Is this bad DMing

[dontpunkme]

OK here's the score: Our party consists of 6 pcs. One pc died saving my old characters life (hp=-17) and comes back a session later with a new character, a centaur. My ranger (who in character doesn't like the group because of the heretic sorcorer worshiper of Ehlonna, who keeps starting forest fires and being sold out repeatedly by the druid and barbarian) with is the next character to die (hp=-12) and I get a Aasimar paladin. Last night the party barbarian (our dm's choice class, who happens to have the best weapon, armor, and a ring of protection+4) gets dropped to hp=-11. Upon finding out that the barbarian is technically dead the DM rules he's a -10 (which suddenly isn't dead in our dm's book). The DM awards him a fort save to stay alive at DC22 and the player rolls a 2 giving him a overwhelming failure, the dm gives him a reroll which of course he makes. The dm rules the barbarian is still alive. My question: is this bad DMing?
I've voiced my opinion of the situation to the DM and he shot me down without even thinking. I'm considering leaving the group because I'm getting pretty fed up with favoritism from the DM. The DM insists that his decision making was perfectly fair and all rules are subject to DM discretion (insert jerking hand motion here).

 

[KenM]

Looks like favortisim to me. Has the DM ever had other players/ characters make fort faves to avoid death? Any idea how long he has been Dm'ing?

 

[dontpunkme]

Usually players take fort saves once they reach the negatives to stabalize. Failure results in a loss of another hitpoint, until success at which point a player maintains his current hit point total. The DM in question has about 8 months under his belt.

 

[Droid101]

Looks like bad dming to me, but not for the reason you're listing (although that one is good enough).

How fun is a campaign where you keep losing your character and making a new one? How can you get attached to the story? How can you get attached to your character? How can you properly flesh out a character? Why would you want to take the time out to think of a creative character idea, put the character together, and then bam, they're dead, make a new one? Sounds like a horrible game to me.

 

[BSF]

I think you already know the answer.

Dump the group like yesterday's bad fashion. By the book, -10 is dead. So you want to change that? That's fine, just let the players know. You want to make an on-the-fly house-rule? OK, why didn't you do that with the other two PC's? The PC biffs the house-ruled Fort save and he gets to reroll it? Hell, let the PC die and then give the group a mysterious benefactor that just happens to have a single use Diamond of True Ressurection that he will give the party if they promise to use it on the Barbarian and go on a quest that will, of course, require lots of Rage bashing on bad guys the rest of the party can barely hurt. At least that would be a bit more subtle.

Now, I am not saying that it is particularly subtle, just more subtle than what happened.

Yes, rules are at DM discretion. But, you should at least 'fess up to your favoritism, or be a little less obvious about it. Though an even better idea would be to apply the rules in a uniform, fair manner. Unless your DM is a Jedi and the players all have weak minds, nobody is going to believe that he was behaving in a fair manner.

You are fed up and you are considering leaving the group. As I said, you already know what the answer is, you are just checking to see if other people agree. Go find a group you will enjoy playing with.

 

[Chimera]

Yes.

Do not panic. Move quickly and quietly to the nearest exit.

Well, you could try to talk to the GM about it outside the game, but when questioning the protection of favorites, it usually doesn't do much good.

 

[Sejs]

My question: is this bad DMing?

Yes. It is.


A DM should be impartial, or failing that, equally biased toward all the PCs in turn. But giving one guy a armfull of breaks that the others don't get is just crap.

 

[LeifVignirsson]

I think the other thing I would love to hear is what relation does the Barbarian PC and the DM have with each other? That is also a point to consider here, but really... I would advise giving him a few fingers, give him a stunner, smash two can of beer over his prone body and pour them all over your shirt pretending you are drinking them, and then say some bad catch phrase that propels your career for another 6 years... Wait... I am getting my genre's mixed up... Just get up and leave... that's it...

 

[cdsaint]

Definately bad DMing. If your casualty rate is too high, decrease CR's, or use a house rule. Such as If restored to life (-9 hp or higher) before 1 full round has passed the character does not die. But, you treat all the characters the same.

Chris

 

[Thanee]

You should all make barbarian PCs.

Bye
Thanee