D&D 5E DM campaign disputes.

[SmokeyCriminal]

After the end of a game session the DM started another game session involving the same campaign and players but without us even being aware. The new players ambushed our party nearly killing two PC's and killing an NPC vital to the campaign in addition to having several powerful items stolen. Of everyone involved in the original campaign only the DM was present and aware of the situation.

I think its fine for the DM to have multiple campaigns in a single world and having the things each group does have affects in the rest of the campaigns, that's cool, but he should definitly let you know about it because I think it falls under the Houserule umbrella.

Waking up married to a Kender, or having your puppy fridged at the start of a session when the last session ended with you in the middle of something like a fight or cliffhanger or something else is more of a grey area, kinda not cool but could be fun if you go with it. I imagine the DM was going for a certain effect and I can appreciate that, even if it didn't hit the mark. They spend so much time coming up with stuff and thinking of fun things I don't want to jump down their throats and scare them off from trying new, interesting things just because there was a misstep. I'd prob let them know that it's a cool idea but it came off as jarring, it sacrificed the thread of continuity and it feels like I missed a whole episode.
If they plan on doing something like that again a heads up before the session would be good to make sure everyone has buys-in and prepares themselves for it. It'll help with the whiplash and have the added benefit of all the players wondering and guessing whats going to happen and they'll build up their own excitement and/or dread leading up to the big reveal for maximum impact.
Also the DM can collaborate with the Players to figure out what happens to the other Players PCs, like a secret santa type of thing. That way all the Players will know what's going to happen to the other Players but not themselves and they'll do that thing "OOOHHH man! I can't wait for you to find out what happens to your PC it's SO GOOD!! I want to tell you, but I'm not gonna" And it'll have the added benefit of having someone that's invested with you to make sure you don't accidentally cross a line or step on any toes.

Waking up with your magical Items stolen or dead is not cool at all. a good rule of thumb is that if it's on a PCs Character Sheet then it belongs to the Player and not the DM. The DM can manipulate anything he wants to everything in the world EXCEPT the PCs Character Sheet. That's 100% yours. Not 99.999%. 100%. I think you have every right to say to the DM "nope. It says right here that i have a +1 sword. It doesn't matter at all what you say you did while I was gone. I never gave you permission to have access or control of MY Character Sheet, so you didn't. So you have a different campaign in the same world where my PC was your NPC and he lost the +1 sword? Well that's cool, that sounds like fun. But in THIS campaign, OUR campaign, MY PC has a +1 sword" (But don't say that, it comes off as angry, condescending, and mean. The DM is your buddy and didn't mean to hurt you. He just tried a thing out and is probably as surprised and confused as everyone else and wants to make sure this doesn't end the groups.)

This is a really tricky situation to handle. Even if you and your group agree that what happend in the other session stands and your NPC is dead and your Items stolen. All that means is that your going to hunt the PCs down and kill them and take your stuff back. And if you don't kill them, then they'll just hunt you down again and steal your stuff again. PCs are super petty and vindictive and vengeful, sooner or later one group is gonna murder hobo the other. One thing you can do is agree with the other group, out of game, that you'll never attack each other again and that you'll become friends or frienemies, and the DM agrees to never pit you against each other again. And in the next session just hunt them down kick their ass take your stuff back and have a pint with them, and consider the whole thing just a quirky way of meeting each other. This kinda thing does happen. trust me.

The other thing you can do is go the comic book route. Have your session start with the ambush and just have 2 universes that intertwine. One where you won the fight and one where they won the fight. the seperate stuff you do in your campaigns can still affect the other groups. for example, If you kill off a gang, in your world then the other group hears about how you killed that gang. and the rest of the regular stuff you get when 2 groups are in one world. But if you kill off the group in your world they still exsist in the other one. This way neither group will need to worry about going to your session and your DM saying "well the other group killed you, so...roll up a new character." And if you ever get together with Players from the other group you can compare and contrasts worlds.

And I'm sure there's other stuff you can do besides a retcon, that won't just invalidate what your DM did. This is a really really interesting fork in the road, and something not every group gets to do, its unique (Even if mishandled), you should be aware of that, and be appreciative of it. I'm sure you'll get some more interesting views and ideas from people here. Good luck, and have fun.

 

[S'mon]

After the end of a game session the DM started another game session involving the same campaign and players but without us even being aware. The new players ambushed our party nearly killing two PC's and killing an NPC vital to the campaign in addition to having several powerful items stolen. Of everyone involved in the original campaign only the DM was present and aware of the situation.

My answer would have been "GM determines in-campaign events, PCs have to deal with it". But ambushing your PCs without players present seems very unfair to me, unless perhaps he made a good faith effort to have you all attend. Even then it's iffy.

I would regard having an NPC killed while the PCs are somewhere else as within GM's prerogative, whether or not it comes from another group's play. But I would not do what this GM did. I think in your shoes I'd request a do-over and probably quit if refused.

 

[pogre]

Sounds like your DM is starting a new group. He didn't want to start the adventure over and used the previous party as an NPC party to start the ball rolling. I agree this sounds like a new DM.

Is he wanting to play again with the original group? You said you have not played for several weeks. If he shows no inclination to play with you - the campaign is effectively over and what he did to your characters does not matter.

Fairly uncool move as I understand it...

 

[dave2008]

After the end of a game session the DM started another game session involving the same campaign and players but without us even being aware. The new players ambushed our party nearly killing two PC's and killing an NPC vital to the campaign in addition to having several powerful items stolen. Of everyone involved in the original campaign only the DM was present and aware of the situation.

Wow, that is a about the worst way to combine two groups of players into one group. You need to work with your DM to change this. One or both of the campaigns needs to be revised. That is really terrible on so many levels.

 

[schnee]

Yeah, this is a DM who is either completely clueless or has some passive aggressive attitude.

Having other players you don't know that you weren't even informed about joining your campaign trash your characters when you weren't there is way over the line.

Totally unacceptable.

This is where players unite and say 'this gets rolled back with at least some kind of apology and an assurance it won't happen again or we don't play your game'.

 

[alienux]

Definitely not cool on the DM's part. As a DM, I respect my players' time and effort put into the game too much to mess up their characters without them even having a chance to be a part of the outcome. I'd definitely talk to the DM and let him know how you feel, and if he doesn't seem to care, I'd start a new group.

 

[BoldItalic]

Essentially, the DM has forked the campaign. There is a world that the new players are playing in and where your own characters are NPCs to be beaten on, and there is a parallel universe, superficially similar, where you are the PCs and the new guys don't exist. What he can't do is to recombine the two trivially, because the fabric of the space-time continuum would be rent asunder and all the demons of chaos would pour through the gap.

Okay, that was a bit dramatic but you get the idea.

Suggestion: get together with the original group of players and a different DM for a secret one-off session, move the story forward from where you left off, then present the new situation to the original DM and say "this is what happened in your campaign while you were away."

He won't like it.

Then you say, "Well, that's how we feel about what you have done."

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

As far as the etiquette of adding new players to the game goes, that can vary. I recently added some new players to my gaming group because some of the original folks just weren’t making it to gaming for various reasons. I did not ask anyone if it was okay. I also host our gaming, but were I gaming at someone else’s place, yeah, I would’ve at the least asked them for permission.

I am thinking there are two possibilities here. One, the DM had this “great” idea about former enemies ending up on the same side, unlikely allies, common threat, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The problem with that is that D&D is a communal storytelling game, not a novel. If I were going to do something like that (not that I would), I would vet it with everyone involved first.


The other possibility, is that the DM is cheesed off at the current group for some reason, and this is supposed to drive the current folks away in favor of the new.


My advice would be to talk to the DM, explaining that while you respect their decisions as the DM, you feel that it was unfair to have your characters taken control of and used without you being there. If the DM doesn’t understand or doubles down on the behavior, then yes, I agree, take your characters and find a new DM.

The DM can do anything he wants in the game world. That doesn't mean he should or that it's wise.

There is nothing preventing you or other players from taking your PCs and starting or continuing the game elsewhere. In a sense, you are invalidating what the DM did as you ask in your original post.

 

[Kalshane]

While there are variations in table etiquette from group to group I (and DMs I've played under) have always discussed the addition of new players with the group before doing so.

As for the OP's situation, this is incredibly bad form (both the "new secret players" and the "So these guys totally attacked your characters and screwed them up while you weren't playing them" situations). He and the other original players need to sit down with the DM, explain why they're upset, ask what the DM was trying to do and see if they can't hash out some sort of agreement. If not, they should ditch the DM and find another group.

 

[MNblockhead]

Essentially, the DM has forked the campaign. There is a world that the new players are playing in and where your own characters are NPCs to be beaten on, and there is a parallel universe, superficially similar, where you are the PCs and the new guys don't exist. What he can't do is to recombine the two trivially, because the fabric of the space-time continuum would be rent asunder and all the demons of chaos would pour through the gap.

Okay, that was a bit dramatic but you get the idea.

Suggestion: get together with the original group of players and a different DM for a secret one-off session, move the story forward from where you left off, then present the new situation to the original DM and say "this is what happened in your campaign while you were away."

He won't like it.

Then you say, "Well, that's how we feel about what you have done."

OOoooh, can I be that DM? I've not even read Tyranny of Dragons. Imagine the fun we could have.