I haven't had a lot of problems with arbitrary restrictions although as a GM I did once have to rule that playing an intelligent slime that talked via children's refrigerator letters might slow down play too much. I was sad 'cause the concept was so awesome, but I just couldn't find a way to make it work and I knew the player would think of something else since we couldn't work it in.
Anyhow, I digress. I think the reason I encountered relatively few problems was in part because I started doing tabletop role playing after high school (so my GMs were more mature socially and also more adept at adapting systems to suit what we wanted to play rather than forcing us to stick by the rules) and in part because I was incredibly cautious about playing with people I knew pretty well. As a result, I've played in groups with a fair bit of cross-play and other randomness in our character builds, and it doesn't seem to be an issue for either the GM or the other players.
But I feel like my (lack-of) story in response to your question may actually be pretty unusual. I have most *definitely* heard lots of horror stories from other people, mostly women, who have run into "you need to be like your character" and other BS sexist/ableist/obnoxious restrictions. I hear about it *especially* at cons, but also private groups.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2013-04-25 10:06 pm (UTC)I haven't had a lot of problems with arbitrary restrictions although as a GM I did once have to rule that playing an intelligent slime that talked via children's refrigerator letters might slow down play too much. I was sad 'cause the concept was so awesome, but I just couldn't find a way to make it work and I knew the player would think of something else since we couldn't work it in.
Anyhow, I digress. I think the reason I encountered relatively few problems was in part because I started doing tabletop role playing after high school (so my GMs were more mature socially and also more adept at adapting systems to suit what we wanted to play rather than forcing us to stick by the rules) and in part because I was incredibly cautious about playing with people I knew pretty well. As a result, I've played in groups with a fair bit of cross-play and other randomness in our character builds, and it doesn't seem to be an issue for either the GM or the other players.
But I feel like my (lack-of) story in response to your question may actually be pretty unusual. I have most *definitely* heard lots of horror stories from other people, mostly women, who have run into "you need to be like your character" and other BS sexist/ableist/obnoxious restrictions. I hear about it *especially* at cons, but also private groups.