Worst game I ever ran.

[GMforPowergamers]

ok, so tuesday night I had a full break down of D&D...


The PCs are on a quest to gain 5 magic crystals to defeat my BBEG. The are in the dessert of crystal 4. I have 4 encounters planed.

encounter 1- a cyst that formed from the far realm, it is corrupting the land. the PCs quickly decide to just avoid it and there is nothing they can do.

encounter 2-this was an rp encounter, and the PCs would make a new ally. as the PCs are setting up camp they see 4 dromites ridding 2 bullets. They decide to hide. When I point out they never do that, I was told they wanted to try. So they all make awsome rolls.

encounter 3- a skill challange and combat togather...a spirit of the land wants to ask for help, and as she is there curropted by the cycst spirits attack them both.
But the PCs didn;t trust here and kept threatning her and pulled weapons, and until I stop the game thought she was a bad guy setting them up.


So I had to go out of game and say "Guys, she is one of the last not corrupted" before they got it. after that fight they ask her about the crystal. She tells them that in the center of the dessert is a city that was ruined by an evil adamantine dragon that now claims the citu. Under the city is a series of caves in those caves is the crystal.

so they go to the city... and expect an extended rest...but run into a dragon (yea big suprise) The PCs assumed the dragon would be the end boss of the caves, even though I told them it was in the city...

then a PC died in the fight.

Now the PCs say it is the worst game they ever played. I am not even sure what I did wrong. I let them avoid 2 encounters becuse they chose to, I stoped the game to explain the problem with there paranoid thoughts on the 3rd...but the 4th was a level +2 solo... and a PC died.


what do you think? what did I do wrong, how do I improve?

 

[Summer-Knight925]

Problem?

You did nothing wrong.
They did nothing wrong.
Sometimes things just happen and it isn't fun.


I would have had the Dromites stop to take a pee break, 'find' the pcs and yell (in combat if you have too) "Stop! we're here to help! <insert help point here>!"

and as for the spirit of nature encounter, perhaps have it SAVE one of the PCs, like something attacks (say a purple worm, why not?) and grapples one of the PCs, so the spirit of nature does something to save that character (and the party) from the purple worm. Any idiot would realize "he's friendly!"

The dragon was their fault, you did nothing wrong.

 

[korjik]

I dont think that you did anything wrong. Sometimes things just dont work out very well, no matter how well you plan or how well you think you know your players.

Encounter 1: Do they have a habit of avoiding avoidable encounters? If not, I would ask why they did this time. If they do, then that should have been taken into account.

Encounter 2: I would ask them why they hid. You may have inadvertantly given them the impression that they are going to be attacked by all encounters. On the other hand, they may have gotten into a paranoia snit.

Encounter 3: You may have not told them, or they just completely missed, that the spirit was uncorrupted. Either that, or they were really paranoid that night.

The City: This is most definitely their bad. Give each of them a copy of The Hobbit and point out Smaug's behavior. About the only way you may have messed up here is if they were trying to sneak into the City and you either made it too hard, or gave them the impression that the dragon just auto-found the party.

You need to find out if the problem is just that night, or if they are not enjoying the whole campaign. It is very hard to tell from the DM side of the screen if things are going right. If the problem is just that night, then just write it off as a bad night and not worry about it. If your players have a problem with the entire campaign, then make them tell you what they dont like, and dont take it personally when they tell you.

Hope it goes better next time.

 

[ExploderWizard]

The are in the dessert of crystal 4.

Cake, pie, pudding ,or ice cream?

It all sounds good to me.

As PC's, they might be upset that they were not featured as the main course.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

Now the PCs say it is the worst game they ever played. I am not even sure what I did wrong. I let them avoid 2 encounters becuse they chose to, I stoped the game to explain the problem with there paranoid thoughts on the 3rd...but the 4th was a level +2 solo... and a PC died.


what do you think? what did I do wrong, how do I improve?

You are asking the wrong group of people what you did wrong. The Players expected something that wasn't delivered, they are who I'd be talking to.

However, since you asked

If I was playing in this game, I'd be upset that you stopped play to instruct the players on how to respond to Encounters 2 and 3.

As GM, I think my job is to setup the situation and let the players respond to it. If they horribly screw up, next week the players will be dealing with the fallout of their own actions, mistakes, and hubris. Just from reading your description, it looks like the PCs were trying a different approach to the problem: stealth over force. You halted the game to tell them that this isn't how to play the game.

 

[Rune]

what do you think?

I think you (and your group) would benefit greatly from a shift in philosophy. It seems to me that both you and your players have developed a set of assumptions about the game and these assumptions came into conflict in this session.

You seem bound to the script you have prepared for the session; your players seem to think they have you pegged. This leads to a certain inflexibility on your part in adjusting to the players' decisions. On the other hand, your players appear to be trying to game your expectations--trying to throw you curve-balls and getting upset when they don't fundamentally change the game (as with encounters 2 and 3) or assuming they know your script and getting upset when it turns out they don't (as in encounter 4).

what did I do wrong

You and the players are no longer playing the same game. You are playing your script and they are playing against it. This is the problem with railroading; it may be necessary to guide your players along for a while, but, sooner or later, they're going to feel as if they play no important role in the game--whether or not their PCs do.

how do I improve?

Learn to be flexible and incorporate your players' decisions into your game--even if (when) they wreck your plot. When you are planning, plan contingencies, but be aware that you can't plan for everything.

When your players go off-script, consider how this will change things in the world and then roll with it. If the actions of their PCs make things in the world get worse, well, that's just one more mess for them to have to clean up later.

 

[Neonchameleon]

It sounds as if you were used to running on a railroad, the PCs started to break away - and neither they nor you knew what to do at that point. You've written "and the PCs would make a new ally" - to me that says you had only one plan for the outcome. Likewise on the other encounters - you wanted them to do it your way. Also what chance did they have of seeing the dragon? Could they have run or hidden? Or did it just attack out of nowhere?

 

[Tymophil]

I have 4 encounters planed.

Planned? What do you mean by planned?

encounter 1- a cyst that formed from the far realm, it is corrupting the land. the PCs quickly decide to just avoid it and there is nothing they can do.

The PCs decided on what information? I found that when PC get the wrong impresion aout a scene it's because I, as a DM, did not feed them with enough information.

If I want to impress my PC toward a certain way, I prepare visuals, give information after a skill roll. This kind of information makes a bigger impression on them. I extensively use the Intuition skill (mood), the Intelligence check (memory), History (culture), etc.

encounter 2-this was an rp encounter, and the PCs would make a new ally. as the PCs are setting up camp they see 4 dromites ridding 2 bullets. They decide to hide. When I point out they never do that, I was told they wanted to try. So they all make awsome rolls.

Don't tell them they're doing wrong.

What did you plan to set the mood of this encounter?

encounter 3- a skill challange and combat togather...a spirit of the land wants to ask for help, and as she is there curropted by the cycst spirits attack them both.
But the PCs didn;t trust here and kept threatning her and pulled weapons, and until I stop the game thought she was a bad guy setting them up.

What did you plan to set the mood of this encounter?

 

[Jimlock]

If I was playing in this game, I'd be upset that you stopped play to instruct the players on how to respond to Encounters 2 and 3.

As GM, I think my job is to setup the situation and let the players respond to it. If they horribly screw up, next week the players will be dealing with the fallout of their own actions, mistakes, and hubris. Just from reading your description, it looks like the PCs were trying a different approach to the problem: stealth over force. You halted the game to tell them that this isn't how to play the game.

This.



..other than that... well happens... not your fault.

But don't forget a rule of thumb:

When a PC dies, players will always get pissed off about it, no matter what.

What is super-cool OTOH is that by "proving" that PCs are indeed "expendable", in a sense that you

are not some softy DM that will save their lazy butts once they mess up, you have done your game great good.

And what is that greater good?

The fact that your players will realize that your game is not just a walk in the park.

That decisions DO matter and that big risks taken do not always pay off.

More adrenaline, more tension... more decision making... a better game overall.

 

[ahayford]

I have frequently used what is sometimes referred to as "reflection" when I DM. Often times, your PC's will start going completely off the rails from what you thought or planned for them to do. They kill an ally, befriend an enemy, completely avoid that lynch pin encounter....or better yet...completely manufacture a threat of out paranoia that you didn't intend.


Well....In response, I "reflect" those actions and fears....

That ally *was* an enemy trying to eff them over. Now that enemy actually had a heart of gold or was cursed...or whatever you can come up with. I recently planned out a small fire beetle intro encounter, that turned into a beetle swarm from hell that nearly comsumed an entire outpost because the players got super paranoid. And you know what....What they came up with was way more interesting then what I had originally planned. I ran with it and it turned out awesome.

The players have to feel like their choices matter or the sense of adventure and free will just vanishes. Its an extremely hard lesson for a DM to learn. Try to think about it as collaborative story telling. Its good to have planned characters and encounters, but try and be flexible about how the events play out. Don't sweat it if your players miss a clue or a key encounter. You can always have that same encounter happen somewhere else. Modify some fluff details to reflect the new situation and you're good to go.

In your case, if your players avoid the cyst....I might validate those fears. People start having nightmares, madness starts creeping into people's dreams. Normal creatures start appearing that are corrupted by its influence. Maybe have something contact the heroes that can provide "protection" or a "weapon" to use against it that gives the players confidence that this is something they can tackle. If they choose to ignore it again...well there is only so much you can do It was a nice desert

With the ally situation, try to drop hints that these creatures appear non-violent, or at the least non-threatening. Some players are used to the "all npcs are monsters" mindset so this can sometimes be hard to tackle. Set up a situation like Return of the Jedi where the characters fall into a trap and must talk their way out of it....or maybe they encounter the natives being attacked by some obviously evil creature and the heroes can chose to save them. Again...only so much you can do. You can give them a few different opportunities to befriend them, but if not....thats just one choice they chose not to make.

As for the spirit, I could go two ways on this. I might turn her into a spirit that was, in fact, trying to fool them. Or, make the players pay for their paranoia by being forced to watch her anguished screams as she is corrupted before their very eyes, turning into a creature of nightmare and pain. Depends how much of a pita they were being

Another great tool to use is "Foreshadowing". When your heroes start to make their way into the city....start to make it abundantly clear that something large, carnivorous, and hungry lives there. Piles of bones....fresh scorch marks....fresh claw marks on the buildings...dragon droppings....you name it. Leave plenty of warnings. Sometimes PC's miss that time you mentioned the dragon lived in the city and not the caves. Giving them warnings like the above without directly stating "HEY THE DRAGON IS IN THE CITY DUMBASS" can help them remember And if they go in anyway well.....Dragon's gotta eat.