'Players don't need backgrounds for their characters': Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Top Unpopular Opinions

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Eleonora Bader
Feb 12, 2024 11:30 AM EST

One playful platter of unpopular DnD opinions, coming right up…

If you've been playing Dungeons and Dragons for a while, chances are you have some opinions about it. Most likely, not everyone agrees with what you think. Some players believe that Dungeon Masters have way too much power, and shouldn't wield absolute authority. They may advocate for a more collaborative approach to decision-making within the group, and I kind of get it. Others argue that combat encounters are overemphasized, but I personally know some who would strongly disagree… They think that DnD is a combat game, in and out. Then there are those players who shout that lore is not important, and neither are backgrounds for characters.

What's your unpopular opinion? Scroll down to read the entertaining thread filled with disagreements. Then, when you're done judging DnD players, check out the most epic lines uttered by Dungeons and Dragons players here.

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  • 01
    ● r/DnD 4 days ago No-Bag3487 What are your ACTUAL unpopular D&D opinions? If there is such a thing
    via u/No-Bag3487
  • 02
    I understand that everything in D&D is subjective and what might be unpopular to someone, isn't to another, but do you think there's any takes you have that are actually controversial? I've not really heard any that are completely whack. (imo) inb4 "3.5 was better" or some variation of that: THAT'S NOT CONTROVERSIAL LOL join the line
    via u/No-Bag3487
  • 03
    CrazyCalYa 4d ago ● Having cliches in your story actually make it better. Classically evil BBEG's, simple fetch quests, and one dimensional side characters are way easier for the average DM to run than their special homebrew world with a totally original convoluted story. 42K ↓ Reply Share :
    via u/CrazyCalYa
  • 04
    4d ago LycanrocTheAltOwo I try to include cliches in my backstory because I find them fun AND it's easier for the DM to include in the story if he wants. A knight on his way to save a damsel in distress? A father who needs to return home? A woman seeking revenge for the cth of her father? The last of his tribe trying to restore it? You can do so much with the same motive depending on how each character varies.
    via u/LycanrocTheAltOwO
  • 05
    Also unapologetically evil villains have my heart. I love when the BBEG is like, "Yeah, I blew up a town and now it's full of orphans. So what?" or "I've used my charisma to trick the king and there's nothing you can do!" Reply 452 Share ...
    via u/LycanrocTheAltOwO
  • 06
    lysian09 4d ago Old school kick down the door and fight orcs dungeon crawls with 0 in character RP is a perfectly valid way of playing. I don't prefer it, but I've been down voted to hell before for suggesting people that do deserve human rights. 374 Reply Share ...
    via u/lysian09
  • 07
    Nylia_The_Great • 3d ago Currently playing a campaign like that with my friends after years of not playing any DnD at all. Honestly so satisfying. There's some in-character banter and such, but not very heavy RP. The story serves as a motivation, while murking baddies and clearing dungeons has been the focus and meat of the game. I hate playing games that turn into around in some town asking the locals about random info all the time. Reply 1 Share 67
    via u/Nylia_The_Great
  • 08
    O fireball_roberts • 4d ago People on this site shouldn't give advice if they haven't actually played the game. Reply 1.2K ↑ Share SatisfactionSpecial2 • 4d ago Sometimes, I feel some ppl deliberately troll with their advice 4277 ↓ Reply Share
    via u/fireball_roberts, u/SatisfactionSpecial2
  • 09
    Kurazarrh DM Player parties LOVE railroads. ● 4d ago What they hate is seeing the rails. E ↑ 538 ↓ Colink101 Warlord 135 Reply 4d ago Share ... Solid agree, I get too overwhelmed when dropped into a sandbox with no direction. Reply ↑ Share ...
    via u/Kurazarrh, u/Colink101
  • 10
    joe_haybale • 4d ago DM "Fighter" is the dumbest name for a class. Reply ↑ Share 483 483 ● 4d ago riqueoak Agreed 100%, it should have been named "Warrior". 4243 Reply ... ↑ Share
    via u/joe_haybale, u/riqueoak
  • 11
    henry8362 4d ago 90% of these "My table is bad / should I leave / blah blah blah" threads on here are childish as hell and could be resolved with a really simple conversation. Reply Share 4575 575 JahmezEntertainment • 4d ago Sorcerer this. i also think AITA style posts and their popularity may actually contribute to people reacting to social situations poorly 4164 Reply ↑ Share
    via u/henry8362, u/JahmezEntertainment
  • 12
    SatisfactionSpecial2 • 4d ago Sometimes discussing things is not the solution I have come to realize ppl don't even know what their problem is, or they are too egoistical to fix it. Sometimes, it is easier to influence or lead them to the right direction or at worst even find a new party, than trying to talk it out. At least for some people. Reply 462 462 ↑ Share
    via u/SatisfactionSpecial2
  • 13
    sailing_lonely • 4d ago 4e had a lot of good ideas that should have been kept and expanded in 5e. Reply ZanesTheArgent • 4d ago 507 Share ... Mystic Many were and were lauded because they were changed to a more naturalistic language.
    via u/sailing_lonely, u/ZanesTheArgent
  • 14
    The eternal crime of 4e was fundamentally acknowledging that the system plays better like a Zombiecide match rather than a narrative experience, and many tables were that with roleplaying as a thin pretense to wargame. 197 Reply Share
    via u/ZanesTheArgent
  • 15
    • 4d ago Coming from the other side of this, I've gotten into skirmish wargames and have been surprise at how easy it is to turn most of them into oneshot/mini RPG campaigns. There's enough stoory framing and world building in them that fleshing out what's there is fun instead of daunting, and there's always decent "crunch" already there. It does mean you've got to generally have players willing to play within the set classes and such, rather than get wild like you can in D&D though. aladaze 54
    via u/aladaze
  • 16
    SchopenhauersSon • 4d ago DM The DM's fun is as important as everyone else's. The DM is not the arbiter of inter-player conflicts. Read the GM section of Apocalypse World to actually learn to DM; the DM guide is useless for beginners. The monster manual only describes the average monster, change things however you want. The PC's decisions should drive the campaign, not something the DM plotted out
    via u/SchopenhauersSon
  • 17
    LostVisage 4d ago That DnD is not always the best game for your story. DnD does generic high-magic fantasy really, really well. It is rather poor for intrigue, horror, paranormal, story heavy, survival, investigative, or most other types of stories without heavy modding to make it work. And by the time you've finished modding it... have you really added anything to the game, or is it so unrecognizable that you shouldn't have even bothered? Why not just... play a system that works for the story y
    via u/LostVisage
  • 18
    Shilieu 4d ago I like VTT just as much as, and perhaps even more than, in person tabletop. Being able to roll dice through the click of a button and not having to manually add modifiers is a huge time saver and leaves more time for story, combat, exploration, what have you.
    via u/Shilieu
  • 19
    Having spoken and typed mediums is convenient. Sometimes I want to remind people of something but don't want to interrupt their RP or turn. I can just type it in the chat and everyone will see without disrupting flow. Not having to worry about the faces one makes when trying to do certain voices or emotions while roleplaying is something I appreciate. 分 21 凸 Reply Share
    via u/Shilieu
  • 20
    SatisfactionSpecial2 • 4d ago Players don't need backgrounds for their characters. If they want they can have one, but being a mysterious adventurer and figuring things on the way can also be cool. I made 2 posts so you can downvote separately Reply ↑ Share 455 455
    via u/SatisfactionSpecial2
  • 21
    SolitaryCellist • 4d ago To build on this, the most interesting thing about your character is going to be the stuff that unfolds during the game. That's why we play the game, to make interesting stories. Your character's back story doesn't need to be as interesting as a DnD campaign. You will do things that will make your character cool, and those things are probably going to be more interesting than whatever back story you dreamt up because you actually got to experience them during play. Reply
    via u/SolitaryCellist
  • 22
    TaiChuanDoAddct • 4d ago Tropes exist for a reason and are universally better. Trying to cut against trope is annoying as hell and leads to frustrating table experiences 99% of the time. See also: please for the love of god, make casters squishy and martials hit hard. I don't want a sword mage. I don't want a gish. I don't want a wizard in armor. I want a wizard who casts a big epic spell and then hides like a ⠀⠀y while Daddy Pally goes to engage the front line. Reply ↑ Share Ⓒ↑ 205 205
    via u/TaiChuanDoAddct
  • 23
    legends99503 DM 4d ago Encounter difficulty does not need to be carefully scaled or otherwise tailored to party level. The level six party decides to explore what's pretty obviously a dragon's lair? Welp, good luck because this is going to be high stakes! Computer games have conditioned people to expect their environment to start them in the newbie zone and slowly scale the difficulty up and it's boring and immersion breaking. Ⓒ↑ 54 54 Reply ↑ Share ...
    via u/legends99503
  • 24
    Lyschkoplon • 4d ago • Edited 4d ago DM Actual play streams are bad for the community at large. Not because of some b. like the "Mercer Effect". But because it enables and encourages a lot of people to not even bother picking up a rulebook because "They have watched a lot of CR/Dimension20/Dungeons and Daddies/whatever else", so they get how the game is supposed to play in the broadest of senses.
    via u/LyschkoPlon
  • 25
    But in my eyes, you honestly cannot ever learn to properly play this game, or hell, even your character, without at least reading your class features and spells. And the amount of people who are obviously unwilling to spend three minutes of their life to just flip through a PDF and learn how a spell works, or how armor classes interact, or how Multiclassing works just really, really gets me. 192 Reply ↑ Share
    via u/LyschkoPlon
  • 26
    4d ago The combat in DnD is only passable. Kixion ● I see so many threads about optimisation, and while understanding some things are good to know, mostly this is irrelevent and I find it rather boring. If I liked the battle aspect the most there are much better games out there. The only reason I like the combat is because, when done right, the fluff of the game already has me emotionally invested into characters and the story so that I care about what happens. Reply ↑ Share Ⓒ 130 130
    via u/Kixion
  • 27
    -SaC DM 4d ago I don't give the remotest tinker's toss about any D&D lore, and any time I've tried to sit through any of it, I've been utterly disinterested. I think I probably just enjoy using the D&D framework for homebrew. I'm not remotely interested in the modules, novels, podcasts, shows, movies, games, books of this and that and whatnot. I just like making adventures for my mates to have fun with. Ⓒ↑ 199 Reply Share ...
    via u/-SaC
  • 28
    4d ago Multiclassing is an optional rule, which the DM should choose to not use. Different-Brain-9210 Exception: DM can offer an option for specific story- appropriate multi-classes during the campaign, via NPC contacts for example. 187 Reply ↑ Share
    via u/Different-Brain-9210

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