There are certain characters that no Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master wants to show up at their table. Whether they are designed to disrupt the game, make life difficult for players, NPCs, or the Dungeon Master, or require a lot of extra work by all involved, these characters tend to cause more problems for the party than they solve. Ultimately, no Dungeon Master wants to deal with these characters, and would rather the player just roll up a new one.

With so many races, classes, and feats to choose from, Dungeons & Dragons players are spoiled for choice when it comes to character creation. The only limits on what they can create are their imagination and what the Dungeon Master allows. Character creation can usually be done in a Session Zero (which every Dungeon Master should include in their games), but occasionally, for whatever reason, a player may show up to session one with a character that the Dungeon Master hasn't been able to see, and therefore clear of any problems they may cause.

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Characters that no Dungeon Master wants to see tend to mess with the way a Dungeons & Dragons game works in one capacity or another. Whether they take up a majority of gameplay and leave other players out in the cold, cause problems that reduce the amount of fun being had by the rest of the table, or create problems that the Dungeon Master has to specifically work around, these characters are generally considered to be a nuisance and should be avoided.

The Seducer Brings Uncomfortable Subjects To D&D Tables

Players trying to seduce NPCs can be uncomfortable and inappropriate.

Many Dungeons & Dragons horror stories feature tales of a Dungeon Master out to get the players or, more commonly, a player whose mission in the game is to seduce as many NPCs as possible. This player often takes away from time that the others could be roleplaying and puts it toward their attempts to get lucky in-game. Not only is sex not vital to a vast majority of Dungeons & Dragons games, it can very easily make others at the table feel uncomfortable, not least of which the DM. The unfortunate DM has to field all the advances in a way that doesn't break verisimilitude until the player in question goes too far and forces the issue to be addressed. Ultimately, the seducer is fine in moderation and with the express consent of the table and Dungeon Master, but oftentimes DM's would just rather they not show up to the table.

The Lone Wolf Makes D&D About Them, Not The Party

Dungeons & Dragons' Tales of Enchantment cover art, with a hooded woman holding a rapier and a lantern in a cave.

Lone wolves can make life difficult for any D&D party. The goal is for a party of adventurers from interesting backgrounds to work together and solve the problems that the DM presents them. Players that insist on playing characters that go against the group or refuse to participate grind the campaign to a halt as the DM is forced to work the entire story around them as opposed to what was originally planned. In order to solve this problem, the Dungeon Master must either make special effort to convince the lone wolf to work with the group or insist that they change to a character who will. Doing so takes precious game time away and takes players out of the experience of Dungeons & Dragons.

The Power Gamer Makes Other D&D Players Feel Useless

Power gamers aren't interested in using D&D for collaborative storytelling.

Players who view Dungeons & Dragons as a game with a winner and a loser often miss the point of the collaborative storytelling and how D&D can be good for players. These players are focused on trying to build a character to either annoy the Dungeon Master or render any challenge thrown at them moot. Power gamers can be a part of a cohesive party, especially if the entire party consists of them.

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But, when a lone power gamer who shows up to a party of role-players and then proceeds to blast their way through anything the Dungeon Master throws at them without so much as a scratch causes everyone else at the table (the Dungeon Master included) to feel useless and like what they contribute doesn't really matter. Unless the game is designed with power gamers in mind, Dungeon Masters rarely like to see them show up at their tables.

The Murder Hobo Derails Even The Sturdiest Campaign

D&D goblins clinging to a cliff edge holding their weapons and looking angry

The term "murder hobo" has been coined to describe a style of play in which a Dungeons & Dragons character or party spends their time itinerantly wandering from place to place, killing indiscriminately and collecting whatever loot they can without a thought to settling down or even how to carry all that gold. A singular murder hobo is a problem for a Dungeon Master who may have an elaborate story planned only to have the hobo in question kill anyone who could push it forward in the vain hope of getting loot from their bodies. The Dungeon Master's plans are ruined, and now the rest of the parties are accomplices to the murder hobo, and will likely turn into murder hobos themselves, even though it's possible to be evil in D&D without killing everything. Thus, Dungeon Masters breathe a sigh of relief whenever one of these players fails to show up at their table.

Unprepared Players Make Dungeon Masters Focus On Them

D&D Players who come unprepared can waste valuable time that should be spent in-game.

One benefit of a Session Zero is that everyone shows up to Session One prepared and ready to play, having established both the players' characters and how they may fit into the DM's world. Dungeon Master's don't have to worry about someone appearing at the table without a character made, with no supplies, or expecting the wrong system for what's being played. When an unprepared player shows up to a Dungeons & Dragons game, it takes valuable time out of the Dungeon Master's and players' schedules to explain things like how One D&D has changed language, proficiency, and hit dice. A happy Dungeon Master is one whose players are on time, prepared, and ready to go when the session begins. Having an unprepared player(s) means that literal hours of game time will be lost bringing them up to speed, and no one wants that.

A Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master with a prepared, coordinated, and on-board group can tell stories that will stick with those involved for potentially the rest of their lives. But when one of the preceding players shows up to play, it means that the DM will have to spend valuable time and energy accommodating them, and ultimately detract from everyone's enjoyment of the shared experience. No one looks forward to playing with one of these players, least of all the already overburdened Dungeon Master.