How do you deal with a bad DM?

[reanjr]

Man, I'm glad I've never had any players like me. Haha.

I wish all my players were like you. When I put 50 books in a library, it's there because it makes sense to be there, not because you are expected to scan the titles looking for anything related to your endeavors of lichdom, or cast detect magic because there's gotta be something useful in the room. I much prefer players to treat their characters as people in a world rather than centers of the universe.

 

[maddman75]

Has anyone had to deal with this before and how did you deal with it?

Kill him and take his stuff.

 

[Turanil]

I see two possibilities:

1) It's just a DM who lacks experience. Just tell him as diplomatically as you can that the PCs have some knowledge of the world they live in, and players should be told what they know and don't know. Animal are pretty common knowledge, and even unusual animals look like other animals (i.e.: "you encounter with an animal you never met before: it's like a cat but the size of a bear, orange with black stripes..."). Now a Grell could be described in egnigmatic ways.

2) It's someone with some psychological problem, a retentive anal or what not, who will use the game to manipulate you (if unconsciously) or what not. In this case leave that DM and find another (Fast!).

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Mr. T, we need to know more about the situation. Don't leave us hanging!

As some have pointed out, he may have problems. Though you are the one who knows him beter than us so maybe you could give a little bit better of an idea of what the GM is like. How experienced is he? How manipulative do you think he is?

 

[Algolei]

Hey!! Why does everyone always rag on us anal retentive mentally ill DMs?! I'm hurt! And I'm gonna take my 3,652 dice and go home!

Just as soon as I pick them up.

...one...
...two...
...three...
...four...
...five...
...six...
...seven...
...eight...
...nine...
...ten...
...eleven...
...twelve...
...thirteen...
...fourteen...
...fifteen...
...sixteen...
...seventeen...
...eighteen...
...nineteen...
...twenty...
...twenty-one...
...twenty-two...
...twenty-three...
...twenty-four...
...twenty-five...
...twenty-six...
...twenty-seven...
...twenty-eight...
...twenty-nine...
...thirty...
...thirty-one...
...thirty-two...
...thirty-three...
...thirty-four...
...thirty-five...
...thirty-six...
...thirty-seven...
...thirty-eight...
...thirty-nine...
...forty...
...forty-one...
...forty-two...
...forty-three...
...forty-four...
...forty-five...
...forty-six...
...forty-seven...
...forty-eight...
...forty-nine...
...fifty...
...fifty-one...
...fifty-two...
...fifty-three...
...fifty-four...
...fifty-five...
...fifty-six...
...fifty-seven...
...fifty-eight...
...fifty-nine...
...sixty...
...sixty-one...
...sixty-two...
...sixty-three...
...sixty-four...
...sixty-five...
...sixty-six...
...sixty-seven...
...sixty-eight...
...sixty-nine...
...seventy...
...seventy-one...
...seventy-two...
...seventy-three...
...seventy-four...
...seventy-five...
...seventy-six...
...seventy-seven...
...seventy-eight...
...seventy-nine...
...eighty...
...eighty-one...
...eighty-two...
...eighty-three...
...eighty-four...
...eighty-five...
...eighty-six...
...eighty-seven...
...eighty-eight...
...eighty-nine...
...ninety...
...ninety-one...
...ninety-two...
...ninety-three...
...ninety-four...
...ninety-five...
...ninety-six...
...ninety-seven...
...ninety-eight...
...ninety-nine...
...one hundred...
...one hundred and one...
...one hundred and two...
...one hundred and three...
...one hundred and four...
...one hundred and five...
...one hundred and six...
...one hundred and seven...
...one hundred and eight...
...one hundred and nine...
...one hundred and ten...
...one hundred and eleven...
...one hundred and twelve...
...one hundred and thirteen...
...one hundred and fourteen...
...one hundred and fifteen...
...one hundred and sixteen...
...one hundred and seventeen...
...one hundred and eighteen...
...one hundred and nineteen...
...one hundred and twenty...
...one hundred and twenty-one...
...one hundred and twenty-two...
...one hundred and twenty-three...
...one hundred and twenty-four...
...one hundred and twenty-five...
...one hundred and twenty-six...
...one hundred and twenty-seven...
...one hundred and twenty-eight...
...one hundred and twenty-nine...
...one hundred and thirty...
...one hundred and thirty-one...
...one hundred and thirty-two...
...one hundred and thirty-three...

...y'know what? You can mail me the rest!

*thump thump thump thump....*
*slam!*

 

[Mr. T]

I'll try talking to him. Maybe that will work. If it doesn't I can "deal" with him.
Bwahahah!
On a more serious note I heard at my church that hey might of had social issues when he was younger. However, until someone sends me a study that says social problems in early childhood affects creativity, I'll still just say that he was just doing it to annoy us.

 

[Desdichado]

Build a bulldozer out of spare dice with a soldering iron, plough through the DM screen, and then its time to do the same thing Mr. T always does to deal with punks like that; pick him up and throw him at Murdoch.

"I pity the foo' who wastes my time describin'!"

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Was the buffalo important to the story?

One other "syndrome" the DM might be "suffering" from (most of my group does) is "have a description only for what's important".

Of course, it's a terrible syndrome, since it's incredibly easy to metagame. "uh-oh, he described the fountain for 15 minutes. It must be trapped or magical or something..." I realized I was doing this and tried to adjust my descriptions, but when I would describe something in intricate detail, my players would spend an hour asking me questions about it and trying absurd things.
- Is there water in the fountain?
- No
- I pour my water in the fountain
- Ok
- Does anything happen?
- No
- I cast create water in the fountain
- Uh, ok.
- Does anything happen now?
- No
- Is the water still there?
- yes
- I taste the water
- OK
- Does anything happen?
- No
- I step into the fountain, No Wait! I take off my boots first and step into the fountain
- The water is cold on your feet
- Does anything happen?
- No
- Guys, I think there's not enough water in this fountain!
- &$|#

AR

 

[MetalBard]

Sometimes just asking for a more detailed description works. It lets the DM know that they're not painting a clear enough picture for the players to work with. I've asked DMs I've played with to give a more detailed description of locations when it just seemed like another town or the "you arrive at a walled city" lack of description.

If asking for a more detailed description (rather than asking dozens of little questions, like what color it is and such) doesn't work, then I'd say you'll probably take the DM aside and discuss the issue with him.

 

[Trainz]

Was the buffalo important to the story?

One other "syndrome" the DM might be "suffering" from (most of my group does) is "have a description only for what's important".

Of course, it's a terrible syndrome, since it's incredibly easy to metagame. "uh-oh, he described the fountain for 15 minutes. It must be trapped or magical or something..." I realized I was doing this and tried to adjust my descriptions, but when I would describe something in intricate detail, my players would spend an hour asking me questions about it and trying absurd things. [...]

- Guys, I think there's not enough water in this fountain!
- &$|#

Heh.

Yeah, I see that as a tool actually. I use my player's reflexes against them.

About 10 years ago, I put a kitten in, say, room 4. It was SHAPED like a kitten, but I actually used the stats of a Tyranosaur. As soon as a player approached it going "Kitty kitty !" it jumped on him and started raking away at the party. They defeated it, patched their many wounds, and proceeded to the next room, where there was ANOTHER kitten on some pillows, purring away. This kitten was actually a normal kitten, but if it was killed, it would explode into a 20 dice fireball.

Sure enough...