I killed our campaign

[Joshua Randall]

If DnD were more mainstream, I'd like to get a job as a role-playing therapist.

Best... career aspiration... evar!

 

[WayneLigon]

I don't see how 9th level characters can kill a 659 hp advanced chimera without losing anyone.

When I see things like that, I want to say 'OK, I want to see copies of everyone's character sheet, and I want to sit in on a session and see just how this is happening'. Without being there, my guess is that some 'inconvenient' or hard-to-understand rules are being ignored, house-ruled away, or someone just isn't doing their job correctly.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

your DM look incompetent

Well, if disallowing the beef jerky makes you incompetent, then I must be a crappy DM too. I'd have disallowed it without a second thought. I am quite familiar with beef jerky, and water, and saltwater. There's no way in my mind that dropping beef jerky into a bowl of water is going to get you saltwater.

Now, I might have given him a karma point (my version of Hero Points) for making me laugh. But it wouldn't have worked.

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Sounds to me that you threw a wrench into the guys campaign so you could GM. Well thats the way I'm reading it anyway. Also, if you had ranted like that infront of me and my players, I would have put you in the front lean and rest position and have you pushing till the sun came up. And if you refused, I would have then thrown your ass out the freakin door.

Do you go through groups alot?

Scott

Well, my group is currently going through the World's Largest Dungeon. Or, more accurately, we were until Monday night at about 11:00 p.m.

We were ninth level. We had fun early in the WLD, but lately it just wasn't as fun. The DM couldn't kill us with the MAW (Module As Written), so he added encounters. We're talking an advanced chimera with 659 hit points. We all survived.

So, we get to this role-playing encounter (instead of a combat encounter). We role-play it. We make a deal with this guy who will make us some magic items. We give him the money and materials for the first item. Then, all of a sudden, one of the players tries to have this NPC prove the NPC can cast spells. The NPC can't (though the DM has him role play reasons he won't cast spells in front of us). So, now this player (note, not a PC but a player) has "proven" the NPC can't cast spells, therefore he's lying. Forget the fact that the NPC had a +39 Bluff (or something like that). I thought it was a great encounter--he lied, we'll get mad, and deal with it later. Neat little role play encounter.

Well, I got a little mad. First, the player's PC doesn't have the INT to have this encounter. I bring it up, calmly. His reponse: "but so-and-so's character does." I let that drop, because that's an entirely different problem (him running everyone's PCs).

So, then I went "petite ballistic." I asked why we were even bothering to play any more. I stated (rather loudly and angrily, unfortunately) that the combats don't threaten us (and even if they did, we've got two ninth level clerics so we can always Raise Dead). This is a known issue with this party--we're too effective for combats to be challenging. And then I get to the heart of my argument: when the DM gives us a role-play encounter, you just talk your way out of it. Not as a PC, but as a player. (Implying, but not directly stating, that he totally meta-games and rules-lawyers everything until he gets his way*).

The tirade over, we continue. And 10 minutes later, he says, "Kent's right. Why are we playing this?"

We decided to stop playing WLD. We're going to play Call of Cthulhu next. I'm running it, starting in two weeks.

Thanks for listening to my rant/eulogy.




*latest example: In the WLD game, we have a bowl of water elemental summoning. You get better monsters with salt water. He claims we should be able to put a piece of food (e.g., beef jerky) in the water and have salt water (since the jerky is salty) and, thus, be able to conjure a much stronger elemental. The DM said no. I (player of the PC with the bowl) said no. And he whined so much that the DM finally said, "Yes" (just to shut him up). But I still refused to do it.

 

[Laslo Tremaine]

Hey Barendd, just want to say that I sympathize with you whole-heartedly.

That and to curse this horrid thread necromancy!

 

[frankthedm]

Why will this type of thinking change in Call of Cthulhu? Is it because of the high powered aspect?

The Mere threat of me running a Call of cthulhu One Shot Purged 8 people of a 12+ person game group. When [on the game day before I was to run ]they saw I had even bought poker chips and cards for the CofC "PX Poker Night", they never returned. They took with them a drug headed co DM pair who had half a brain between them. We were glad to be rid off.

Call of cthulhu
Some players will go Yay! Others will go away.

 

[WayneLigon]

When [on the game day before I was to run ]they saw I had even bought poker chips and cards for the CofC "PX Poker Night", they never returned.

Elaborate? I don't understand what that is or why it would drive someone away? Unless there is a pun or something here I'm missing?

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

When I see things like that, I want to say 'OK, I want to see copies of everyone's character sheet, and I want to sit in on a session and see just how this is happening'. Without being there, my guess is that some 'inconvenient' or hard-to-understand rules are being ignored, house-ruled away, or someone just isn't doing their job correctly.

I believe I mentioned earlier in the thread that we got damn lucky. My pixie touched the beast and Otto's Irresistable Dance did the rest. (The poor beast had to caper and prance for 3 or 4 rounds). I do believe that our main tank killed the beast on the last round of capering and prancing.

If that had not worked, I fully expected at least two PC deaths, and possibly a TPK. It was a great encounter, because I was nervous (for the PCs). That was fun to actually worry about the PCs' collective health.

I don't have the other character's PC sheets, but you can see the sheet for my pixie. All stats are rolled in front of the DM, blah blah blah. It was just the one spell (Otto's) which he can only use one a day.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Sounds to me that you threw a wrench into the guys campaign so you could GM. Well thats the way I'm reading it anyway.

No, I didnt want to GM (I wasn't prepared and was looking forward to spending the summer preparing the CoC campaign.) I'd really rather play the GM.

Also, if you had ranted like that infront of me and my players, I would have put you in the front lean and rest position and have you pushing till the sun came up. And if you refused, I would have then thrown your ass out the freakin door.

Well, I didn't rant in front of you, so what you would have done is irrelevant.

Do you go through groups alot?

No, I don't go through groups a lot. Do you? In fact, I still play with this group. And the DM of this group and I play in three groups together.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Well, if disallowing the beef jerky makes you incompetent, then I must be a crappy DM too. I'd have disallowed it without a second thought. I am quite familiar with beef jerky, and water, and saltwater. There's no way in my mind that dropping beef jerky into a bowl of water is going to get you saltwater.

Now, I might have given him a karma point (my version of Hero Points) for making me laugh. But it wouldn't have worked.

Thanks, Lord Pendragon. I will pass on your words of solidarity to my WLD GM.