Dissatisfaction with Your Gaming Group?

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I see this type of behaviour all the time. People griping about a problem but not doing anything about it. My first suggestion would be to speak privately with the DM and tell him your gripes, how it's ruining your fun, and how it can be fixed. If he blows you off, bring it up publicly at the gaming table. If everyone sides with the DM, find another gaming group b/c chances are the problem is you (no offense intended).

Re: bringing back the dwarven wizard. This sounds like a perfectly reasonable request to me. Heck, you had him leave the group so the DM's NPC wizard could shine! Why does the DM not want him to be one level lower than average? Sounds to me like the DM doesn't want the dwarf back at all.

Re: the whispered messages in another language. That would really turn me off. I'd request an end to that practice, especially since the DM already rolls that character's dice. Normally, a few secrets between the DM and players are okay. But this sounds over the top to me.

From the info you've provided, it sounds like your DM isn't receiving enough feedback from the group and is making unreasonable decisions (probably based on that lack of feedback).

 

[Ramien Meltides]

Trust me, Belenumeria - I've offered to GM on numerous occasions.

Billd91, sometimes a little perspective goes a long way. Thanks for the comments, I've got some food for thought.

 

[Von Ether]

I see this type of behaviour all the time. People griping about a problem but not doing anything about it. My first suggestion would be to speak privately with the DM and tell him your gripes, how it's ruining your fun, and how it can be fixed. If he blows you off, bring it up publicly at the gaming table. If everyone sides with the DM, find another gaming group b/c chances are the problem is you (no offense intended).

Re: bringing back the dwarven wizard. This sounds like a perfectly reasonable request to me. Heck, you had him leave the group so the DM's NPC wizard could shine! Why does the DM not want him to be one level lower than average? Sounds to me like the DM doesn't want the dwarf back at all.

Re: the whispered messages in another language. That would really turn me off. I'd request an end to that practice, especially since the DM already rolls that character's dice. Normally, a few secrets between the DM and players are okay. But this sounds over the top to me.

From the info you've provided, it sounds like your DM isn't receiving enough feedback from the group and is making unreasonable decisions (probably based on that lack of feedback).

Penalizing a player a level or two to bring back a new PC has been a practice in every DnD game I've ever played in (I've never had this situation when I ran a game, so I haven't made this decision.)

Is this an actual rule in DnD? It seems too prevelent not to be. The "reason" these GM's tell me is because it seems "unfair" to the players who have kept their PCs the whole campaign ... even if the whole group wants the new guy at the same level (uh, we'd like the cleric to 8th level like the rest of us.) The wierd thing is iI've seen the same GMs run a point-based game, they give the new PC the same point build as everyone else.

Some one explain that to me.

 

[billd91]

Trust me, Belenumeria - I've offered to GM on numerous occasions.

Billd91, sometimes a little perspective goes a long way. Thanks for the comments, I've got some food for thought.

I find that trying to take a step back and actually analyze a situation for a while usually helps get a grasp on the problem, even if the results aren't to my immediate liking.

As far as the Dwarf wizard goes, see if you can argue the DM up to 10th level and then apply the 3.5 XP rules that net you XPs based on your character level for the encounters. That should get you catching up in relatively short order. I'm starting to think that being 3 levels behind might be difficult to survive... though not if the DM really is a soft-handler. You could use that to your advantage.

 

[billd91]

Penalizing a player a level or two to bring back a new PC has been a practice in every DnD game I've ever played in (I've never had this situation when I ran a game, so I haven't made this decision.)

Is this an actual rule in DnD? It seems too prevelent not to be. The "reason" these GM's tell me is because it seems "unfair" to the players who have kept their PCs the whole campaign ... even if the whole group wants the new guy at the same level (uh, we'd like the cleric to 8th level like the rest of us.) The wierd thing is iI've seen the same GMs run a point-based game, they give the new PC the same point build as everyone else.

Some one explain that to me.

In some cases, it's a question of fairness. I tend to start players coming into a campaign with a lower level character than players who started with me from the beginning. However, if a PC dies and the player elects to bring in a new one rather than raise the old one, I do tend to start them as the same level. The question comes with replacing a perfectly decent character with another one or swapping the certain characters in and out.
I'm loathe to allow a player to bring characters back in and out of a campaign and keep them the same level. I tend to look at the XPs I give out as being for the player, for his use in building characters. If it's a question of permanent retirement or death, I allow the XPs to transfer to a new character without loss. But shifting between characters that aren't permanently retired is something I'll penalize by not allowing the XP to be the same between the characters.

 

[Treebore]

Since you are having fun with this group make sure you can find a new group first. Unless you don't mind not gaming for an unknown period fo time.

I know where you are coming from, I quit a group a while ago where I liked most of the players and had fun most of the time. However there were certain attitudes that rubbed me the wrong way and certain styles of play I didn't like, so as soon as I managed to find enough players to make a new group I left. The new group was a lot more fun and the best thing was alternating DMing with another guy. Now I am in another group that is much the same way. Unfortunately I am the new guy and a couple of the long term players look like they are burning out and may quit. Hopefully I'll end up in a stable group that is fun to play with and hopefully you will too.

 

[Von Ether]

In some cases, it's a question of fairness. I tend to start players coming into a campaign with a lower level character than players who started with me from the beginning. However, if a PC dies and the player elects to bring in a new one rather than raise the old one, I do tend to start them as the same level. The question comes with replacing a perfectly decent character with another one or swapping the certain characters in and out.
I'm loathe to allow a player to bring characters back in and out of a campaign and keep them the same level. I tend to look at the XPs I give out as being for the player, for his use in building characters. If it's a question of permanent retirement or death, I allow the XPs to transfer to a new character without loss. But shifting between characters that aren't permanently retired is something I'll penalize by not allowing the XP to be the same between the characters.

I still don't understand why a player has to penalized for brining in a new character, unless he does it constantly and it's a pain to readjust the adventure for the "character of the week" flavor.

Personally, I wouldn't feel slighted if some one switched out PCs at the same level. If anything, I'm not held back waiting for the new character to catch up.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I apply the penalty because until higher levels if you raised the character from the dead you'd be down XP. In other words, swapping out a character is on par with killing the old one. I want to discourage it but no moreso that commiting in-game sepuku becomes more attractive.

For NPCs and secret PC rolls I have the players make me 10 d20 rolls each session. I use those for all non-combat events. Combat dice I roll in secret but I have a habit of dropping the dice and while holding something else so brutal dice rolls can be witnessed if needed without my having re-touched the dice. (like the three nat 20's in a row on one PC)

As far as your gaming problems, sounds like your in a casual gamer group and you want a hardcore group. yes, I would find the blind MarySue and the domineering players irritating but it sounds like you're the only one with a beef.

There's no sin in saying "this isn't my bag, later guys." I can't be in my brother's games because his world-logic is just too alien for me. It's rational but non-intuitive so that I keep slamming my head against intrinsic beliefs that arent' valid in his games. By the same token, one of my ex-roomates would die every second fight I ran because he could not grasp the logic tree I used for NPC actions. He'd misjudge every time and get splattered.

Go to a gaming store and see if you can find another game to hop into.

 

[JoeGKushner]

If despite the problems you're enjoying the game, stay. If you find that it's more of a paint to be there, quit.

It sounds like you've tried to talk to the GM about it.

My last group basically broke up because one of the players was just too disruptive for the other guys to take anymore but he's a good friend to all of us so we just said, "Well, we're not playing any more." Didn't want the friendship to become secondary to the game.

 

[Doug McCrae]

My last group basically broke up because one of the players was just too disruptive for the other guys to take anymore but he's a good friend to all of us so we just said, "Well, we're not playing any more."

Yeah we usually do that. Then continue the game sans the disruptive player. Possibly at a different time and/or venue so he doesn't find out.