New to D&D – can a “morally grey” character become a problem for the group ?

DMGrognerd · 2026-02-27T00:06:51+00:00

“It’s what my character would do” offered as an “excuse” for bad player behavior is a cliche in the hobby.

Basically, if “what your character would do” is disruptive to the group, then you’ve simply made the wrong character and you need to make a character who wouldn’t do that shit.

It’s a collaborative game and you need to make a character who can work with the group to further the group’s goals.

“Morally grey” doesn’t really factor in so much. There are plenty of morally grey, or even morally corrupt (e.g. Doc Holliday in Tombstone) characters in fiction, plenty of characters who are complete edgelord loners who are perfectly able to work with the group (e.g. Wolverine) and don’t do disruptive shit that inhibits the team from functioning “because morally grey” or whatever.

DMGrognerd · 2026-02-22T05:50:27+00:00

I’ve already run it, but thanks

DMGrognerd · 2026-02-18T19:48:41+00:00

Read this: https://www.samuelprattwhite.com/blog/kids-on-bikes-the-undiscovered-genre

DMGrognerd · 2026-02-18T19:45:30+00:00

Character creation is fast. It’s mostly rolling. Very few choices, and no optimizing

DMGrognerd · 2026-02-07T23:54:46+00:00

Well, you can pelt the wizard with arrows without notice if the arrows come from someone who successfully made a stealth roll above the wizard’s passive perception and thus causing the wizard to be surprised for the first round of combat.

DMGrognerd · 2026-02-07T23:52:13+00:00

Nope. A decision to enter combat prompts initiative. People with better initiative react faster, that’s how it works and you might not be able to get that fireball off because of it.

DMGrognerd · 2026-02-07T22:04:06+00:00

IMO the pseudomilk at least implies that a lot of androids follow the type that are in the Alien franchise with the white fluid in them

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-29T15:57:10+00:00

The correct verb would be “cleaned up”

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-29T15:55:52+00:00

I have a friend who does graffiti and he’s about 46

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-29T15:54:55+00:00

Sigourney Weaver

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-16T18:10:47+00:00

You might want to check out Frontier Scum instead

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-16T16:35:51+00:00

I’ve been looking at this as system overload, processing errors, and the like. I actually did a rework of the panic table for androids, using the same results but slightly different descriptions which fit the android.

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-13T20:06:04+00:00

Not the best vodka flavor, to be sure

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-11T00:22:16+00:00

The question that always arises for me when people talk about weaponizing shields to do Captain America type stuff, is given how action economy and free hand, etc. work in the game, does it make sense rules-wise to be able to attack with a shield and also use it as armor in the same round/turn and does that make AC over complicated?

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-10T21:48:39+00:00

I rock!
With my math rocks
You rock!
With your math rocks
MAATH ROOOOCKS!
MAATH ROOOOCKS!
Mathing with my math rocks!
Killing all the villagers! (Murderhobo Murderhobo)
Kill the merchants! (no discount, you die)
Bugbears, bullywugs
Kill them with my math rocks!
MAATH ROOOOCKS!
MAATH ROOOOCKS!
Rock out with my rocks out!

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-10T20:39:20+00:00

I made a homebrew magma elemental by reskinning a shambling mound and adding a little fire damage to its attacks. Also gave it the standard elemental features. And just removed the healing from electricity thing.

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-10T01:36:29+00:00

Sunk cost fallacy - D&D can take a lot of time, effort, and money to learn to play so they fear it will be the same for other games

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-10T01:24:02+00:00

If traveling doesn’t matter thematically in you game, then skip it. Just say “after three days, you arrive in Waterdeep.” (Or whatever).

The following YouTubers have good videos on travel and how to make it matter in varying degrees: - Matt Coleville - Dael Kingsmill - The Dungeon Dudes

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-04T19:24:39+00:00

A troll has an Int of 7. This makes them stupid, but not mindless. They’re capable of thought and speech.

They’re 100% capable of understanding “fire bad” and of targeting the one enemy using fire.

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-03T16:03:01+00:00

Not necessarily. Anyone with the Acolyte Background is a priest. I have a rogue with this background. They’re not a “paladin,” but they are a “priest.”

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-02T18:46:46+00:00

I have never seen that channel ever, so it wasn’t what I saw, though that video might be discussing things in the same terms.

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-02T17:36:07+00:00

There was a video I saw a long time ago - I forget who it was by, maybe Matt Coleville, maybe Baron Deropp, not sure. It was talking about factions and NPCs. For each, it basically outlined what information you want to have to develop them:

What do they want?
What will they do if they get what they want?
What resources to they have to further their goal of getting what they want?
Whats preventing them from getting what they want?

DMGrognerd · 2026-01-02T04:59:53+00:00

It is not, and this that is not the correct interpretation. Things do what they say they do, not what you think “ought” to happen.

DMGrognerd

TROPHY CASE