101 Truly awful DM tricks

[Halivar]

Help me out. I'm not a devious person, so I can't come up with a good list. I'm looking for 101 truly rat-bastard-y things for a DM to potentially pull on players (say that five times):

1. A player's cohort (if he's an NPC) is a spy for the BBEG; he betrays the party at a crucial moment.
2. A beholder in a hall of mirrors. Or a medusa. Or a basilisk.
3. Wandering exploding kitten bombs ("He looks so cute, and he radiates evocation; can we take him with us?").
4. Daern's Devouring Fortress. The first two uses are just the demo.
5. Magic scrolls with symbol of death/insanity/persuasion/etc. cast on them. Treasure itself should have a CR rating, too!
6. The BBEG is a five-year old kid. He has the Leadership feat and his cohort is a puppy. He wields a security blanket and a talisman of the sphere.
7. A mutant strain of "scoopies" develops that spreads via buff and cure spells.
8. The wizard's crystal ball is really a lich's item familiar. Hilarity and hijinx ensue. And pain; that, too.
9. The party's rogue is cursed with audible theme music. The DM should have a CD player and the Austin Powers soundtrack handy for Move Silently checks.
10. Half-dragon (red) trolls. Especially handy for the group without any acid.

The rest is left as an exercise to the reader. What have you done (serious or silly), or always wanted to do, to truly shaft the party?

 

[Thomas Percy]

Maybe not a dirty trick, but it ALWAYS worked so far.
When I need the PC to trust some bad guy, I introduced him/her as shady person, who makes something suspicious for the PCs. Then the PCs interrogate him or treat him in other ugly way to understand in result that "this poor NPC" made this to please them only. In this moment the PCs feel guilty and are ready to trust this NPC and don't suspect him anymore.

It works in real life too.

 

[Mark Hope]

Can't remember where I heard of this one (probably here), but I've always wanted to run an adventure where the PCs set out (for whatever reason) to hunt down a white dragon. They prepare, buff and head into combat against the beast. Which is when they discover that it isn't a white dragon, but a wight dragon. Can't wait to try that one out.

 

[ender_wiggin]

(will only work once)

The character or group of characters discover that they've been charmed / dominated since the beginning of the story.

"Hmm... we all radiate enchantment aura. I wonder why?"

If your players are smart, there a number to mask these suspicious auras. I leave them to your imagination.

 

[Sejs]

(will only work once)

The character or group of characters discover that they've been charmed / dominated since the beginning of the story.

"Hmm... we all radiate enchantment aura. I wonder why?"

If your players are smart, there a number to mask these suspicious auras. I leave them to your imagination.

I've done something like that, but it was with Modify Memory instead of charm.

"The door radiates weak abjuration magic, looks like some sort of warding just like you suspected. ... Also you can't help but notice out of the corner of your eye that Bill over there is glowing like a miniature star."

 

[merelycompetent]

Digging into my Purple Book of Dastardly Dirty Deeds:

I think we're at...

15. Traps/locks - Failed Disable Device skill check results in broken tools. How often do the rogues carry spares?

16. Arm the bad guy archers with Arrows of Monster Summoning (I-whatever), and the Precise Shot feat. They shoot at meleers/casters, generate a bunch of AOO/threatening monsters that assist the main fighters.

17. Trap: The door they're trying to open is a killer mimic.

18. Trap: Opening the door turns the wall it's on into an advanced black pudding.

19. BBEG has several clerics all equipped with wands of cure wounds and a ring that allows 2 teleports/day. He then hires/summons/employs any outsider that can teleport at will and uses them to delay the heroes, teleporting back to the cleric squad for quick cures, then cycling back in to harrass. This buys the BBEG + allies time to buff up really nice while draining the PC's resources. Then the BBEG can make his grand, violent entrance, knock some heads together, and get rescued as needed by his cleric squad (using their rings).

20. Add a new weapon/item descriptor or magical effect/power: [Dedicated - (deity name)]. User of the item must be a follower of said evil deity to activate the item's powers - otherwise it's just a masterwork item that radiates magic. (Truly dastardly. Use this sparingly, or your players may revolt and beat you violently with your own DMG.)

21. The wizards guilds and priests temples all uniquely enchant their permanent items so that they can scry on, locate, retrieve, or send bad guy assassins (who tend to pay well for the service) straight to the PCs... in the middle of a fight. Hey, it's just business!

22. Miscast spell, magical trap, wrong combination of ancient magical items brought into close proximity causes affected PCs to randomly switch bodies. Requires DM prep: Get current copies of character sheets, split the info up into physical stats, mental stats, skills, feats, items carried, spells memorized. DM must also be *very* familiar with the PCs' stats, AC, saves, hp, etc. Put each on its own sheet of paper (folded and numbered on the outside) in an envelope with the original's name on it. When the trap is triggered, gather up all character sheets and hand out the swapped body's envelope to the new player with instructions not to open until told to. Player now has to spend role-playing time to figure out each part of his new character sheet. (When he/she does, tell them to open the envelope and select the appropriately numbered sheet.) A good time for the trap to spring is in the middle of combat with otherwise non-dangerous foes. Give out the character sheets as rewards for good role-playing, along with a healthy xp bonus when they finally get unstuck.

23. High Level/Epic: Some darn fool accidentally opened a permanent gate to the Abyss inside a Dragon Turtle... and it just surfaced under the PCs' boat/in the docks of the city. Replace the cloud of steam breath weapon with a cloud of demons.

DM: "It breathes a cloud of demons at you."
Players: "MAHAHAHAHAHAHA...!!!!!"
Player4: "Uh, guys, he's... not... laughing..."
DM: "Roll for initiative."
Wish I had a camera. The looks on their faces...

24. A purple worm bursts into the dungeon/castle/city they're in and suddenly, messily, explodes - spreading rot grubs all over. Replace rot grubs with appropriate magical parasitic worms from the Far Realm, _Lords of Madness_ critters, or other as appropriate for increased fun.

25. Mid-level: PCs arrive at the castle/dungeon and discover that it has already been looted by another group of adventurers. Their rivals even left a message: "Sorry you took so long to get here. We've already killed the opposition and taken all their stuff. Back at town getting drunk. Much love and affection, Your Rivals. P.S. SUCKERS!!!!" (Their rivals followed them around with scrying/divination magics and let the PCs do all the hard work of information gathering, then set out ahead of them, ransacked the place, and returned to town.)

Hope this helps!

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Which is when they discover that it isn't a white dragon, but a wight dragon.

Better yet, make it an albino red dragon!

 

[Agent Oracle]

The Comic strip "Adventurers"

Panel 1: Wizard: "Okay, the Ice Cave's boss is in the next room, quick equipment check, I have the FIRE staff."
Panel 2: Thief: "I Have the FLAME daggers"
Panel 3: Fighter: "I've got the sword of BURNING".
Panel 4: Massive red dragon: "Hi! I'm the Fire dragon of the Ice cave!"
Panel 5: Players: "#@$%!"
Dragon: (holding up a bucket of red paint with a still-white tail tip) "Hehehehe."

26: Kobolds. Dozens upon dozens of kobolds. The party might be level 15, but nothing will take them down a few pegs like 90 kobolds, each with 1-5 character levels.

27. Create a custom monster whose Armor class changes every round: 1d20 + (stat)

Player: "Yes! 15! I hit!"
GM: "No jimmy, I'm afraid you don't. This time when your blade swings true, there isn othing but air.

28. Leave the room, call another player on their cell phone and tell them to come after you. When they come after you, re-enter the gaming room from another door, and continue the session without them (until they come back.) Act surprised, deny everything.

29. Give them dreams, have one guy always dream in references to old 8-bit NES games, then, at a point late in the game, there is a doorway who has the same features as an NES controller. (d-pad, Select, Start, A and B buttons) The only way to open it is to enter UUDDLRLRBAStart (make sure he dreams of CONTRA before that encounter)

 

[wingsandsword]

30. The Shill: One of the PC's isn't really a PC, it's an NPC being played by somebody other than the GM, who is there to help railroad the party, gets special behind-the-scenes help from the GM like knowing everybody's weaknesses or blackmail information (in a political game) or is notably more powerful than the other PC's, and helps force the PC's in the direction the GM wants. (I know one DM who used to use this trick often, until his players started suspecting it in every game).

 

[deltadave]

100 kobold spellcasters, all of whom have magic missile or some other no save damaging spell memorized.

that is number 31 I believe