Dm's Unite

If you're tired of the usual vices like arrogance or impatience, here are some unique (or at least less basic) character flaws to give your perfect characters: 

Pathological Altruism

A character so obsessed with helping others that they end up doing more harm than good. Their inability to let others grow or face consequences creates tension.

2. Moral Narcissism

A character who sees themselves as morally superior to others, constantly justifying selfish or harmful actions because they believe they have the moral high ground.

3. Chronic Self-Sabotage

A character who intentionally undermines their own success, perhaps due to deep-seated feelings of unworthiness, pushing them into frustrating, cyclical failures.

4. Emotional Numbness

Rather than feeling too much, this character feels too little. Their lack of emotional response to critical moments creates isolation and makes it difficult for them to connect with others.

5. Fixation on Legacy

This character is obsessed with how they’ll be remembered after death, often sacrificing present relationships and happiness for a future that’s uncertain.

6. Fear of Irrelevance

A character-driven by the fear that they no longer matter, constantly seeking validation or pursuing extreme measures to stay important in their social or professional circles.

7. Addiction to Novelty

Someone who needs constant newness in their life, whether it’s experiences, relationships, or goals. They may abandon projects, people, or causes once the excitement fades, leaving destruction in their wake.

8. Compulsive Truth-Telling

A character who refuses to lie, even in situations where a lie or omission would be the kinder or more pragmatic choice. This flaw causes unnecessary conflict and social alienation.

9. Over-Identification with Others' Pain

Instead of empathy, this character feels others' pain too intensely, to the point that they can’t function properly in their own life. They’re paralyzed by the suffering of others and fail to act effectively.

10. Reluctant Power

A character who fears their own strength, talent, or influence and is constantly trying to shrink themselves to avoid the responsibility or consequences of wielding it.

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(player asks to do something you know will have extreme consequences)

"if you try this and fail you will die."

"if you do this, even if you succeed, they will literally kill you by the way"

"doing this in this room will cause a combat"

or if you do want to keep a veil of mystery/plan to surprise them with something:

"if you do that, something extremely bad will happen and you won't be able to undo it"

"i think your character would know given common sense/their expertise that trying this would be suicidally dangerous"

"if you try this, people are going to see you as hostile. is that actually what you want or is this a joke?"

there's a thousand ways you can convey to another person at your table that you think there are consequences to their actions that they haven't considered before trying something. while there are many tables where there's a mutual understanding that sudden tpk's or flippant character death are always possible, there are many where that understanding is not present. without it, a player can easily try something they think is a joke, a casual roleplaying move, or just a bad idea, and be met with highly punishing consequences that they had no expectations for, which is going to be less fun (if not upsetting or embarrassing) than meeting consequences they knew were possible.

"You don't need to do stuff like that to challenge the players, and they will resent you for that kind of attitude."

Which, I think he touches on the heart of the matter, why so many DMs make the mistake of interpreting player decisions (or indecisions) in bad faith; they are misguided and see punishing decisions in game as part of the challenge of play, part of why we're playing the game.

Which is why it's SO IMPORTANT to discuss ahead of time the goals of the game for everyone. If the DM goes in with the goal of an adversarial relationship (which, regardless of what RAW says, is an inescapable part of established D&D culture), while the players just want to be lead on a fantasy adventure with manageable ups and downs, there WILL be objections and hurt feelings pretty much from first go.

If a character would know/think of something that didn't occur to a player, it's the DM's duty to point it out!

Wizards have the same trust in magic that software designers have in software, which is to say, almost none at all.

“Are you fucking kidding me I worked in a reagrent shop for a few years I don’t trust any of that stuff. Who the hell knows what other components are in the ashes.”

“Yeah I was in the circle that made Alston’s Divine Circle of Teleportation. There’s some pretty nasty corner cases you can get into but the headmaster published it without us. I just take ships. It’s way safer.”

“I call bullshit on that Necromancer channeling spirits of loved ones. What did he say he was using? ‘Medium Conduit Ruinic Circles’? That’s just a bunch of buzzwords slapped together, and they don’t even interact with each other.”

*passes a scroll* *a few moments of silence*

“I think you missed a bookend rune right here-”

“GODS DAMN IT! IT’S ALWAYS SHIT LIKE THAT! THANK YOU!” *angrily scribbles on parchment*

The Path of the Hellbringer - Homebrew Barbarian Subclass

by Nines, v2.0

Why should warlocks have all the fun of selling their souls? A remake of the original Hellbringer, designed for Monsters and Myths.

In this world, there once was a kingdom of dwarves, renowned throughout the land as master craftsmen. But they dug too greedily and too deep, and awakened a being of darkness and fire. Rather than face extinction, though, these dwarves managed to woo their captors with riches most opulent...

Thus the Durinsdoom Dwarves came into being. Fueled by a kingdom's worth of devilish deals, they quickly accumulated influence over the entire region... But, alas, that shall be a story for another time.

For the longest time I've been trying to make the concept of an Oracle class work, but I ended up just making it a cleric domain as I the identity and theme wasn't strong enough for me to make that happen. I hope you enjoy!

“Be what you want to be. You can become anyone or anything in any place at any time.“ 

Source details and larger version.

The Grapplemaster - Homebrew Barbarian Subclass by Nines

A subclass designed to emulate the Battlemaster Fighter's options, but with the raw muscle that being a Barbarian affords. There's options aplenty here, from choking enemies out, tossing them around, beating them to a pulp with each other, or double-teaming grapples to tear them limb from limb. We all know why you're really here, though.

DNDBeyond

Homebrewery