So, today, I'm going to be talking to all my GM broskies out there, about one of the most annoying things I've ever encountered in tabletop gaming. How many times has this happened to you? You're putting together a nice DnD game, you've got your story arc set, the hero's journey and all that good stuff, and all the players are rolling up basic characters. Then there's this one jackass who goes 'Can I play a vampire?' Or in a vampire game, where you've sorted out the city's politics and put together a nice interesting game of backstabbing and politicking, and one guy just can't get it out of his head that he wants to play a Baali, or an abomination or some other twinked out shit from one of the sourcebooks. My friends, we've just experienced a very special type of bad player, the Special Snowflake.
Now, these people aren't necessarily bad players. Maybe they've played the game long enough that they want to try out something new. Maybe they've got a really good character concept, and think that it genuinely only works in this race/class/bloodline. Maybe they just took their mother's advice on being unique too literally. The problem comes in when you remember that, most of the time, roleplaying a is a collaborative experience. The story becomes really unfairly focused on the one guy in the coterie of vampires who just happens to be the last surviving Cappadocian, or that one inquisitorial team that employs a bloody aspect warrior. Before you know it, all your players are trying to have their cake and eat it, soon, you'll have a dungeon crawl starring a Minotaur, a Devil, a Mind-Flayer and a Yuan-Ti, and that way madness lies. This is actually way worse in Dark Heresy and World of Darkness, because at least in DnD and Pathfinder, those things can be sorta-maybe-not really balanced by level adjustments, but in systems like oWoD or the Fantasy Flight warhammer games, balancing that shit just starts inflicting sanity damage. Protips for GM's: Vampires and werewolves and mages are not even remotely balanced against each other. Vampires especially get the short end of the stick here, because really, their only advantage is outliving the other two. When a werewolf is dealing aggravated damage with each swipe of its claws, or a mage can transform your skin into fire, vamps are going to be outclassed, very, very quickly. Mages and werewolves are a slightly different story, as given prep time and a good hiding place, even a nooby mage can absolutely annihilate an entire werewolf pack, but up close and personal, even an archmage becomes doggy-chow. Likewise, Eldar, Orks and chaos people in Dark Heresy are absolutely going to outclass their humie counterparts in every possible way. We are talking aliens that can make your brain leak out of your ears by screaming, and epic psykers that can kill people from three ships away. Players don't really like being outshined by their compatriots, and sooner or later, they're going to wonder exactly why one player gets to have all the shiny toys.
The second problem, especially for games like WoD and DH, is that it breaks the setting of the game. Vampire, Werewolf and Mage are games with very distinct tones and settings, and including too many elements from each one sort of breaks that. Now, I'm not saying I'm a fan of every bit of metaplot that White Wolf has ever put out, because some of it is in fact atrocious. Still, I think the main settings of the games are very, very well done, and do a lot to set the mood. Vampire is all about politics and the long game, and doesn't involve a lot of hack and slash. Even Sabbat games still focus on politics and the eventual apocalypse bearing down on everyone. Werewolf games are all kicking ass, all the time, and while there is some good cultural and interpersonal goings on here, they do take second place to murdering the enemies of Gaia. It becomes problematic when you start introducing vampires into werewolf games, because in canon, they are flat out servants of the Wyrm, and need to be re-purposed as lawn fertilizer posthaste. They don't even like mages too much, given that they smack of humies trying to tamper with the environment. The thing I'm getting at is that the GM has to go through a lot of idiotic loopholes to try and make it make sense, and sometimes, it's just not worth it so one person can have their super speshal mary sue.
I find the best kind of special snowflake character is one that has a lot of inherent drawbacks, essentially so they don't feel like they're playing a ridiculous power fantasy. For example, in my vampire games, anyone who wants to play a Baali absolutely can. The instant they make themselves known as one of the demon-worshippers, though, they're going to be getting a very permanent rooftop suntan. I think that's the appeal of one of these characters. The singular chaos-cultist in the group, or the single secret Esoterrorist in the party of investigators. If you're a GM like me, and enjoy watching all your players plot against each other, it becomes quite an excellent sit-com. Just remember, with power, must come a price. If a player wants to be special, remember to fuck them royally with the power of plot, and that way, the rest of the party isn't going to feel so maligned.
Now, I know a lot of WoD GM's can be elitist about this sort of thing, because far be it from anyone to tamper with the sacred cow of metaplot. I think, however, that most, if not all these problems can be overcome with a solo game. If I'm running a solo game for you, and you're not making my other players feel like extras in a fanfic, go nuts. I'll practically let you play whatever the hell you like. BSD-Lasombra Abomination? Go ahead. Cthulhu-Worshipping Deep One? Easy. Solo games are a good chance to explore the crazy shit that you wouldn't touch in a group game with a ten foot pole. I actually find that it's quite good fun to explore what it's like to be something that really shouldn't exist in your setting, and to just go wild in a way group games don't allow. Remember though, it falls to the GM and the player to make it interesting, because stacking a shit ton of templates over a base character doesn't mean jack-shit if he's boring. Remember that underneath all the cool powers, there needs to be a good story, because without that, you're not going to be able to run a good game anyway.
- Kephn.
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