(6) Red Flags of a Bad Game

[Dragonbait]

Words regarding poor descriptions

This reminds me of an experience with a fairly good GM. "You are brought to a white room." That's was it. We could not leave out of the door. After 15 minutes, we learn that there are 5 people standing 20 feet away from us in the white room.. Then, after an hour, we learn that there is a side room with bunks and equipment.
This is the same GM that had our wizard mage dual another spellcaster. Right when the PC wizard is about to win, the GM says "Oh yeah, there is a pillar on the field I forgot to draw on the map" He then draws a 50'-diameter piller standing between the wizard PC and the NPC. Line of sight is gone. This is after 5 rounds of spells, and right after the NPC cast a line-of-sight spell on the PC wizard (which would mean he cast the spell right through the megolithic pillar that had yet to remember that it existed).

 

[Agent Oracle]

I think i have another one:

"As you exit the cave, you see an open field, across the field is a swamp. if you look to your left, there is an open field, as far as you can see, bordered by a swamp. If you look to your right, there is an open field as far as you can see, bordered by the swamp."

Yeah, no railroad here. No siree... (cough go into cough the swamp cough)

 

[VirgilCaine]

This is from my university gaming club...

DM: Here's my house rules. *Hands you two inch thick folder* The game uses the Unearthed Arcana rules for generic classes, there are no PHB classes.

"Here, you can play the cohort of one of the PCs and see if you like the game."

The cohort is a multiclassed 5th level humanoid Naga of some type (the classes were split between "Warrior" and some type of psionic class), with 6 Int and Cha and has perhaps 1000gp of equipment, and no alchemical or magical items.

The game is based around stopping fiends from invading the Prime material plane...and the PCs must train with a Grandmaster of their Monk tradition to level up. All the PCs are members of a monk tradition each focusing on one specific thing--armed combat, unarmed combat, magic and knowledge, etc.

Characters must train for every skill point, and research every single spell they can cast. This training takes weeks and months.

There are no higher-level non-Monk NPCs. The PCs and their epic-level Grandmasters are the only NPCs over 10th level.

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?

Dimension Door and Teleport, of course. Mooks don't need to get it, just the Secret Master.

 

[Agent Oracle]

You should roleplay Magic Item creation

... How exactly does one roleplay making a potion?

"Okay, I bring the cauldron to a rolling boil at around 375 degrees. Now, i want to add the minced bat cartlidge before i put in the dragon's blood, otherwise the whole mess will start to congeal before I get around to the final ingredients. A 7% sollution of sodium benzoate (to counteract the Disodium Inosomate i'll be adding later) will complete the first set of mixing, now i'll pull that from the fire and let sit. Next, we're going to take a seperate bowl and combine equal parts flour, milk, creme, and eye of newt...."

For double points, say all of the above in Julia Childe's accent.

 

[Chimera]

1...

Been in more than enough games where the GM targets everything around and about the PCs. Mounts, Familiars, Family, Acquaintances. All plot bait, all dead, D-E-D dead. (Teach you to play my game! Haha!)

Won't go down that road again.

6....

Been there, gone through that. Same response as #1. You pull that on me, I walk.


The favorite of an EX-friend was The Amazing Unkillable Randomly Appearing Evil Foe(tm). Always with a seriously annoying name like "Synch O'Phant". Would pop in at random, blast the crap out of the party, then pop out. Nothing we could do to kill him for good. Grapple? Teleport out of grapple. Actually succeed in killing him? Haha! His body vanishes and he gets raised to once more attack you in your underwear! Haha!

But then, I have worse stories about his GMing...

 

[Corbert]

I see some of these posts have morphed the thread into a bad game/bad DM thread. But thats OK, because I have one of those too

Been in a game where the DM plays favorites to one set of players over another set. Birthright campaign, and no one was to start out evil, one PC was, all of us were to be pure human, one PC was a 1/2 elf. After several weeks of playing where she (the GM) would take the select few (her words) into another room for roleplaying out situations we all were put into a social situation together. Naturally a fight breaks out and those of us who were not the select few find the select few were at least 3 levels above us. So much for my 3rd level mage against a 6th level fighter :\

This same DM usually like to spring surprises on the players like being related to each other and/or the local pantheon. Sex between PCs and PCs or between PCs and NPCs was something she was a big fan of, no matter what your character wanted. She also was a big fan of railroading... "So the other player had Stoneskin cast on her, the snake bit her anyway, now deal with it."