DM Schticks That Grind Your Gears

[shilsen]

Thats when you go find another game or DM. If you play by the book, then what happens when a DM runs a combat and rolls hot and ends up with TPK??? Don't you trust your DM to fudge the combat so that you don't have to put a "the 2nd" behind your characters name?

If you follow the fairly common discussions about death in the game on these boards, you'll see that many people definitely do not want the DM to fudge and would be much happier to see a TPK. Different people play D&D in different ways.

 

[Elf Witch]

Just found another gear to grind. GRRRXXXX!!! That's the sound of the tranny falling out the bottom of the car. I "must" trust the DM? Sorry, played WAY too many games with power tripping DM's to ever fall for that line again.

This is something I cannot understand if you can't trust your DM why play with them? I have had at least 13 different DMs over the years and with the exception of one I trusted them to have the same goal as I do which is to have a fun game.

The one DM who I did not trust I left the game when I realized his girlfriend's character would never die and would always get all the cool stuff and that he was more interested in his fun to the detriment of everyone elses.

 

[Keifer113]

If you follow the fairly common discussions about death in the game on these boards, you'll see that many people definitely do not want the DM to fudge and would be much happier to see a TPK. Different people play D&D in different ways.

I find mainstream players don't want their characters to die in the first encounter. Nor for TPK to happen right before the finale in a meaningless fight. <shrugs>

 

[helium3]

Oh ... I don't know about that. I find it rather amusing.

-Samir

Hah! That's funny.

 

[The Shaman]

Unless one of you is Lindsay Lohan. Or both of you.

In which case, we need video!

And where exactly does it say in the rules that prices for services and goods are locked into those in the DMG/PHB? Nowhere. In the end, the rules have always been guidelines, and the DM is always right. A good DM knows how to keep balance and fairness in his game, and players must trust the DM.

Agreed.

There are places in my game-worlds where you can only barter for goods and services, places where prices are inflated or depressed, and yes, sharp merchants who know that they have the last (fill-in-the-blank) in a hundred-mile radius, and that the player characters want and/or need it NOW.

Just found another gear to grind. I "must" trust the DM?

Since you have no way to control what the game master will throw at you, and how it will come down, yes, you have no choice but to trust the game master if you are playing in someone else's game.

No matter the rules system, the game master can hose the players if s/he chooses. Being a player is always a matter of trust.

Sorry, played WAY too many games with power tripping DM's to ever fall for that line again.

So what's your take on power-tripping players?

 

[Agent Oracle]

If you had been paying attention, A. I rolled to-hit with the cannon. B. I then rolled an artillery die, not a scatter die, to see how far the cannon ball bounced. C. I rolled for damage behind the screen and killed the low hit point mule.

It was a frickin cannon! Let's see you take a cannon, hit a mule with it and see the mule survive.

Ahh, my Ex-DM ladies and gents. (Thanks for the advice on how to leave to everyone who commented in my previous thread. ) I've unsubscribed from his Yahoo group and we're still butting heads.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Ahh, my Ex-DM ladies and gents. (Thanks for the advice on how to leave to everyone who commented in my previous thread. ) I've unsubscribed from his Yahoo group and we're still butting heads.

To be fair, it hardly seems as though he initiated the head-butt in this case.

RC

 

[The Shaman]

Thats when you go find another game or DM. If you play by the book, then what happens when a DM runs a combat and rolls hot and ends up with TPK??? Don't you trust your DM to fudge the combat so that you don't have to put a "the 2nd" behind your characters name?

If you follow the fairly common discussions about death in the game on these boards, you'll see that many people definitely do not want the DM to fudge and would be much happier to see a TPK. Different people play D&D in different ways.

I find mainstream players don't want their characters to die in the first encounter. Nor for TPK to happen right before the finale in a meaningless fight. <shrugs>

I'm not exactly sure what a "mainstream" player is, Keifer113, but you've definitely hit on the schtick that turns my tranny to filings...

Story Protection for Characters
I'm here to play a game in which character death is sometimes determined by the luck of the dice, not to see your pet plot line through to the grand finale. Luck is a part of the game - don't rob me of that, either good or bad.

 

[lukelightning]

You are on a quest to save the entire world from the Dark Demon Dragon God of Doom Death and Destruction who will destroy the entire universe but sorry we can't spare a dime to help you.

It's like "Diablo." You're supposed to be saving the world, and yet you have to spend 35 thousand gold on a magic sword. Shouldn't the Angels of Light and Goodness be giving you stuff for your quest, especially since they are making you do their job for cliche metaphysical reasons?


Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil was like this.

 

[Montague68]

I find mainstream players don't want their characters to die in the first encounter. Nor for TPK to happen right before the finale in a meaningless fight. <shrugs>

I don't consider fudging a DM annoyance or a necessity, simply a playstyle choice. Some DM's are better at concealing their fudging from others though. When that Deathknight misses the cleric three times in a row with his Sword of Insta-Death you know something's up heh.

Myself, I make all rolls that have an immediate impact on the players out in the open. That way the players know there will be no fudging, no DM grace to save them from the ill-timed crit. I find it makes my players more respectful of the dangers they face.

In a Star Wars D20 game I ran, the first encounter out of the box was a group of stormtroopers. The diplomat recklessly ran to the front and opened fire. A stormtrooper fired, I critted, and rolled max damage in front of the players, and did enough damage to kill her instantly. I suppose I could have rolled behind a screen and gave her a chance, but would she really learn the error of her ways if I ruled her dying, and give her friends a chance to throw her in the bacta tank? Instead I played it straight and ripped her character sheet in two, which is my normal shtick when a character dies and has no chance of resurrection.

That may seem heartless, but to me it takes the DM out of the equation. The Stormtrooper killed her, not me, and all the players saw it.