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What DM flaw has caused you to actually leave a game?
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<blockquote data-quote="guachi" data-source="post: 7497357" data-attributes="member: 6785802"><p>Someone else commented earlier that something like "DM infringing upon player's abilities" as something that would get him to walk.</p><p></p><p>This is the only thing that caused me to walk and I'll give specific examples.</p><p></p><p>Early in 5e's days I was playing in an AL game to get familiar with the game and get back into gaming. Another player had the Shield Master ability and no one at the table, DM included, really had a clue on the timing of the shove. The DM ruled that the PC had to attack first but admitted he had no real clue. And that when the PC hit 5th level he could shove after the first of his two attacks. </p><p></p><p>So I created a Twitter account and asked Jeremy Crawford (yes, friends, that's my tweet that Crawford initially answered and then reversed) about it. The DM had a reasonable ruling at the time and went along with Crawford's tweet-answer as it was better and more definitive than anything we could come up with.</p><p></p><p>This did not cause me to leave the game. The DM did a good job and I thought I'd be happy with him as DM. However, a few weeks later we were playing the AL adventure Outlaws of the Iron Route and I was playing my Arcane Trickster. Remember, in AL play the DM can't make up houserules. If the rules are clear the DM really has no choice in the matter. The <em>Mage Hand</em> Legerdemain feature says that, when you cast <em>mage hand</em> "you can use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range" in addition to the normal features of <em>mage hand.</em> That's clear and unambiguous. At one point in the adventure there's an owl bear in a cage and, before I could really do anything about it, he flatly told me I couldn't use <em>mage hand </em>to attempt to unlock the cage. He knew what the rules were, he just didn't care. I left the game.</p><p></p><p>Several years later (that is, this Spring) he was one of two DMs who was DMing Tomb of Annihilation. I was not at his table. I got lucky and the regular crew of players from level one was pretty good and the DM was a friend. One player had a monk PC and was really excited because he just made level 5 and had Stunning Strike.</p><p></p><p>"Does Stunning Strike have a size limit on the target?", I said. "Lots of abilities like shoving and grappling have size limits."</p><p>"Yeah. I think it does", he replied. "Let me check." <Flip, flip, flip> "Nope. It doesn't list a size limit."</p><p>"OMG. That's so awesome. You can stun a dinosaur. My Shield Master shove only works on large or smaller. I can't wait for you to stun a tyrannosaurus rex."</p><p></p><p>Now, bad DM was playing at our table because we didn't have enough players for two tables that night and the DM wanted to play once in a while. He overhears our excitement and loudly proclaims, "When you're at my table you won't be able to do that. It's cheesy."</p><p></p><p>Other player refuses to play with the DM at his table the next week. DM ends up losing his DMing position because not enough people wanted to play at his table.</p><p></p><p>This was the same DM who, in the very game he told off the monk's player, was playing a ranger who used the Archery fighting style and Sharpshooter feat while throwing javelins.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="guachi, post: 7497357, member: 6785802"] Someone else commented earlier that something like "DM infringing upon player's abilities" as something that would get him to walk. This is the only thing that caused me to walk and I'll give specific examples. Early in 5e's days I was playing in an AL game to get familiar with the game and get back into gaming. Another player had the Shield Master ability and no one at the table, DM included, really had a clue on the timing of the shove. The DM ruled that the PC had to attack first but admitted he had no real clue. And that when the PC hit 5th level he could shove after the first of his two attacks. So I created a Twitter account and asked Jeremy Crawford (yes, friends, that's my tweet that Crawford initially answered and then reversed) about it. The DM had a reasonable ruling at the time and went along with Crawford's tweet-answer as it was better and more definitive than anything we could come up with. This did not cause me to leave the game. The DM did a good job and I thought I'd be happy with him as DM. However, a few weeks later we were playing the AL adventure Outlaws of the Iron Route and I was playing my Arcane Trickster. Remember, in AL play the DM can't make up houserules. If the rules are clear the DM really has no choice in the matter. The [I]Mage Hand[/I] Legerdemain feature says that, when you cast [I]mage hand[/I] "you can use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range" in addition to the normal features of [I]mage hand.[/I] That's clear and unambiguous. At one point in the adventure there's an owl bear in a cage and, before I could really do anything about it, he flatly told me I couldn't use [I]mage hand [/I]to attempt to unlock the cage. He knew what the rules were, he just didn't care. I left the game. Several years later (that is, this Spring) he was one of two DMs who was DMing Tomb of Annihilation. I was not at his table. I got lucky and the regular crew of players from level one was pretty good and the DM was a friend. One player had a monk PC and was really excited because he just made level 5 and had Stunning Strike. "Does Stunning Strike have a size limit on the target?", I said. "Lots of abilities like shoving and grappling have size limits." "Yeah. I think it does", he replied. "Let me check." <Flip, flip, flip> "Nope. It doesn't list a size limit." "OMG. That's so awesome. You can stun a dinosaur. My Shield Master shove only works on large or smaller. I can't wait for you to stun a tyrannosaurus rex." Now, bad DM was playing at our table because we didn't have enough players for two tables that night and the DM wanted to play once in a while. He overhears our excitement and loudly proclaims, "When you're at my table you won't be able to do that. It's cheesy." Other player refuses to play with the DM at his table the next week. DM ends up losing his DMing position because not enough people wanted to play at his table. This was the same DM who, in the very game he told off the monk's player, was playing a ranger who used the Archery fighting style and Sharpshooter feat while throwing javelins. [/QUOTE]
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