D&D 5E DM purposely gimping my Warlock

[MoonSong]

Others have explained why it would make sense to go in not knowing the specifics, for Ravenloft, and then explain once you arrive in the Ravenloft setting. In addition...where are you getting "in the middle of it" from? Seems like it was early in the game, not the middle.

In the middle of the session...

 

[Mistwell]

In the middle of the session...

Again, where are you getting that from?

Here is what he said, "I joined a Ravenloft campaign that plays online over Roll20 and we had our first game last night...The DM started us with virtually no money and no gear....no armor, no weapons, nothing. We all had to be human as well..The DM informed me last night that he has a couple of special house rules about resting...When I tried to protest this to him he basically told me that I better re-roll into a different class then because this is how his game is going to be run."

There is nothing about it being the middle of anything. Indeed, the DM told him he might want to choose a different PC then. Seems like they hadn't started beyond character creation. This is all the beginning, where the DM explains the setting, house rules, and they talk about the PCs, and make any needed adjustments.

 

[Remathilis]

I think the problem is that 8 hours effectively means you either get 1 short, 1 long rest or 2 shorts and no long rests (which is stupid beyond belief). Which makes short rest features 2/day (1 use due to LR, 1 due to SR). I have no problem with a period between short rests (since I don't like chained SRs) but I think 8 is excessive.

 

[Bumamgar]

This whole thread makes me really appreciate the people I play D&D with. My players never try to abuse the rest rules or whine about how a class has been 'gimped' because the world is a dangerous place and rests can be rare in the middle of adventuring.

Of course there's an eb and a flow to it. Sometimes the adventure is overland travel based where you may have one encounter a day and get a long rest in-between each encounter (although even then you can bet I'm rolling for random encounters), other times it's a series of chained encounters with serious repercussions for stopping (either due to an in-game deadline or the fact that the element of surprise will be lost). I've had players go through 8 - 10 encounters without any opportunity for rest in between. No one complained, everyone felt a sense of danger and urgency and, ultimately, accomplishment when they succeeded.

I guess I've just been lucky to generally play with mature individuals who prefer to have fun and play the game rather than complain and whine about meta-game issues like 'balance' or 'class nerfs' and the like.

I'm actually in the process of creating a custom world where player races are nearly extinct and giants and dragons are the dominant races. In this world healing is dramatically reduced (only spend 1 HD per short rest, only regain 1/4 level HD (rounding up) on a long rest, no healing potions available for purchase, etc). There are a variety of reasons for this including the stress of living under constant fear and the lack of access to basic supplies. Even things as simple as weaponry and armor are outlawed for use or purchase by PC races and must be either crafted in secret, stolen or obtained on a black market at 10x the PHB price. Being caught with a weapon is immediate grounds for execution. It's a dark, gritty place and so far my players are all eager to check it out

 

[Mistwell]

I think the problem is that 8 hours effectively means you either get 1 short, 1 long rest or 2 shorts and no long rests (which is stupid beyond belief). Which makes short rest features 2/day (1 use due to LR, 1 due to SR). I have no problem with a period between short rests (since I don't like chained SRs) but I think 8 is excessive.

It's 8 hours between short rests. I don't think it is between a long rest and a short rest (though I might be wrong). So some encounters at the beginning of the day, then a short rest, then some more encounters, then rest until 8 hours is up, then more encounters, then long rest for 8 hours.

 

[Kaychsea]

You can show the gritty side of RL without gimping a half-dozen classes and races.

Traditionally the Paladin has been a non-starter in Ravenloft, Clerics have always suffered. It's tougher for some classes and alignments than others, always has been.

And, as I said before, it's his game, his rules. That's how he wants to show it, if enough of his group don't like it it won't last long. Lobbing toys about isn't going to make the process go any faster, and when it comes down to it, if you don't want to play in those circumstances the world isn't going to end if you do something else instead. Life is too short to play games you don't like.

The other side of this is that the way 5e is unfolding, this is going to happen more often than we're used to. The whole emphasis on DM fiat when it comes to the rules is going to take a lot of getting used to for some.

 

[daddystabz]

I will agree that the DM should have informed his players before character creation about his house rules. We don't know that he didn't. Perhaps he did, but the OP somehow missed the information (didn't get or read the memo, wasn't there yet or dozed off when it was explained, whatever).

Myself and the players in the campaign can asure you he did not.

 

[BigVanVader]

Can they, though? Would they comment here and verify that?

 

[Remathilis]

Traditionally the Paladin has been a non-starter in Ravenloft, Clerics have always suffered. It's tougher for some classes and alignments than others, always has been.

And, as I said before, it's his game, his rules. That's how he wants to show it, if enough of his group don't like it it won't last long. Lobbing toys about isn't going to make the process go any faster, and when it comes down to it, if you don't want to play in those circumstances the world isn't going to end if you do something else instead. Life is too short to play games you don't like.

The other side of this is that the way 5e is unfolding, this is going to happen more often than we're used to. The whole emphasis on DM fiat when it comes to the rules is going to take a lot of getting used to for some.

A paladin was always a... unique challenge. Most of his powers worked normal (save his immunity vs. supernatural disease, and detect evil) but he himself was capable of being noticed by Darklords. So yeah, it was hard to be a paladin in Ravenloft, but aside from the aforementioned changes he still had access to all his abilities. Clerics only had restriction to Turn Undead (and to specific spells). Sure, both of them were more gimped then say, a fighter, but both of them had abilities that were very useful in a Gothic Horror game and thus had to be dialed back.

As I said before, somehow, later Ravenloft books took notes in masochism when developing weaknesses for each class. They ranged from the nonsensical (a bard's healing [and only healing] spells have a chance of failure? Why?) to the overbearing (a wizard suffered a powers check for learning any evocation spell: even light or floating disc) to the downright crippling (barbarians suffering a power check every time they rage. Or fighter's suffering a powers check every time they leveled up!). Furthermore, spell-based changes got overdone as well (powers checks for enchantments, even if you used them non-violently). Pretty soon, the game went from "lets tamper down the obviously powerful things in gothic horror" to "everyone has to have a crippling disability and make multiple powers checks per level!"

It's 8 hours between short rests. I don't think it is between a long rest and a short rest (though I might be wrong). So some encounters at the beginning of the day, then a short rest, then some more encounters, then rest until 8 hours is up, then more encounters, then long rest for 8 hours.

Still, unless your rest extremely early, you'll never get your second short rest before you can take your long rest. As I said before, you need to take your short rest in the first 5 hours, or you'll never get your 2nd before you can take a long rest again. That takes into account travel time, etc. So that makes most short rest abilities 2/day.

 

[aramis erak]

there is no excuse to weaken a class AFTER the game starts... it is bad DMing, and if the DM can't handle being questioned... walk away

Actually, There can be valid reasons to do so.
If the house rules render that class way out of balance.
If the official rules are errata nerfing it, and the stated ruleset was "whatever the current version is"...
If the other players are all in agreement that player X has found a nasty exploit and is ruining the game for the rest of them.

Generally, tho', it should be done only with consent of the players.