I said "No" when I should have said "Yes".

[Weregrognard]

This past weekend, I was running a certain adventure* that features an encounter with patches of mushrooms as an obstacle. The patches of mushrooms have random detrimental properties when disturbed. After the encounter, a player identified one of the mushroom patches with a successful Dungeoneering check. The player then asked me: "Can I harvest some for later use?” Instead of saying "Yes" and perhaps, "give me another Dungeoneering check", I was seized with an irrational, paranoid fear of player abuse. Instinctively, I said no then rationalized my decision by saying that the properties of the mushrooms only function as a patch and can't be duplicated by harvesting a small amount. To add to the player’s disappointment, I also mentioned that trying to harvest the mushrooms would count as "disturbing" the patch. What a crock of BS! I could have let the player harvest some with a Dungeoneering check and maybe allowed a one-use, cool effect or something. But no, I was a bad DM this time.

So what shall be my penance for this sin? Does anyone else have a bad DM sin to confess?


*too lazy to use spoiler tabs

 

[S'mon]

Bad GM, no cookie for you.

Off-hand I can't think of anything like this, I tend to always say yes to cool in-game initiatives. I say 'no' to powergaming change-the-rules-to-suit-my-PC stuff, although I may present a more reasonable alternative.

 

[Wormwood]

A sadder and a wiser DM you woke the morrow morn.

 

[Henry]

So what shall be my penance for this sin?

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich, with basil, tomato, and feta dressing, over a lightly toasted kaiser roll.

Does anyone else have a bad DM sin to confess?

Too many for this post. Most obnoxious one was letting a player drive two hours and then not play because I couldn't think up a plausible way to introduce his new character to the group. My biggest lesson in "let it ride" that I ever got.

 

[Morrus]

I try to make it a rule always to say "yes" when a player wants to try something. He may be unsuccessful, but I try never to say "no, you can't try that".

I don't always succeed in following my rule, but I make an effort!

 

[The_Warlock]

I generally say "Sure you can, BUT..." and lay out the relevant, if vague, consequences as the character may perceive them.

My other phrase is, "Are you sure?" because sometimes, a really cool idea will be fatal without just a wee bit of forethought.

Penance: Make a mushroom lasagna for your players next run.

 

[jdrakeh]

Penance: Make a mushroom lasagna for your players next run.

Punishment never tasted so good!

 

[Beckett]

I ran into a lack of imagination running Thunderspire two weeks ago. One of the skill checks has laid out the suitable skills and the DCs. We come to the rogue, finds his choice of skills is a bit lacking for this particular challenge.

"Thievery?" he asks.

"Nope. You can't pick their pockets, and I don't think these guys are going to be impressed with some slight of hand."

A few days later: "The place was loaded with traps! Thievery might have shown practical knowledge about how to disarm things."

 

[justanobody]

So, you have what appeared to be a colony of fungi dispersed as "patches" that was actually a single fungus that relies on its habit via symbiosis to give off its "properties" and when removed from the main body of the fungus it loses those properties quickly and deteriorates just as quickly, and you told your player this in his dungeoneering check to aid him in not wasting time on the fungus?

Doesn't sound like a bad DM moment to me, unless I have misunderstood something. How much information does a dungeoneering check provide?

 

[Dolfan]

So, you have what appeared to be a colony of fungi dispersed as "patches" that was actually a single fungus that relies on its habit via symbiosis to give off its "properties" and when removed from the main body of the fungus it loses those properties quickly and deteriorates just as quickly, and you told your player this in his dungeoneering check to aid him in not wasting time on the fungus?

Doesn't sound like a bad DM moment to me, unless I have misunderstood something. How much information does a dungeoneering check provide?

I think the point is moreso that by saying no, he effectively squashed the player's attempt at creativity, whereas saying yes and letting him try wouldn't likely have unbalanced the game any.

I'm actually likely going to be running this encounter tonight, so thanks for making me think about that possible situation.