#and i understand that the dnd community has an issue with good dm shortages

[babsaros]

its really interesting to me the way indie ttrpg/anti-dnd twitter just does not believe in playing or exploring morally questionable characters and actions. a lot of people have this perception of dnd as a system where combat is encouraged and that means that PCs must always be bloodthirsty sadistic torturers. obviously the “murder-hobo” trope is widely known, though frowned upon at most tables. in my own personal experiences, this has even been grounds for a player to be kicked from the group. however there seems to be this idea among indie ttrpg twitter users that if a PC ever does anything bad, that means the PC and the Player themself are both bad, irredeemable people and that dnd as a system is irredeemably built on cruelty. and that just. isnt the case? characters making questionable choices is interesting! there can be growth there, in a positive or negative direction. using the spell Modify Memory on an NPC without their consent can have very interesting repercussions for not only the NPC, but the PC, the party and their relationships with each other, the world itself! and dnd as a system does have rules meant to protect NPCs, such as with Modify Memory which first allows the target to try to resist the spell, and second allows the DM complete discretion to accept or dismiss the spell’s affects on the target if it would conflict with their "natural inclinations, alignment, or beliefs.” you can’t make the target believe something illogical or harmful, there are multiple ways to undo this spell’s affects that the DM could very easily give the NPC access to. i think a lot of this perception of dnd as an inherently cruel and violent system is simply due to personal experience with poor dms or groups. i think if you stripped dnd of the combat system and any combat magic, you would end up with a very similar system as PBTA, except that PBTA has dictated consequences, and with dnd the consequences are up to the dm. it’s really not that deep. you guys just need to stop playing dnd with the creepy guy from the games store and your 17 year old brother who still rages at COD in his room at night. 

#i swear i would respect indie ttrpg twitter a lot more #if they just stuck to criticizing wizards of the cost as a company #bc everytime i see a critique of dnd as a system and its mechanics im like #welllllll but ur wrong tho #and i dont even like dnd that much! #i mean i probably like pbta less but still #and i understand that the dnd community has an issue with good dm shortages #and im not trying to like victim blame with that last bit #if you have had shitty experiences with dnd bc of the ppl you happened to play with #that sucks and im sorry that happened to you! it's happened to me a lot too! #but finding ppl who know how to run the system well is important before you start criticizing it #thats why i say i dont really like pbta but i dont really say anything besides that #bc i know i probably havent had the greatest dms running my pbta games and dont have much experience with the system #like specifically this one person i follow on twitter who hates dnd #i know their main experience with dnd has been in a game run by their brother that they said was super boring and bad #and i think that game ruined dnd for them #bc before they were actually running their own homebrew game #and as soon as it was over they switched to the anti-dnd camp #and like its fine idc ig really you can like whatever u like #like my feelings are not really hurt by you saying you dont like combat in ttrpg lol #but it is just kinda funny and frustrating that every criticism i see i can refute #but anyway #i think dnd has just as much potential for being cruel as a lot of other systems #its just a matter of who you play with and what you play #and i dont think there's anything wrong with playing 'bad guys' #bad guys have all the fun ;) #i feel like there's more i could say here but i wont #anyway rant over #long post #rant