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Crashing the game: When the DM doesn't expect resistance
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<blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 5210192" data-attributes="member: 14159"><p>Odd title for a post? I was trying to find a way to describe what just happened to me. Here is the scenario. A group of soldiers, gamers all, on weekend pass, first time off post in months, decide to hit the local game store and have a marathon D&D session off post and relax. For me it's the first time in way too long that I've actually had a chance to play. One wants to take his first shot at DMing and his first time tabletop RPGing (he's only played computer games beforehand). </p><p></p><p>(For the record, the system is 3.5, which matters for the section later on the role of Paladins in the campaign)</p><p></p><p>After a long stretch of character creation, and a brief synopsis of the setting (bleak vaguely Eastern European setting with inquisition-like church hunting all arcane spellcasters town and executing them) we get going. We create a party of PCs, nobody wants to create an arcane caster, but the novice DM says for plot reasons we should have at least one. I break down and create a Rogue/Sorcerer (that only uses roguish abilities in public). Our plot hook is there is *something* interesting happening off in the distant marshes so we hire a ferryman to take us near there on his raft, and then wade into the marshes shortly thereafter to be attacked by what was essentially a mini-Kraken. After a long fight we kill the beast.</p><p></p><p>So, we're in the swamp and have just finished off this Kraken-like monster, and just as it collapses dead, suddenly from out of nowhere a squad of armored soldiers arrives surrounding us and brandishing the insignia of the (supposedly LG) order that is trying to exterminate all arcane magic. They place us under arrest and demand we come with them, or else.</p><p></p><p>So, I decide my character (as a sorcerer that has been on the run his entire life from the holocaust, and as a Sorcerer he's doomed by bloodline to execution) isn't going to surrender to the inquisition without a fight and that whoever sent us out here set us up. Even way out in the wilderness, a hundred miles from civilization they come and decide to arrest for no apparent reason (my PC didn't even use any magic in the fight, we hadn't used any arcane magic, so as a player I can't even see why they would want to arrest our PCs other than plot fiat). My PC tells them they can just shove off, we're not going anywhere, and if they don't turn tail, they will be killed. My PC rolls a natural 20 on his maxed out Intimidate and rolls over a 30. . .which apparently doesn't affect them because apparently they are Paladins and immune to fear. So, I tell the DM in no uncertain terms that since they declined the ultimatum to leave, I pull out my hand crossbow (which already had a bolt tipped with CON-damage poison) and shoot at the lead inquisitor, in what we had already established was point blank range, saying I was going for a head shot.</p><p></p><p>The DM pretty much didn't know what to say or do. I think I broke his brain. He was apparently expecting the PCs to come along peacefully to prison to continue the plot, and he later admitted he didn't even have stats written up for the soldiers. He couldn't understand why anybody would ever want to shoot at a Paladin. The DM, admittedly novice, makes a setting where arcane casters are being hunted to extinction by an inquisition that has arbitrarily declared all arcane magic inherently evil. Insists that the party have an arcane spellcaster in it (I originally wanted to play a Paladin, he said that was Bad because there is "too much moral grey area in this setting", he thought that in his games it would be too hard to play a paladin because he wanted to run a "morally ambiguous" setting, then throws Paladins at us as genocidal inquisitors.</p><p></p><p>Personally, I was just in the mood for a relaxing no-thought-needed "kick down the door, kill the orcs, take their pie" type game, I get enough deep thought at my job, but I was willing to throw myself into a more complicated game just for the sake of being able to game, then the DM can't handle it when we don't follow the railroad-as-written it all comes to a screeching halt.</p><p></p><p>So, anybody seen something happen like this before?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="wingsandsword, post: 5210192, member: 14159"] Odd title for a post? I was trying to find a way to describe what just happened to me. Here is the scenario. A group of soldiers, gamers all, on weekend pass, first time off post in months, decide to hit the local game store and have a marathon D&D session off post and relax. For me it's the first time in way too long that I've actually had a chance to play. One wants to take his first shot at DMing and his first time tabletop RPGing (he's only played computer games beforehand). (For the record, the system is 3.5, which matters for the section later on the role of Paladins in the campaign) After a long stretch of character creation, and a brief synopsis of the setting (bleak vaguely Eastern European setting with inquisition-like church hunting all arcane spellcasters town and executing them) we get going. We create a party of PCs, nobody wants to create an arcane caster, but the novice DM says for plot reasons we should have at least one. I break down and create a Rogue/Sorcerer (that only uses roguish abilities in public). Our plot hook is there is *something* interesting happening off in the distant marshes so we hire a ferryman to take us near there on his raft, and then wade into the marshes shortly thereafter to be attacked by what was essentially a mini-Kraken. After a long fight we kill the beast. So, we're in the swamp and have just finished off this Kraken-like monster, and just as it collapses dead, suddenly from out of nowhere a squad of armored soldiers arrives surrounding us and brandishing the insignia of the (supposedly LG) order that is trying to exterminate all arcane magic. They place us under arrest and demand we come with them, or else. So, I decide my character (as a sorcerer that has been on the run his entire life from the holocaust, and as a Sorcerer he's doomed by bloodline to execution) isn't going to surrender to the inquisition without a fight and that whoever sent us out here set us up. Even way out in the wilderness, a hundred miles from civilization they come and decide to arrest for no apparent reason (my PC didn't even use any magic in the fight, we hadn't used any arcane magic, so as a player I can't even see why they would want to arrest our PCs other than plot fiat). My PC tells them they can just shove off, we're not going anywhere, and if they don't turn tail, they will be killed. My PC rolls a natural 20 on his maxed out Intimidate and rolls over a 30. . .which apparently doesn't affect them because apparently they are Paladins and immune to fear. So, I tell the DM in no uncertain terms that since they declined the ultimatum to leave, I pull out my hand crossbow (which already had a bolt tipped with CON-damage poison) and shoot at the lead inquisitor, in what we had already established was point blank range, saying I was going for a head shot. The DM pretty much didn't know what to say or do. I think I broke his brain. He was apparently expecting the PCs to come along peacefully to prison to continue the plot, and he later admitted he didn't even have stats written up for the soldiers. He couldn't understand why anybody would ever want to shoot at a Paladin. The DM, admittedly novice, makes a setting where arcane casters are being hunted to extinction by an inquisition that has arbitrarily declared all arcane magic inherently evil. Insists that the party have an arcane spellcaster in it (I originally wanted to play a Paladin, he said that was Bad because there is "too much moral grey area in this setting", he thought that in his games it would be too hard to play a paladin because he wanted to run a "morally ambiguous" setting, then throws Paladins at us as genocidal inquisitors. Personally, I was just in the mood for a relaxing no-thought-needed "kick down the door, kill the orcs, take their pie" type game, I get enough deep thought at my job, but I was willing to throw myself into a more complicated game just for the sake of being able to game, then the DM can't handle it when we don't follow the railroad-as-written it all comes to a screeching halt. So, anybody seen something happen like this before? [/QUOTE]
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