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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zipster" data-source="post: 5793168" data-attributes="member: 6687861">I do want to thank everyone so far for their responses, and I also want to address what Empirate has said a bit, as I may not have been entirely clear on my intention.Yes, I was exaggerating when I said that I don't understand a character sheet, with the intent to say that my understanding of the system is by far complete, especially when compared to someone who has 2nd edition practically memorized. This is not to justify my own ignorance, or excuse me from the burden of it - reading the DMG and familiarizing myself is part of my plan. If I were going to be DMing for the rest of the campaign, perhaps I would feel more inclined to have all the details, but as it is, I know that my own knowledge and experience isn't to the point where I could do the whole campaign, which is why I'm doing more of a stand-alone session. But, perhaps it makes it a little more excusable that I haven't picked up and memorized the DMG yet. While it does seem petty to some degree, you make it sound like there is no story that I plan on working, no characters I plan on developing, and no hope for the DM's character. This isn't true. So far in his adventure there has been relatively low risk of threat and death. There have been times when the whole session has been "go into this cave and kill these undead" - and, by cave, I don't mean dungeon. In a recent adventure, the party's ranger thwarted the DM's own plan of a huge battle because the DM forgot the property of a magic item he gave the player and forgot to account for it's use. This is what I'm trying to avoid, and believe it or not, I'm also trying to do it in a way that makes legitimate sense within the story that I am personally crafting.As others have suggested, I could kill him in his sleep - but, he would have no chance. I could send him into a step-and-die trap room, but again, he would have no chance. I could pit him against one of his world's numerous characters who he has no character sheet for that is capable of one-shotting any single person in the party without even rolling a die. But, again, he would have no chance.As Danbu suggested, I could fill the room under the psion with explosives, but, again, there is no chance. Believe it or not, I want the DM"s character, and the party to have a chance, and refuse to put them in situations which are doomed to fail because it isn't fair, it isn't consistent, and it isn't fun. This does not mean that I, as the (temp) DM, should make things easy for them and give them guaranteed success, or not craft parts of the adventure which are designed to kill the party if they make a mistake and are not careful in each situation that they encounter. And, again, within the story-arch I am crafting, the antagonists goals are to humiliate this specific PC for his own arrogance. The Psion received a notice from a foreign kingdom inviting capable people to go adventuring with (this is what drew the party together). Tucked away in this summons was also a threat: "If you plan on fighting me, then bring your funeral arrangements." A psionic is a highly disciplined individual who has constantly pushed himself to attain power within himself. This particular psionic revels in challenge: he pushes himself to the extreme to further his own ability and power. Now, if said person were to receive a summons as detailed above, it seems likely to me that the psionic would feel that he wouldn't need to bring his own funeral arrangements if he were to make the challenge. And, so he pushes himself to prove it.Now, the player does not have any magical item that prevents scrying, so the psionic has been watching his behavior and has been able to plan accordingly. Even in the midst of all of this, unless they find a way to prevent him from scrying (which, never has a PC I've played with ever thought a villain was scrying on them) it would make sense that the psionic would be one step ahead of them all the way.Now, if the antagonist had no intentions to harm, cripple, or maim the PC's in any way, then he wouldn't make a very good antagonist. In retrospect, the title to this thread is maybe a bit misleading. I, as a person, feel compelled to kill the DM's character because the DM, as a person, has basically challenged me to do it, and I know that other DM's have failed to craft situations which could potentially - and fairly - lead to this characters demise. I have not, as empirate has suggested, determined to kill the DM's character despite any and every attempt of his own; in fact, my original vision has the character surviving - that is, the psionic won't really try to kill the character unless he is pushed, or feels that he is out of control of the situation, at which point, the Psionic - who looks as average as any old Joe - is capable of using "disintegrate" over and over until the player fails a save. Put the two of them in the middle of a very crowded market, and the player would have no clue what is happening. But, again, I'm actually looking to give a chance to the party instead of cheaply killing them, and I've seen some great ideas in various threads around here, and have seen the creativity of this place and thought that maybe I could get some ideas and inspiration here. Rumbletiger, believe it or not, I haven't actually considered having the psionic dominate the player. I'm not sure how good his will saves are (from what I recall, pure fighters seem to have some of the best saves as it is), but I suspect his Wisdom is within the 16-17 area. Dominating the mind of the player feels fully in line with what the antagonist would wish to do, and the moment the players see the Ulatharid they should know that such an outcome is possibility, which also gives them a chance. So, thank you for the idea!</blockquote>

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