Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Rules Lawyers, Powergamers, and Munchkins: Thoughts on the Origins of Diverse Species
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9133507" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>I have a character that could have been a DMPC, but he literally <em>can't</em> actively do stuff 99% of the time because he's undercover. He does help when he can though. I was genuinely afraid the players would hate him. Thankfully, I was wrong. He has become a beloved friend, mentor, and ally; one of the players genuinely teared up a bit from a sincere moment of "I'm very proud of you" from him.</p><p></p><p>I think the secret sauce is that he was a fun mystery to crack, and that he has both sincerely helped them and sincerely <em>needed</em> their help in return, so it feels like a fair exchange. He's not Superman swooping in to save the day. Plus, initially, he was just a guy with some weird powers; his true nature took time to reveal, and doing so was a major gesture of trust.</p><p></p><p>Or maybe I just have really polite players. Hard to say!</p><p></p><p></p><p>The "Real Role-Players" are just the "but it's what my character would dooooo!!!" version of Munchkins, or at least that's how the term has evolved in my experience. ("Real Role-Players" are the ones who make intentionally garbage characters because, they claim, being flawed inherently makes better roleplay, so the more flawed the character is, the better they are for roleplaying. Hence, a character that has <em>nothing but flaws</em> must be the most perfect roleplay opportunity of all time!) Looks like there we have again an issue with a term that was originally neutral getting thrown on the euphemism treadmill, becoming associated only with its worst aspects.</p><p></p><p>One irony, for me, is that that list seems to think Munchkins are somehow simultaneously both very young (several jabs are built around them being actual children, e.g. with a curfew) and yet also well-read <em>specifically TSR</em> players who engage in behaviors that were <em>very common</em> even among the very earliest players (e.g. if character dies, "Generate new character with exact same stats and equipment, but a new name").</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9133507, member: 6790260"] I have a character that could have been a DMPC, but he literally [I]can't[/I] actively do stuff 99% of the time because he's undercover. He does help when he can though. I was genuinely afraid the players would hate him. Thankfully, I was wrong. He has become a beloved friend, mentor, and ally; one of the players genuinely teared up a bit from a sincere moment of "I'm very proud of you" from him. I think the secret sauce is that he was a fun mystery to crack, and that he has both sincerely helped them and sincerely [I]needed[/I] their help in return, so it feels like a fair exchange. He's not Superman swooping in to save the day. Plus, initially, he was just a guy with some weird powers; his true nature took time to reveal, and doing so was a major gesture of trust. Or maybe I just have really polite players. Hard to say! The "Real Role-Players" are just the "but it's what my character would dooooo!!!" version of Munchkins, or at least that's how the term has evolved in my experience. ("Real Role-Players" are the ones who make intentionally garbage characters because, they claim, being flawed inherently makes better roleplay, so the more flawed the character is, the better they are for roleplaying. Hence, a character that has [I]nothing but flaws[/I] must be the most perfect roleplay opportunity of all time!) Looks like there we have again an issue with a term that was originally neutral getting thrown on the euphemism treadmill, becoming associated only with its worst aspects. One irony, for me, is that that list seems to think Munchkins are somehow simultaneously both very young (several jabs are built around them being actual children, e.g. with a curfew) and yet also well-read [I]specifically TSR[/I] players who engage in behaviors that were [I]very common[/I] even among the very earliest players (e.g. if character dies, "Generate new character with exact same stats and equipment, but a new name"). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Rules Lawyers, Powergamers, and Munchkins: Thoughts on the Origins of Diverse Species
Top