Hello, My name's Vraille & I'm a Monty Haul DM.

[Vraille Darkfang]

I feel like I should be joining Overgenerous DM's Anonymous.

I really gave them too much this time.

I usually am too generous with treasure, but over the years have managed to balance it out.

Then came yesterday.

Party's all 3-4th level (1 5th level). What'd they get by the end? Their choice of a +1 Mithral Armor, +1 Mithral Shield & +1 Mithral Weapon.

Shouldn't have done it, but I let them talk me into it.

They'd gone into a long Ruined Temple of the Faith known as the Storm of Vengeance (loosely based on Hoar from the FR). They went their following the dream-vision of the Party Cleric, which showed a blade of Great Power calling to him.

The Player's 12. His Mom sent me an e-mail saying she was worried about her son. He seemed to be using his Computer D&D characters to explore his 'dark side' as he called it. She was worried about him using D&D as way to express his frustration at various things in a negative way. So, what is he playing. A LN Cleric. With the Destruction & Death Domain. Oh, he Rebukes/Commands Undead too. OK. I see what his mom is talking about. So, I need to steer him to using D&D as a social game of intense plots, not just a way to mindlessly slaughter everything in sight.

Fortunately, he's already earned the Nickname 'Mini-Moo' as his character is very similar to the Epic Level Minotaur Cleric in my other game. He's beginning to see the possibilities inherit within the game, but I still want him to wind up with Batman, not the Joker for a character.

So, I'm giving him the LN Intelligent Sword Inhabited with the Soul of one of my old characters, a 30th level LN Cleric of Hoar the Doombringer. The sword has enough EGO to control him until he's 20th level. I plan on using it to teach him how to role-play. Which is how he got an Epic level weapon at 3rd level. I can use it as an in-game tool to show him the depth of the Pen & Paper Experience over the Computer Game Hack & Slash. Plus, his mom will never let him play again if he talks about how his cleric began a LE Assassin, a Killing Machine.

Then, the party asks the sword for permission to take the other (aforementioned) relics to "use against their common foe". Being a god of vengeance, I couldn't say no. These suits of armor & weapons were MEANT to slay their enemies, not spend eternity as Grave Ornaments.

But as a DM, I'm like What's that going to do to their Wealth per Level Average? Oh Yeah break it like Tyson in his latest fight.

So, I should say no (from a Mechanics Stand Point), but I should say yes (from a game stand-point). Then they all give me the puppy dog eyes & I give in.

They each get 1 weapon, 1 shield & 1 suit of armor. I wuss out.

So, there it is. My story of Giving in to Monty Haul.

Of course, should they ever give/sell the items or use them in an inappropriate fashion (as the lord of ironic vengeance sees it), during any thunderstorm they shall be smited by a 10d6 lightning bolt once every 1d10 minutes.

And I know the Bugbear's already seeing Dollar Signs & it looks like its going to be a VERY WET year

 

[Crothian]

Are you and everyone having fun?? If you are then be happy and don't worry about it. There is no bad style of gaming if you are having fun with it. Also, you might want to check out Oathbound as it is a setting with a higher degree of magical items then the standard game. It is even made to bring the current characters into so you wouldn't have to scrap the current characters like most setting require of you.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Hi, Vraille!

You can beat this. Start with step 1 -- accepting that there is a better way, then progress through 'I'm Ok, but you're not going to be a half-dragon' and finally 'My first TPK'. It can be a tough journey, but well worth it.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Monty Haul DMing just justifies chucking tougher and tougher monsters at them.

Oh, and I wouldn't worry about the kid that much. Better to bash fictional critters than real ones...just make sure to put the fear of a Solar into him every once in a while if he takes out too many innocents.

 

[der_kluge]

Crothian beat me to it (surprise, surprise).

As long as everyone has fun, so much the merrier.

 

[domino]

Oh, and I wouldn't worry about the kid that much. Better to bash fictional critters than real ones

Except that bashing fictional critters makes him more likely to bash real ones. not that DnD leads to violent behavior, but studies show that releasing your anger and frustration, even in controlled environments, makes you more used to releasing it, and thus more likely to do so in inappropriate environments. Which is why "primal yell" therapy doesn't really work so well. Rather than teaching someone how to deal with their anger, it just teaches someone to release it.

An overall better way to deal with his dark side is to, as you (Vraille) talked about, try to give him and make him consider other options than wholesale slaughter.

 

[Aeson]

Except that bashing fictional critters makes him more likely to bash real ones. not that DnD leads to violent behavior, but studies show that releasing your anger and frustration, even in controlled environments, makes you more used to releasing it, and thus more likely to do so in inappropriate environments. Which is why "primal yell" therapy doesn't really work so well. Rather than teaching someone how to deal with their anger, it just teaches someone to release it.

An overall better way to deal with his dark side is to, as you (Vraille) talked about, try to give him and make him consider other options than wholesale slaughter.

I agree, take him on as your padawan.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Tell them 'Hey everyone! I am running Munchkin D20 this week!' and have done. (And fun too, it is really stupid how much fun that silly thing can be...) Get it out of your system once and for all.

The Auld Grump

 

[Runesong42]

Maybe I suffer from Monty Haul mentality, but how does a +1 suit of armor, shield, and a +1 weapon become a Monty Haul situation?

The way I figure, a character should have at least a +1 weapon by level 4 (if not sooner), and for every four levels their "allowable" plus should go up. So, +2 gear at level 8, +3 gear at 12, +4 at 16th and +5 at 20th.

Of course, with the way the pluses work now, you could double those number for an "equivalent" plus... ie by level 4, a character could be expected to have at least a +1 flaming sword, for example.

Now, when *I* think of Monty Haul, I see characters killing several creatures of moderate difficulty, or one of high difficulty, and receiving 5-10 times the regular amount of treasure for no reason other than to give out cool stuff. This happens a lot in younger or newer DM's, who usually just want to see what everything can do in play. Think back to the AD&D2 days and the ludicrous amounts of treasure one would get for slaying a dragon... hoards with 40 magic items (inlcuding potions and scrolls) were quite common.

Personally, it's all based on play style, but from where I sit, it's about time they got some magic goodies.

 

[the black knight]

Monty Haul DMing just justifies chucking tougher and tougher monsters at them.

Oh, and I wouldn't worry about the kid that much. Better to bash fictional critters than real ones...just make sure to put the fear of a Solar into him every once in a while if he takes out too many innocents.

Beat me to the punch.