AITA: D&D Edition | Reading D&D Reddit Stories
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
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What do you think? Was the Player in the right or wrong?
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Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:57 Sponsorship
1:40 Big Secret Ruined
8:05 Can't Understand NPC
9:41 AITA?
18:17 The Deadliest Fruit
22:06 Outro
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Where you get bulbasaur from
For the AITA post. That was SUCH a minor reminder about rules. Also, there is no “failure” in D&D. Like sure, the party failed there objective but that just means their next quest is breaking their teammate out of jail. They didn’t lose, the goalpost just got moved.
100% this, this just gives the GM a chance to make a new dungeon with treasure and xp for the party.
Imma use that goalpost analogy, that was great.
Yep. if the GM wasn't ready for it breaking the Fly, he should not have cast it. I don't care if he's expecting it to be countered. He put it in the game world. It's not the player being the asshole to make sure the game is run properly.
Also, if I'm correct in assuming the situation based on how OP described it, dude was probably hauling ass in the air at about 40 mph, 80 if he was dashing, so there was plenty of room to rule of cool it with that kind if forward momentum
I agree that's a really good way to go about it. I'm using that logic from now on.
For the AITA: I’m the person at my table who reminds people when they have advantage or disadvantage (because somehow they just forget), how spells work when it’s asked, etc. when it’s in their favor, when it isn’t. When it’s in my favor, and when it isn’t. My friends kinda see me as a living encyclopedia rather than a rules lawyer, and I try to ask the gm with rules questions what he wants to do because ultimately he has final say. This prevents the assholish nature of rules corrections because it still leaves the power up to the dm, but since the dm is kinda newer to 5e and I’ve been playing for 6 years, sometimes he doesn’t know how stuff workes RAW so I tell him “this is what it says, this is what is theoretically allowed, but if you like a different interpretation then we go with that” or something along those lines. I don’t think this guy is the asshole because I don’t think I’m an asshole. I just think he may need to learn what I had to, and play with a group that doesn’t mind knowing what the rules are
I am much the same. If the GM says Hold Person would only render me immobile I remind them that it gives the Paralyzed/Incapacitated condition, which means I do lose the spell. Whenever I play any class I always have tabs up to conditions, effects, abilities, spells, etc so there are never any questions as to how things work.
On the flipside, I am very okay if my GM says that for this instance, they want it to work a specific way. If they're the GM, they can make that change.
Yeah for some reason the d&d community has forgotten what the term rules lawyer means. It used to refer to a person with encyclopedic knowledge of the rules when it benefited them, who conveniently forgot them whenever it would harm them.
Knowing and reminding others of the rules isn't bad. And if you want to break/bend the rules just say so.
he is the asshole cause he reminds the teacher of homework
i got this DnD DM who dislikes when i remind them (according to him is immersion) but he also makes it funny that its ONLY in combat where is an issue 😂
I hereby propose that ones like you shall be called rule jurors. For as you remind about the rules, your DM remain the final judge.
Also, I don't think OP is the asshole. Just the whole situatio went downhill quickly. I agree with Duke when he said that the DM should've just said "I'll let it slide" to the table instead of keeping it to himself.
Yeah. I think I’d add some absolute drama preserving handicap like “Your concentration ends but you begin to will yourself to keep the ranger afloat long enough to get them out” and let the dice decide how far astray they end up before the spell truly ends.
Is it DM fudging to ensure the original outcome that they intended? Yeah. And I think the table would have picked up on it. But it’s a nice way to keep the intended outcome, saving this embarrassment, and might allow for some interesting emergent stories (e.g. ranger ends up a little out of the way and everyone has to launch a small rescue operation to get them back.
When DMing in my games, I have a solution to this. In my games, Hold Person doesn't break concentration. It never made sense to me that it should. It doesn't effect you mental state. Your mind still works, thus you can still concentrate
@@asumax8 It says under 'Paralyzed' that the creature is 'Incapacitated.' Incapacitation is effectively KO'd without the need to be at 0 HP. You're unconscious, so you cannot concentrate. When Hold Person is removed, your paralysis is removed and you are no longer incapacitated.
And if you look up the rule for Concentration, it does say Concentration is automatically broken when Incapacitated.
@@THEGRUMPTRUCK I know it says that, thats why I say we run in differently. Especially since most people roleplay being under the effects of Hold Person/paralyzed as still being conscious. Also incapacitated does not mean you are unconscious. It says you cannot take actions or reactions. When you aee paralyzed you are incapacitated. When unconscious you are incapacitated, but when incapacitated, you are not necessarily unconscious.
To the rules lawyer, as a DM myself one work around I may have tried is that “sure the spell ends, but the wizard is able to use residual magic to turn it into a sort of glide, rather than just drop” but even then, there’s a lot of different ways this could have played out, it’s not wrong (unless someone’s being a jerk about being a rules lawyer) to point out when a “rule” is broken
But also Hold Person doesn’t end concentration
@@jlaw131985 yes it does. It gives you the paralyzed condition, which gives you the incapacitated condition, which ends concentration. Fly is a concentration spell.
@@Lycaon1765 incapacitated only makes you unable to take actions or reactions, maintaining concentration does not require an action of any kind.
@@TheNightVeil Rather then looking at the incapacitated condition, look at the Concentration break down. According to Concentration, and I quote "You lose concentration on a spell if you are incapacitated or if you die."
It is a bit confusing since Incapacitation doesn't mentioned Concentration, but Concentration does list Incapacitation as something that breaks it.
Hope this helps.
@@Archaesinthewrongroom yeah, they really should list it on the condition, it would even take minimal replication which they hate. Everyone I know messed this up and I went and checked afterwards.
Rules lawyering goes both ways.
If you insist the rogue can Sneak Attack even when not literally sneaking, you have to point out when a status condition breaks Concentration.
I played in a game where the DM asked for backstories and asked that they be more than just a few lines. After 10 sessions there hadn't even been a hint of anyone's backstory. I told my DM that I was excited to see what he is going to do with my backstory he said, "nothing. No one's backstory will be brought up ever." I was so sad and determined that when I DM, I will make sure that I never do that to my players. If I want backstories, I will be bringing them up as reveals throughout the campaign. People put work and effort into these, so not even thinking about utilizing them is just awful. I don't want anyone to feel how I did when the DM told me my backstory was moot and wasn't going to effect the game ever except explain my personality.
I feel this, the last time I played, my character had a backstory involving a secret organization and a traumatic event that caused them to be mute. I waited to see what the DM would do with it. But my character ended up dying suddenly at the start of a battle. (Story for another time.) I later found out the DM hadn't planned anything to do with my characters backstory. It was disheartening to say the least.
@@Archaesinthewrongroom it stinks! It sounds like your backstory would have made for a compelling character!
I have a cool backstory for a campaign my partner runs. Very dark, and we've been hinting at. Along with the other characters! And in my campaign I have all my characters backstories and I've weaved them in with the story. A good dm will have something
Honestly, I have written a couple fun surface backstory characters (like a Reborn fairy bladesinger who reanimated a year ago with amnesia), but I find that even those backstories have a huge impact on the campaign.... I mean even something as small as growing up in the city vs the country would hold volumes to when and where you'd be more perceptive of your surroundings, or how you answer a merchant, or how you'd handle crowds....
That said, isn't a major part of the background to add a reason for your party member to stick with the group?
Even if it doesn't come up my PCs bacstories are at least taken into account while world building ^^"
Just the very opening with the "Father help!" caught me off guard and I had to go back to make sure I heard it right. Love it, love asdf.
...I don't want to admit how many times I actually replayed that split-second opening. :-p
On the first story: the whole "Secret Background" can be fun, but it has to be seeded. I openly discuss my backstory with other players at the table, but we also maintain the separation to character knowledge. Another player had secret royal lineage as part of his backstory, and by the time it was fully revealed, we had plenty of moments of "wait, WTF was that? Why are you acting like that?"
For her, I'd think it'd be far more fun to be almost obvious about it, just playing THE shadiest MFer, but brush off any questions or accusations. We all know the character type, where people know to just not ask too many questions. Make the final reveal be more about confirming EXACTLY which mafia this character is in, not THAT they're in the mafia.
oh i'm playing a character pretty much exactly like that in one campaign. gnome rogue with his backstory being that he got kicked out of the thieves' guild of westgate and now they want him dead. he's shady af but never actually confirmed anything, even though he's been referred to as thief by a guard (was just some questions, though, bigger problems) and he had a scene where he went off on his own to pick some pockets and is often coming up with various schemes and conspiracies.
I just think too many people got into DnD by way of the Mighty Nein (Critical Role Campaign 2), and bought into this idea that your secrets are a big part of campaigns and everyone is super into RP. Everyone needs a big shocking reveal. And that just isn't true for 95% of tables.
@@hoid9407 I guess it didn't HELP the situation, but I had plenty of cases of this decades before M9 ever existed. They do it because it was a pre-existing trope in both fiction and rpg spaces. Lots of players like being super special. Even the non-RP types might dig into it to justify all their wacky powers.
It's just one of those things that doesn't always play at a TABLE as well. Partly because in a story, you as the writer can move the unknowing characters to tease and taunt this idea. You can have scenes with just the secret haver revealing SOMETHING is up, even if not the full reveal.
And if you've got a solid table, that is EXACTLY what you should do. Let the PLAYERS have the juicy bits even if their characters don't know. Have public scenes with the GM that hint at the details and let them go full Pepe Silvia on it. Or just flat out tell them as player knowledge to maximize incidents as a light form of meta-gaming.
I had a character that was a changeling rogue who was adopted by a ship captain and took on the identity of his daughter who had died, so she had been living as this young woman full time for several years until she was found out by her adoptive father's crew and attacked, he got killed, she was thrown overboard and left for dead, and her backstory was she wanted to get revenge and her adoptive father's ship back, which she was open about, but understandably hid her being a changeling, so I was obviously not using human racial stats and not trying to exactly hide it but dropping hints (mentioning I have darkvision or can't be put to sleep, mentioning my abnormally high CHA modifier for a rogue, etc) and I had previously agreed with the DM that if my character gets knocked unconscious, she would revert back to her natural form when she took her first death saving throw, so the DM could sort of decide if the reveal was taking too long and target my character in combat to have the truth come out "naturally".
I would have been pissed if my party had been spoiled by a nosy metagamer too, especially if the DM apologized with the 😢 emojii, but I wouldn't have left the group over it, I thinks that's just an overreaction
yeah keeping it secret from the PLAYERS... that is a nono for me. Cuz if the idea that your character is actually big bad evil's henchman.. if that just comes out of nowhere... why!?
I've had more than one game die out cuz someone wanted to have big-secret 'so cool' backstory thing, and it either got leaked or it was some stupid backstabby stuff, etc.
About the AITA post: I have this strong feeling that the DM in that game is lying about having been aware of the interaction and just making all of that up after the fact to save face. As said in the video, the DM could have just let it slide if that was his intention from the start.
I have a secret back story but it is because me as a player and character doesn’t know and the dm is revealing it to me through the campaign and it’s really cool
oh that's so much fun. had a character like that, who even had a bit of amnesia about it. there were occasional hints, like feeling like he knew someone's face or seeing his face on a wanted poster. the reveal was awesome, when the whole memory came back and then having to deal with the consequences.
@@Spooglecraft it’s exactly like that just it comes in small pieces
“In my defense, if we had to cheat to win, it feels like an undeserved success.”
That… pretty much sums up the reason why I tend to rules lawyer or Dm closely to the rules. Now rule of cool still applies and if the dm says otherwise so be it of course, always check with DM and let them decide. Also I feel like it’s fair play if a person doesn’t know how a rule works, give them a chance to redo what they were gonna do. Letting them do something and going, “well you already did it even though you didn’t know,” always feels shallow to me.
Though I will admit it was a very… surreal experience during combat, another player was trying to do something but didn’t remember how it worked, and neither did the dm. I just hear them call my name while I was planning my next turn and the dm asked, “hey so how does this work?” So apparently I’m the group’s rule and spell codex.
Being the rules attorney is a great honor and privilege 📚
Being asked to stop correcting about rules, and being called upon to explain a rule in the same session is a surreal experience I've had once or twice.
For the rules lawyering. If the DM wanted you to succeed, he could have said the ranger lands between the party and the guards, allowing the party to grab him and the relic.
I mean, also hold person doesn’t break concentration
@jlaw131985 Not specifically in the spell no, but it gives you the "paralyzed" condition, which counts as being "incapacitated," and you can not concentrate on spells while Incapacitated.
@@gotelc yeah, I went and checked. They really should note that on the incapacitated condition also. I know they don’t like replicating things, but it’s honestly just much easier. I think everyone I know misses that effect.
NTA, and In defence of Rules Lawyers:
1) I am the Rules Lawyer/Note Taker of my group. I also DM. From a DM's perspective, having a player help keep track of things is great to have, and I'm pretty good at memorization but no way I have every rule memorized. Having someone to help fact check is great.
2) As a writer, verisimilitude is important, and maintaining consistency with rules helps keep the world consistent. So if it's not done to the level of constant nagging, I feel that having a Rules Lawyer can be helpful in that way.
3) I completely empathize with the "feels like cheating" sentiment. The satisfaction of winning a game, especially ones that involve planning/strategizing, comes from fairness on a level playing field, so that it feels like you earned the win. It would be no fun to win a game of chess where you only had to put your opponent in check once, but they still had to checkmate you normally.
Absolutely. Also, as soon as you let your players know you’re super fudging stuff, they stop trusting you, or the intense moments feel cheaper. Consistency and honesty is importan
I support your points, but I think you misjudge yourself. I think that you are not a Rules Lawyer, but are instead (like myself) a Rules Public Defender.
The difference is the former uses the rules as a way to only benefit themselves, while the latter brings up rules for the sake of fairness, consistency, and the benefit of the group.
I agree with this. I've called the person that helps rules even if it bites them in the ass the rules attorney as it's not being used maliciously or for benefit. Just to be helpful.
I would also have Siad the same thing if the dm had forgot. I dislike the idea of being given a "gimme"
The plan had risks and if it didn't then what was the point of it. The real feeling of success is how ya handle the curve balls
@@RayneGrimm1 Rules Public Defender or Rules Defense Attorney, either sounds good. The former deals with criminal trials, while the later civil. Lol.
I'm very big on roleplay and would also be upset if my backstory "secrets" were metagamed.
"Throw us at a wall!"
"Don't throw us at a wall."
Instructions unclear. Threw wall at OneShotQuesters
The ranger being captured isn't a failure, its a plot twist. Good players would be exited to see what happens the next session. How cool would it be to play out a "rescues from the public execution" scene?
A rule at my table that has worked for my players is that if i plan to intentionality let something slide for the rule of cool I'll confirm with players first. My players know that is they accept then that means in their next battle tye enemy has "a rule of cool token" which is essentially a luck token for me to use for the benefit of the enemy NPCs. Or sometimes some rule is slightly bent to benefit the enemy in a situation. I notify my group when I use this mechanic so as to not raise objections of "hey that's not fair". However when honest mistakes are made like when a player forgets a spell is an action and not a bonus action, i let them backtack to an extent with no strings attached.
An incredible easy way to amend that situation as the dungeon master is to give your players option. Instead of "he instantly drops between 12 guards", you could give the wizard or the other players options to try and salvage the situation, even if it isn't RAW. You could ask the wizard to make a check to hold concentration regardless, or make it not a check but make the wizard sacrifice the end of turn saving throw to escape the paralyze, or give the other players a 'quicktime' event where they can react to the fly spell ending. etc. etc.
suddenly it is an amazing moment where someone saved the day.
On my table as rule I do most of the backstory stuff in open but like with understanding with other players to not metagame and play along (cause I don't want to play seperately with one of my players letting rest of the table sit idle).
But I do think it's more situation where it works with players present. (Got lucky in finding chill pc lol)
For AITA. I usually follow the rules and do stop my players every now and then when they want to do something that wouldn't work. Many a times though i can let some little details slide.
For example in my campaign now my fighter has a greatsword which is a two-handed weapon, but i also let him hold a shield, because he quote "wanted to look cool" end quote. HOW THE HELL DO I ARGUE WITH THAT ?
Arguably the "rules lawyer" could find a DM more in line with their values, but as a DM, I agree with Duke that the main fault for this situation was actually the DM. The DM could have made the call in the moment and had more respectful communication afterward (though it's true that the player could have communicated afterward better too, rather than just showing the post), but also, a DM shouldn't be so adverse to the party failing - it will happen. And getting a member captured doesn't really sound that bad - that actually sounds like an exciting situation to try to get out of it next time.
So, the AITA: I probably would have asked the DM, "Hey, this is going to end concentration on Fly, how are you wanting this scene to pan out?". The DM isn't against you, and if necessary he has the power to retcon something or BS some way to make the scene much more fun and exciting. Or with that realization he can go through with it and start figuring out the prison break scene that is going to happen which could be it's own cool story. It bugs me when I had a good time in a session only to after the fact realize an inconsistency that tells me that we had cheated it, almost retroactively souring the moment for me, so it is important that players and DMs be communicating and crafting the story together, and any deviations from the rules are discussed instead of let slide under the table.
Oh, the DM could totally be against you.
For the AITA post, if the DM was going to let it slide, they should have still let it slide and come up with an in story reason why in this case, concentration was not broken. The DM can also say that the group got lucky in this case implying that concentration would normally be broken in the future. Every D&D game is a homebrew to some extent and the Rule of Cool can always trump the rules if the DM calls it that way.
6:11 “not as invested into the story.” It’s because they believe the DM will make it narratively important, and hence will bide their time until the spotlight lands. I agree, such players usually don’t make their fellow tablemates care enough for the surprise to be impactful.
My first character hid his race for 12 sessions. But he was the biggest roleplayer, speaking with one character every long rest. One character earned my trust, so I told him away from table with the DM’s permission. Even still, when it came up, nobody else saw it coming, due to a colosseum 1v1 challenge they had the opportunity to roleplay without me there to defend myself, and when they reunited they saw my character nervous of their response.
First story: Keep secrets from characters, not players.
It is very frustrating how the DM messed that up. I'm not familiar with the tools he used, but either this information should have been listed on a private page, or not have been on the wiki at all.
I'm also annoyed at how the player handled that. I have stumbled over campaign spoilers before, by reading something about a module's npc by accident. Kept my mouth shut over it ever since. It's not that hard.
That said, as Duke and Wife explained, secrets limit you in your roleplay, and the Big Reveal will likely never happen as you want it. Instead, it would have been great to at least drop some hints to the other players at the start. Like, 'my character is a member of a secret guild'. Imagine your character sneaking off in the evening, to meet up with a contact from that guild. Let the other players get a taste of the secret, while their characters are utterly oblivious.
But remember: No plan survives contact with the players. That goes for DMs as much as for other players. Metagaming aside, if you act shifty, players will try to figure out why, and try to guess your secret long before you feel ready to reveal it.
This situation should hopefully not ruin DnD for you. This group may not be the best for you, but next time you play, consider playing a character that isn't built around keeping big secrets.
This. Yeah it sucks that the players found out, but that doesn't have to ruin the reveal in game. In fact, it might help because the others got a chance to prepare their character reaction. At the end of the day, they're roleplaying too. It's awesome if you can catch the player out with a surprise, but generally makes the in game moment less involved. They're busy rethinking what they know for valid reasons.
Badly handled by the DM and other player? For sure, but this shouldn't be the big issue. I could get being mad at someone metagaming, given it's been a topic before, but not because the secret is out in real life.
Best way that big reveal would happen is if there's possibly a secret-traitor that the players know might be any of the players, but no one are aware which, even the traitor until 'that moment', and whomever is the traitor gets a new character the moment it happens. Works well for one-shots and whatnot.
i agree with the comment that the big backstory reveal only works when the other players are good RPr's but i would like to add that you need to be good at RP too, because if you keep waiting for that big reveal moment and dont understand when that moment should be, it will never come. you, just as much as the other players, need to know when and how to make that reveal and how to react. alternately instead of a lore dump big reveal you can drip feed it to your fellow players and get them more invested in your character.
addendum: its also important to plan this all out with your DM so they can fit it into the story.
You did Bulbasaur, you did Squirtle, now you need to do Charmander.
If anything, the DM was the rules lawyer. As other comments have noted, he could have simply let it slide, or finessed/massaged the rules of physics, or even pulled out a Big Dang Heroes moment.
But instead, he decided to play it Absolutely Straight. Like he was punishing the OP for something.
One thing I've learned over many years of being a DM: let stuff happen. In this situation, the intent of the DM might have been to let them succeed, but the unexpected failure can lead to just as, if not more, interesting stories. Now the party has to plan a jailbreak! Never get so caught up in what you planned as a DM that you adjust how things work with mechanics or fudge dice rolls. A ton of the fun of D&D is the chaos and unexpected turns the story can take.
Regarding the first story, I've learned that it's not as fun as a player to be in the dark about certain secrets. Sometimes it can make the game more fun when you're aware of some big reveal building up.
For my characters, if they have a deep backstory, I may keep it secret for fun, but if the other players find out or asks pretty please, I'll gladly share it with them.
When you and your group are good roleplayers, it's not always the end of the world to learn stuff over the table.
21:36 I love how there's this consensus about coconuts being there to be thrown more than to be eaten. Like, I had a barbarian that literally had a bomb-like thing with a coconut (from a really silly moment where my barbarian got hit by a coconut when trying to climb a palm) and elemental powder. We were running from beasts that were in their lair and our escort NPC tried to get us out of there since he knew that place was really dangerous (he was a bard that had lost his wife due to a fever in the desert, and wanted to help us get it for a player's character, because he knew there was a cure in that lair, the same one he tried to get for his wife, but arrived too late). He lost the instrument that he had (he used it since the beasts were blind, and used sound to know where their prey were, so he acted like a decoy) but managed to take him on my shoulder as we left. Those insect beasts followed, and my barbarian decided to throw the coconut, and our bomb-happy wizard (he was the type of wizard that memes talk about of always using fireball, since he was a pyromaniac) used a spell to detonate the improvised bomb, disorienting the beasts. The cave collapsed and in the end we could save our own bard, and then there was a beautiful scene where the NPC after recovering from his wounds played for his deceased wife (we spent the previous day trying to repair his violin as a way to thank him for saving our lives), with the whole desert lit by dancing lights and in the middle of his song, we could see the spirit of his wife, reassuring him that it wasn't his fault that she died, and that he had to keep on living. It was one of our best escort missions we had (I still wonder who was escorting who though, since if it wasn't for the NPCs bravery, we would've probably not been able to get close enough to the exit and make the escape)
I’ve watched all of your horror story videos and I love them! Keep it up.
i have a story!!! so this happened literally yesterday. me, my friend, his sister, and another friend were playing dnd. we encountered a mimic in a forest not so far from a dungeon we were hoping to go to. my friends sister used him as a human shield and he tried to wiggle out but couldn’t. the mimic ended up biting up both his legs making it hard for him to walk and it did a hefty amount of damage. and then he checked his character sheet and said “HA that did no damage to me!!!” and i was obviously confused so he showed me his character sheet and he had 101 HP AT LEVEL 2. us arguing about how unbelievably high his hp was consisted of about half the session. he kept arguing about how he wanted to keep that number because it’s not harming anybody. we then settled that he have at most 30 hp. he settled on 31 and then we kept playing.
I like how they're talking in the first bit about how players will hold onto their backstory secrets and then not get involved in the game because I see that a lot. It takes someone very good at like improv and redirection to still be engaged with the other players, while still holding onto these massive secrets if it's done well, it could be incredible but the trick is learning to do it. Well redirection is such a good friend for these things like you could still engage with the other players well redirecting away from topics that your character doesn't wanna talk about the same way you would in person
The background thing is interesting for me lol I wrote a backstory for my Ranger/Fighter and I had "human sacrifice" as a huge trigger for her as she survived an event as a child. I specifically didn't tell anyone at my table what my background was right away because I figured I would have a chance to explain those things in character. She is also a drakewarden so she has a drake companion - she has yet to tell people why she has a drake. However, like right off the hop of the campaign, there's a bounty for my head that we discover and everyone is like "What's wrong with you? What did you do? Tell us about it." and in my opinion, my character just met the entire party like 10 minutes ago. She's not about to tell a bunch of strangers her entire life story of why she could have a bounty over her head - especially when I didn't even see it coming either! Eventually, the party came to a Yuan-Ti ritual where they essentially kidnapped an entire village of people to sacrifice to bring back one of their Gods. I was so focused on saving as many people as possible, that I totally forgot about my background - until my friend that helped me create my character and knows some of my background - looked at me and says "So, how do you feel about all of this given your history?" and I went... "Oh shit! You're right!" and then we roleplayed it out to some extent lol
However, having no background to explore whatsoever is weird too. Like one of our players specifically told the DM (and everyone else at the table) that his character has amnesia and knows they come from a different realm. They know they landed in the main world realm a few months ago, but other than that, nothing is known about his character. Simply because he didn't write anything and is giving the DM free range on the background for him to discover as we play. I gave the DM range over my background too but I also wanted a say on where I came from, what some of my motivations are, and what some of my flaws and bonds are too. I think having a balanced mix of the two is great, but obviously people are gonna do what they feel is comfortable with too. I'm genuinely loving the campaign we're doing right now and I love the dynamics we have going in our party. Some of us are more interested in roleplay than others, but we all make room for those to live at the table too. Roleplay doesn't go on for hours on end, but we do have little "end of day" chats in the game where we're about to head into the nights rest and all the players have a bit of a debrief period and prep for the next day. It's a great way (in my opinion) to let those who want to do a bit of roleplaying talk in character and build rapoire, and those who want to sit out can just say "I head directly to bed".
guide, guidemates.
i just cant unhear it.
Baulder's Gate 3 would've canceled concentration when he got paralyzed, so I see no problem with it.
Omg the "father help!” At the beginning killed me😂😂
I know I'm super late... But for the AITA story, I'm so glad Duke brought up the DM, because that's all I could think when I was listening to the original story. I don't play a lot of DnD because of time restraints, so when I do play, I end up having to ask questions about rules and guidelines. I've usually forgotten things since last I played lol. But I've never had a DM be upset with me for asking about a rule--and I've heard plenty of 'well, yeah, but i usually do things this way' or 'yeah, but i'll let it slide this time.' I mean, I just feel like as the DM, you're the one running the game mechanics, or whatever you'd like to call it, so saying you had 'no choice' is so silly...
Awesome Video!
That whole last story just reminds me of the one time Loki made Hulk go full ape in the middle of the city, and the team had to work to keep him from just levelling the entire place. Minus the part where the team successfully made Hulk go night night.
I had the opposite happen with my backstory. I had told people ahead of time I was intending to play an evil character as an exercise to see how well I could play evil while still cooperating with my party. Well, I did something a few sessions back that would have turned most characters evil if they weren't already, and my DM goes "Alright, you're going to have to change your alignment to evil." So I say, "What do you mean? I'm already Lawful Evil." My party just goes absolutely wild. Apparently everyone forgot that I'd told them ahead of time and they just thought I was acting dumb this whole time.
The first person is making mountains from molehills. The concept of “dramatic irony” is fun!
Hell, in my game, my chars backstory is that his prior group was wiped out. Imagine my SHOCK when the DM made it so that one member of my group basically sold us out and is now working for the cult who killed my former group and is now making my new group's life....difficult. Well damn, good on my DM!
Cool DM
@@Thurmanation2011s Yeah, definetely tossing us some curveballs.
The fruit story is the biggest "sure that happened" thing I've heard in a long time
Paused after you read the AITA post. As someone who has trouble with my rules lawyer tendencies myself, I agree with OP in that the whole thing would've felt like an undeserved success if I had just let it slide. Would've done the same thing and not regretted it.
In TTRPG, rules are guidelines to help the DM to know how to interpret the the world in which the game is evolving.
As an example, I am a Warhammer DM, there is a rules existing in warhammer concerning dammage to the equipment (including damage through elements (imagine loosing your map because of a rainy weather type of thing) I usualy decide to ignore those because it could be annoying to loose some piece of equipment that you fight so hard for.
For the pantomiming DM, good job! Always need to keep the plot able to move forward, while allowing the players to fail in fun ways!
My first dnd character is military, he accidentally killed his army and ran away in shame. He doesn't tell anyone in his party except his companion and my second character, I would be a little bummed if someone found out but like... it's not that big a deal! Oh Nora killed us army? Poor baby! The end!
For the first story:
I'm still really new to DnD and I've only done one campaign (which later got cancelled due to busy life stuff with everyone).
Anyways, my character had a twist. Basically, my character had magic but was completely oblivious to it. Like he would touch an injured party member and poof! They're healed! I guess duct tape works really well! He touches something broken and he's able to fix it. He must be super lucky. The joke was mainly that literally EVERYONE else would be like 'Dude, I think you have magic' and he would be like 'Of course not! I'm not that important!'
The thing is, with this twist, it was more about the twist mostly affecting MY character instead of relying and forcing all the other campaign members to do things. Because I feel like being too hard core about that with players who aren't as into it can end up being overbearing to everyone else.
I'm late to the party, but for the backstory post, I've got a fun one.
I did a pretty long campaign. My buddy had a character with a beautiful and tragic in game story. I wont get into that though. After that character, he decided he wanted to play a more off the wall character. So he made a Doppleganger that took Doppleganger Monster levels and then Prestiged onto Master of Many Forms.
We told the party that he was a Human Ranger that found an amulet of Wild Shape (one that allowed to change into anything with level scaling)
They believed this until the very end of the campaign, which lasted for dozens of sessions. I even had multiple people throughout the campaign use True Sight and Gems that granted True Sight. Every time he would Diplomacy with just the look on his face for them to shut up, and it always worked.
End of the campaign, they beat the 3rd BBEG (which was a player who abused God tier wishes) but they were cursed to die after 2 years unless they became Immortal.
So he looks at the other 2 players while they sit on a hill side watching the sunset and says "By the way, I'm not a Human." and becomes his true form. They then proceeded to freak out because they had to clue.
(Fun fact, 2 of the 3 characters at the end are still on my Lore as NPCs. They drank the blood of 2 dead Egythian Gods and gained immortality)
We had, for a high level homebrew campaign, two fey of opposing courts (my unseelie warlock and the seelie pixie sorc), and a succubus bard that was made for the meme and pretended to be a human.
The issue with the succubus, was that my character had that one invocation that effectively gives truesight, and promptly had to pull our "regular woman" aside to go "Hey I get it if you're trying to hide this, but I CAN see you. Can we use this for a prank or something?"
Eventually the DM did work in our backstories and we found out the Warlock and Sorc were both related to the same person (Sorc's sister married Warlock's brother) and it became a neat little side quest, but the one "big secret" character got IMMEDIATELY outed due to one invocation, and we all rolled with it since we enjoyed the rp each thing brought out. The differences being that it wasn't metagaming, and we all knew eachother beforehand and had been playing together for the better part of a decade (mostly, sorc was new but he fits right in)
AITA post:
OP spouts rule
DM me: Wizard, how important is concentrating on fly to your character right now?
Wizard: Extremely. The rangers life is on the line.
Me: Enough to down yourself?
Wizard: yes
Dm: as the ranger lands on the ground, the Wizard falls to 0hp.
About that second story, I was in a campaign once where my character was the only one who could understand the Kenku Cleric. (This was pre-mordenkainens, so we still went with the rule that they had to basically speak only in mimicry and communicate in other ways.) My Barbarian was the only one who could understand because he communicated through interpretive dance and every single time people rolled Insights to understand him, I never rolled lower than an 18, despite most of my other rolls for anything else being relatively average.
I guess the gods just wanted me to be able to understand and relay his intent to the party.
The AITA as a DM I often prefer being reminded, but sometimes it is worth bending.
AITA: This is what I do when I play. My brother is a DM and it's more of a hey you have a lot to track so I'm like a backup. I note when concentration should be broken (Myself included). I help track certain effects when we have to fight a large group of enemies. Sometimes I feel like the backup dm so my brother can focus on the story. Our same group has been playing together for 3 years and nobody seems to complain. Sometimes if we've forgotten things for too long we just let it ride out at that point. Easier to adjust than reset. Our group is very laid back while also trying to maintain some seriousness.
First story: I get the player being let down that their "secret" was revealed, but it seems they are more upset that the DM DIDN'T LIE about it. WTF?
The rules lawyer: The only time rules lawyers really get under my skin is when they pull out obscure optional rules that achieve the outcome they want, or insist on rules that the table has already agreed to nix.
The DM had options, first thing that pops into mind is the character was 50' in the air and presumably moving, simply apply some physics and the character could have landed virtually anywhere on a 100' arc. Just because it's not their turn does not mean they were not moving.
For the AITA post, when the OP was being the rules lawyer he wasn't being an A, but when he messaged the group with the post he was.
Fun story:
First time DM and doing LMoP campaign.
I Put my players in the feywild after being ambushed at their camp in the woods by a group of faerie dragons at a fey crossing. They got knocked out and awoke in "a strange and vibrant world that they've never seen before. Merely breathing the air seems to be pleasurable". They proceeded to wander around in the feywild and investigate the area, finding strange and mysterious local flora and fauna. Vibrant biting flowers, talking trees, etc. They eventually came to a door that had strange images carved on the surface in a cross pattern. Each image was in a section, and portrayed somebody doing an iconic dance move. Namely, the chicken dance, the disco, the twerk, and the cotton eye joe. Next to the door was a carcass. They inspected the carcass and a little tooth faerie sputtered out. They attacked it, and it gave off a screeching cry in its death throws, causing a swarm of them to respond in the distance. I let my players know that a large buzzing sound could be heard off in the distance and sounded as if it were getting closer. I had in my mind 10 rounds of game play time before they would arrive, with them being able to be seen as an amorphous black cloud in the sky when there were 6 turns left. The players finally decided to inspect the door more enthusiastically knowing something was amiss. They kept saying their characters would mimic the image, causing the icon to faintly glow but fade immediately after. It was only when they asked for my npc, a doppelganger still in disguise for a grand reveal later, to do the dance, that the icon stayed lit for a round before fading. It took them two rounds of watching me physically do the cotton eye joe dance did they finally piece it together. The look of horror when they realized they had to do the chicken dance and twerk among other things was totally worth it. They narrowly escaped being devoured alive by tooth fairies, like that scene in Hellboy 2. After they closed the door behind them, they found themselves inside a cavern labyrinth posing riddle questions with a devious leprechaun as a guide. When the riddle would be answered a door would open on either the left or right side. If wrong, they were met with a combat encounter, if right they were rewarded with a small prize such as a healing potion. The dungeon ended with a word search kind of test. The floor was tile, and each had a letter. They had to walk on the proper letters to get to the other side of a trap would trigger for each incorrect tile. The riddle read: Before the flame, must come the spark, before anything is done, you'll need this before you start. The answer was Motivation. It was a fun filler session as we were missing half our group at the time. Just wish everybody got to enjoy it. Hope somebody reads this and decides to try it for themselves 😊
That Mother help at the beginning had me laughing hard.
My brother has played DnD for some time and wanted to try his hand at DMing, so he got a pre-scripted kit to play with his friends. Came with starting scenarios up too lvl 5 and 4 pre-built character sheets
The first encounter was a goblin cave, they had to wipe out between 10-20 of them scattered within. Due to bad rolls on the characters part and good rolls from the goblins, the party was butchered and he decided to restart the campaign. He told me this after and said he woshed he'd fudged a few rolls.
I told him that would have eorked, but he could have made that a part of the quest.
"What do you mean?"
"Instead of having them killed, have them captured so they can escape later or have another group taking the same quest come in and save them."
He kinda looked at me and shook his head.
Never thought of that i guess
As someone who does rules lawyer a bit, it's important to always either leave DM veto on the table "paralyzed usually breaks concentration, unless there is a DM veto" and/or perhaps ask it as a question "doesn't being paralyzed break concentration?".
Just, always try to allow the DM or whoever an out if they need it
For the AITA post, surely the DM could have sorted it by saying your fly speed is X, so as the spell ends due to hold person, you'll still be travelling back toward your party in a falling with style kinda thing, or you whip out your cloak to become a make shift glider briefly. There are plenty of ways to have let it slide creatively between the player and DM.
“This time, a pineapple” is a sentence I never thought could be menacing before today 😆
~_~
Ananas. It's neither pine related nor close to an apple.
Idk, I've had a "secret backstory" before and I just used it as a way to create a certain personality for the character (in my case, to be very bubbly/trusting/fascinated by everything) but I'm also the sort of person more interested in hearing a story than telling my own. I feel like the DM threw a couple hints at me that were supposed to be backstory related, and I was like, ok but we need to talk to first. :D
That last story was glorious
For the big secret post: In my opinion, holding onto secrets is much more for the person holding them than the people receiving them, if that makes sense. For me, I'm a HUGE role-player who makes creative backstories for my characters, whether the DM uses them or not. And as a DM I absolutely connect players' backstories to the plot - it's a great way to immerse people in the game. However, the "big reveals" don't always happen like they do on streamed/recorded DND sessions (Critical Role, Dimension 20, etc.) where everyone's freaking out. And that's what people forget sometimes.
For the AITA post: NTA. The party can't win all the time. There wouldn't be much of an interesting plotline if they just succeeded with everything they tried to do. However, rules lawyers also need to be careful with how much they bring up rules - especially if they're not the DM. Sometimes the DM will rule something that's different than what players expect. I did that in one of my campaigns and had one of my players message me after the session, quite upset and wanting to argue my logistics call (the result of which didn't really change much in the long-term game) because they had proof I did it wrong. It zapped my confidence as a DM and took the fun out of planning for the campaign. Communication between DM and players on how rules will be run (and honestly communication in general) is so important and can really make or break a game.
Regarding reveals and backstories, one cool thing about the new Planescape adventure is that the DM makes up the reveal and the player doesnt even know it. Your characters all have no memory of who they were, or related to in the multiverse. Its revealed later. So everyone has a moment of :O as it could be a shared reveal.
I am the kind of person who checks things like this, if I dont know them, behind the scenes and then, instead of outright revealing it, asks whether we're supposed to accept this as homebrew or if they made a mistake.
That way, I try to let a lot of things just fly, while also getting a definitive answer about whether is is going to keep happening in the future.
And even then our DM sometimes goes "Nah you're right" and retcons the last 10 Minutes of play to replay the situation with the correct rules.
Edit:
The Problem with not saying anything, is that it creates problems in the future, when you want to apply the same logic to enemies, and it then works differently.
If the group encounters a flying enemy in the future, they wouldnt even try hold person, because they'd assume it works the same as when the enemies tried it on them.
I am lucky in that I tend to find groups that are heavily invested in backstory.
I do what AITA OP did nearly every session. Sometimes it annoys others, sometimes it's useful. I'm not as concerned about if we win or lose as making sure the outcome was earned. If we win, I'll celebrate, but I'd take an honest loss over a cheated victory any day.
If the DM acknowledges it and overrules anyway, I drop it immediately. When things typically get the most heated are either when I've lost focus and forgotten a house rule again, or when others at the table insist that their house rule is what the book says.
Story 1: Weather the secret is a major character element or a minor one, I tend to focus on how they would either avoid or shift the focus away from the subject. I find that if you address it in common broad strokes (like quipping about how stingy your mom was, or how strict your dad was), or shift the focus of your character's surface motivations to the present task, then you can leave others feeling like you're not hiding things at all
also player knowledge is not character knowledge. and the DM is free to go 'no your character would not do that cuz they are not aware of this, just because you are'... and it works the same way around. Just cuz you as a player missed a detail or forgot 'oh right, concentration on this spell will break if my character does this' and thusly not punishing the character for something the player forgot... LET THEM ROLL, the character has STATS, they are NOT the player after all.
@@kinagrill well said.
In the AITA case, I do this all the time, but I do it to everyone including myself to where one of my friends said, "You would have gotten away with it if you hadn't said anything." To which I responded with a GIF of Two-Face from the Dark Knight where says, "It's about what's fair!" My friend just laughed.
For the AITA post: I don't think he was in the campaign. However, he 100% is for sharing his post with his group. Kind of a "I told you I was right" moment. Should have definitely approached it all differently
This is why I have an insane luck roll. I DM a very very homebrew DND adventure for the older two kids I watch (12 and 9) they have so much fun creating their characters and enjoy solving puzzles more than the actual combat. But because I'm new to the game myself, I mess up sometimes. Or one of the kids rolls impossibly bad over and over again. And, they're just kids. So I had them find a lucky rock. Whoever has it can use it for a luck roll after everything else has failed. It has unknown consequences. One time they planned to use a cave in to kill a monster and I warned them that they were still in the cave too. One boy was worried, the other was already casting fireball. They got caved in but weren't squished. I figured they'd move the rock after a few tries and it'd be fine.
I WAS WRONG. Strength checks failed. Wisdom checks failed. I even did a dex check because, like, maybe they wiggled their way out?? But no. So they used their lucky rock. Finally, finally there was a good roll. A mouse on the mountain in top of the cave kicked a little rock which hit a bigger rock ECT, till the boulders in front of the cave cleared. They're free, but I warn them that there will eventually be a price to pay for such unnatural luck, and that the more they use it, the higher that price will be.
My best reveal moment of my character never was the one who was obvious that I try to hide but de subtle one that hide behind it. One of my Character was a Drow disguise at a Hight elf Woman when they discover he was a Drow it wasn't a big deal but the surprise but when they discover he was a Man their surprise face was perfect.
I don't know if anyone was at fault during the AITA, sometimes you just get excited about remembering something and don't realize the consequences of rules lawyering at the moment. I would say that if it's a repeated problem talk to the player on the side and remind them that while the rules are important, the DM is the arbitrator of the rules and can decide when certain aspects of rules impede the narrative being told and allow them to bend.
If I were the DM, I would have given the Ranger a moment when they feel themselves falling where they could try to do something before the consequences of landing in front of a certain capture occurred, like throwing the relic or perhaps casting Featherfall. I wouldn't explicitly say "I'm bending the rules in your favor by not breaking concentration", I would play off as if that was information I had forgotten about the spell. Handwaving like you're recommending would make it feel like the DM is trying to push the narrative a certain way, rather than letting player choices dictate the outcomes.
I go back to my saying of "Tools, not Chains". The rules are there as a set of tools to help shape the way a story goes. They are not there to be the ultimate arbitrator of every action, chaining us to the rulebooks. You will never find the rule for "I want to aim for cutting the Titan's hand off so he can't snap and destroy half the universe", the DM has to come up with a rule on the spot for if it's a higher AC attack to aim, a separate DEX check to aim, a damage threshold to remove use of the arm, or an athletics check to cut through the muscle and bone.
For the AITA post. Would have ruled it as "Okay, flying stops due to paralysis of the wizard as they cannot hold concentration, assuming he is still falling 50 ft with a momentum of moving forward 60 ft per 6 seconds, and within a round a player would fall 200 ft per round as per the rules, let us assume he drops to about 30 ft forward."
For the AITA. As a DM, if i had wanted them to succeed after what seems like some decent effort, i probably would've had the wizard make a concentration check. Then again we obviously don't have the full story, but that would've been an instinct of mine
That AITA story ABSO FREAKING LUTELY feels like the straw that broke the camels back. This was a build up
This person was absolutely pissing off his group & is probably kicked out now-I’d bet my life on it
ive been playing the same campaign for 3 years, and had 2 characters across this. first one was a gnome rouge, loved her to death. i kept her backstory hidden until she died, it got revealed slowly but not much. my current character, their pretty much my favorite character i've ever played. i've never tried to hide their backstory, and honestly its not that complex. it's honestly more fun for me. never be afraid to have a simple backstory. its fun to do the dramatic stuff, but sometimes its super fun for the adventure itself to become their dramatic backstory.
On the don't reveal backstory post. I am in a champaign that has a character who even he doesn't know his full backstory. I know some parts, but my DM has helped me by adding some flair to it.
My player group has 3 DM's in it. We PM eachother "corrections", and then let it roll however the active DM wants to rule it after that.
For the AITA post i would've also 100% done the same thing. It would've been dishonest to NOT point out the rules interaction. And you shouldn't want to have to play dishonestly. It is part of the unspoken agreement of the game that you will point out these interactions even if they're bad for you and the DM will do the same (like reminding you that you forgot hunter's mark on the BBEG even though that would help take it down in one shot or something. Or that this rule technicality benefits you in some way).
That's why am a bit of a "rules lawyer". Because i want to be honest with the rest of the table and help them remember the rules. They're my friends. It would be rude to do so otherwise.
I feel like there's more to the AITA story. As others have said, that's such a small thing. I feel like that wasn't the first incident, and it's been festering for awhile.
me: "my character will have a great backstory he won't share with anyone until it comes up!"
also me: *in character trauma dumps onto the rest of the party by session 3* 😂
edit: for the AITA post: i fully agree with OP, he did the right thing, DnD is not just a story telling medium it is also a game and only winning because you cheated or someone cheated on your behalf feels cheap, I'd rather mess up and having to find a way out of the situation than just succeed because a DM deliberately forgot a rule, i don't think there's anything wrong with bringing up rules that might be to the detriment of your party, it bothers me way more when people only conveniently remember the rules when it is in their favor
I actually did that one, pointing out a forgotten rule and felt really bad about it and just asked... so uh.. about this rule? should I just... not mention it further... or?
And the DM was actually just happy I'd made mention of it and incorporated a reason as to why the rule was not applicable (I sadly do not recall the specifics), and I was happy. There was a reason beyond 'cuz DM said so' and that was all I really needed.
I dont force it but I like to have my players give their backstories to each other at the very beginning. Its very fun to be the super secretive wizard guy or whatever but if the players know what the characters backstories are and one of those characters goes on an arc or a character from their past shows up to wreak havoc, the players know that this is an important moment and thus work together on roleplaying the story out wherever it may go. It also lets the players know that if your character is hiding a huge secret and being aloof or maybe a little stand offish, its not because the player is uninterested or not participating. Its slightly metagaming maybe but I feel like its for the best if theres more communication between players about their characters.
Last story: Wow. That's nuts.
In a game I play, every once in a while, one of our characters will get controlled by a bad guy. And we have a rule where we are to attack the closest person or cause the most amount of damage if we are to attack PCs this way. My artificer had gotten controlled for a round and even though there was someone about 10-15ft, I had shatter and my highest spell slot. There was three other PCs in shatter range so I cast shatter at the three players. We were cracking up laughing at it.
This has also happened to me in the campaign. So no hard feelings.
I DM/GM for an occasional game with some friends & family. the game is homebrew in every way. Victorian era America set in a fantasy world. I did an adventure where the group was having to navigate a dungeon that consisted mostly of puzzle doors. They did find the secret room that had 6 legendary weapons. And then decided to not inspect ANYTHING. I kept dropping hints and finally had to out-of-game tell them that they should INVESTIGATE. When they finally got the hint they discovered the weapons. Then they decided to only take a knife. [facepalm] there was an ax, a longsword, a shortsword, a pair of fighting knives (this is when they took only one), a mace and a spear. They only took the knife because it was the key to open the door. They didn't investigate the weapons AT ALL. except to note that the one dagger of the pair had the same symbol as the door-lock. I gave up and they moved on without the weapons. Later, they had to fight an animated scarecrow and the player with the knife got knocked out right away due to a few really bad rolls and the others had to fight barehanded. (except one guy whose character already had a knife). The fight was supposed to be a quick badguy for the group to face before entering a maze and then meeting two more scarecrows and then escaping the dungeon. But the scarecrow and the player with his own night kept missing each other. We use GURPS, so you often roll contest. And we rolled failed strikes against each other for 8-9 rounds! Then hit for a single point of damage and 5-6 more rounds of missing each other. This continued until his character finally dealt a fatal blow. He could deal a maximum of 6 points of damage in a single strike. My scarecrow only had 9 points of health. Almost TPK'd the group. 😂 player started with 12 points of health and ended with 2. We ended that session due to the game running hours later than planned and never actually finished the dungeon.
The first story reminded me of Ironspire (Tabletop Time Roleplay). There was a HUGE backstory reveal that totally changed how I viewed the earlier events.
The only people who knew were the DM and the player with the backstory. It was revealed in two episodes by the character sharing his background with the other 2 characters in a room at a tavern. I think there was a patreon exclusive video with more of the players' reactions, but I am unfortunately not one for that channel.
I'm kinda a rules lawyer player, I try to tone it down but there are times I double check cause as much as I want to see something succeed I want to make sure it's "realistic." I admit I don't know everything, my knowledge is generally in player character skills, spells, and game mechanics. When it comes to monsters or homebrew I can only begin to guess what's about to happen.
The big thing I've learned is that if the dm allows something that normally doesn't work make it clear if it's a one time thing or if it's consistent. And if the group isn't sure or can't remember how something works as written I look it up and explain it, but I leave the dm to make the final call in case they want to change it.
On the Rules story; we have multiple DMs playing as characters. They constantly bring up rules and contradictions. Half the time our current DM just shrugs and let’s it slide. The DM should’ve just said he knew but was gonna let it slide cuz it was almost over anyways.
Maybe we’re just more laid back.
I think for the big secret ruined story, if your backstory gets accidentally revealed like that then find a way to bring what happened irl into the rp. What if not just the person was digging around irl but his character also was doing some "digging" offscreen basically and he found out this fact and then you take that as a way to make the big reveal like he calls out your character next session and your character is on the spot having to come clean. Sounds like something to work with the DM and the 2 players and you can craft it into a cool reveal that way.
My backstory for my current campaign was so secret, not even my character knew it
Meaning, I am a warlock that sacrificed their memories. So many so I don't even know I'm a warlock
It was reallllly cool how the DM had it planned out for how I get my memories back and just what I had forgotten
In his defense, letting them cheat to win means not playing out the loss.
That’s great for hero fantasy but not very gritty.
I had something like this, were my character didn't actually know his backstory and the only people that knew were me and the DM
The AITA guy: NTA pre-edit. ESH post-edit.
My first character is a hexblood ranger, posing as a tiefling.
Hexbloods weren't part of my DM's world before I joined, but he corporated them in with my joining.
I had her hide this fact from my party for a while, but I did want someone in universe to expose her after a while.
I finally got my wish when an androsphinx addressed me as "child of the hags" in front of my party.
It didn't have the shock value I hoped for, but I was glad to have my little drama moment.