I know, I know, I'm the DM - I can at moments notice have Death himself appear and take away this PC; I can have him unwittingly anger a group of dragons and all sorts of other beasts in which survival would be impossible.
But, that doesn't sound fun, nor does it seem fair enough to fit my intentions. This is my first post here, by the way, I've been lurking for a while and decided to register recently. So far, I like what I see - but, that's all besides this point!
I'll be DMing in my friend's campaign in the near future; he's been running a 2nd Edition adventure set in a modified version of the Forgotten Realms. He has an over-arching story he is wanting to achieve, but is also looking to do some playing. This is all fine and dandy. The issue is that the DM has been playing while DMing also by having his character rather front and center. This, while problematic in some ways, has been dealt with and forgiven.
I suspect that his character, a pure fighter created with the Optional Rule books, has been meticulously crafted; as would be said here, I believe he has been min-maxed, but have not actually seen his character sheet (and, honestly, I like the Roleplaying and storycrafting aspects of DnD more than the system and mathematical aspects, so I probably wouldn't fully understand it if I saw it right now anyway).
Now, I have a very rough idea of how things will play out, but... well, recent developments have lead me to wish for some sadistic situations for this particular character to have to traverse. I'm working on situations which will, at the least, damage the characters reputation and bother the character at a very personal level, but... well, I can't help but feel I want to do more.
The very streamlined plot of the adventure is that a very powerful Psionic has heard of the character and has simply decided to prove himself better, and has put a lot of energy into humiliating this character. After a series of puzzles and challenges, the party will eventually come face to face with the mastermind (pun intended!) yet will not realize it; as the mastermind will appear to be the hostage of what the players will initially think is the mastermind: an Ulatharid who has been dominated by the psionic.
Now, in theory, I should have no problem killing this character. An Ulatharid can kill in 1d3 turns once it grabs it's target; it can turn a character feeble-minded with it's mind-blast. Yet, according to the Monsterous Compendium, it's max HP is 96 (hit die of 11 + 8)... and the party's ranger is capable of killing it in a single turn. Basically, the DM has really beefed up characters and has made life relatively easy for them. With access to teleports, words of recall, capes that enabling flying, and many other things, the group is certainly more potent than a normal group of level 13 people should be.
Add ontop of this the fact that people have, in the past, have tried to kill the DM's character and failed. When I talked to him, I mentioned that there would be severe risk in what I am planning to run, and wanted to ensure he was okay with that. His response sounded more like a challenge, "If you can kill me, then good job."
Originally the intent was to humiliate the character, now... I find the desire to at least debilitate him to be very strong. But. I want to do it fairly. I don't want it to be an impossible situation where there is only one gaurenteed outcome; I want to thoroughly outsmart him (which, since he has been gaming since the 80's, while I just began a few years ago, I lack experience to thoroughly plan for many things). So, if anyone has some particularly devious situations that are still within the realm of fairness (step-and-die traps are a bit unappealing) then I would love to hear of them.
If it helps, the party's dedicated healer is a Cleric NPC, whom I don't believe I'll allow to participate in the adventure.
Thanks for your time!
But, that doesn't sound fun, nor does it seem fair enough to fit my intentions. This is my first post here, by the way, I've been lurking for a while and decided to register recently. So far, I like what I see - but, that's all besides this point!
I'll be DMing in my friend's campaign in the near future; he's been running a 2nd Edition adventure set in a modified version of the Forgotten Realms. He has an over-arching story he is wanting to achieve, but is also looking to do some playing. This is all fine and dandy. The issue is that the DM has been playing while DMing also by having his character rather front and center. This, while problematic in some ways, has been dealt with and forgiven.
I suspect that his character, a pure fighter created with the Optional Rule books, has been meticulously crafted; as would be said here, I believe he has been min-maxed, but have not actually seen his character sheet (and, honestly, I like the Roleplaying and storycrafting aspects of DnD more than the system and mathematical aspects, so I probably wouldn't fully understand it if I saw it right now anyway).
Now, I have a very rough idea of how things will play out, but... well, recent developments have lead me to wish for some sadistic situations for this particular character to have to traverse. I'm working on situations which will, at the least, damage the characters reputation and bother the character at a very personal level, but... well, I can't help but feel I want to do more.
The very streamlined plot of the adventure is that a very powerful Psionic has heard of the character and has simply decided to prove himself better, and has put a lot of energy into humiliating this character. After a series of puzzles and challenges, the party will eventually come face to face with the mastermind (pun intended!) yet will not realize it; as the mastermind will appear to be the hostage of what the players will initially think is the mastermind: an Ulatharid who has been dominated by the psionic.
Now, in theory, I should have no problem killing this character. An Ulatharid can kill in 1d3 turns once it grabs it's target; it can turn a character feeble-minded with it's mind-blast. Yet, according to the Monsterous Compendium, it's max HP is 96 (hit die of 11 + 8)... and the party's ranger is capable of killing it in a single turn. Basically, the DM has really beefed up characters and has made life relatively easy for them. With access to teleports, words of recall, capes that enabling flying, and many other things, the group is certainly more potent than a normal group of level 13 people should be.
Add ontop of this the fact that people have, in the past, have tried to kill the DM's character and failed. When I talked to him, I mentioned that there would be severe risk in what I am planning to run, and wanted to ensure he was okay with that. His response sounded more like a challenge, "If you can kill me, then good job."
Originally the intent was to humiliate the character, now... I find the desire to at least debilitate him to be very strong. But. I want to do it fairly. I don't want it to be an impossible situation where there is only one gaurenteed outcome; I want to thoroughly outsmart him (which, since he has been gaming since the 80's, while I just began a few years ago, I lack experience to thoroughly plan for many things). So, if anyone has some particularly devious situations that are still within the realm of fairness (step-and-die traps are a bit unappealing) then I would love to hear of them.
If it helps, the party's dedicated healer is a Cleric NPC, whom I don't believe I'll allow to participate in the adventure.
Thanks for your time!
