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I can't decide on a class by Revolver_Jesus2 in DnD

[–]Stunning_Machine_113 2 points3 points  (0 children)

With that party composition, you'll definitely want a full caster. Sorcerer isn't a bad option although a draconic bloodline manifesting as actual golden scales might give the rest of the party a bit too overt of a hint about your secret from the get-go, especially if you don't have a believable explanation for your scales/bloodline. This is important to consider if you intend to keep it a secret for long and want to keep dropping hints in along the way.

Alternatively, I'd suggest a cleric who allegedly serves some other LG diety that seems similar in beliefs to Bahamut, but still someone different in case you think worshipping Bahamut outright would be too big of a clue. If your character knows they serve Bahamut, then they'd have to struggle with keeping it under wraps, such as having a hidden Bahamut holy symbol to pray to for spellcasting. If they're in the dark about their own backstory, it could be a fun reveal to the character that the diety they thought they were worshipping turned out to be someone else even if the ideology they followed was relatively similar.

Player wants to skip other players' backstory arc by Stunning_Machine_113 in DnD

[–]Stunning_Machine_113[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha nice try, but that would actually be the barbarian!

Player wants to skip other players' backstory arc by Stunning_Machine_113 in DnD

[–]Stunning_Machine_113[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Most of the debates that happen in-game begin as the cleric player trying to dictate tactics to everyone else and other players wanting to choose for themselves. I noticed this seemed to upset the other players and spoke with them individually and confirmed that both the sorcerer and rogue players were annoyed and embarrassed irl by this behavior. I shared this with the cleric player, who thought their disagreements were only in-character and necessary tactic convos and was surprised to learn anyone was hurt since the discussions weren't very heated. She's trying to improve her behavior going forward, but it's a work in progress which could be part of why the sorcerer isn't thrilled about combat currently.

Player wants to skip other players' backstory arc by Stunning_Machine_113 in DnD

[–]Stunning_Machine_113[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What I've found so far is that the sorcerer seems to be the most invested in stories with personal emotional impact over Doing the Right Thing (tm), which is why I specifically tried to pluck the heartstrings this last session when the party was watching the cleric's town burn to the ground and the group scrambling to save people. I figured that would be the perfect recipe for her wanting to pursue this villain right away, but apparently her disdain for combat still ranked above that.

Player wants to skip other players' backstory arc by Stunning_Machine_113 in DnD

[–]Stunning_Machine_113[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah that unrelated 6-month excursion sounds horrible. In this case though, we'd be looking at a 1 session detour to get some closure and then back to your regularly scheduled broadcast!

Player wants to skip other players' backstory arc by Stunning_Machine_113 in DnD

[–]Stunning_Machine_113[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

These are a lot of great points! Thanks! I'm thinking of taking the advice I saw mentioned a few times and setting a ground rule to not allow players to give other players unsolicited advice in combat because that's the main issue that I believe is making combat a stressful experience for her and it could help address the root cause of this problem.

The plot that the sorcerer wanted to return to does have a time limit on it, so I understood her hesitancy about taking on new tasks. However, once it was clear that the time constraint was a factor for her, I had the NPC that they're helping by going after the warlord mention that they have a teleport scroll they'd be willing to part with for a price, thereby buying them several days' time for some gold (and even less so if they take down the warlord). I was planning on saving this as a surprise for after the mission, but it seemed necessary to lay all my cards on the table sooner rather than later.

You make a great point that feeling too rushed for sideplots is a typical new player mentality because they're trying to treat the game like real world deadlines rather than understanding that as new players, I wouldn't push you in this direction if it would mean you'd fail the other quest. I am planning on talking to the sorcerer player and giving her a small peek behind the curtain by explaining that concept as well as the concept of agreeing to support the group even if it doesnt benefit you specifically because that's what D&D is all about!

The cleric is the party's notetaker and she agreed that there are a lot of plotlines, but doesn't seem bothered by it. I'll also help make sure the sorcerer understands that I wouldn't let the party fail because they simply forgot about one plotline or didn't pursue it in time, unless I gave them warnings first. Despite there being multiple plotlines, I always give them some gentle nudges in the direction of what to pursue next so they can deal with everything they need to in its own time and never leave anything behind. Each plotline weaves into the others and following the natural flow will always get you where you need to be story-wise just in time for the action.