Is this DM bs or is it not?

[Tsyr]

I don't understand the people who say "You should be glad you got off this easy, harpies should have killed you!" or similar.

Did you forget that the harpies were put there BY the DM? It's not like there were harpies there by some act of God and the DM showed great amounts of valor by holding them back from killing the character. Had the DM done nothing, the character wouldn't have been attacked in the first place. So no, in that light, the character did not get off easy.

 

[green slime]

Friendships should have some form of trust going for them too...

 

[DMaple]

The harpies should have killed the barbarian and left his items for the rest of the party.

If I was the babarian I'ld be annoyed with the DM going soft like that. Nothing worse than a DM that's afraid to kill the odd player.

 

[Toj]

I disagree. I think they DID get off easy. I am also of like mind that the PC's shouldn't have to encounter only things of their challenge rating or lower. The world is a dangerous place with dangerous creatures.

They DM could have had the harpies be at this particular location his whole campaign. If the PC's stumbled upon them when they weren't ready to face them, then I hope they are good at running.

To me the barbarian did something very very stupid. Being alone and flying through the air is just like standing down-range on a firing squad. You are just asking for trouble.

They only complaint I would really have is that we don't know if there is a plot with the harpies. (It appears there isn't) A good DM has a reason for everything, even if it's a simple reason. Simple reasons can actually lead to complex plot devices when players are invloved.

Just to re-emphasize one of my points. When players are out and about, they have a chance of running into something that can mop the floor with them. Doesn that mean if they do encounter it that they will die? No... it simply means they need to be careful in the world and how they travel about, and they need to have plans of escape. Also, not every creature you meet has the ultimate goal of killing you (This may be a surprise to some people). Sometimes the evil bad guys just like showing you that they can rub your face in the dirt and enjoy watching you get angry over it.

 

[Darkness]

The harpies should have killed the barbarian and left his items for the rest of the party.

If I was the babarian I'ld be annoyed with the DM going soft like that. Nothing worse than a DM that's afraid to kill the odd player.

Right; I agree.

OTOH, if the DM really just wanted to reduce the PCs' magic, he should have done it in a way that doesn't throw suspense of disbelief out the window - thieves, bandits, tax collectors, ethereal filchers, dragons, whatever. But not harpies.

Either way - the DM didn't handle the situation very competently. Of course, everyone screws up every once in a while - myself included.

 

[jasper]

Either the Dm is trying to balance out the magic or out to get people.
If he trying to balance it out this was ok way to do it. I would have done when I was 18 and DMing.

If he out to get people.
Run away from the campaign. Get a new DM. But try talking with first.

Some posted you can't find DMs in you area, that they rare than unicorns.
Either suffer or quit the game.
What! you say you rather play under a bad DM than not play.
You a D&D addicit. There is no help. please send $$$$$ to WOTC and all D20 vendors and they will let control your habit and load you bookshelves with plenty of books

 

[godfear]

Lost your stuff. Bummer. I'm running a (currently dead) rogue/fighter that has had all of his stuff taken away several times in his adventuring career. Most recently, the enemies helped him out with his encumberance load by relieving him of his Boots of Elvenkind, +2 Double Keen Battle Axe, and some +2 leather armor that he took off a cambion's corpse, that had only just begun to manifest some of its cooler powers (darkvision, demon empathy, berserking). Alas, we ended up surrounded by a well-armed group of 25 cultists, who put us down. When we awoke (once again) in chains without our stuff, we experienced a wave of deja vu, sighed, and started from scratch again. I had to pick one cultists pocket, relieving him of his sheathed sickle, which I promptly used to sneak attack his unhappy @$$.

When my party manages to raise me, (it's been three games now, let's go, guys) the only thing I'll have to my name is a ceremonial silver dagger taken off some cultist or another. And we still have an evil ceremony to stop.

In short, equipment is temporary. If it gets taken away, and you start to flounder, you were relying too much on it, and not enough on the merits of your character. Sure, the DM could have handled it better. But this is the situation you're in now. Deal with it as is. Game on.

 

[Wicht]

I still want to know which version of the story is the correct one and why there are two different versions of one story. I refuse to join in the many rants until I get an answer...

So once more... Was the Barbarian over miles of forest or miles of ocean? And why are there two versions of this story.

 

[DungeonKeeperUK]

Finally, to put it bluntly, even if the DM's only objective was to clear out some excess magic, that's his prerogative. The DM giveth, the DM taketh away. Players who assume that the magic items they have are somehow sacrosanct kind of annoy me. DM's make mistakes; if he's realized that he's given this character too much magic and this is his way of correcting it, so be it.

I agree with this point a while ago.... but also have to a problem with the sentance in the origonal post of something like...
"... but it says in the Monster Manual...."
It don't matter what it say in the monster manual, the DM may have made this an intelligent harpy leading the pack, maybe put a fiendish template over it whatever, but the player should not be quoting from the MM in any means, its up to the DM how he uses the information at hand..

Some time ago I had an annoying player who new the MM inside out, adn would quote verbatum everything about every creature they met...

"Ahhh black pudding" he says "stand back, no edged weapons etc etc".. so I just started changing subtle parts of creatures until he got the point..... unless of course he had met the creature before and understood it...

I think it was just a balancing issue

 

[Dieter]

Given what we know so far, I have no problem with this.

Finally, to put it bluntly, even if the DM's only objective was to clear out some excess magic, that's his prerogative. The DM giveth, the DM taketh away. Players who assume that the magic items they have are somehow sacrosanct kind of annoy me. DM's make mistakes; if he's realized that he's given this character too much magic and this is his way of correcting it, so be it.

Indeed. Having many DM'ed 3e games under my belt, I'd say that I was way too easy on spreading magic items around. There is much to be said (NOT HERE!) about the desparities of 2e and 3e, and DM-ing the systems are like learning to drive on an automatic Ford escort then being handed the keys of 5-speed Ferrari...there are lot's of "getting used-to's". Since the early games, I've pulled back on the reigns a bit harder when it comes to divy-ing up magic items. I now have general rule that magic items of any appreciable value (+1 weapons, etc.) don't start showing up until 4th level, with the "pluses" going up one per 3 levels (7,10,13, etc.)

Fortunately, I've had the opportunity to inflict some "divine intervention" on certain characters...making them sacrifice overpower items rather than dying outright.

EX:

My cleric of Pelor was struck down two games ago by a vicious critical bite-attack from a bulette. Rather than screwing the rest of the party over by leaving them without a viable source of healing, I gave the cleric the choice of either dying or giving up his +1 mace of flaming. He agreed to the trade-off and *blam*, the mighty sun-god of Pelor struck his weapon hand, incinerating the mace but pumping life back into the dead cleric.