D&D 5E Adorable players overestimating themselves

[randrak]

Anyone else find it adorable when a player taunts the DM by saying that their character "can't be killed" because they have countermeasures for everything?

My friend made a Dream Druid and now thinks that with magic and transformations they can out-heal or flee anything.

Thoughts on how I should approach this? I feel like simply proving them wrong by destroying their character would be too easy...

 

[WarpedAcorn]

Play as per norm. Maybe he DOES have an answer for everything and IS The Batman.

As the DM you can make anything happen at any moment for any reason. There's no need to flex that muscle unless the other players at the table are similarly rolling their eyes. Even then, normal play should show the holes in his armor.

Basically, just ignore it and continue on with the game as per normal. IF he does fall during an encounter though, then you can rib him as a bonus action. ^_^

 

[MechaPilot]

My advice is this: Do not set out to prove the player wrong. Simply keep running adventures for the group. If the group is blowing through encounters too easily for your comfort, then slowly ratchet up the difficulty until it reaches an appropriate level.

 

[Waterbizkit]

Run the game the way you normally would? Maybe play your monsters and villains in as "realistic" a way possible, which may include beating the PCs into near-submission, Druid included. But don't try and "make a point". Seems meaningless to me because as you say, any DM can kill the PCs on a whim... "Oh look, the Tarrasque has awoken in the quiet little hamlet you were saving from a ragtag group of Kobolds. Roll initiative."

Players throwing down the gauntlet occasionally is a bit funny, but making it adversarial is a waste of time because you can literally always win until people start walking away from your table... and then everyone loses.

The more you know...

 

[mellored]

I might not be able to kill you, but I can destroy all the things you care about. MWAHAHAHAHA!

Oh, and of course, you have an arch nemesis dream druid.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Oofta]

As others have said, just play as normal.

However, there's nothing wrong with NPCs learning about the group and an annoying character and hiring a "hit man" designed to take out the PC.

Or, if you think he will have fun with it, have someone challenge him to a duel and have the opponent set up to be a very difficult challenge.

Personally I just let people have their fun, thinking that their characters are broken if it's what they enjoy. Whether or not I know how to set up a level-appropriate challenge that would thrash them doesn't matter.

Ultimately it comes down to what kind of game your players enjoy. Personally I don't worry too much about optimization and want to be challenged. Other people are only happy if they never get hit.

Finding the correct balance in a mixed group can be difficult, but just remember that the goal of the game is to have fun.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I agree, play as normal. A player will always lose an arms race with the DM, but in the end it can potentially damage the fun everyone is having.

That being said, there's nothing wrong with putting challenges in the game that give other people the chance to shine. Maybe this player isn't good at riddles, traps/puzzles, or social encounters. So be sure to use those. Death and difficult encounters aren't the only way to challenge a PC.

Also, if they're going so far as to taunt you, maybe that's even more reason to ignore the provocation. Chances are, they'd relish the attention, making the game all about their character.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Anyone else find it adorable when a player taunts the DM by saying that their character "can't be killed" because they have countermeasures for everything?

My friend made a Dream Druid and now thinks that with magic and transformations they can out-heal or flee anything.

Thoughts on how I should approach this? I feel like simply proving them wrong by destroying their character would be too easy...

If you're aiming for a genuine teaching experience, offer to run a "dream combat" (just for practice/player enjoyment--results don't count in-world, no XP, can't die) against a monster or monsters of his or your choosing. Then pick something suitably horrific and go to town. Either he'll win and learn something, or he'll lose and learn something. Either way everyone should have fun.

Ideas for the dream combat in approximate order of deadliness:

* Beholder in a beholder cave with six Darkling minions (from Volo's). As soon as the PCs enter, it disintegrates the base of a stalactite over exit to make the stalactite fall and block retreat.
* A group of six Githyanki protecting three Mind Flayers, all of them mounted on giant spiders. (But it turns out the Githyanki are secretly infested with Intellect Devourers. If any PC fails his saving throw against Mind Blast, an Intellect Devourer will immediately devour their intellect and Body Snatch them.)
* Tarrasque
* Spellcasting adult red shadow dragon exploiting Darkness + blindsight + shadow dragon dark resistance + bonus action hide combo and Shield spell.
* Tiamat

My guess is that your friend doesn't want to be killed, he wants to be challenged.

It's also worth asking why he is "taunting" you in the first place. Maybe he feels for some reason that you are the one in control of the game difficulty, and so he needs to taunt you to increase it? You might consider incorporating ways for the players to select their own difficulty, a la "you go down the steps to level VII of the dungeon!" That way instead of an out-of-game discussion with the DM, his confidence can manifest itself in-game as risk-seeking behavior and/or discussions with other PCs ("Yeah, we're totally ready for level X!! Think of all the treasure!").

 

[Shasarak]

Anyone else find it adorable when a player taunts the DM by saying that their character "can't be killed" because they have countermeasures for everything?

My friend made a Dream Druid and now thinks that with magic and transformations they can out-heal or flee anything.

Thoughts on how I should approach this? I feel like simply proving them wrong by destroying their character would be too easy...

Maybe you should try and craft a scenario where the Druid has to choose between running away and something else that the character wants so that yes he can escape but loses out on something else. If you make it a meaningful choice then maybe the Player will put his character on the line against something he normally would just avoid.