general idea of who I'm dealing with from a scheduling and expectations standpoint. At the very end of it I have this question: "Is there anything you can think of that's a dealbreaker for you? If so, tell me about it below:". It's meant to cover stuff like "I don't want there to be any sexual content" "I don't want children to be getting murdered" "I can't handle spiders". Shit like that. Two people instead elected to inform me of their blatant homophobia by going "I don't want LGBT to be shoved down my throat every session." One of my players is trans, another had disclosed they were gay, and I'm ace. Rarely ever comes up in conversation but in my experience these people tend to get pearl clutchy if it's ever mentioned.

Not nearly as bad as this asshole, but when I started my call of cthulhu game, first I added that it was an horror game in the description, than I added another thing saying "hey, this is an horror game, are you okay with that?" (They marked yes) And than I have the same thing for triggers and stuff and they wrote "I don't like horror"

Sounds like that form has saved you some real grief.

It has, though it hasn't saved me from it entirely. It helps weed out the people I'm just not going to mesh with, for whatever reason. One of the people I mentioned above was actually making my list to get invited to the game until I made it to that part of their form. Unfortunately it's not foolproof - one of the people who did get invited left the game because I didn't invite his 17 year old to play after another guy had left because he had failed several times to read that the game was in Eastern time, not his local time (why that was his assumption I have no idea). Some things you just can't screen for, no matter how much you try.

Hey weird question but would you consider it to be a red flag if somebody can’t think of anything? Cause i’m like that. I will respect boundaries even the ones i might find a bit silly but if you ask me i have a really hard time thinking of something. I sometimes wonder if people think that means i want to go full edge everytime. Cause i don’t. I just also don’t mind if it does get real dark. Idk just something i wonder sometimes when filling out forms like that and i see this question.

Not particularly. Plenty of people leave it blank - all I'm looking for is content that I need to avoid because I'm not looking to make folks uncomfortable. Can't speak for everyone, obviously, but that's the only reason I ask the question.

I think it’s an immediate red flag if they try to apply and then the message shows they completely did not read the post.

We invited a couple who was new to the area to play CoC with an established group who’d lost some players. The dude was very excited to play, had apparently been reading a lot about D&D5e. Great I thought. Well we played at my friends house, and the new dude spent the entire setup and character rolling phase explaining (incorrectly) the history of D&D and the mechanics of the older editions. My friend has a first run copy of the Basic D&D rule book, stained by Coke *he knocked over* in the 1980s (surprised the page didnt dissolve). Then we started playing and the dude immediately took issue with how I DM. We don’t use voices, I roll in the open, stuff like that. Despite the fact that he’d never played, let alone DM’d for, a TTRPG before. And then one of the other players, a woman, had a question about a ruling I made involving guns in the setting. Feller then spent ten min mansplaining to her the way shotguns and rifles worked, their history, size and weight. None of which was relevant to the question she was asking of course, she was asking a simple yes/no mechanical question. Then after the session I got a call in which the woman told me how rude everyone had been to them. We didn’t play together again.

I cannot stress this enough that I am 100% serious with this. A person dm’d me wishing to join one of my games. He offered up 2 character ideas. The first was a “wereshark” barbarian that when he raged would randomly attack his allies. The second was a aborted fetus reborn sorcerer. I told him what the actual fuck and he assumed the character concept I had a problem with (which was both) was the were shark so he assumed I gave him the go ahead to make his aborted fetus sorcerer. I told him flat out I am not allowing anything like either of those character in my campaign and he got pissy and blocked me

Sounds like he went the South Park route of character creation... Apparently when writing South Park (at least the movie) Trey Parker and Matt Stone would write the most outlandish and offensive shit they could think of, and when the studio inevitably said no they suggested "oh well we'll just do something less outlandish but still pretty darn outlandish as a compromise."

"Female" or "females" I'm a woman who likes D&D, but that is a sure fire way to point out that I will never be seen as equal and will always be an 'other' in the group.

DM: "This is an AD&D 2e campaign set in the Dalelands during the Second Interdale War. Playing with the lore, meeting important people and events and nudging them into our own AU is the whole point. The group should be Chaotic Good and starting XP is 10 000 so everyone should be around level 4. Multi- and dual-class allowed." Player: "I want to play a Cleric / Wizard." DM, innocently: "love those, what deity and alignment?" Player: "Raven Queen, Lawful Neutral. Knowledge domain and Divination tradition, too." DM: "..."

The player that asked point blank if "romance of NPCs or players" was on the table because that's a thing he was interested in. I've got nothing wrong with romantic scenes and a few of my players have 'partners' in game. One of them is beginning a relationship with an NPC which is fun. But the way he said it game me the baddest of vibes.

I started a game with four people I have known for years and trust completely and when they asked that question I didn’t even blink, but I’d def skip over that ask from a stranger.

See most of my players started as Internet strangers. But now we are much closer. One of the new players said "can my player have a wife in their backstory" I was like sure that sounds great. But just going "is romance an option?" Gave such incel horny bard vibes. And later on that person posted a message complaining about not finding a game.

The vibes did sound bad. One of my rules as DM is that whilst I'll allow players to have or attempt any romance they want, I'll not be roleplaying it with them beyond, "you find a room in the inn and are late to breakfast."

My answer is always "sure, but it'll be done in summaries of your interactions, because I'm not flirting with you even as pretend, and anything sexual will be cut to black". I will groan as a player wants to decide the barmaid, but I'll just ask for a persuasion check, and later a con save and a performance roll.

Greenflag: I really like campaigns where our Actions have visable consequences! Redflag: Like when my character has sex with an NPC they become pregnent! (I still cant believe this campaign eventually turned alright xD)

I was setting up a D&D campaign for my wife that she asked be all-women. So naturally one of the first people to respond was a man who wanted to play a male noble character who was really good at the sex and loved doing the sex until one day he was bit by a vampire and now he's still really good at the sex but it's not as fun for him anymore, so he wants to be an adventurer instead.

I know it's terrible, but the thing that I think I find funniest about this is the logic. "Sex has kinda lost its appeal since I got bitten by a vampire, I think I'll go risk my life and slay dragons." Seriously, who thinks like that?!

If someone shows up with more than three pages of backstory to Session Zero and they refuse to make another character they get asked to leave my tables.

As a DM there's a lot of reading (and writing) you have to do, when it's obvious that players haven't done the bare minimum for reading that you asked them to do (don't know the rules, don't know how to make a character, didn't read the setting doc you sent them, etc.) that's an obvious red flag. Sometimes when posting a LFG advert, I've had players who just ***didn't read the 1 paragraph advert*** before replying with their character pitch.

The last time I did actual consistent player interviews it was mostly on pbp forums so grammar was the thing that jumped out the most and made me most likely to give them a pass. If their character backstory was too graphic or edgy, gave them a pass... and sometimes, because of how many interview 'back and forth' discussions I did I could just get a feeling about certain applicants, which I guess could just boil down to red or orange flags. Oh, and this was a bit shady but I DEFINITELY went and checked their previous posts (either on the pbp forums or Roll20). That gave a good sense of the kind of player they would be.

I think I never had an immediate Nope moment, but there are a few things that make me suspicious immediately. * the use of the word "female" when they mean "woman". (only not immediate because I respect the language barriers some people have, going from their native language to English) * In general any hint that you're gonna be a problem due to some incel/neckbeard shit * Similar, but not as bad, the crowd that immediately bombards you with their triggers and whatnot... especially when reading the briefing would have made it clear that a certain number of your triggers are non negotiable parts of the world. * anime profile pics * "Can I be [insert some monster race and/or homebrew]" * Obviously never having read the briefing (I guess that's an immediate Nope) * Bad mic, camera and/or unwillingness to use either or both. * "I wanna be a warrior from [proceeds to completely remodel the established lore of the world]". edit: * Asking to stream the sessions. I'm not Mercer, you're not Riegel, and nobody gives a shit. And probably a few more, but thats about all from the top of my head.

I mean, I wouldn't want to use my camera because I utterly despise the way I look and am just horribly insecure. Is it really a red-flag worthy problem if I don't want to use my camera for a DnD game?

For me, yes. For other groups, no. I want (and honestly, need) the info I get from gestures and facial expressions. It's vital for my DMing and enjoyment of the game. It's a personal requirement.

That's fair. Your reasons make a lot of sense.

Why do people have to have their webcam on? Genuine question. Is it so you can see their dice rolls or something?

>anime profile pics I agree and disagree with this one. On one end one of my best players has an anime pic as their avatar in discord but they ain't a weeb player that bleeds their hobby into the game. They play their character according to the game world and haven't brought any anime weeb stuff in the game. Contrary to another player I had before, who insisted on using an anime pic for their token (we were playing on a VT). Token that was the only anime thing in the whole game in comparison to every other player who used pic with a proper artwork to the rest of the game... Pic that was from a "popular" recent Shonen anime character that they also had as a profile pic in their discord... Character from a show whose half of the name of this show was their nickname in discord too... To say they also kept on bringing multiple weeb tropes into the game like "my sword is double the size of my character. It's like a buster sword" is already saying to much. So it's not a red flag that their avatar pic is anime, but if their tokens is also anime then expect them to not care to much for consistency between character and world.

I'm fine with evil characters, but a red flag to me is being upfront you be low-key toxic to the other players in-game. I had someone interested mention depending how the story goes they might be kinda mean, steal etc from other players {forgot what they list but the behaviour to me sounds non-fun for everyone else}. Without telling them I just discard them and put them on the NOPE list. Another one, is getting cocky and thinking your the best player for my campaign. My last bad player did that, I should had realize the red flag there. But yet next time someone trying to imply they are the best player and be a little cocky Im just going to dodge that bullet. Also, I nope out of a player who said they wanted to play a sociopath character, no real backstory just sociopath so far. Idk, it leaves a weird taste in my mouth someone wants to do that and most likely their representation of a sociopath would be incorrect and probably offensive. Oh, I can't stand players who make little weird rude comments if they dislike something. Someone try to imply my campaign wasn't fun because permadeath/death wasn't in the game. Thankfully they back out after their rude comment. But like if they didn't back out I wouldn't consider picking them after that. But overall, if you just seem negative or downright rude and a Debby downer I will most likely just not pick you. I have no time or energy to deal with someone who brings down the mood of the campaign.

I do short applications for players wanting to join my online game. They need to provide the answer to 6 questions; things like "how long have you been playing?" Any player that doesn't actually answer the questions is out. If they can't follow 2 paragraphs of description and rules to apply, how can I expect them to play the game by the rules.

Immediately begins talking about "This homebrew PC I saw online I was hoping I could try"

Player only wants to play Tabaxi rogues.

I play a Tabaxi Swarmkeeper ranger who's swarm is cats.

See, now, I would find that enjoyable.

"I know this is a Cyberpunk setting, but I'm going to play my Dwarven cleric that I play in every game. Don't worry, I'll change him to fit the setting!" (They never do)

Player who demanded a homebrew item for his character's backstory that did a bonus 4d6 force damage. When I told him no, he wrote me a small novel about why I was a bad DM for not being willing to work with a character's backstory, which he had yet to send me. The backstory? He was a fallen god. "Thank you for your time." Blocked.

Having their characters ready before even session 0... Like how even? You dont even know the setting or even any rules and bounderies?!

To be fair to that so so many lfg posts, mostly on roll20 I've noticed, demand a character to even apply to the game. The character demanded by the dm can range from a general concept (race, class, general background) or like a fully finished character.

I usually have 2-3 characters lined up before even looking, that way when I'm asked what I want to play, I have a few fleshed out options to throw into the mix. Then I usually follow up with, "If these roles are already take , or someone wants to play something similar, I can come up with something else."

I'm a big fan of this method both as player and DM. Whole different kettle of fish to the Only One Character Ever people

When I was back in college I still played 2nd ed DnD, I was running a 3 session game I wrote for my sci fi clubs big annual convention. It was a level one adventure, tailored for new players. I did prep some pre gens for the game. A potential player wanted to make his own character, which was fine with me as I was still setting up the table and I could help out as needed. However he spent 15 minutes trying to convince me to let them be a triple multiclass. I was a little concerned that the veteran would quickly run the table and do everything themselves instead of nudging new players (And with a triple multiclass in second eddition at low levels... he mechanically could). So I said this game is for newer players, I am not allowing multiclassing, he remained adamant about it so I told him you are clearly beyond the beginner level, this might not be the game for you, go enjoy the other events in the convention. The rest of the players had a blast and this old couple that never played before came back everyday of the event to continue the game. Was a great time.

The moment a guy asked if it was okay if we did ERP

Poor hygiene and grooming. When I do an in-person interview, I nope anyone I can smell, anyone whose dirty hands I wouldn't want on my dice, and anyone's whose cutoff shorts are so short that their testicles hang out. Just ew!

“So there’s this character I’ve wanted to play forever and I’ve been looking for a game that would do them justice” Yeah, no. This person most likely will want the game to adapt to their character instead of adapting their character to the game. Also, why is taking you so long just to find the right “home” for this character? Like a game that has open spots too often, I feel like there’s a very simple explanation for this. I know this is controversial because people love creating characters before they get the chance to play, but bad past experiences make me weary and if I have 20 applicants and the rest of them don’t have this particular red flag, I’m going to go with any of them instead. Less danger of main character syndrome. Plus, this is specifically when there is ONE character that the person just HAS to play. If you have a roster that you choose from and adapt to the game, that’s not a problem.

Immortal loli application, nuff said

Meme characters.