curing the sadistic game master?

[TheAuldGrump]

Well, if its not fun, simply ignore him and start running yourself - or talk another friend into it. The entire point of any game is to have fun, if no one's having fun, it's a failure.

Pretty close to how I ended up running my first D&D game in the way back when - an unfun DM and his unfun Best friend, got to have unfun together after they got the boot. I ended up being the new DM. (His form of unfun was to let his best friend charm person the party, and run everyone else's characters... and allowing the friend to tell us to fail our saves once we were charmed... we told him to stop letting his friend get away with it, he said no, we said goodbye. For some reason he was actually surprised about it.

Sometimes the boot is indeed the way to go.

The Auld Grump

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Ex-lax I tell you, it's the only way to go.

 

[the Jester]

Why is the game at your house? Is the dm your roommate or something?

If not, and they are just playing at your place, you can ask them to stop if you're not having fun anymore.

 

[KingCrab]

"I'm not having fun any more."

Exactly. I wish I had said that at times in the past instead of waiting and eventually blowing up at someone in the middle of the game. (I was a DM at the time, and the issue was a problem player, but the basis is the same.)

Tell him as soon as possible. If he doesn't care, then just tell him you're not a part of the game. They can find another place to play.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

"I'm not having fun any more."

I entirely agree with this.

 

[GlassJaw]

"I'm not having fun any more."

Yeah, my post was a long-winded and sarcastic way of saying the same thing. It's a game first and supposed to be fun. End of story. If you aren't having fun, something is wrong. Simple as that.

It is a fun build though.

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

Other people have curses too, but they dont know it. Yours was simply obvious.

As for the Sagat issue. I tried to do everything I could to not let the characters get the bottle. But I will ultimately let the characters do what they want, and you rolled well enough to get the bottle.

As for messing with. I've been messing with Cowron pretty intently.

I will make it more obvious that other people get messed with too.

In my last campaign, the characters were imprisoned and tortured for a while, the female character had "other" problems. I wont go that dark since there are minors, but I will mess with the characters. I've had characters have to adapt to missing limbs, fractured psyches, level drains, etc.. Just dont take it personally and get angry. Others will get their turn and the torture.

I’ve 30 years gaming. Most of them refereeing as well as playing. I’ve seen characters killed by stupid players and characters backstab other characters. These things can be fun, or, at least you can laugh about them afterwards. I’ve also seen referees vindictively kill characters they didn’t like, sometimes because it was the player that they didn’t like. These are bad things to do.

I’ve used adult themes like torture and rape, but I’d always warn players in advance, and I’d always give them a chance to avoid the situation. How can a player role-play being tortured? Why should they, if they don’t want to? Gaming is a fun social activity for me. I agree with the other posters, if you’re not having fun, don’t play. But tell your GM this, he needs to know.

 

[Xath]

As a player, I can enjoy when a certain amount of crap befalls my characters, but it seems like your GM is taking it too far. It also sounds like there is a vast age disparity in your group. Is there a group closer to your own age that you could play with? Perhaps you would find more common ground.

 

[Satori]

I think EVERYONE has had their "Nasty DM" experiences...and several of us went through "Nasty DM" phases as well.

I will say, though, as a former (as in 10+ years ago) "Nasty DM", your DM has NO clue that people aren't having fun and that his behavior is inappropriate.

His vindictive actions towards fictional characters are probably passive-aggressive attacks against each of you...and like the a-hole who constantly says hurtful "jokes", his impact on his friends can sometimes fly WAY over his head.

If you like this guy enough to care, I'd have a face to face talk and clear the air.

If you don't care...then leave, look for another group, and play PbP until you get a good team together.

 

[roguerouge]

Since everybody's given the advice I'd really give...

Start charging the group rent for their time on your private property. Include surcharges for cleaning services and hefty fees for any damages on the grounds that their wear and tear has caused resulting depreciation.

If he won't let you have fun, you might as well make money.