Is this bad DMing

[Talon5]

Bad GM

A character is sometimes necassary for the campaign's future. Kill the wrong one and the campaign is dead.

If the GM is protecting his sponses character or older brother (cause he doesn't want to get his can kicked....) then it- well it still lines up to bad GMing. My wife's character took a beating this last weekend, she was a little mad, but she wasn't retreating from the center of the fight. She was cool with that, because she knew she was in a bad spot.

I would suggest communicating your displeasure before the beginning of the next session and be prepared to bail. Having another group lined up could be a good idea too.

Good luck

 

[Yair]

About 12 years ago this exact same thing happened to me. I played half a dozen sessions with a new DM and realised that he refused to let anything bad happen to his best friend’s character (the previous DM)… Additionally, he specifically targeted one PC in particular to cop all the crap that he dished out… It was the most disgraceful display of DMing that I have even seen… I left quick smart… It took me a couple of years to find a good group, but I can honestly say when you do, it is well worth it (I have played with the same core of people since 1994)…


.

Confession of a Serial DM: I have one player whose character always gets... well, dead. It is getting to be rediculous. So far I have killed his first character (killed by a troll when he refused to pay bridge-toll), cut the hand of his second character (later died in TPK), killed his third character (killed by an assasin he unknowingly attacked), and killed his fifth (and so far last) character in the first session it appeared on, and pretty much at the beginning of it too. It seems I am killing him every second session
I don't have it in against him - he is just rash, and tends to have bad luck. :\

As for the DM in question - ditch him. I'd talk to the other players, see if any of them want to leave to form a new group, get in touch with a few others, and just start gaming with another GM.
If the group has cconsensus he is a bad DM, you can arrange for a mutiny but that can get messy. I wouldn't.

 

[Mercule]

Based on the information available, it sounds like bad DMing.

Of course, as others have pointed out, it could be lack of experience or a bit of sleep deprivation. Either of those should be given a bit of leeway (but not so much as to entrench them in the group).

I don't really have a problem with the death toll. Meatgrinder is a valid game type. But the players should have some buy-in for that sort of game. If they don't, then it is a problem.

Talk with him. Get his reasons and thoughts. Remember that it's a two-way conversation -- as a DM I hate having to justify everything to a player. If he refuses to even entertain the conversation, then call him a girlie-man and leave.

 

[The_Universe]

[JOKE]Run over his dog and murder his grandmother! Leave a note near the bodies of each that say, "Tell them to reroll their Fort. saves!"[/JOKE]

In all seriousness, it really sucks, but 8 months isn't a long time. He may have shot you down, but make sure that the next time another player is in a similarly dire situation, they get the same benefits. Talk to the DM to make sure that this is the new policy, and that it will be around the next time you're bleeding out.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

How does the Barbarian's player feel about all this?

Does he realize that he receives special treatment? Does he feel ok with it?

I'm not a confrontational person, but if a DM did something like this to me, I'd certainly be "wth, dude?" (ok, ok, I don't really say "dude" IRL).

AR

 

[rrealm]

Bad DM all the way. I would talk with him and see if he will change and learn the rules (-10 is dead by core rules).

P.S. I say dude all the time. That scene in "Dude, where's my car?" where the two guys are having a conversation but it only consists of the word "dude" - I understand that conversation completly as I've had a few of those myself.

 

[RPGgirl]

I would be inclined to agree with others to talk to the DM out of game about what happenned, and if you are not satisfied with the answer/changes then leave.

I have seen this behavior in the RPGA several times, though not from a single judge. One judge enjoys TPK's so much, she will not hesitate to kill most if not all the party in a single round. Another judge has favorites and will aim for less obvious targets in order to spare their lives. And, our local RPGA coordinator, has more or less implemented an unspoken rule that everyone has one round after -10 to get healed and brought above the death line. Unfortunately, this 'rule' is unspoken and is often ignored when the DM wants to kill a specific player. On top of all that, when a favored player dies during the in-crowd games, the DM holds back the AR until that player levels, so that the death doesn't mean a huge loss in XP. My point in all this is that DM's allowed to get away with what you have described, do not get better. Instead the situation tends to get worse, until favoritism becomes the norm. The DM has to be relatively neutral in order for the party to trust him or her and have faith in their rulings.

Just me two cents, but run, run away. Also, I agree, do not make waves when you leave - nothing good ever comes out of that.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I won't go so far as to hand down a bad DM verdict, but the evidence is pretty good. I'd say if you, and hopefully others in the group, talk to him about it outside the game and he refuses to explain why he did what he did, falling back on the "I'm the DM!" position, then he's at least an immature DM. Yes, DM's should not have to go back on rulings because they are unpopular, but they should be able to explain them beyond "Because I said so!" If that's all you get then I'd say pack up and I'll wish you luck finding a good new group.

If he can admit it was a mistake and he later realized he should not have done it, or that he really needed to Barbarian to survive to execute the next major plot element, then I'd say keep going with the group and give the DM a chance to learn and grow. If you just bail, the DM will probably never learn what he really did wrong and how to improve.

And remember relationships can make thing tricky. I have a difficult time sometimes when I end up romping on my wife's character, or the other DM's character. I don't want my wife mad at me, for obvious reasons, and I don't want the other DM to think he should get payback when he's DMing. In the end I just do things as fair as possible and everything tiurns out fine (well, maybe the car ride home is a little quiet).