DM out of line? y/n why

[|]emonix]

This post talks about a great DM, but does make a few mistakes here and there... or at least in the players pov, just relate or tell what the DM can do to make things more fun for the players

A 13 cleric, 12 Barb, 8 mage, 12 druid, and a dead 12 mage...

sounds like a party with some exp on their side, until a 20th arch mage 10th monk decides that these people are his enemy for all time...

Ug i hate it whenever our party is forced to interact with this insanely high character who has his own plane of existence and an unbelievable amount of Efrites, it seems just a little bit out of a partys league where the average would be 11

our dm has kind of made him our nemesis, and in doing so, casting unbelievable spells on my party, such as meteor swarm and other spells people would only dream about.

recently, we had our chars teleported to his personal plane (against our will) to wake to find our characters being forced into a maze where the last 2 of our party to leave the maze would perish (in the rules of the maze)..... oooooo loads of fun! when the two characters did die (cleric and druid) we are now being lead to his coliseum where we will "fight" and the winner of the "games" will have a chance to destroy his flackery.....

o gees, help me out here.......

is this a wise move for the DM, will it make the game fun for the players, and will we ever stand a chance at killing him?

NO

please post your opinions on this DM's favorite little bad guy and what he could do to make things hard, interesting, and mainly fun for the players without introducing a fgt arch lich mage that could walk over us

 

[Andor]

Ouch Sounds like the D.M. is on a power trip. It happens sometimes. On the other hand perhaps he's got something clever up his sleeve. I'd at least go for another couple of sessions in the hope that the DMs Pet will turn out to be a red herring.

If he really is just flexing his DMs might for the fun of it you'll eventually have to sit him down and talk with him. It's never good when a DM has a pet character they use as a prop for their own powertrips in game. At least the few times I've had to put up with it they were our employer rather than our nemesis.

My 2¢
Andor

 

[Zerovoid]

In my opinion, DM's shouldn't introduce antagonists for the party that are more than a couple of levels higher than the PC's. Obviously the 20th level wizard can mop the floor with you guys, so why waste your time with all this arena BS. If the PC's don't have a reasonable chance of overcoming a conflict, then it shouldn't be introduced.

I had this problem in a game a played in last year. Our main nemesis was a wizard who always stayed about 6 levels higher than us, but tended to cast non-lethal spells and run away alot. We were basically at the DM's mercy, even more than usual. In the final battle against this guy, the wizard cast horrid wilting. Then the DM realized it would kill the whole party, so he fudged the dice. Only my poor little halfling sorceror died. Ughh.

 

[trimeulose]

hes being a munchkin. just kill your characters and start a new campaign.

Ohhh you like your characters ehhh???

Tell him that you are not having fun playing a game where he (the DM) is making characters that would stand toe to toe with FR NPCs. Its just not fun.

 

[SonOfLilith]

Well, it can be alright to have such a high level villan, but it turns sour when not done properly. But the sound of it, it's not just him. He has lots of effrites, so anytime he is in danger he can just send in his army right. Still not to bad, but start to realy get angry if the ifrites hate you after you kill him. That would be unfair. And it's not like the guy is pulling some crape like selective antimagic shields, or killing characters that make there saves, right? my advice is to give the DM a chance, mabey he has something in mind, and mabey if you do something the characters come back.

P.S. At least the barb didn't die. Then I would be really pissed.

 

[Gargoyle]

If you're not having fun, it's a problem. Discuss it out of game as a group, without bashing his DMing ability. Just explain that you'd like a different style of campaign and why.

DMing a higher level group can be tough. Maybe suggest that he try running a city campaign or something else for a change. Or maybe, since you've had so much PC death, a new campaign is in order (and maybe a new DM if someone better is willing to take control). Could be the DM wants to play, even if he doesn't realize it.

 

[Cloudgatherer]

My party's current nemisis is also a wizard, but nowhere near the power level you are describing. I'm actually surprised you know the level of the wizard, did the DM just tell you or could you figure it out from in game interaction?

Part of the mystery for me is keeping the party in the dark on what they are up against. As it turns out, my players can think up much more devious scenarios than I can. As a result, oftentimes their worst enemy is themselves and their own imaginations....

As for this "gauntlet" the party is doing, it sounds rather extreme. I prefer to keep the party together and you should voice this to your DM. I think it's alright to be up against near impossible odds, but simply removing party members seems to be the most disturbing thing to me. Also, I'd recommend casting plane shift to leave the plane .

Later!

 

[Skywalker]

Though is nothing wrong with having high leveled antagonists it sounds like this DM is doing it the wrong way.

High level antagonists can present roleplaying challenges by forcing players to think beyond merely fighting the bad guy and sometimes thinking beyond the immediate to long term struggles.

On saying that throwing PCs into dungeons and killing them outright sucks ass. Why would such ahighlevel antagonist even bother. Surely he would much prefer to manipulate the PCs into protecting his own ass and perhaps even undermining his own antagonists (who might be a more respectful level )

 

[reapersaurus]

i dunno - it's kind of hard to get an impression of what your game's like when you're writing style is kinda all over the place.

Is English your second language?
If so, that would explain it, and no big deal.

I think Gargoyle hit it right:
if you guys aren't having fun, that's the problem right there.

Stop.
Resolve it before moving on.

 

[EOL]

I agree with Skywalker, having a really high level nemesis is not, all by itself, necessarily a bad thing. Being completely rail-roaded into a situation where 1/3 of the party has no choice but to die, is pretty much a game breaker. Despite this I would take something of a middle road. Voice your concerns and ask him if he has something really clever up his sleeve. If he assures you that everything is going to work out give him a couple of sessions, otherwise let your feet do the talking.