Is this bad DMing

[Anduril]

Agreed. This is a bad situation and you should leave if you aren't having fun.
Find or found another group that is more to your preference in gaming style. This hobby is supposed to be all about having fun. If you're not, something is wrong.

 

[Sejs]

You should get all the other PCs to gang up on Mr DM's-Pet, kill him and take his stuff. Er, or distribute his stuff amongst yourselves that is.

But definitly kill him and take his stuff - it's the adventurer's way, after all.

 

[Psimancer]

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)…


.

 

[Darklone]

MarauderX: Con score doesn't matter for dying limit in core D&D. AU rules and some others are different.

 

[sellars]

A thing that comes to my mind is: Is he a beginning DM?

If he is, try and explain that he is destroying the game with his playing style. At first he probably won't agree, but in the end your good advice will do him good. Everybody must have a chance to learn the craft. If that means going through some conflicts, and hard times, so be it. No pain, no gain

If he is not a new DM: dump him! This kind of behaviour is only acceptable if it srings from inexperience. If not, leave him be and find a group you feel comfortable with. You should be straight and honest about why you are going to another group though. In the end he will also learn from this experience.

(that's another .02 from my allready depleted back account)

 

[Katerek]

Sounds pretty poopy to me.

Leave the group and go find a group that you can respect.

 

[Jupp]

I'm on the same page as Sellars. I would try to talk with him about this issue and see if you can show him that the DM has to be a on neutral ground when it comes to this kind of situation. If he is indeed a newbie DM without too much experience then he should be able to learn from this..if he still thinks that he is right and shows the same kind of behaviour in the next few game session then just give him a handshake, tell him that is was more or less nice playing with him and leave the group.
Either just leaving with some bad words or trying to grief the play in the next session is not very nice nor is it productive in any way so I wouldn't do that.

Greetings
Jupp

 

[ARandomGod]

Allowing the fort save... questionable. When that failed allowing a reroll? Um, I would have left at that point.

The only way a reroll *might* sit ok with me is if the DM went something like: "Hrm people are dying too much, what if I institute action points which you can use to prevent death. Everyone gets 2 action points per level. How would you guys feel about that?"

Not knowing when rules are going to be abided by and when they are going to be rewritten on the fly is an anathema to me.

This is what I was thinking.
1) Definitely bad GMing
2) Could have been him getting tired of having all the players die.
3) Arbitrarily done and without discussing, it's still bad. I'd try to talk, but I know people that you just can't talk with , and I'm imagining that sort of person. You can also wait to see if th GM is avoiding other deaths.... or you can leave, or you can start taking things as if you know you're gonna die, make a half-ogre monk, or a feral half ogre monk... or a feral cat person mon-fighter-ranger-thief-barbarian-horizonwalker.

You know, n stuff.

 

[MarauderX]

MarauderX: Con score doesn't matter for dying limit in core D&D. AU rules and some others are different.

Huh. Guess I am used to everyone (including myself) house rule it.

 

[Arnwyn]

Beats me if it was bad DMing... I didn't get enough information to be satisfied with blurting out an answer (and I'm quite sure it wasn't very objective, either).

What was the DM's justification for his actions?

You see - it's all about the justification.