Fatal (for PC) communications misunderstanding

[WayneLigon]

Someone who really, really hates inquisitive squirrels.

Boxed Text Read To The Players

You see a bag full of gleaming gems through the open window of the cabin. At the base of the wall under the window, you see the bodies of many squirrels and a few small songbirds. The corpses range from fresh to skeletal. Upon closer examination, the heads are missing from each corpse. Dark brown stains mark the window casing and run in streaks down the outside wooden wall.

 

[ceratitis]

your dm here violated ground rule no 1, he described what you do. bad bad move, i object when ever they do that regardless of what happened. my char and i value our freedom!
Z

I was once the victim of the opposite side of this coin – I didn’t say I *wasn’t* doing something, and that got me killed.

AD&D1: Our party was invited into the back room of a tavern to have wine with a shady group wanting to congratulate us for a job well done. The wine glasses were filled, and the DM assumed we all drank. I, though, was leery of the set up, and was not going to drink the wine offered. The DM didn’t ask us or clarify or even give us a moment to say anything about drinking. He just went from “He makes a toast to your good work, and everyone drinks. Give me a saving throw versus poison.”

I was trying to think of a way to get rid of the wine in my glass without anyone noticing that I didn’t even register that second sentence until I heard all the other Players moaning and cursing. Then I said, “Wait a minute! I didn’t drink it.” But, as you can guess, that was taken as a rather unsportsmanlike statement. The poison was the type to only do hit point damage, and was intended to just weaken us all, but my elf magic-user didn’t have many hit points and would have died even with a passed save (less damage than a failed save).

The DM, being a good friend, and taking pity on me, kind of twisted events to have a cleric near by that came to neutralize the poison before it killed my character.

Because of that situation, about 20 years ago, and because of scenarios like in the OP, I make sure that 1- my trap set ups are unmistakable, and 2- I’m sure of the PC’s action, before “springing” a trap.

For instance, in the above scenario, the poison could easily be slow acting; allowing me plenty of time to make sure the PCs had drank the wine before asking for saves. And in the OP scenario, I wouldn’t be so anxious to spring the trap that I couldn’t wait for someone to *explicitly* trip it (or even bypass it with a smart trick).

Quasqueton

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

That's... really ignorant. "Look through a window" and "stick my head into the window" are two different things. A blade trap should be an attack roll, not a reflex save. The consequences should be hp damage rather than instant death (although if the damage was sufficient to kill outright a character who'd done something as stupid as stick his head through the window, I would describe it as decapitation).

The GM may seem like an excellent one, and it's very possible to have a very lethal GM who is also an excellent one - but even so, the lethality should be fair. Dying due to a misunderstanding is even worse than dying due to bad luck. As someone with an apparently Wild ARMs-inspired sn, you deserve better.

 

[Hypersmurf]

To me, this means that you check for traps as you get closer to the door. It, however, does not say that you check the door itself for traps.

"Did I say sneak…? … I crawl down the hall an inch at a time, looking for traps."

-Hyp.

 

[coyote6]

Yeah, "looking through the window" == "stick head through window" (and leads to "killed by trap") is dodgy.

I've made similar misunderstandings of what a player meant (though not quite that bad, I think); it happens. If I were the GM, and made that mistake, I think I'd have not killed the character. Maimed, maybe.

(Oh, FWIW, 7th level kind of is the level where save-or-die starts -- phantasmal killer is a 4th level spell, and a wizard can cast it at 7th level.)

Hmm, an illusory guillotine could be a neat phantasmal killer trap.

 

[Piratecat]

"Did I say sneak…? … I crawl down the hall an inch at a time, looking for traps."

Clearly, a rogue of my level would know not to stick their head through an open window!

 

[Hypersmurf]

(Oh, FWIW, 7th level kind of is the level where save-or-die starts -- phantasmal killer is a 4th level spell, and a wizard can cast it at 7th level.)

Bah. Phantasmal Killer isn't save-or-die.

It's save-or-save-or-die.

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Clearly, a rogue of my level would know not to stick their head through an open window!

I shouldn't have to say it - I'm always expecting a surprise guillotine trap!

-Hyp.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

You may want to have the GM look at this thread.

I agree with the prevalent theme of 'Bad Dm! Bad, bad DM! No banana for you! *Smack!*

This does not sound like an 'excellent' DM, but rather an inexperienced one. One who, if he keeps this up, should find himself without players very soon.

The Auld Grump

 

[AlanSmithee]

Ok, thanks for the support and suggestions, guys.
I might speak to the GM privately, if I can find the resolve. In this and in other areas, like work, I have trouble initiating communications with others. I always seem to prefer looking to blame myself - in this case, could I have expressed myself myself more clearly; and try to change my own behaviour. Standing up and saying you have a problem with something can be really hard