Did I overreact or is my DM a moron? RANT

[Kapalen]

My question is, what's a 40 year old dude doing playing with teenagers?

He's the spanish teacher at the local high school, and none of us would be playing without him.

 

[arwink]

You know, I think any game where the players are insulting or actively trying to make things hard for the GM (especially a new GM) is kind of doomed to failure from the get-go.

 

[BSF]

I see several problems here.

Knowing you have a new DM and then pestering him with questions "so he gets used to it..." isn't going to help anything. I could think of worse reasons to pester him with questions ("to pointedly annoy him"), but this is already pretty annoying.

Having a main character that you refuse to kill is a bad call by the DM.

DMPCs can be annoying. It is sometimes a thin line between a well-run NPC and a DMPC. In your case, it sounds like a poorly run DMPC situation.

Lashing out and then suiciding your character are mostly inappropriate responses. You could have just as easily packed your stuff up, calmly told everyone that you weren't enjoying the game and that you were going to go home early that night. Your calm, rational response would have sent a much clearer message.

The guy is a new DM. Knowing the rules is only part of the craft of being a DM. He will need a lot more experience and sometimes things will suck in the process. Those can be fixed, and with a patient group, he might become a great DM. But becoming a better DM is easier when the players offer feedback on what is good and bad. Throwing a fit doesn't help that process.

Mind you, it would suck to be in that position. It sounds like that particular session was pretty awful. But you could have managed your reaction better and I think it would have more effectively communicated your feelings and position. The truth of the matter is that this is a game to have fun. It doesn't sound like the group had fun in that session. Discuss it openly without any personal attacks and determine what needs to be fixed for you to continue playing.

 

[Kapalen]

You know, I think any game where the players are insulting or actively trying to make things hard for the GM (especially a new GM) is kind of doomed to failure from the get-go.

We don't insult him, we're just trying to whip him into shape. He knows that's why we do it, cause I brought it up. We've all been friends for a really long time, and know where to draw the line. Thanks fro your concern though.

 

[danzig138]

My question is, what's a 40 year old dude doing playing with teenagers?

Trying to find a good game maybe? Why, is there a problem with it? One of my more recent groups had the following ages:
16
20
21
26
30
32
45

The ones who were 20 and 21 had been playing since their teens, and the older ones played then as well. Sometimes, that's just how the connections go.

 

[jdrakeh]

That said, you overreacted. Also, it seems like you have anger issues. You should get that looked at by a professional.

That's kind of what I was thinking. The 'ol 'character suicide' bit is often comparable to a temper tantrum and, in this, case that is exactly what it sounded like. It reminded me of a guy that I once gamed with (good guy, not-so-good gamer) who frequently killed his own character (often times seriously inconveniencing the rest of the party) just because he didn't get his way.

That said, in this situation, I also fault the DM and think that he was terribly unfair. And let's not have those 'let the dice fall where they may' defenses - because this encounter doesn't seem to be about that, but rather about a decisive and arbitrary move by the DM to screw over the PCs for fun by hogging their action with the dreaded GMPC. Hopefully he'll work past that desire (sadly, some people never do).

So, the answer to the initial questions are 'Yes' and 'Yes'.

 

[Kapalen]

It sounded like a tempertantrum, because that's what it was. A part I neglected to mention. Senor(the spanish teacher/wizard) had to leave pretty soon, so he wanted one more combat before he had to go. That's when this happened. Senor just wanted to kill stuff so Dim throws a balor and a bunch of other crap he couldn't hit at us. It all just got to me.

 

[arwink]

We don't insult him, we're just trying to whip him into shape. He knows that's why we do it, cause I brought it up. We've all been friends for a really long time, and know where to draw the line. Thanks fro your concern though.

Fair enough, although I gotta admit that if I found out someone was refering to me as Dim I'd probably take it a little badly.

The point stands though. Hassling him with questions in order to "whip him into shape" is a problem. To put it simply - GM'ing is a tough job at the best of times, and it's even tougher when your a first timer. What you call "whipping him into shape" is the kind of stuff that makes people not want to run games at the best of times. He's got a tough learning curve ahead of him, and you'll all be better off in the long run if you work with him rather than against him.

 

[Kapalen]

Dim's not that kinda guy. I call him Dim, because we called senor that after he told us the joke and practically asked us to call him that, oh well. DIm would much rather a drill sergeant tell him what to do and kick him if he doesn't do it right rather than his mommy hold his hand and tell him what to do. Like I said, we know each other. I'll jsut try to remember that if I'm ever in your campaign.

 

[loki44]

This just sounds freaked up from bottom to top. It's one of those rare instances where I would counsel cut and run.....which is pretty much what you did. Your actions were over the top, but the extremity of the situation almost demanded such drastic measures. Since this was apparently your first go around with this bunch, shame on them for creating such a horrid situation (DM and players alike).....if you continue to participate, shame on you.