Brinkmanship

[Ranes]

I was chatting with a colleague the other day about his D&D playing experience. He used to play when he was in his teens and was thinking about joining a game I'm about to start running for friends at work. His story involved a session in which the players simply didn't want to go in the direction the DM had prepared for. The DM desperately tried to persuade the players against their chosen course of action but was met with an emphatic and unanimous, "We're going this way."

The group played in a room with a collapsible table tennis table. When the DM was out of other options, he retreated to a spot beneath the table and threatened to collapse it on himself, unless the players fell into line.

What are your stories of DM/player brinkmanship?

 

[thedungeondelver]

What are your stories of DM/player brinkmanship?

Screaming and yelling, threats of physical violence, stomping off and pouting...

Too many to detail thoroughly, unfortunately.

 

[Halivar]

There is one area where there is a clear, absolute circumscription on the DM's authority: control of the PC's actions.

If the DM wants the PC's to do something, and is willing to strong-arm them into breaking character to do it, then it stands to reason that the DM needs to put away gaming and write a novel instead.

This isn't "brinkmanship," this is a terribly unprepared DM trying to railroad the party.

 

[Halivar]

To answer the OP's question though, I have seen the players unanimous in opposition to a DM. Usually it's when a DM is playing "Rule 0" in a way that we find odious or nonsensical. The argument ends with someone else DM'ing next week in a new campaign.

Alas, that losing DM has been me, from time to time.

 

[Ranes]

This isn't "brinkmanship," this is a terribly unprepared DM trying to railroad the party.

It is a terribly unprepared DM trying to railroad the party. By using brinkmanship.

I have seen the players unanimous in opposition to a DM. Usually it's when a DM is playing "Rule 0" in a way that we find odious or nonsensical. The argument ends with someone else DM'ing next week in a new campaign.

I suspect that is all too often at the root of such confrontation. I've been guilty of lots of poor DMing decisions but I think that's one I've avoided, so far.

Fingers crossed and all that.

 

[Ringlerun]

I had a player in a d6 star wars game i was running create a character that i was not happy with. I was starting a new campaign based around a group of smugglers, working for the alliance on a heavily controlled imperial world.

All the players needed to be incognito so to not draw attention to themselves. The player decided to play an Arrogant Noble from the book. I had no problems with that i said he could be from one of the displaced noble families from the planet.

He took that as his character was the rightful ruler of the planet and came up with a name that had about 14 different names in it. And then proceeded to tell the other players that they were going to be his entourage and guards.

I have to admit i was young and i got pissed off with the characters stupid name and the player assuming the whole campaign was going to be about his character. So i told him its Star Wars, you can have the arrogant noble template but come up with a decent name.

So he decided to take things to the opposite extreme and called his character Gutwrench Bloodripper and refused to play unless he could have the name.

The screaming much started just after that and the game degenerated into a sloppy mess.

I never did get to run that campaign and the funny thing that same guy is now my best friend. But now we have heated discussions instead of screaming matches

 

[Halivar]

It is a terribly unprepared DM trying to railroad the party. By using brinkmanship.

Doh! You're right. I had thought the OP was referring to the players, not the DM.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I used to play with a guy who liked to stray from the focus of the campaign. In one instance our 1st level characters just arrived in a new city and he had his foppish bard (who dressed in neon motley) wander into the very bad part of town. To show how dangerous that area was the GM had a group of thugs immediatley approach the bard and tell him that he was unwelcomed there and he should leave. The player obstinately wouldn't take the hint so the GM had one of the thugs put a knife to his back and demand he leave. The player declared he was going for his sword, the GM explained the dagger was already at his back and ready to stab, the player insisted that he was going to draw his weapon, and the thug sneak attacked him to death in one shot.

 

[ValhallaGH]

I used to play with a guy who liked to stray from the focus of the campaign. In one instance our 1st level characters just arrived in a new city and he had his foppish bard (who dressed in neon motley) wander into the very bad part of town. To show how dangerous that area was the GM had a group of thugs immediatley approach the bard and tell him that he was unwelcomed there and he should leave. The player obstinately wouldn't take the hint so the GM had one of the thugs put a knife to his back and demand he leave. The player declared he was going for his sword, the GM explained the dagger was already at his back and ready to stab, the player insisted that he was going to draw his weapon, and the thug sneak attacked him to death in one shot.

Eh, 1st level Bards are squishy. Almost any Sneak Attack is certain to be fatal. As long as rolls happened, it was fair - I'd have just had the thug roll to-hit, with a hit being an automatic critical (and sneak attack, but that's irrelevant: see below).

Giving thugs Adventurer levels (including Rogue) is an entirely different issue of campaign structure and setting design. Most thugs should be warrior / expert classes - if they were cool enough for PC classes then they wouldn't be street-corner thugs.

 

[Wiseblood]

I can't be sure it was brinksmanship but in one campaign the DM....

allowed us to go in one direction. (one character died) we decide to try another direction without persuing that further.

2 more characters died. again we figure this must be too tough for us so again we abandon that course.

TPK....

In the case of a player....

This one guy fell into a pit trap IDK 10-20 ft his character was alive and reasonably unharmed but he was so pissed he decided to stay in the pit rather than continue. We implored him to come out of the pit but he refused and so we went on without him. He pouted and eventually IIRC Killed his character......drama.