D&D 5E DM purposely gimping my Warlock

[GMforPowergamers]

I am curious to we have proof other than the OP that is what happened?

do you have any reason not to take what he says at face value?

 

[Elf Witch]

do you have any reason not to take what he says at face value?

I think from reading the emails between the player and the DM that we need to be selective in what we take as face value.

 

[Mistwell]

if this dungeon master is so unimaginative and lazy that he can't come up with an in game, narrative way to limit short rests, I wouldn't expect the rest of his game to be very good.

What is your current narrative in-game way to explain why short rests must be no less than exactly 60 minutes, and can spend hit dice to heal after 60 minutes but not after 59 minutes? What is your current narrative in-game way to explain why you can stack short rests together next to each other, but you cannot gain those same benefits from a single short rest? What is your current in-game narrative way to explain how even the most grievous wound suffered the day before is healed with 8 hours or rest, but is entirely unhealed with 7 hours 59 minutes of rest?

You guys are already playing with balance-driven and ease-of-use driven rules, and working just fine with them in your worlds, but now demanding more explanation for someone else's house rules impacting those very same non-narrative rules for the very same reasons.

 

[Sadrik]

Only when the game started did the DM start house ruling, nerfing, and adjucating against the players. Yet some are still defending this type of DMing?

When a new campaign starts and the DM has ideas on the tone and feel. I think it is within reason to adjust some of the house rules to better match that tone or feel. The DM appears to not have a strong idea on what the short rests do on a global level. It looks like he was only looking at it from the healing perspective. But still, the DM could easily step in and say to the player don't worry I see and understand how your character is weaker now and I have you covered. That is all I would say to a player. I would then leave it to story elements within the game to make that character shine with things. It would not be hard.

Perhaps he discovers his patron is actually a dark lord and that his power is being limited by that dark lord. The characters adventure off to confront the dark lord. A magic item can be given that refreshes spells as short rest once per day. There are a myriad of options.

I don't know if the DM had these things in mind but honestly the player should not get there as he is already very unhappy and could spoil the game for the other players who may be happy with the house rules and game thus far.

 

[Astrosicebear]

What is your current narrative in-game way to explain why short rests must be no less than exactly 60 minutes, and can spend hit dice to heal after 60 minutes but not after 59 minutes? What is your current narrative in-game way to explain why you can stack short rests together next to each other, but you cannot gain those same benefits from a single short rest? What is your current in-game narrative way to explain how even the most grievous wound suffered the day before is healed with 8 hours or rest, but is entirely unhealed with 7 hours 59 minutes of rest?

You guys are already playing with balance-driven and ease-of-use driven rules, and working just fine with them in your worlds, but now demanding more explanation for someone else's house rules impacting those very same non-narrative rules for the very same reasons.

I think he was referring more to the arbitrary limit on the number of short rests allowed and the DM's gap of 8hrs between short rests, not the time that a short rest consumes.

 

[occam]

I meant the house rules to healing and resting and classes and equipment and such that this DM imposed, not the stuff that would come with the setting proper.

I've run (and played in) games where characters started with no equipment, or had everything taken from them; so have plenty of other people. Many others have run games in which healing/resting rules were tweaked for one reason or another (usually to make healing more difficult, I'd wager). Does that make all of us -- how did you put it -- "lazy" and "ignorant"?

 

[Mistwell]

I think he was referring more to the arbitrary limit on the number of short rests allowed and the DM's gap of 8hrs between short rests, not the time that a short rest consumes.

Yes I know, and I am demonstrating he's fine with other similar arbitrary limits in his game. 60 minutes is arbitrary. 8 hours is arbitrary. Stacking 2 short rests next to each other but not allowing them to overlap is arbitrary. How healing works with both short and long rests is arbitrary. It's ALL arbitrary limits, and none of it has a good in-game narrative behind it. So why the double standard of demanding a DM's similar arbitrary limits require more explanation than you guys are using for your existing arbitrary limits?

 

[thalmin]

I meant the house rules to healing and resting and classes and equipment and such that this DM imposed, not the stuff that would come with the setting proper.

Since the setting proper has not been release for 5E, should the DM run it just with the PHB and MM rules? Or should he wait a year or 5 until WotC releases 5E Ravenloft? Seems like the DM is taking some initiative to try to present a different type of setting than just Forgotten Realms with a different name.

 

[Astrosicebear]

I've run (and played in) games where characters started with no equipment, or had everything taken from them; so have plenty of other people. Many others have run games in which healing/resting rules were tweaked for one reason or another (usually to make healing more difficult, I'd wager). Does that make all of us -- how did you put it -- "lazy" and "ignorant"?

If you did those things because you couldn't deal with class/rules/story elements, then yes.

And dont get me wrong, sometimes the lazy way is the best way, if everyone at the table agrees. Lazy is OK as long as it serves the purpose to move the game forward. I use lazy house rules sometimes myself. Max HP in my PFRPG games is one that comes to mind.

 

[Chocolategravy]

Uh... so what? If you can't proceed without a short rest and it hasn't been 8 hours yet, wait 8 hours. If it's safer to go back to town after every fight then go back to town after every fight. If your DM decides to crank up the difficulty because you keep going back to town tell him you're staying in town a week until the alert dies down or you're going to find an easier dungeon. He's not auto-killing your PCs. Your PC's power is exactly the same, whether or not they die is still in your hands, you can't blame his house rules for it.