DM Schticks That Grind Your Gears

[Raven Crowking]

When feasible. The NPC shouldn't hold back on dishing out Fireballs unless they've got some equally nasty way of defeating the PCs without hurting the horses. Unless the NPCs are bandits, of course.

Keep in mind the context you quoted me in. NPCS, within their means and intelligence/wisdom, should make the same sorts of decisions PCs do. That sometimes means targetting the horses. That sometimes means trying to preserve them for themselves.

RC

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

And those sorts ALWAYS gloat.

The PCs must overcome a trap or puzzle to move on in the adventure. "The puzzle is soooo easy!" the DM states with a stupid half-smirk.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Keep in mind the context you quoted me in. NPCS, within their means and intelligence/wisdom, should make the same sorts of decisions PCs do. That sometimes means targetting the horses. That sometimes means trying to preserve them for themselves.

RC

I'll try something else then

How often do NPCs not have an escape plan of some kind? Something better than "steal their horses and escape with them"? That kind of plan has an obvious flaw... To put it another way, I can't think of many circumstances when NPCs would try to preserve the horses.

As for targetting horses, it often makes sense. I tried to avoid doing it because it's unfair (at least using strictly core rules); at least once the PCs have a few levels it's quite unfair.

 

[lukelightning]

How often do NPCs not have an escape plan of some kind?

Probably as often as PCs have an escape plan: virtually never.

Ah, the joys of D&D, when a combat turns bad and nobody can decide if they should run or stay, so half the people run and half stay... good times, good times.

 

[Rystil Arden]

Nobody has told me why NPCs who appear in multiple games are bad. I'm trying to figure this one out, since I do it fairly often.

 

[takasi]

Don't blame me, blame the module
I see this all the time in the RPGA, but it can apply to any published adventure. DMs will run a module written by someone else and then complain about it while he's running it. "How high is the ceiling? Just a sec...geesh, they didn't even put that in here!" "You ask the wizard why his apprentice left? Hmmm, it doesn't say that in here..." "Now why is that door over here? Hold on a second while I look at this stupid map..." If the DM expresses his frustration with a module then it's very unlikely that players are going to enjoy it. In my experience it's much better to wing it whenever possible, and whether you like the module or not always treat every session like it's the best possible adventure ever.

You're gonna love this!
Another common problem. DMs who are a little too excited about an adventure session. It's always good to have energy and a positive attitude, but there's a line between lifting spirits and being full of yourself. "Wait until you see what I have in store tonight, this session is going to kick ass!"

I smell a TPK tonight...
Similar to the above, sometimes a DM tries to intimidate his players. While there's nothing wrong with this, it can lead to some very underwhelming sessions. "Umm, yeah, I know I said the black dragon was going to rock your world, but I didn't think you guys were going to have resist acid memorized..."

Finally, biggest gripe:

Can't make it to game tonight.
'Nuff said.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but if a cleric or druid violates their tenet in my game, they do get punished. However, as with the paladin, I'll give a courtesy warning, but if the player repeatedly violates the same exact issue, I'll stop warning and begin stripping abilities and/or spells. Thankfully, in all my years of gaming, I have only had to go past the warning stage on one occasion.

I've never stripped a paladin of their powers, but I've only had 3 players play paladins and they did so well. Usually my NPC paladins had to tell them to lighten up a bit. Of course, I also have a bit of semantic wiggling on the "willingly consort with evil" aspect as any paladin on a mission will suck it up and go drinking with baby-eaters if it serves a purpose. When the purpose is done they should focus on taking down the baby-eaters but sometimes you have to only smite one evil creature at a time.

Once, in 2e, I made a cleric atone in a non-spell fashion. He got tricked into doing something evil that wasn't obviously evil at the time but his god expected him to know that anything Lloth does has an ulterior motive. His god made him quest to find the family of the individuals his actions harmed and accept whatever justice they demanded. (I wasn't setting out to screw the party, one PC managed to gate the party to Lloth's lair by using a magic doohickey they'd sworn they'd never use and this was me suddenly having to run an encounter with a diety's avatar)

IMO, gods should be aware of the relative rarity of their cleric/paladin followers and exert some small amount of effort to correct abherrent behavior.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

RPG Street Cred

When playing with a new DM, what sort of tricks/situations/DM techniques just make you grit your teeth?

None; if it gets to that point ... I just leave.

-Samir

 

[lukelightning]

Nobody has told me why NPCs who appear in multiple games are bad. I'm trying to figure this one out, since I do it fairly often.

I can only see a problem if Hellfinster the Wizard also shows up in your Spycraft game. And even then that's fine if he's been "translated" into Hellfinster the Department Chief or something.

Recycling is perfectly fine, in my opinion. Smith Black the Blacksmith is my default blacksmith, he shows up in any game where I need a blacksmith. There is the possibility of NPCs overshadowing the players, being the DM's pets, etc. but those are separate issues.

 

[prosfilaes]

How often do NPCs not have an escape plan of some kind? Something better than "steal their horses and escape with them"? That kind of plan has an obvious flaw... To put it another way, I can't think of many circumstances when NPCs would try to preserve the horses.

But it's not about riding off with them. Horses are expensive items, and unlike magic items, there are a lot of people in the world who want them. They're probably almost as liquid a commodity as gold and gems.