(6) Red Flags of a Bad Game

[Nomad4life]

How about a DM that wants you to play in a new game in a system no one has ever used, makes all of the PC characters himself for you to choose, and tells you that you don't need to understand the mechanics, he'll tell you what to roll and if you succeed.

I actually prefer that kind of game, as it allows for more story-like immersion (you can’t metagame if you don’t know the mechanics.)

Keep in mind this DM has a history of railroading.

This, however, would make me a little anxious...

 

[Dragonbait]

When the GM sticks an NPC with the group and the NPC receives more attention than the rest, is stronger and is the solution to every problem, it's time to leave and let the GM play with himself.(not that way )

Ah, the pet NPC. I've seen all too many of these. I think about 25% of the campaigns I play in have one.
Horror Story 1: One GM had a pet NPC of the week. We'd get togeather, and instead of playing the adventure, it would be "Look at my new character.. I mean this NPC that will help you! FOr the next four hours, you will encounter him, talk to him, and be saved by him." That GM, more than once, made barbarian/monk combos (a halfling barkeep barbarian/monk with a heavy Irish accent) and at least once made the same class combo as a PC, but gave the NPC better equipment and better stats. Fortunately, we let the GM know about the problem, and he stopped. A happy ending.
Horror Story 2: This was a 1 on 1 campaign from way back in the day. The GM introduced 6 NPCs to accompany me, each one from his stories that he wrote when he was in Jr.High. In the first fight, after round 1, he skipped me in combat. I sat there and watched as, for 5 rounds of combat, he had his NPCs fight the monsters, and win, and never realized that I had yet to act.

Agent Oracle, how about one of the signs being "Just to let you know, I've house-ruled the system. Oh, but I'll not tell you what rules I changed. You'll find out once the rule comes up, and you start using it as normal. I'll throw a temper tantrum, then a week later say that I had my own version of the rules, but I'll still never tell you what they were, or what exact situation used my house rules instead of the RAW."
Is that too specific to my own experences? That specific GM could lead to page after page after page of ranting..

 

[Dragonbait]

Okay, guys, there is only one thing sadder than never getting laid, that's getting laid in D&D, by a male GM's NPC. It's also a really bad sign that you're in for a rough haul...

I only had one group that regularly used sex in their story lines. And it was the one with a number of female and one gay player. They were the ones that pushed to have those scenes in there. I just wanted to get the characters into the dungeon/keep/whathaveyou and start killin' stuff. WTF man... WTF...

 

[The_Gneech]

"What do you mean, 'what does the house you're approaching look like?' It's just a house, it doesn't matter! What do you mean, 'at least tell me if it has one story or two'? It doesn't matter how many stories it has, it's just a house! Anyway, there's a guy standing in front of the house, what do you do? What do you mean, 'what does the guy look like?' It doesn't matter, he's just some guy!"

-The Gneech

 

[tzor]

1. "There's a Paladin! Quick, kill his horse!" :

It could be worse. I played a dwarven beast rider who rode a hog. (I named my hog Harley.) Not only was there danger everywhere on the road, but even the stables were never always all that safe. Horses were safe, but the NPCS always kept making to many "bacon" jokes for my liking.

 

[Storm Raven]

Two notes here:

- having a mount/animal companion/familiar is a burden and an advantage at the same time; if a player wants one, he should be prepared to (1) know the rules about how to use it and (2) expect some minimal realism (an animal isn't going to behave as a human, unless it has an extraordinary intelligence);

Animals with exceptional intelligence include both paladin's mounts and familiars (although familiars are not even animals, they are magical beasts). These sorts of creatures should behave differently from normal animals. A druid's or ranger's companion is also arguably smarter than the typical animal, since it can learn more tricks than a normal animal.

 

[Dragonbait]

"...Anyway, there's a guy standing in front of the house, what do you do? What do you mean, 'what does the guy look like?' It doesn't matter, he's just some guy!"

The equivalent I've heard "You turn the corner and see a dead dude. The dude goes 'rrr' and attacks." This is the actual dexcription that we got one. Not as bad as the Gneech's version, but.. Dead dude? Turns out it was a ghoul.

 

[painandgreed]

Heh, I probably should, but i just think the wall of force / greased walls / every space is trapped combo was overdoing it. How was the person who designed the trapped room supposed to get to the treasure chest on the other side?

Such people know about the traps and probably not only have a way to get by them but also have a decent amount of time to do it in. Looting..., er, adventuring parties usually get in and out in a few hours, the traps just need to disuade the party long enough for guards to notice, or for them to give up. For that matter, the BBEG is usually a magic-user and knows the location and can just teleport there.

One should just read:
1. "There's a Paladin!"

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I only had one group that regularly used sex in their story lines. And it was the one with a number of female and one gay player. They were the ones that pushed to have those scenes in there. I just wanted to get the characters into the dungeon/keep/whathaveyou and start killin' stuff. WTF man... WTF...

Sounds to me like someone wanted attention.

 

[Nomad4life]

"What do you mean, 'what does the house you're approaching look like?' It's just a house, it doesn't matter! What do you mean, 'at least tell me if it has one story or two'? It doesn't matter how many stories it has, it's just a house! Anyway, there's a guy standing in front of the house, what do you do? What do you mean, 'what does the guy look like?' It doesn't matter, he's just some guy!"

ARRGGHHH!!! I played in a game once with a GM just that bad as well- Man, I nearly forgot all about that night until I read this post... You always knew which places to go/people to interact with because they were the only ones with descriptions. If you tried to interact with random commoners, you would get a response like “Bob the merchant is busy and doesn’t feel like talking to you.” The best part of that painful adventure went something like:

GM: Are you ever going to leave the building and get on with the game?

PCs: Not until we figure more out about <Name of NPC.>

GM (sigh): The soldiers escort you out of the building.

PCs: Huh!? What soldiers!? You didn’t mention any soldiers!

GM: Well they’re here now, and they force you to leave.

PCs: What are they soldiers of? We’re nowhere near <Name of Empire of setting>

GM: They’re just friggin’ soldiers. Or guards. Or somebody. And they make you leave. Now, get on with the damn adventure.

I came really close to leaving that game because it was just so amazingly dull, pre-scripted, and nonsensical. But, I stayed in the game, because my friend’s brother was running it. I’ve always regretted it. I should have just left.