Is stealing PC's toys taboo?

[interwyrm]

I'm playing in an Exalted game, and the DM had an enemy use a charm to snatch a PC's artifact weapon. The enemy was basically a thug with two friends. The PC was all alone, and out of resources. The thugs offered to give it back in return for payment. He basically told the thugs to get bent, and they beat him unconscious and took everything he had.

Basically, the idea was to show the player that his character was not invincible, and that he'd better be careful when walking around like a big man when he's really just a little fish.

A different player got all pissy about the DM stealing a player's weapon. Like... superpissy. I mean, I think I would have been a little bit irritated if it happened to me, but he went on a tirade about it being a bad precedent for like 15 minutes.

Has this sort of situation happened to other people? Or is it just this one player?

It's always seemed to me that stealing PCs toys is fair game. Just don't do it so often that it gets annoying - just like you don't have your players face the same encounters every tmie. It would get boring.

 

[Treebore]

Its only bad if you have prissy babies for players. When they are mature enough to realize feces gets thrown on you from time to time take it in stride and get past it. Or use it as a reason for a Witch Hunt, which can also be a lot of fun. Something strangely satisfying about getting "payback" from a NPC who beat you up and took your stuff.

 

[Masquerade]

If this sort of thing occurred frequently in a given campaign, yes, I would probably want to have a talk with the DM about it, too. In the case you described, though, none of the DM's actions seemed at all unreasonable.

Really, though, these things tend to vary greatly from group to group. I'm not sure there is a unifying system of taboos to go by.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's always seemed to me that stealing PCs toys is fair game. Just don't do it so often that it gets annoying - just like you don't have your players face the same encounters every tmie. It would get boring.

It's fine in moderation, especially if the characters have the ability to regain their stuff at some point.

Random thugs robbing them blind and never being able to find their heirloom sword again isn't cool, unless said heirloom is way unbalanced and the DM is trying to even things back out. (And even then, they should be able get the sword back, but "damaged.")

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

PC getting himself into a situation he couldn't handle, losing, and having his stuff taken: fair game.

DM setting up a situation the PC cannot avoid and cannot win in order to "teach the player a lesson": Bad form.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Basically, the idea was to show the player that his character was not invincible, and that he'd better be careful when walking around like a big man when he's really just a little fish.

It's Exalted, aren't the PCs supposed to be like superheroes only a lot more awesome? Sounds like the GM was out to get the player, which is never a good thing.

D&D is mostly supposed to be about gaining magic items not losing them. The only justification for taking away toys is if the DM has inadvertently given out treasure that's too powerful, in which case it's probably best to be completely up front about it. Admit the cockup, get player 'buy in' when you break/remove the offending item.

Random stuff like rust monsters sucks, imo. And always ends up screwing over the party fighter. Yeah, like that's unusual.

 

[SavageRobby]

PC getting himself into a situation he couldn't handle, losing, and having his stuff taken: fair game.

DM setting up a situation the PC cannot avoid and cannot win in order to "teach the player a lesson": Bad form.

These are my thoughts exactly. And if I read the OP right, the character was alone, reduced in capabilities and still talking trash? Clearly case #1 - he ought to consider himself lucky all he lost was his stuff.


And on another note, what is it with this rash of "Can a DM do this?" posts? Its a game. Good things happen to characters, bad things happen to characters. If people only expect the first and have problems with the second, perhaps they should find another hobby. I know I wouldn't tolerate that from another player, whether I was the DM or not.

 

[useridunavailable]

I don't see anything wrong with it in general; however, we can't get away with it in our playgroup because of a past DM. This guy used to take or negate all of our items and powers on a regular basis, and after about the tenth time, it really started to leave a bad taste in our mouths. For example, in one campaign, I came into a mid-level party as a first-level Troll Paladin (with all applicable level adjustments, etc.--I was paying 6 levels for high strength, high con, and regeneration). Well, this guy responded by making sure that every single thing we fought dealt lethal damage to me, with or without any reasonable explanation beyond, "It's Ravenloft, dude." Huh?!?

Unfortunately, these experiences really soured the whole idea of this type of DM tactic for everyone involved, and it has since been dubbed "Daving," which is considered to have a very negative connotation. If a DM in our group is accused of "Daving," he or she generally finds it extremely insulting. (Ravenloft is also often jokingly referred to as "Davenloft" in our circle.)

 

[Lanefan]

Magic items are like money: easy come, easy go.

The DM is well within bounds here, unless there's other things we don't know about the situation.

Lanefan

 

[Imp]

IME It's hard to establish an "easy come, easy go" philosophy when it comes to player equipment, but it's worth it if you do: the PCs stop being so damn inviolate, and the players can try out different setups. It helps if you're up front about the pros and cons and how you plan to do things.