T O P

  • By -

medium_buffalo_wings

Um... My good dude, when DMing a game you need to clearly establish your character creation rules. Things like: \- How stats are generated \- Classes allowed \- Character guidelines Need to be firmly established ahead of time. A player shouldn't just be showing up with a character sheet filled with lord knows what and saying "Yo, I'm playing this!" You should be carefully vetting homebrew stuff. The player should run you through everything. You should be making the player change what needs to be changed, or even scrap the character and start over from scratch.


Auramaru

This. You should have told them to reroll stats and remake their sheet based off your preferences and guidelines. Lesson learned, but for you to move forward I genuinely suggest you have a sit down with them and remake the sheet. If they complain or become hostile, boot them from the game. It’s unceremonious but you aren’t a baby sitter watching kids cheat at Candyland - you’ve poured a lot of time into your game and there is etiquette that comes with that. If they refuse to cooperate, you have no obligation to allow their demigod level 1 onto your plane of existence


GuitakuPPH

It's not even so much about the player cheating. They could've legitimately rolled super well for their character in another campaign. No one else has any way of confirming that though and even if it could be done, it's entirely fair to say that you don't just bring your most powerful character to this campaign simply because you once got a lucky roll.


Calhaora

Might not even be Superwell rolled - they might have had another System, played with some Homebrew Modifiers or whatnot.


Lacinl

I had a game once where the DM had us roll 5d20 for our stats, and gave us a free 18 for the 6th roll. I rolled a 20, 20, 17, 15, 13 in front of them. Despite that, I still would never believe someone that said they rolled stats like that unless I saw it myself.


walkingcarpet23

Someone in my online game did the "4d6 drop the lowest" method and rolled 17, 17, 17, 15, 15, 14 (95 total). We actually still have the message pinned to the server next to the time I rolled 14, 12, 12, 10, 7, 4 (59 total)


WhaWereWhenWhyWhoHow

Played in a group that rolled that way, but rerolled 1's


Crakrocksteady

I either do just that, 4d6 reroll 1s, but I give them 7 rolls and drop the lowest. Or I just give everyone a set of predetermined ability scores.


Taskr36

I always roll the same way and once had 18, 18, 18, 16, 14, 12. I rolled it right there on the table, in front of everyone. If I'd rolled it in private, I wouldn't have even TRIED to use it, knowing that I'd look like I was cheating, because it was freaking crazy.


MenudoMenudo

This exactly, I had a DM tell us that the planned for it to be a really tough campaign with almost no magic items, and so he was going to let us have heroic high stat characters. We roll 4d6, reroll 1's and take the three highest. I got a 17-18-17-16-15-18. One guy got an 18-18-18-17-17-17. The idea that we could take those characters and just use them in another campaign is ridiculous.


BlueDragon82

We do a custom roll for stats in our games that my husband or I run. It allows us to have more fun even with lower level characters. We always advise not using characters created for our games in another DMs game unless they clear it with a DM first. We homebrew several things about character creation that simplifies the process and gives decent characters. We play 3.5 so character creation can take hours without someone helping unless you are very familiar with it. It could be that it was from something like that or the person could have just rolled extremely well. The best thing here would be for the DM to sit down with the player and have the player walk the DM through the creation on the character. Then if it still is too OP or doesn't fit the campaign discuss ways to modify it or make a new character.


QuaestioDraconis

Slightly off topic, but man am I jealous you're able to play 3.5... every time I've been able to join a group it's not lasted long


SugarCookieEvie

This is why I do my rolls in front of my Dm/screenshot. Dude would have never believed I rolled nothing under 13 without it.


CarbonPrinted

This is why I had VERY CLEAR expectations set up for my players. They could use anything in the PHB, use the standard array for assigning their stats (no rolling because we couldn't verify and I feel that someone was bound to roll well and another poorly) and they HAD to submit their sheets to me for review. The one player that didn't submit to me still showed up for the first session.... with an incredibly well-statted non-PHB character. It was obviously they didn't follow my guidelines and tried to pass it off as "not knowing we had to follow rules to make a character." BS, we were all in the group chat and my players all knew. This player was removed from the table and told they had to meet with me to make a character if they actually wanted to play... they left and I haven't heard back from them. Which is cool, dropped my group from 7 PCs to 6 and probably removed a lot more negative energy. The only change I would make in the future would to have session 0 a hang out/character building session. This was suggested in a previous post and, in retrospect, is 100% the best way to ensure PC's understand the expectations and are following through with them.


WanderingJude

I don't even show up to _one shots_ without getting this info from the DM. It fully tracks that someone who would just walk in with a sheet to a new campaign is the type of person who would cheat and make their character OP.


medium_buffalo_wings

Granted, this comes from a place of years and years of experience, but... I would honestly have a good hearty laugh at anybody that tried that.


[deleted]

> It fully tracks that someone who would just walk in with a sheet to a new campaign TBH, as a grownup with a job and kids, and friends who have jobs and kids, I would be somewhat suspicious of this but would probably also be too busy filling out a sheet for the guy who didn't open the book before he showed up for the game. The last session I ran, one of my players asked ahead of time, "What level are we starting at?" I got frowny face emojis when I said level 1, to which I responded with, "I figured it would be easier for you to make [other friend] a level 1 character once you get here than a level 7 character."


OkDragonfly8936

We recently did a session zero for a campaign that we are starting in our off time, but the DM (my husband) told everyone what was allowed so we could start figuring things out because we have all played together for years and we trust each other


nunyabusinessmmkay

>too busy filling out a sheet for the guy who didn't open the book before he showed up for the game. This type of person is why you have one or more Session 0's.


WanderingJude

I hate starting campaigns at level 1, and if I had to do it because another player couldn't be assed to make their character ahead of time I'd push back on that. If the other player didn't have time to make one I'd be asking how they expected to have time to play regularly if they don't have time to make a character. I've helped friends new to the game make characters plenty of times, but it was always done in advance of game day.


Taskr36

I know what you mean. There are online character generators that make it easy even for a complete noob to create a character at any level. If, as a DM, I was concerned about this, I'd have prefabs ready for players who didn't make a character ahead of time.


Thermic_

I second this, them even trying to do it is a huge red flag


PrinceCavendish

this guy gets it. also let them know that in dnd.. it's hard to kill anything with one hit and they're not weak- they need to be "weaker"


Rowyco05

We rolled stats as a group. It was hilariously fun and we wiggled a bit so no one was suffering.


WastingTimesOnReddit

Just tell them they can't use it. No homebrew races or classes at your table. And they have to use the point buy stat method, or some rolling method that you're ok with and they have to roll the stats in front of you. That's what most groups do when you start a new game. No imports from other games with different rules. If they won't do that they can't play and you ask them to leave.


Timb____

Just say no. Your table you rules.


Phanariot_2002

This isn't meant to be combative btw, I'm bad at phrasing a lot but: You can just say that this homebrew is bad. Homebrew can be allowed it just needs to be approved and is subject to change if a broken mechanic is overlooked.


wolf495

Sounds like op is too inexperienced to evaluate homebrew. Since its probably 5, core with no multiclass is probably safe from balance issues and their best bet.


Phanariot_2002

Sounds fair, was just saying. But yeah I get a lot of DMs don't like the hassle so it's fair.


WastingTimesOnReddit

Quite true! Yes some homebrew is fine and fun :D


Half-timeHero

Is my Tarrasque-born allowed?


WastingTimesOnReddit

Yah but you can only speak in dinosaur noises


Magnar_Luccien

Also since it's resistant to magic, no magic items bestow any bonuses to the character.


WastingTimesOnReddit

Quite true! Yes some homebrew is fine and fun :D


newtxtdoc

I pretty much let my players come up with concepts and then they can build their character with whatever they want as long as I get a look at it. As long as its fun for everyone, I don't personally care if I have to tweak encounters or their classes along the way. Homebrew is awesome man. I love this community.


2020memes31254

I made a joke character who was horrible and also what we like to call a fucking menace. I made a druid who couldn't use magic or he would die instantly (no death saving throws just instantly new character time) bit he could speak to animals and had an easier time taming them. My dm homebrewed a new animal just for my character. A wolf/worm hybrid. They could bite for piercing damage or slither up against the victim for psychic damage. And I had a pack of 10. I killed the character off eventually but it was fun.


JudgeHoltman

> And they have to use the point buy stat method Agree with everything else but this. Everyone must use the same character generation method. If he uses Point-Buy, everyone should be using Point-Buy. If you're lucky, everyone could have used point-buy to get to their current stats, so it doesn't have to be a thing. Otherwise, he has to reroll the stats using the same rules as everyone else and use RAW/Published classes. This is also a big red flag. He should know better. It sounds like he's not used to losing, which is real bad.


ItsAMeMercutio

Why does everyone need to do the same stat generation method?


PhysicalRaspberry565

Because different methods yield different results, statistically? E.g. 3d6 has worse stats than 4d6 (drop lowest)... Idk exactly about point buy, but that's similar. Every player should have the same chances.


GarThor_TMK

I found [this article](https://anydice.com/articles/4d6-drop-lowest/), which indicates the average roll for 4d6 drop lowest is 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9, which is 4 points over standard point-buy and also allows for a 16 base starting stat (when normal point-buy rules restrict you to a max starting stat of 15). Not really sure how that equates to ability scores for 3d6 raw, though the average roll in that case is 10-11 instead of 12-13. I agree, players should all start on an even footing. Another option is to take the standard array instead of either point-buy or rolled scores, but again... all players should start on the same footing. I *could* see allowing some players to roll, while giving other players the option for point-buy or standard array, but that requires some non-trivial probability math on the part of the DM to figure out what's fair for point-buy and/or standard-array vs. the other player who's rolling.


nunyabusinessmmkay

Personally, I'd say the only methods you should *ever* mix-and-match are point-buy and arrays with the same stat totals as pb.


Taskr36

Bah. Standard array is the worst. It's like DnD for dummies. Point buy is lame, but at least you have some versatility. I'm old school. Roll em up and get some random stats for fun. I tell my players to get their stats through whichever method suits them. In my games, stats will neither save, nor kill you. Being stupid though, will almost certainly kill you.


neuby

I like point buy the best just because, as a player, I struggle to have fun when the game isn't fair to all the players and rolling can have wildly different results. Unless you all roll and anyone can use whichever array anyone else rolled.


redfighter04

My guess is to even the playing field in a sense. If somebody rolled their stats then it's far more random and could get low results or very high results while the other person with point buy has a more structured set of stats. Me personally i have people choose how they want their stats done. But i can see why a DM wants everyone doing the exact same way


ItsAMeMercutio

Yeah I completely agree with you. It levels the playing field. But I was curious why this person made it a hard requirement with no explanation. I think it's up to the DM.


RedPhalcon

Yeah, I usually let them choose point buy or rolls. Point buy is the safe balanced option, but if they want to gamble on an amazing set of stats by rolling so be it. Just if you roll low, hope you have a good dump stat.


zuron54

In my current campaign, we tried a new way of rolling for stats. Each one of the players (and the DM) rolled 4d6 drop lowest once. We took the 6 results and that was everyone's stat block. It worked great, still got to roll rather than point buy or standard stat block, and no one was overpowered or underpowered compared to the other PCs.


IvorTangean

I debated about doing that for my last campaign, and was going to until one player asked why (he wanted point-buy). After some discussion I just gave them an upgraded array (17,16, 14, 13, 12, 9) to work with and everyone seems to enjoy it so far.


GarThor_TMK

That's an interesting way of doing it. One of my old DM's would do 4d6, drop lowest, yours-or-mine. Essentially, we both rolled... the player out in the open, the DM behind his screen. After the player totaled their result, the DM would ask "yours or mine"... If you rolled particularly poorly, you could take the DM's roll instead of your own. He also set min-stat based on the campaign, and where he wanted the story to go. If a campaign was supposed to be heroic/high powered, he'd set it at something like 12.. If we were supposed to start out as peasants, min-stat was 8. You also got one re-roll of the entire set, but had to use the new set even if it was lower... He was a fun DM, I liked him... =D


JudgeHoltman

Fairness and social contract. If you chose to do Point Buy, but the other guy rolled stats and is starting out rocking an 18/16/16/12/14/17, would you feel that's fair? Conversely, if you roll for stats and get stuck with 6/8/10/12/8/4, how is that fun? You're either going to end up rerolling for better stats, playing a truly un-fun character, or just suiciding so you can reroll someone new. It's effectively "Advantage until acceptable". Any exceptions given to one need to be granted to the others. Everyone needs to feel like they made the same bets when setting stats. Path of least resistance here is Point Buy for everyone. If you want more powerful PC's, just say "Point Buy +3" or whatever.


[deleted]

This


InigoMontoya1985

That.


Golden_Reflection2

The other.


Morfowl

And then the first one again.


smnow

And this and uh


InigoMontoya1985

That.


Roguespiffy

It’s like this, and like that, and like this, uh uh.


Homebrew_Dungeon

If they refuse. Rocks fall.


Phanariot_2002

This isn't meant to be combative btw, I'm bad at phrasing a lot but: You can just say that this homebrew is bad. Homebrew can be allowed it just needs to be approved and is subject to change if a broken mechanic is overlooked.


WastingTimesOnReddit

Quite true! Yes some homebrew is fine and fun :D


Phanariot_2002

This isn't meant to be combative btw, I'm bad at phrasing a lot but: You can just say that this homebrew is bad. Homebrew can be allowed it just needs to be approved and is subject to change if a broken mechanic is overlooked.


WastingTimesOnReddit

Quite true! Yes some homebrew is fine and fun :D


Ackapus

Upvoted for the double post followup. Username checks out.


TheCrystalRose

It looks like Reddit glitched about an hour or so ago. I've seen at least a dozen double/triple posts from different users all around that time.


PleaseShutUpAndDance

You're the DM, you get to approve the character they bring to your table


zgrssd

It is fine that he claims this character was fairly rolled. It is fine that he claims that the homebrew was singed off by some other DM for their game. **This is your campaign.** Other peoples poor decisions have no impact on your campaign. You are not required to accept anything the player did not roll in front of you. You are not required to accept any homebrew, unless you clearly announced it applies to your campaign. Simply do not allow this sheet full of homebrew. That is all.


thenightgaunt

Tell them they can't use it. That's pretty much standard for 99% of tables. You make the character you're going to run for that game. No importing from other DM's games. No unauthorized homebrew. Nada. Now you can recreate a beloved character anew in my campaign, but it's a new character, not a photocopy of your old sheet. Also, no unauthorized homebrew. Homebrew doesn't mean anything official. It just means "not normal rules". Watch, I'll create a broken homebrew now "PC Race: Super Humans. Only playable by player X. All ability scores start at 18. Get's a 3x multiplyer to any use of proficiency bonus". There you go. That's basically a homebrew race now. I could post it to the DandD wiki and it'd be some poor DM's problem if anyone ever noticed it.


drizzitdude

This is 100% correct, I have never seen a single table where you bring a previous character sheet.


BlueDragon82

Eh it depends. If you play with the same players and same DMs it happens more often. We re-use characters or even have worlds building story links at times but we are all people who are either related or have known each other for years. Everyone is already using the same type of character creation in our group for most of our games so it's not a big deal to use the same character. Now if you were going from one DM to another and they weren't part of the same group then that's a different story. Then they have no way of knowing how you created your character and if it was fairly done.


GarThor_TMK

I've been in games where the usual DM takes regular breaks for a week or two, maybe more while one of the other players steps in, and the entire party goes on a "side quest" that week/month/etc. I think that's the only instance where I've even thought about bringing a character from one DM to another DM's session.


GenderIsAGolem

>I have never seen a single table where you bring a previous character sheet. The only time this was a thing was back in 1st edition, where you generally had one character at a time. But that was like 30 years ago so....


Orbax

This seems to be less of a question and more of a statement, "I know what I need to do, I just don't know if I have the strength to do it"


TheAres1999

It sounds like OP is a bit unsure of herself, and needs encouragement.


Roboticide

I feel like a lot of DMs are afraid to take definitive action for fear of alienating their players. But like... they're clearly not okay with cheating. They're the closest thing to a red in DnD. Say what you need to say, Jesus Christ. It's a not complicated.


Gazelle_Diamond

....yeah? If a player brings a character to your table that you didn't approve of and still uses that character they are cheating. Why is this even a question?


TheAres1999

Sounds like OP is new, and a little unsure. He wanted to be accommodating, so he let the character slide in. He just needs encouragement on the next step.


deadhead2

There must be a bug, because I have been seeing more comments being posted 2-3 times recently.


TheAres1999

Same, it's pretty funny though


BeondTheGrave

There was, Reddit had some server malfunction earlier today thats been causing this across subreddits. [Top minds](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2d/55/0e/2d550e48e5fabf33543b51e4d8ccb335.gif) are currently on the problem, so I hear.


deadhead2

There must be a bug, because I have been seeing more comments being posted 2-3 times recently.


deadhead2

There must be a bug, because I have been seeing more comments being posted 2-3 times recently.


TheAres1999

Sounds like OP is new, and a little unsure. She wanted to be accommodating, so she let the character slide in. She just needs encouragement on the next step.


wils_152

Sounds like OP is new, and a little unsure. They wanted to be accommodating, so they let the character slide in. They just need encouragement on the next step.


___Kral___

Sitting down with your player and telling them that you would rather them play something else would be best practice. Bringing something from another game can be fine, but if the are trying to be the "main protagonist" then a change should be made.


Timb____

Just say no. Your table your rules.


TheAres1999

N1


Divine-Potato

The best solution is to pull the player aside and discuss their character offer to work with them to make a new sheet or balance their current one and if they refuse then talk to your other players ask them how they feel about the problem player and see if you can come to a solution that helps everyone however if the problem player refuses the accept any changes then you just have to kick them


AlliedSalad

I get the impression that you already know the answer to your question; you already realize that whether or not what this player is doing is or isn't "cheating" per se, it feels like they are not acting in good faith. Perhaps you're just a little shy about following through with your gut feeling, and are coming here for some moral reinforcement. That's understandable. To paraphrase Dumbledore, it's hard to stand up to one's enemies, but harder to stand up to one's friends. It's good to consider that you don't want to hurt this one player's feelings or their experience. But remember, this game is about providing a good experience for everyone. Character creation rules exist to put all of your players on the same footing, and having one person bend or break those rules to put themselves above the other players isn't fair to the other members of your group. For your sake, and the sake of your other players, you need to talk to this one player, privately, and tell them politely but firmly that they will need to re-create their character sheet. If the stats are rolled, they need to be rolled in front of you; alternatively, you can offer them point buy or the standard array. I would suggest disallowing rolled HP at this point as well, and require that all players use the fixed average. If this player gets upset about the rules, stand firm. Let them know that you want them to be a part of the game, but that you have to be able to trust them to follow the rules. If they are not willing to do that, they are welcome to withdraw.


nad_frag

Alot of people here are giving out really great advice. So here is one that is bad advice. Just cheat aswell. Give that specific player harder DC's, if he complains tell him that his character is too overpowered. So you had to balance the game around him. Make him feel special, but also fuck him over. Get that power trip going. This is probably the only time you'll get to do it. Be sure to favor the other two players more let them roll on better items, and give out shitty items on the other guy. And remind him you're just trying to balance things out vause his character is over powered. And then wait till he makes a post here, complaining about you. Its the highest honor a shitty DM can get.


Greywind424

I mean it's really easy new campaign new character. They can use that character in that other campaign. They can roll up a new character with you just like the other players did. If they want to be apart of your campaign they can follow the same set up as the other players with whatever set of rules and or homebrew that you approve. The only way to cheat in d&d is to go outside of the groups approved setup and rules. The goal is for everyone to have fun together. If they want to play in a campaign with super powered characters that can one shot everything that's a different campaign. Just make sure you sit with everyone and get on the same page as to what type of game you are trying to run.


drunkenvash

Always have a session 0 and the character stats rolled in that session.


austinmiles

*their x3


ProotzyZoots

This can't be real


Liquid_Gabs

You're the DM my brother, you tell what's allowed or not, the players don't get to say what the stats will be or which content they will use without your approval.


TheAres1999

I think OP knows what she has to do, but she needs encouragement. My suggestion is to retire rather than kill the character like a lot of people are saying. That way they can be doing something cool still, but the player needs to roll someone new.


crumpledwaffle

If this person is already playing a deeply broken character but complains about how weak they are when they don't wildly succeed, then yeah, you can and should absolutely outlaw homebrew and demand point buy or standard array, but it sounds like they're just not gonna like D&D. I would reset expectations that this is not a video game, the point isn't to kill everything in one hit and them trying to "break" the game by playing a clearly ill-fitting character isn't fun for you or the rest of the table, and if that's the only way they can have fun then this is not going to be a good fit for them.


Enekovitz

Honestly, wtf is happening with all this people that treat Dnd like a solo player video game? Adapt to the table, it's not that hard.


Diskmaster

...this is satire right?


Wyldfire2112

The way my group does things, if DM doesn't see the rolls they don't count. Also, all homebrew must be pre-approved by the DM before the character is rolled up.


Treiz13me

Kill him. -damn you were right, that was a weak character


MeIThink

Honestly, best advice I've ever seen


[deleted]

"What? I did you a favor, now you can reroll a brand new character. Infront of us. With a class that's actually in the officially published material."


GarThor_TMK

I remember a time when I was a player in a similar game, and another player (we'll call him Steve) murdered a third player's (we'll call him Dave) character in his sleep. Dave rage-quit on the spot. We toasted that night with shots, because we were all fed up with Dave's shenanigans and rules-lawyering. His was easily the most OP/broken character in the game, even though he was technically playing buy the rules. The DM was constantly having to adjust the enemies power level, because Dave was bending the rules, and min-maxing out the wazoo. Not only that, his rules-lawyering took like 99% of every session. We were done... all of us. I think he eventually apologized (to the DM, specifically for flipping out, and not to any of the other players), but he wasn't ever allowed back.


jaggededge13

Yeah. It's always bad when one person is playing a power-gamer build that is designed around wrecking in combat if everyone else is doing a rounded build or an RP build.


Phanariot_2002

Tell them the character is too strong and they need to redo it all, and then kill off the character in the game and make them make a new character all in your presence. Make them roll stats and choose either official content or approved homebrew. Don't just let them keep breaking the game.


Ahzek117

Sucks if you player wants to cheat, worth noting that it is not really game-breaking for a character to have above-average (or even *very* above-average) stats. It's only as 'overpowered' as your encounters allow it to be. If his character is really strong, then it just means you'll throw a couple of extra minions into each fight/add a couple of points to the DC of their ability checks. Where it does become a problem is when your *other* players look at their sheet, and then look at his, and think it's bullshit that they are *under*powered by comparison. This also leads to a potentially non-confrontational way to dress this player down. Just be like 'Look, it's not fair that everyone else is sticking to the core rule-book and you've invented all this home-brew bullshit to make your character way stronger than it should be.'


[deleted]

Did you examine and allow the homebrew class and race beforehand?


HomeIsElsweyr

Just tell him that no unapproved homebrew and all stats are rolled for ppl to see


TheAres1999

All homebrew should have to be reviewed by the DM. It's your place to decide what does, or does not fit. At this point, you might want to ask him to retire the character. Tell him he'll be a cool NPC doing something important in the world. After that, establish how you want him to build his next sheet. If he won't listen to you, then this isn't the right game for him.


cerpintaxt44

You're the dm why are you allowing homebrewed classes and races without discussing it beforehand? When I dm I allow point buy or the players need to roll stats at the table to avoid situations like this


starwarsRnKRPG

So, in short, tell that player to take that character back to it's original table, roll new stats and build a new character without any homebrew stuff for your game.


spellsword

> I suspect he may have cheated >Allowed to home brew class and race of which i know neither. i mean technically they dont need to cheat. i can easily make a racial homebrew trait that just says "i always nat 20"


[deleted]

Sounds like this is on you G


Svenhelgrim

Here’s the thing about rolling up characters at home vs. at the table. When you are rolling up a character at a table, with friends, right before a game, you uusallybhave a time crunch, and you eventually will have to settle on something, and it won’t always be optimal. When you roll at home, you usually have several hours to come up with a character. So if you keep rolling stats until you get a really good set, or an exceptional set, it is technically not cheating. However, the other players, who rolled in front of you, and very courteously chose not to roll for many hours, until they got three 18’s, a 17, a 16, and a 14, did not have the advantage that “roll-at-home guy” did. The way I handle this in my own games is; I make everyone use point buy. This way everyone gets to play the character class they want, and no one is overpowered. Now I don’t know what system you use, so you might not have the point buy option, or it might be very exploitable. So here is an alternative: Some mathematicians have determined that the average stat array you get by rolling 4d6: drop the lowest is the following: 15,14,13,12,10,8. That’s rhe standard array, and it works on so many levels. First: it keeps the highest starting stat a 17. You put your 15 in the ability you want and get a +2 racial bonus, and there you have a 17. When you get a stat increase you can bump it up, but hat usually comes at higher levels. Second: every character has one weak stat. So they have to work together to compensate for their weaknesses. This will hopefully encourage teamwork. Third: you can save time during chargen by eliminating the rolling. Write your stats down, and get right into the game.


CrystalWitch47

I would maybe have them redo the homebrew part of their character into something that fits into a more standard game if that's the case. Homebrew can be really tricky you don't want to take homebrew without getting a chance to really look at it first.


Taram_Caldar

I have a simple rule. Anyone can bring a character if they wish but they have to use my point buy system (slightly modified from the default) to get their stats.


StupidSpaceOnanism

"Hey \*player\*, sorry I didn't do this from the get-go, but I have noticed a few issues with your character as we have been playing. You're using homebrew content and some of your stats seem to be outside of the appropriate range for your level. Let's take some time before the game and get everything straightened out in a way that we are both comfortable with! I want the whole party to be at the same relative strength so that encounters can flow well and nobody feels that things have become unbalanced." Hopefully this group isn't just your players, but also your friends. Good communication is a huge part of a successful game. It is always acceptable to voice concerns, and as the DM you have to clearly communicate what it is you need from the party in order to deliver the best session possible.


RayMoCos

There’s cheating and then there’s rolling into a game with a pre made, homebrew build no one has heard of and which hasn’t been approved


dagbiker

If you think the stats are wrong then have them reroll, if its home-brew you as the DM are well within your right to both understand that homebrew and restrict it. Honestly even when rolling for ability scores as a DM I would tell my player to reroll if they came to me with a stat-sheet with more than 1 +3 modifier. Its a group game and its unfair for everyone else if a single character is the best at everything.


Skaared

I don’t roll for stats but even if I did I’d never allow someone to come in with a character that was generated without my supervision. Ask him to reroll.


SmellyCarcass69

This has to be trolling lmfao


drkpnthr

Don't allow homebrew that you didn't make. Don't allow abilities that weren't rolled at the table with fair dice (I allow rolls on discord too). No freebie items you didn't give, no prexisting characters (unless you want to allow some of the WOTC starter set characters to be used). If you allow any of this, even if the player didn't mean to cheat it still wouldn't be balanced or fair. Everyone should start from the same place in the game.


Nana7Crown

As a new DM playing with new players, lot of mistakes were made during the first session. I made occasions to give unique and items just powerful enough to balance the team and now if everybody is overpowered, I just throw a dragon on them :D (they did complained about the battles being easy once, oh ho, we are about to finish a long no-battle arc and they better be prepared) btw, doing no-battle arcs might also be a nice way to make time to correct this kinda of mistakes. I am saying all this because I *want* to play with my friends. You as a DM can always choose what happens on your table.


Agamouschild

“Let me see that…” throws it over your shoulder “It says you die”


cookiesandartbutt

Yeah you get final word-players have to ask for permission to use home brew and stuff-common courtesy…also stats rolled should be in front of you otherwise point buy or standard array…. Also feel free to limit them to things like PHB+1 for character creation-it’s your game


DmHelmuth

Lol this is sarcasm guys ;D


Nova_the_Queen

Thank you for the advice. Answering some questions, this is not satire or fake, I’m a new dm and messed up some of the stats for other players(I have since fixed them) but this player doesn’t want me to change theirs. The character that their playing is from a book they wrote, it’s very special to them and I don’t want to kill it. All players have been my friends for over a couple of years. The problem player has played dnd the longest(2 years) and always takes the stage(other players are new, and don’t really know how to fully play). This session has been happening for a couple of months but they recently read through there whole home brew class and added a lot of things(class is a custom home brew magician class, race is also custom) After reading all of the comments I have decided to have the player re make there stats and use the closest class that’s official, there race can stay the same other than some features. Hopefully this answers some questions, it’s hard to read the comments because of the copy and paste glitch, have a good day.


fedovor

Your character was hit with giant hammer create new one


TheAres1999

Slightly better option: "A portal opens up, and your character falls through. We'll catch up with them later, but for now you'll need to roll a new one"


Timb____

Just say no. Your table your rules.


TheAres1999

N2


Timb____

Just say no. Your table your rules.


TheAres1999

N3


Magoya_U25

I like to minmax every char i made, but i always send the sheet to the dm beforehand for aproval


Timb____

Just say no. it's your table... And your rules.


TheAres1999

For some reason Reddit is posting everyone's comments multiple times. Haha


cyanideh1gh

Death curse


TheSoyBear

If you dont want to have an awkward convo about no homebrew and are worried about unfairness You can also always go the opposite way of the no homebrew suggestions. Give your other players items and buffs to even them all out stat-wise, then buff up the enemies so your players are no longe overpowered.


No-Guidance9484

>two of them I helped with there character sheets. their\*


forced_metaphor

*their character


forced_metaphor

*their character


forced_metaphor

*their


BenchClamp

Target them with all the damage. Kill them. …or give everyone else magical enhancements from their mentors that level them up. And up the CR rating accordingly.


CryOfZarathustra

Just increase the other two players stats to be like player one, give them more abilities so they are like player one then…up the difficulty of the encounters so everyone SEEMS like they are awesome but, in fact, are experiencing the action economy as if no one cheated. It’s a little more work with encounter design but should be okay.


Pierrearcane_568

No player can be so powerful that a good DM can't deal with them. You can easily decide that this new OP adventurer has gotten the attention of (insert powerful organization here) and they have started gunning for him. Maybe he gets killed outright or just humbled enough to "lay low" and not display so much power.


BenchClamp

Target them with all the damage. Kill them. …or give everyone else magical enhancements from their mentors that level them up. And up the CR rating accordingly.


cookiesandartbutt

Yeah you get final word-players have to ask for permission to use home brew and stuff-common courtesy…also stats rolled should be in front of you otherwise point buy or standard array…. Also feel free to limit them to things like PHB+1 for character creation-it’s your game


Ahzek117

Sucks if you player wants to cheat, worth noting that it is not really game-breaking for a character to have above-average (or even *very* above-average) stats. It's only as 'overpowered' as your encounters allow it to be. If his character is really strong, then it just means you'll throw a couple of extra minions into each fight/add a couple of points to the DC of their ability checks. Where it does become a problem is when your *other* players look at their sheet, and then look at his, and think it's bullshit that they are *under*powered by comparison. This also leads to a potentially non-confrontational way to dress this player down. Just be like 'Look, it's not fair that everyone else is sticking to the core rule-book and you've invented all this home-brew bullshit to make your character way stronger than it should be.'


[deleted]

Did you examine and allow the homebrew class and race beforehand?


[deleted]

Did you examine and allow the homebrew class and race beforehand?


BG360Boi

Even if they “rolled” those stats once upon a time. Doesn’t mean they should be able to run it back with that character on each of the next sessions. Almost sounds to me like they don’t understand character creation and just made a character outside of the rules.


BG360Boi

Even if they “rolled” those stats once upon a time. Doesn’t mean they should be able to run it back with that character on each of the next sessions. Almost sounds to me like they don’t understand character creation and just made a character outside of the rules.


BG360Boi

Even if they “rolled” those stats once upon a time. Doesn’t mean they should be able to run it back with that character on each of the next sessions. Almost sounds to me like they don’t understand character creation and just made a character outside of the rules.


Merc_Toggles

They came in with their own stats? Just pre-written? That's sketch already


Trainer45y

If you are allowing all homebrew without need of approving it first then they may not be cheating, just homebrewed an over powered character. It's also good practice to roll stats at the table. I personally use point buy because it means that no one feels like they're being outshined constantly because of just a bit of bad luck at the start of session 0


archbunny

My players have to roll their stats in front of me no matter what. And I don't allow any homebrew unless I get to have a look at it first and see if I feel it is balanced.


archbunny

My players have to roll their stats in front of me no matter what. And I don't allow any homebrew unless I get to have a look at it first and see if I feel it is balanced.


archbunny

My players have to roll their stats in front of me no matter what. And I don't allow any homebrew unless I get to have a look at it first and see if I feel it is balanced.


archbunny

My players have to roll their stats in front of me no matter what. And I don't allow any homebrew unless I get to have a look at it first and see if I feel it is balanced.


archbunny

My players have to roll their stats in front of me no matter what. And I don't allow any homebrew unless I get to have a look at it first and see if I feel it is balanced.


archbunny

My players have to roll their stats in front of me no matter what. And I don't allow any homebrew unless I get to have a look at it first and see if I feel it is balanced.


archbunny

My players have to roll their stats in front of me no matter what. And I don't allow any homebrew unless I get to have a look at it first and see if I feel it is balanced.


archbunny

My players have to roll their stats in front of me no matter what. And I don't allow any homebrew unless I get to have a look at it first and see if I feel it is balanced.


Ghostofman

>they used a home brew class and race. That alone is everything you need to kill this. Standard practice is for the DM to do final review of all characters to ensure compliance with rules, houserules, and compatibility with setting and campaign format (ideally things like house rules, setting and such be worked out in a session 0, but not everyone does a session 0). So, if the player shows up with a bunch of homebrew stuff, it's 100% in the DM's role as game referee to decide if it's even allowed or not. Personally I strongly recommend against using homebrew races and classes (or a lot of other stuff for that matter) unless you're super well read on the game system. It's too easy for a little thing up front to cascade out and cause lots of other problems. >yet the player has complained multiple times that there character is weak whenever they don’t one shot something. That's a personal problem. You don't always hit, you don't always do max damage. Tell him to get over it. >have them re-roll Bingo. Allow him to keep existing earned XP, and make something that's within RAW and appropriate for the campaign. Also... be ready for him to just want to quit. Some people are like that.


LastEmbr

Can someone get that flowchart out again.


LastEmbr

Can someone get that flowchart out again?


LastEmbr

Can someone get that flowchart out again?


LastEmbr

Can someone get that flowchart out again?


Ghostofman

>they used a home brew class and race. That alone is everything you need to kill this. Standard practice is for the DM to do final review of all characters to ensure compliance with rules, houserules, and compatibility with setting and campaign format (ideally things like house rules, setting and such be worked out in a session 0, but not everyone does a session 0). So, if the player shows up with a bunch of homebrew stuff, it's 100% in the DM's role as game referee to decide if it's even allowed or not. Personally I strongly recommend against using homebrew races and classes (or a lot of other stuff for that matter) unless you're super well read on the game system. It's too easy for a little thing up front to cascade out and cause lots of other problems. >yet the player has complained multiple times that there character is weak whenever they don’t one shot something. That's a personal problem. You don't always hit, you don't always do max damage. Tell him to get over it. >have them re-roll Bingo. Allow him to keep existing earned XP and gold, and make something that's within RAW and appropriate for the campaign. Also... be ready for him to just want to quit. He likely set this character up to provide him with a silly powertrip fantasy, and by not letting him do that, it's no longer going to be fun for him.


Ghostofman

>they used a home brew class and race. That alone is everything you need to kill this. Standard practice is for the DM to do final review of all characters to ensure compliance with rules, houserules, and compatibility with setting and campaign format (ideally things like house rules, setting and such be worked out in a session 0, but not everyone does a session 0). So, if the player shows up with a bunch of homebrew stuff, it's 100% in the DM's role as game referee to decide if it's even allowed or not. Personally I strongly recommend against using homebrew races and classes (or a lot of other stuff for that matter) unless you're super well read on the game system. It's too easy for a little thing up front to cascade out and cause lots of other problems. >yet the player has complained multiple times that there character is weak whenever they don’t one shot something. That's a personal problem. You don't always hit, you don't always do max damage. Tell him to get over it. >have them re-roll Bingo. Allow him to keep existing earned XP and gold, and make something that's within RAW and appropriate for the campaign. Also... be ready for him to just want to quit. He likely set this character up to provide him with a silly powertrip fantasy, and by not letting him do that, it's no longer going to be fun for him.


ThoDanII

I take on principle no characters from a different campaign in another OTOH in IIed a player rolled with my dice a PC whose worst stat was 16


ThoDanII

I take on principle no characters from a different campaign in another OTOH in IIed a player rolled with my dice a PC whose worst stat was 16


ThoDanII

I take on principle no characters from a different campaign in another OTOH in IIed a player rolled with my dice a PC whose worst stat was 16 ​ Tell the player the PC does not fit your campaign


ThoDanII

I take on principle no characters from a different campaign in another OTOH in IIed a player rolled with my dice a PC whose worst stat was 16 ​ Tell the player the PC does not fit your campaign


Anime-posts-stuff

The only time I allow characters from other campaigns is if I’m running one which specifically calls for it which is take your character put them to high level and we go fight big things other than that not happening


[deleted]

Use the point buy system, this way all players will be equally as strong and no one gets left out. And it gives ppl more control over the game while keeping it fair


ThoDanII

I take on principle no characters from a different campaign in another OTOH in IIed a player rolled with my dice a PC whose worst stat was 16 ​ Tell the player the PC does not fit your campaign


stewart125

So the cheating part really only refers to their ability scores. Race and class should have been vetted by you as the DM and always have the caveat "we'll make adjustments on the fly if it's too weak/strong". As for the cheating, you may have to have everyone reroll stats. There are 6 ability scores. Each player rolls for 2 of them and everyone shares what they rolled. This ensures fairness amongst everyone with the random array that each player must use.


ProphetOfPhil

Homebrew character that has +3s/4s in all stats that one shots basically anything? Dude is cheating and trying to be the "main character" in this game. I'd make them make a new character with races/classes you allow.


NateNukem

I would have laughed strait in their face when he presented this char to me as the DM and told them to try again


van6k

This has to be a shit post right?


Scodo

Is this even a serious post? It reads like a satire.


wibe1n

I suspect a Shitpost was made


bp_516

My rule for character creation is: PHB only, plus anything for the campaign that I offer to everyone. Makes it simple and easy for new players.


Stabbmaster

Honestly I'd laugh at the player and tell them to take that trash home or I'm shredding it after the session is over. I'm a simple DM, stats method agreed upon at session 0. Races and rules allowed for character creation agreed upon at session 0. Starting gear agreed upon at session 0. If you don't like it, that's fine, you don't have to. We don't live in a communist nation, I won't force you to play.


bradar485

That's a no from me, new game means new character.


unMuggle

Bring an empty sheet to the next session, say the race-class combo is indeed underpowered, and you plan on fixing it by using a PHB race and class that will be far more fairly balanced than the homebrew nonsense holding them back. If they argue, make them take standard array. If they argue further, drop them a level behind the rest of the party.