Dopey things DM's have done.

[Allandaros]

As DM, I once read 2-12 points of damage (on a wolfwere's stat block) as 2d12. Predictable results ensued.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

A game with the Deck? That's like playing poker with tarot cards - you get a full house and three guys die.

 

[silver_wizard]

A game with the Deck? That's like playing poker with tarot cards - you get a full house and three guys die.

LOL! That was brilliant!


The party is onboard a ship, travelling from Waterdeep to Baldur's Gate.

DM: "You see a ship on the horizon. It's flying the flag of [insert enemy pirate lord's name]".
Me (a 10th level mage keen to hurl fireballs at the enemy ship): "I'll go aloft and ready some fireballs"
DM: "Too late, the ship is already next to your ship. Roll for initiative as pirates board your ship".

 

[DM-Rocco]

A game with the Deck? That's like playing poker with tarot cards - you get a full house and three guys die.

It might sound weird, but I have to admit it wasn't completely my idea. I got it from a video game, either Baulder's gate Throne of Bhaal or Torment Planescape. I think anyway, I know it was a D&D video game. I get confused with all of them unless it was either the lame Ice Wind Dale II, which really blew chunks, or the even worse, if that is possible, Pool of Radiance, which might be the worst RPG video game ever. If it was one of those two games, I would have remembered for sure, cause they horrible games are etched into my memory forever, unfortunately.

Anyway, you had to play a game with the deck against a demon lord. If you win, he opens a portal for you so you can leave the abyss. If you fail, I think he attacks you. I thought it would be a really fun, and evil, of me to try and recreate it for the players.

I don't remember exactly how I scored it, but I do love your anology

 

[DM-Rocco]

It might sound weird, but I have to admit it wasn't completely my idea. I got it from a video game, either Baulder's gate Throne of Bhaal or Torment Planescape. I think anyway, I know it was a D&D video game. I get confused with all of them unless it was either the lame Ice Wind Dale II, which really blew chunks, or the even worse, if that is possible, Pool of Radiance, which might be the worst RPG video game ever. If it was one of those two games, I would have remembered for sure, cause they horrible games are etched into my memory forever, unfortunately.

Anyway, you had to play a game with the deck against a demon lord. If you win, he opens a portal for you so you can leave the abyss. If you fail, I think he attacks you. I thought it would be a really fun, and evil, of me to try and recreate it for the players.

I don't remember exactly how I scored it, but I do love your anology

Oh, I am refering to the horrible recently made Pool of Radiance, not the old, very first ever AD&D game made on 5 1/4 disks. For its time, that game absoultely rocked.

I still have fond memories of 15 jminute zone changes, and even that was better then the remake. The best was when you walked into the bottom of one of the towers and you had to fight 10 10th drow warriors, 10 beholders and 10 rashakas. That was a fight. Took me 33 times to beat it since you could not get past 6th level

 

[sniffles]

Well, I don't remember him doing that, but he would do stuff like this:

Yes, we would often have chain reactions in the party, where only the dwarves would come through unscathed (save completely vs. magic). In fact, we once (I'm not joking) had a character miss his Dex check when walking up a small incline (by the DM's description, it was maybe thirty degrees). He then had his bracers and cloak explode. The resulting chain reaction of exploding items took out three party members.

I have the distinct impression that this guy must have been very bad at gym class in grade school and was generally terrified of anything physical. I can't think of any other explanation for making the world so lethal.

Some of these stories remind me a bit of a GM I have, who can sometimes be rather annoying, but not nearly as bad as FickleGM's story. But he did once do something that I can now look on as dopey, though at the time it made me so angry I almost walked out on the game.

We were playing Champions. Some NPCs who were associated with our team had been kidnapped by a villain we'd encountered previously. We went to meet him to recover the kidnappees. The villain wanted us to be guinea pigs to test a device that would open doorways to alternate realities. We agreed, but he refused to release his captives until after we did what he wanted. We argued and argued to persuade him to release them; he knew us, so he'd know we were honorable. In the past part of the team had actually cooperated with this villain to avert an alien invasion. So we couldn't see any reason why he was so intractable about releasing the prisoners. But no matter what argument we made, he refused. Even when I, in a fit if frustration, announced that my PC would stay in the villain's spaceship forever if that was what it took, the GM refused to even consider the idea of letting the captives go.

It made more sense when we found out that this was actually the villain's son, masquerading as his father. But we didn't find that out until a session or two later.

The whole point of this adventure was to send us off to a bunch of alternate realities, one of which was based on the Powerpuff Girls cartoon. :\

This same GM does have a reputation for being determined to have his bad guys escape, whatever the cost. If he wants that villain to get away, then get away the villain will, no matter what the PCs do. Occasionally if it becomes obvious that we're really determined to capture that bad guy we'll succeed - and then the bad guy will escape from captivity almost immediately. This is true no matter what game system we're playing.

 

[Someone]

DM: ...The woman is unconscious, bleeding through a wound in her neck.

Player: I use Heal to stop the bleeding.

DM: Ok, you apply a tourniquet...

Everyone: *roaring laughter*

DM: What?

 

[Someone]

Oh, and this one. This is mine:

Me: ... and there is a large chimera guarding the stairs. The Chimera uh... uh... uh...

Player: What?

Me: I don´t have here the stats. It flies away.

 

[Squire James]

Oh, I am refering to the horrible recently made Pool of Radiance, not the old, very first ever AD&D game made on 5 1/4 disks. For its time, that game absoultely rocked.

I still have fond memories of 15 jminute zone changes, and even that was better then the remake. The best was when you walked into the bottom of one of the towers and you had to fight 10 10th drow warriors, 10 beholders and 10 rashakas. That was a fight. Took me 33 times to beat it since you could not get past 6th level

Actually, that encounter was in "Curse of the Azure Bonds", its sequel. Generally, if you saved the Dust of Disappearance you got way back near the beginnning of the game and used it here, you win. Otherwise, you probably lose.

There were several encounters in Pool of Radience involving what seemed to be 100's of low-level enemies. These stick in my mind more than anything else.

 

[DM-Rocco]

Actually, that encounter was in "Curse of the Azure Bonds", its sequel. Generally, if you saved the Dust of Disappearance you got way back near the beginnning of the game and used it here, you win. Otherwise, you probably lose.

There were several encounters in Pool of Radience involving what seemed to be 100's of low-level enemies. These stick in my mind more than anything else.

One of my favorites was battling the quicklings. Usually around 8 of them and I could never hit them, even with my warriors. Always had to use the trusty Magic Missile, good thing they had low hit points