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Geddy2112
2016-09-28, 02:32 PM
Or DM, or fatemaster, or keeper, or whatever system specific leader.

I am currently running a pathfinder game, and as the DM, I have setting specific guidelines (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?500810-Is-there-something-wrong-with-having-setting-specific-guidelines/) and established setting lore (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?501352-How-breakable-is-setting-lore). A few things being that gunpowder exists, but firearms do not, gnomes do not exist, and that orcs/goblins/drow are not playable races. I also don't allow homebrew, and any 3rd party material gets reviewed first.

However, I will allow homebrew, guns, 3rd party, and banned races if I am bribed to do so. I prefer snacks/drinks/food. I have been open and totally upfront about setting specifics and the fact I can be bribed to break established setting canon from the get go. Several players in my campaign have decided to take me up on this offer and have bribed me to play homebrew races or monsterous races. I still have final say as to what is allowed and I have to review it before I even decide to take payment to allow something, and how much I will let it impact the greater cosmology.

I will also say that I cannot be bribed for plot armor, pay-to-win, or anything along those lines. I am saying in a world with no gnomes, you can bring me pizza and make gnomes exist.

So playground, would you/do you play and/or DM in games like this? If you have, what are your experiences with having your DM being openly on the take.

hymer
2016-09-28, 02:45 PM
I take my bribes in contribution to the game, not to all the air in my spare tire. Taking the time to write synopses of sessions, making a detailed background, or saying or doing something I consider clever or showing you've paid attention - these are things I allow myself to be bribed with.
I think I might be mildly offended at your scheme, at least at the outset. But hopefully I could bribe you to disallow gnomes, as long as my bribe is greater than the one(s) bribing them into existence? :smalltongue:
But seriously, it strikes me as mildly wrong to let commercial self-interests govern the campaign world.

Inevitability
2016-09-28, 03:05 PM
Everyone is fine with it, you're not breaking any laws and you're not harming anyone: I don't see the problem here.

veti
2016-09-28, 03:09 PM
As long as the whole thing is openly conducted and equally available to everyone, I see no problem here.

I'm forever reading advice on this site that the DM should be open to negotiation with players to build a world co-operatively, and I think that's a fair enough idea if the DM is happy with it. What's wrong with pizza being part of that negotiation?

2D8HP
2016-09-28, 03:23 PM
Bribery?

No.

Correct behavior?

Yes

I can't stress this enough; purely by coincidence, if player's want to avoid "random wandering monsters" such as the Purple worm!,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3f/Purple_worm.JPG
they need to get pizza with the right toppings!

:smallwink:

Anonymouswizard
2016-09-28, 03:26 PM
I think I might be mildly offended at your scheme, at least at the outset.

I think this is the key. If it was fairly established at the beginning I personally wouldn't like it, although I might cook something in order to get a race/class/power that's not on the list but fits my character concept.

Now, morally I have no problem with what you're doing. Heck, I'm planning to bribe players in my next game (if you bring food for the table you get an extra Fate Point at the start of the session) because otherwise either people stick to their own food or only one person brings something. It's actually the 'breaking established setting facts' thing that annoys me more than the bribery in this case, although it would be different if it was money rather than some food I can probably cook for a couple of pounds (no, really, I've got many tasty things I can cook for about £2 per person, assuming I get a real stove and not an electric one).

Deophaun
2016-09-28, 03:27 PM
I will also say that I cannot be bribed for plot armor
What about horse armor?

I am saying in a world with no gnomes, you can bring me pizza and make gnomes exist.
The term nowadays is not "bribery;" It's "paid DLC."

Kelb_Panthera
2016-09-28, 03:36 PM
On principle, I couldn't agree to this. It's the same as using cheat codes or glitches in a video game to me. I wouldn't go do far as to turn down gaming with a friend that ran things this way but I probably would with a stranger.

icefractal
2016-09-28, 04:35 PM
I'm ok with ephemeral rewards for out of game stuff - action points, buff for the session, whatever. But permanent stuff seems a bit off.

In this particular case, my chain of thought would be:
1) If you're willing to have guns / goblins / whatever exist for the price of a bag of chips, then its absence can't have been very important to your setting.
2) If it wasn't that big a deal, why did you ban it in the first place? Bans should have a reason.
3) This is a bit much like DLC.

Although the idea of "only things from this specific setting, but each player gets to add a thing or two to the setting" seems workable.

Winter_Wolf
2016-09-28, 04:49 PM
I'm not terribly in favor of bribery. The exception being getting my own personal copy (for keeps, forever, no take backs) of game supplements. The understanding being that if you want something in the game, and I'm at all open to the possibility, I have my very own reference copy of it. And I'm not keeping it for the length of a campaign, it is literally mine until it disintegrates.

Chances are, I'll already have the supplement if I'm interested in including things from it on my game. Otherwise, I'll just politely decline based on having made my outline for the game already. Besides, what do you do when there are people who can't afford to engage in bribery? The resentment would ruin my game, I think.

Tanarii
2016-09-28, 04:52 PM
I'd totally take a fat wad of bills to change my intended campaign rules before the first session ran. :smallbiggrin:

Other than that, I'd consider buttering me up with stuff (chips, soda, whatever) as a prelude to explain the reason I should make those changes, without any cash being involved, as an intelligent negotiation & persuasion tactic, not bribery. Plus is sure beats appeals to emotion, throwing a fit, or other rhetorical tricks.

Genth
2016-09-28, 05:26 PM
It's even better when the 'bribe' is something the GM needs. In my group, the only player with a car at the time used his driving capability to get an extra spaceship from the GM once! :D

So totally depends on your group

Sajiri
2016-09-28, 06:06 PM
I think it might be better if the 'bribe' was in contribution to the whole group. Sure you can bring a pizza to be allowed to play gnomes, but the whole group gets to share it instead of just the DM. As it is it does sound kinda like a paid DLC type thing. If it's so easy to get back into the game it mustnt have had much impact whether it was banned or not, so then why bother banning it in the first place other than to make people 'pay' you just to be allowed to use it?

Brookshw
2016-09-28, 06:31 PM
I use to give xp for whoever walked downstairs to get me coffee when I ran games on the 3rd floor and the coffee maker was on the 1st.

SethoMarkus
2016-09-28, 06:35 PM
On principle, I couldn't agree to this. It's the same as using cheat codes or glitches in a video game to me. I wouldn't go do far as to turn down gaming with a friend that ran things this way but I probably would with a stranger.

A rare instance that I am in complete agreement with Kelb. I don't think you are doing anything "wrong", your group is fine with it after all, but I find something, distasteful?, about it...

Although, I would allow in-game concessions to renegotiate established lore. "Can I play a gnome? I know they don't exist in this setting, but she can be a trans-dimensional traveller who was stranded here!" "Alright, but the gnome has to be a level under the rest of the party at start and you can't play a silly stereotype."

Khedrac
2016-09-29, 04:02 AM
I don't think this is bribery - because you are up-front about the ability to purchase extra options.

Most free-to-play games (tablet or MMO) now offer purchasable options. It's not bribery, it is merely a non-level playing area (and since D&D is not level anyway...).

Incidentally I don't mean to insult with the comparison with free-to-play in-game purchases, I think what you offer is actually reasonably ethical it a way most of those are not.

Professor Chimp
2016-09-29, 04:52 AM
I always appreciate players trying to earn my favor with bribes. That's right, sacrifice that fine food and drink to your god. Like any good god, I will then not listen. Thanks for the good stuff though.

Lemmy
2016-09-29, 06:59 AM
Yeah... No.

I wouldn't ever offer or accept bribes. Nor would I play with a GM who did.

It's one thing to share the bill for the pizza or do a favor for your friend(s)... But paying/charging for in-game benefits? That's very unethical IMO. All it does is encourage the GM to remove perfectly fine options from the game and sell them as "paid DLC". I don't tolerate that sort of scam from strangers, I don't see why I'd tolerate it from a "friend".

This is not just the GM's game. If you (generic "you") demand money for accepting suggestions/requests from your friends, then you're not a good GM. And probably not a good friend either.

Jay R
2016-09-29, 07:26 AM
You're being completely open, honest, and even-handed. The same options are open to everybody, on the same terms. The rules are clear and straightforward.

You're also trying to exploit your friends. I wouldn't play.

[And I generally bring pizza to the game - because it's a polite thing to do. But I wouldn't to it for personal in-character gain.]

AMFV
2016-09-29, 08:10 AM
Well to be fair, if you're presetting a value for certain things and telling everybody about it. It isn't really a bribe, it's a service charge. For example I go to PENNDOT and get my license renewed, I have to hand somebody money, some portion of which will eventually pay their salary. That's a service charge, and that's alright. If I go to a Notary to get a registration renewed, I pay them directly. A bribe is inherently clandestine and illegal. So I guess you'd be asking if service charges in a game are acceptable.

Here is my take:

Nope. For several reasons First, because it implies that the DM is somehow a more worthy position than others. But in this case the DM retains the power over all of the interactions, rather than the customer (the PCs). If the players are paying for a game, then they should get whatever they want in terms of that game, because they're buying a service from you. If you're just playing with people because it's fun then that's different. Of course, it's fine for players to agree to reward a DM for his hard work, to motivate him to continue to spend hours on stuff, or to pay into group funds for the game so that it can have nice things (miniatures, models etc.), but the second the DM starts asking for money, it's no longer just a fun thing with friends, it's now a business contract, and that makes for a dynamic that is likely to make a game unfun

I've had games where this was the case, and it was profoundly not fun for me. The DM charged everybody, used the money (or some portion of it) to buy miniatures which he then kept. It was very frustrating and felt deeply unfair. I'm not such an awful player and friend that I should need to pay-to-play a game that I enjoy playing. Because the DM should be getting equal enjoyment.

Socratov
2016-09-29, 08:34 AM
I think that in the form you presented that it is.

You are being open and up-front about it: this creates a level bribing field.

You consider the prize and the reward (so no guaranteed bribes taken) so you can make a judgement call of what is acceptable.

Teh bribes are not applicable to PC centric things, just to whatever lives in the setting or is present in the setting or not. I think that's fair.

Really think about it: you have an idea of how the game is supposed to be going and how the setting should be. It will take you work to work in last minute things like other races, techology, etc. and to make them internally consistent. So if someone asks you to do more work on top of your regular effort to make a world/setting, why not get something out of it?

Yup totally fair.

RazorChain
2016-09-29, 10:05 AM
Or DM, or fatemaster, or keeper, or whatever system specific leader.

I am currently running a pathfinder game, and as the DM, I have setting specific guidelines (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?500810-Is-there-something-wrong-with-having-setting-specific-guidelines/) and established setting lore (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?501352-How-breakable-is-setting-lore). A few things being that gunpowder exists, but firearms do not, gnomes do not exist, and that orcs/goblins/drow are not playable races. I also don't allow homebrew, and any 3rd party material gets reviewed first.

However, I will allow homebrew, guns, 3rd party, and banned races if I am bribed to do so. I prefer snacks/drinks/food. I have been open and totally upfront about setting specifics and the fact I can be bribed to break established setting canon from the get go. Several players in my campaign have decided to take me up on this offer and have bribed me to play homebrew races or monsterous races. I still have final say as to what is allowed and I have to review it before I even decide to take payment to allow something, and how much I will let it impact the greater cosmology.

I will also say that I cannot be bribed for plot armor, pay-to-win, or anything along those lines. I am saying in a world with no gnomes, you can bring me pizza and make gnomes exist.

So playground, would you/do you play and/or DM in games like this? If you have, what are your experiences with having your DM being openly on the take.


100 bucks and I get to be the chosen one with plot armor?

I mean we know your selling, now we are just discussing price and what you have to offer.

500 bucks and you tailor your campaign to my character?

1000 bucks and I really call the shots, just without the other players knowing?

Lorsa
2016-09-30, 02:20 AM
You're being completely open, honest, and even-handed. The same options are open to everybody, on the same terms. The rules are clear and straightforward.

You're also trying to exploit your friends. I wouldn't play.

[And I generally bring pizza to the game - because it's a polite thing to do. But I wouldn't to it for personal in-character gain.]

Exactly what this guy said.

Well put Jay R.

Ezeze
2016-09-30, 10:12 AM
I think it might be better if the 'bribe' was in contribution to the whole group. Sure you can bring a pizza to be allowed to play gnomes, but the whole group gets to share it instead of just the DM.

This.


I also think this might be a little bit brilliant if you wanted, for example, a species or class or what have you to be rare but not non-existent. For example - you are running a Star Wars game and everyone wants to be a Jedi. You want a Jedi in the group, but not for everyone to be one? "Whoever brings the pizza gets to be the Jedi!" seems as equitable a system as any :smalltongue:

kyoryu
2016-09-30, 10:42 AM
I'm not a big fan of the idea as presented. If you're willing to be flexible on setting canon, be flexible.

That said, I have a standard rule in my games that bringing snacks enough for the table to partake in is worth an extra Fate Point/bennie/reroll/whatever. It's a small enough bonus that I think it's doable, and encourages people to bring snacks and spread the cost.

Tanarii
2016-10-01, 12:01 AM
1000 bucks and I really call the shots, just without the other players knowing?That one sounds win-win for the DM. Provided he's not sinking a long-standing campaign for it.

JenBurdoo
2016-10-01, 01:22 AM
Play Munchkin D20. It's basically sourcebooks for DnD 3.0/3.5 with stuff from the Munchkin card game. There are cheats feats for Bribing the GM and Being the GM's Girlfriend. The Master's Screen includes a chart of non-combat XP awards, including:

Buying this screen for your DM - 10,000
Buying the DM a Coke - 100
Buying the DM a pizza - 1,000
Telling the DM when players fudge die rolls - 250
Not telling the other players when DM fudges die rolls - 1,250
Backing the DM up on a rules call - 500 if he's right, 1,000 if he's wrong
Providing snacks for the group - 750, 1,000 if only the GM likes them
Unadulterated bribery - 200 per dollar
Actually roleplaying your character - You are so in the wrong game.

Cernor
2016-10-01, 08:34 AM
I also think this might be a little bit brilliant if you wanted, for example, a species or class or what have you to be rare but not non-existent. For example - you are running a Star Wars game and everyone wants to be a Jedi. You want a Jedi in the group, but not for everyone to be one? "Whoever brings the pizza gets to be the Jedi!" seems as equitable a system as any :smalltongue:

Even the worst-case scenario is a win-win situation; the game is imbalanced because you have 3-6 Jedi, but at least you have 3-6 pizzas as well!

2D8HP
2016-10-01, 01:08 PM
To be serious (for a change! ) the scheme sounds horrible, not for your players, but horrible for you.
It turns a hobby into a job, a poorly paid job.
Studies have shown that for many, once you accept pay, games become chores.
As for me I spend far too much of my life driving to, driving from, and doing paid work (I'm also the guy at my shop who turns down the most overtime because, as I say, "There's a word for guys who work lots of overtime. The word is divorced").
If you have to be paid, to do it, it's time to turn in the screen.

SirBellias
2016-10-01, 02:35 PM
Meh. Nah. I'd rather be flexible on setting lore and such regardless of bribes. The normal rules of persuasion apply only because they can't be helped, but as soon as anything tangible trades hands purely as an incentive for DM leniency, I'm not taking it. And since I'm usually the DM, that would probably lead to some issues if anyone ever tried.

Geddy2112
2016-10-01, 03:21 PM
Thanks for all of the replies!

I know a lot of you said you would not play, and that is totally fine. I Think it is a good thing when people can be open and honest about things,and if it is not for you then don't do it. I don't want to force people to sit around for 2-4 hours on a weeknight and be miserable, or do anything that would make somebody uncomfortable. If you don't like what I am doing, then don't play. Currently, everyone in my group seems very happy, but if somebody was going to sit out the campaign, I would totally understand. Our group is pretty close, so if it was really going to make somebody sit out or leave, I would stop. That said, we rotate DM every few months(sometimes not for a year) and we all have different idiosyncrasies when we are running the game, so by the end of the year we will be running something else with totally different ways.



I'd consider buttering me up with stuff (chips, soda, whatever) as a prelude to explain the reason I should make those changes, without any cash being involved, as an intelligent negotiation & persuasion tactic, not bribery. Plus is sure beats appeals to emotion, throwing a fit, or other rhetorical tricks.
This is actually how two players got their homebrew race approved-"Hey Geddy2112, we have this idea for a homebrew race, wanna go grab a pint and talk about it? We will both buy a round"


I think it might be better if the 'bribe' was in contribution to the whole group. Sure you can bring a pizza to be allowed to play gnomes, but the whole group gets to share it instead of just the DM.
If it is something I can share like pizza or beer, I absolutely do.



It's one thing to share the bill for the pizza or do a favor for your friend(s)... But paying/charging for in-game benefits? That's very unethical IMO. All it does is encourage the GM to remove perfectly fine options from the game and sell them as "paid DLC". I don't tolerate that sort of scam from strangers, I don't see why I'd tolerate it from a "friend".

This is not just the GM's game. If you (generic "you") demand money for accepting suggestions/requests from your friends, then you're not a good GM. And probably not a good friend either.
I don't ban races and then pawn them off as "this is 1 pizza, this is 2" or anything like that. I just let it be known that if you want something that is not canon, I am less likely to say no if you do something besides ask "can I play this?" I certainly don't demand money for suggestions or requests. I actually built the players hometown and starting country based on a lot of their input and what their characters would do. Two players wanted forestry related backstories, so bam, town is next to a large forest. Three players wanted to be sailors, so the town was also on the coast. No bribery required.



Although, I would allow in-game concessions to renegotiate established lore. "Can I play a gnome? I know they don't exist in this setting, but she can be a trans-dimensional traveller who was stranded here!" "Alright, but the gnome has to be a level under the rest of the party at start and you can't play a silly stereotype."


You consider the prize and the reward (so no guaranteed bribes taken) so you can make a judgement call of what is acceptable.

Teh bribes are not applicable to PC centric things, just to whatever lives in the setting or is present in the setting or not. I think that's fair.

Really think about it: you have an idea of how the game is supposed to be going and how the setting should be. It will take you work to work in last minute things like other races, techology, etc. and to make them internally consistent. So if someone asks you to do more work on top of your regular effort to make a world/setting, why not get something out of it?

It's not bribery, it is merely a non-level playing area (and since D&D is not level anyway...).
This- all the tea in china won't convince me to let you play a space marine in a high fantasy setting, or a sentient gelatinous cube, or anything that would be significantly more powerful than the rest of the group. I still have to approve anything brought in outside, and I can say no, edit homebrew, etc as I see fit. Likewise, coming up with a reason even one thing exists(normally homebrew) and making it internally consistent in a universe requires a lot of work behind the scenes. How is a world full of your stock fantasy humanoids(humans, halflings, dwarves, elves, orcs) going to respond to a 10 foot tall manbearpig, or a batperson, or a giant wolf thing? Throwing a couple slices of pizza my way is more of a thank you for getting your race into the world, including the part where most people just accept the fact that you are a monster running around and don't try to kill you or frequently berate you for being an outsider.


100 bucks and I get to be the chosen one with plot armor?
500 bucks and you tailor your campaign to my character?
1000 bucks and I really call the shots, just without the other players knowing?
I don't want to accept money, not just because I do draw the line for actual cash, but also for this reason


Studies have shown that for many, once you accept pay, games become chores.
If you have to be paid, to do it, it's time to turn in the screen.
Although if I could get 1K per campaign I ran, that's a lot of cheddar. If anyone knows players like this, please send them my way.I still won't sell plot armor though. I do enjoy being DM, and even if nobody gave me anything I would still do it. When I DM, my reward is creating challenges for my players and seeing how they solve them. I also get a chance to test run the bazillion character concepts running around in my head. I work my day job for money, and DM/play ttRPG's for fun.


Play Munchkin D20. The Master's Screen includes a chart of non-combat XP awards, including:
Buying this screen for your DM - 10,000
Buying the DM a Coke - 100
Buying the DM a pizza - 1,000
Telling the DM when players fudge die rolls - 250
Not telling the other players when DM fudges die rolls - 1,250
Backing the DM up on a rules call - 500 if he's right, 1,000 if he's wrong
Providing snacks for the group - 750, 1,000 if only the GM likes them
Unadulterated bribery - 200 per dollar

I actually don't like the idea of pay to get XP-you gotta earn that the hard way. Also, I have no interest in non consumable material possessions-I have more dice than I will ever need, our group collectively has boxes of miniatures and maps, and I don't use a screen when I DM.

Jay R
2016-10-02, 08:23 AM
In the long run, I think I'd get less food from my players, not more, if I tried this. People would stop bringing food unless they had a specific request to make.

But I've never failed to have enough food brought over for a game. Once, the husband of one of my players was cooking home-made sausages. On a whim, he shaped them into rat shapes, and we had rat on a stick.

2D8HP
2016-10-02, 11:14 AM
Once, the husband of one of my players was cooking home-made sausages. On a whim, he shaped them into rat shapes, and we had rat on a stick.

As he served them did he say: "I'll sell it for less, and that's cutting me own throat" (http://discworld.wikia.com/wiki/Cut-Me-Own-Throat_Dibbler)?
:biggrin:
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRobS-RHutwPMWHtQ46hFHRe3UUMH8SBvr0r54HNeEsBE-Szxfg

Jay R
2016-10-03, 09:14 AM
As he served them did he say: "I'll sell it for less, and that's cutting me own throat" (http://discworld.wikia.com/wiki/Cut-Me-Own-Throat_Dibbler)?
:biggrin:

He wasn't there. He sent them with his wife. But we all recognized it as a reference to the Discworld.

Contrast
2016-10-03, 10:26 AM
This is actually how two players got their homebrew race approved-"Hey Geddy2112, we have this idea for a homebrew race, wanna go grab a pint and talk about it? We will both buy a round"

I don't ban races and then pawn them off as "this is 1 pizza, this is 2" or anything like that. I just let it be known that if you want something that is not canon, I am less likely to say no if you do something besides ask "can I play this?" I certainly don't demand money for suggestions or requests. I actually built the players hometown and starting country based on a lot of their input and what their characters would do. Two players wanted forestry related backstories, so bam, town is next to a large forest. Three players wanted to be sailors, so the town was also on the coast. No bribery required.

This- all the tea in china won't convince me to let you play a space marine in a high fantasy setting, or a sentient gelatinous cube, or anything that would be significantly more powerful than the rest of the group. I still have to approve anything brought in outside, and I can say no, edit homebrew, etc as I see fit. Likewise, coming up with a reason even one thing exists(normally homebrew) and making it internally consistent in a universe requires a lot of work behind the scenes. How is a world full of your stock fantasy humanoids(humans, halflings, dwarves, elves, orcs) going to respond to a 10 foot tall manbearpig, or a batperson, or a giant wolf thing? Throwing a couple slices of pizza my way is more of a thank you for getting your race into the world, including the part where most people just accept the fact that you are a monster running around and don't try to kill you or frequently berate you for being an outsider.

Snipped the relevant bits for my point.

So, basically you're using your position as DM to leverage your friends into buying you things? Either you're willing to accept reasonable suggestions with no food contribution (which you should) or you're not (in which case you're denying your friends things they would otherwise have access to unless they give you stuff in return).

I usually bring food to my sessions when I can to alleviate the cost for the host and for everyone to enjoy (because thats what friends do, ala your friends offering to buy you a round in your comment above). If I asked my DM if I could play XYZ weird thing and he said to me 'Only if you keep bringing the snacks' I would probably assume he was joking. If I thought he was being serious I would have to significantly re-evaluate how exactly our friendship works.

I get that you're justifying it by drawing the invisible line by saying no you can't get XP and you won't accept money etc. I agree that makes it less bad. Less bad is not good.

To put it another way, if a friend asked me to help him move house and offered to buy pizza for everyone in the evening thats cool. If he then split the pizzas he bought up and only allowed people who helped more to eat the pizzas with the more expensive toppings or told some people there were only allowed one slice because they turned up an hour late its now weird because you're effectively monetising friendship and thats not cool.

Gravitron5000
2016-10-03, 12:09 PM
This- all the tea in china won't convince me to let you play a space marine in a high fantasy setting, or a sentient gelatinous cube, or anything that would be significantly more powerful than the rest of the group.

Now I'm picturing you strapped to a chair in a room slowly filling with tea in some sort of bondesque scenario.

Player - "Tell me when you've had enough tea Mr. Geddy, and we can discuss my homebrew leopard pixie race. MWA HA HA HA"

/end scene

dps
2016-10-03, 12:47 PM
I don't like this idea on two different levels, one abstract and one practical.

One the abstract level, I like to play games the way they're intended to be played. That doesn't mean I'm opposed to all house rules or homebrew, but I think those things should always be established up-front. If the established setting is that there are no gnomes and no firearms, to me it just seems "wrong" to suddenly introduce them to the game, no matter what the reason. Not wrong morally, but wrong as in breaking the "feel" or atmosphere of the setting.

On the practical level, some players are on tighter budgets than others. I don't like the idea that one player gets to add something he wants to the game while another player maybe can't buy pizza this week 'cause his electric bill ran high this month, or he had to buy a new set of tires for his car, or he had some other unexpected expense. Or just doesn't have the income to support extra spending like that.

2D8HP
2016-10-03, 01:20 PM
Now I'm picturing you strapped to a chair in a room slowly filling with tea in some sort of bondesque scenario.

Player - "Tell me when you've had enough tea Mr. Geddy, and we can discuss my homebrew leopard pixie race. MWA HA HA HA"

/end sceneThat's a Sig!

digiman619
2016-10-03, 01:21 PM
My 2 cents: Only for temporary bonuses. Anything permanent is unbalancing and unfun in the long run, especially if not all the players can equally bribe you.

Socratov
2016-10-07, 06:08 PM
snip
To put it another way, if a friend asked me to help him move house and offered to buy pizza for everyone in the evening thats cool. If he then split the pizzas he bought up and only allowed people who helped more to eat the pizzas with the more expensive toppings or told some people there were only allowed one slice because they turned up an hour late its now weird because you're effectively monetising friendship and thats not cool.

Well, if a friend did help you not only move for a day, but actually paint a few rooms, built you some shelves and yes I think it's fair for him to be able to ask for a specific pizza.

In the grand scheme of things it's not exactly a bribe or tit-for-tat, but rather as a way to validate the work you put in.

Sure, the hobby is a hobby for a reason, but at least in DnD the division of labour between DM and player(s) is crooked. Those who see that (either because they DMed themselves or saw it in another way) and act on that. Now if they like to insert one of their own ideas that's fine, as long as the playing field keeps level in the game: that means that homebrew races/classes/whatever should be usable by the whole party. Also, in the example above the party members offer a bribe/token of appreciation to ask the DM to listen to and at least entertain their ideas. That is neither creating an uneven playing field, nor is it disrespectful to any party concerned.