Is this fair?

[Arnwyn]

No, but funny.

(And note that if you're going to "overthrow" anyone, it would be the idiot player you handed your sheet to, not the DM.)

 

[Ozmar]

I raised an eyebrow when I read that you were playing a "dread necromancer" before being turned into a paladin. Many DMs don't like evil characters (or even "evilish" ones) and many players who like playing evil characters are something towards the "anti-social munchkin" spectrum. I don't have an opinion about you personally, but you might want to consider the possibility that your DM has such a bias, and maybe find out if playing a dread necromancer in his campaign is really a problem. At this point though, it's really a social problem and not a gaming problem. And many gamers I know don't put any skill points in Diplomacy, so good luck.

Hmmm... I suppose that might have something to do with it. I'm not really Evil, per se, although "evilish" certainly could describe him. And I did accidentally catch some party members in a misplaced Evard's Tentacles last session...

But if he thinks I'm going to be any less annoying as a Paladin, well... I expect he'd be surprised.

Ozmar the Spatially Inept

 

[Bagpuss]

Nope, I was a CN Dread Necromancer. I had skeletal dopplegangers as personal guardians and rode a chimera zombie. Half my class abilities and spells would be violations of a paladin's code. I am pretty sure that, if I still retain any Necromantic class levels, I'll be unable to use them, or will lose my paladin's status.

That sucks, because it makes your character significantly weaker than it should be for the level. It would have been better to have the character die (from a tactical level) and start with a fresh one.

One thing that's curious: I'm a role-player, so if I am, in fact, now LG, I'll try to RP him as a LG character. So he would, presumably, be convinced of the rightness of his new calling, and wouldn't immediately violate his code of honor in order to fall and return to necromancy.

Cool, in that case I'd have a word with the DM OOC and find out the reasons behind this change, and explain that while your happy to go with it, you are going to be hampered carrying redundant Dread Necromancer levels. See if you can't use the retraining rules from PHBII to convert your Dread Necromancer levels to Paladin ones, either overtime or perhaps once you've done penance (earning a level as a Paladin, while resisting using your old talents) then your God converts them for you.

 

[monboesen]

But if he thinks I'm going to be any less annoying as a Paladin, well... I expect he'd be surprised.

Ahh. And here we might be at the core of the situation. Have you considered whether this is a less than subtle (and frankly immature) hint that the DM and other players were less than pleased with the antics of your former insane undead riding character?


Should they be serious about what happened I think you need to take a discussion about everybodys expectations about the game. Could be that yours differed from the rest of your group.

 

[delericho]

Is it what your character would have done?

If so, then it's fair.

If not, and I expect it probably isn't, or else you wouldn't be posting here, then it's not fair. It's not even particularly funny IMO.

Speak to your DM. Explain to him that you wouldn't have made that choice, and that if you had wanted to play a Paladin then you would have created a Paladin to play. Then, ask him to undo that bad bad decision.

If he refuses, you have three choices:

1) Put up with it. Next time you leave early, take your sheet with you. And if you're ever entrusted with another players PC to run... show a bit more grace and favour than your 'friends' did to you.

2) Retire or kill the character, then bring in his identical twin brother, who also happens to be a Dread Necromancer with all the same equipment and followers. (Who would have thought?)

3) Find a new game.

Choose one course of action and stick with it. Don't bitch and moan about what your 'friends' have done, and don't engage in any passive-aggressive retribution. If you have a problem, deal with it like a man.

 

[frankthedm]

I had a L-8 CN Dread Necromancer that I've been playing in an Age of Worms campaign for about six months.

Sounds more like a foe than a hero. Though in AoW cold bodies can be a useful substitute for warm bodies.

I'd ask to "make" another character, rather than run a gimped multiclassed character. Even if it has to be a paladin, thats better than running one built to be surronded by minions. Saying the Dread necromancer became evil and joind the Foe's side and was killed is more reasonable than auto convert to paladin.

Either

A. You are on the bottom rung of the group and are being mistreated.
B. The DM is joking
C. They were doing an increadably roundabout way of saying Dread necro does not fit in the party.

Sound pretty funny. But swapping classes is way too major of a change. Gender is only an issue role play and tastes wise, race has some mechanical effects but still is not as major as class. And in AoW, characters are either really capable or really dead.

 

[Treebore]

If it isn't a joke i would walk.

As the DM 98% of the time I never mess with anyones character when they aren't there, and I sure don't let others mess with it either.

If your PC dies in a combat because the temp player rolled badly or played stupidly or whatever would stand, but I would go to "unusual lengths" to allow your character to be restored to life, etc... IF you wanted it back instead of using the opportunity to play something else.

But if that isn't a joke that is an unacceptable line to cross in my book. Extremely uncool. I would use other words, but they aren't allowed on this board.

 

[Ozmar]

Choose one course of action and stick with it. Don't bitch and moan about what your 'friends' have done, and don't engage in any passive-aggressive retribution. If you have a problem, deal with it like a man.

Good advice!

Don't worry, I am not planning to passive-aggressively undermine my friends to get "revenge". I am sure this'll turn out to be a joke (more I think about it, more I think its likely) or I'll just run with it. Its just a character. I am really mostly interested in seeing what people have to say about this kind of situation. Some comments are funny, some helpful, and all are fun to read. I particularly liked the first response (by Crothian).

Ozmar the Manly

 

[gizmo33]

Hmmm... I suppose that might have something to do with it. I'm not really Evil, per se, although "evilish" certainly could describe him. And I did accidentally catch some party members in a misplaced Evard's Tentacles last session...

Yea, CN is as bad as evil from a certain kind of DMs perspective. In fact, if you caught other party members in a spell effect, then it doesn't surprise me that another player was in on the hijacking of your character. You might be of the gamer alignment "Guy Who Plays Necromancer".

The thing that makes CN and Evil equivalent is that it basically nerfs the DM "Goody-Goody Guilt Trip" feat that he can use to railroad players. Or to put it a nicer way, sometimes a DM has a certain vision about where he wants the campaign to go that makes certain assumptions about what kinds of PCs he'll be DM. The polite thing would be to inform players of this, but for some reason not all DMs do this. But that being said, IMO your job is not to study the inadequacies of the DM. My recommendation is that you find away to cooperate with the DM's vision (if you think this is the problem).

The other thing to consider is that the other players in the campaign might have a problem with the character you're playing. IME "Guy Who Plays Necromancer" and "Guy Who Plays Paladin" hardly ever get along, and it's for completely metagamey reasons that the DM forces them to travel together session after session. My rule of thumb is that: if you think that, as an NPC, your character would be killed by the other PCs, then you're playing the wrong character for the group.

But if he thinks I'm going to be any less annoying as a Paladin, well... I expect he'd be surprised.

Exactly what I'd expect "Guy Who Plays Necromancer" to say. I'd like to recommend that you get a copy of "How to become a Fallen Paladin in 10 Easy Sins" and read it openly during the next game session. Or seriously, if you want to have some longevity with the group (and that's up to you), I'd "min-max" your ability to get along with the other players and DM, even if it involved some comprimise, or saying "hey, can we play an evil campaign next time?" or something constructive like that - rather than just going into a situation where you know you'll be antagonizing other people - that's not rolling 20 on Diplomacy.

 

[takyris]

Exactly what I'd expect "Guy Who Plays Necromancer" to say.

Not to blindly side with the guy making the post, but the DM allowed the character and the alignment. If this was a passive-aggressive attempt to change your character, then that's a party foul. The DM should have discussed it with the player out of game or at the very least saved it for a session in which the player was there.

Maybe rather than min-max his character to fit in well with the group, he should talk to the DM openly. If he got smacked down for playing a character that didn't fit with the party or the gaming style, then he deserves an out-of-game explanation. That sort of behavior does not and should not result in "Player should try to be a better player and hope it doesn't happen again." That's not going to solve anything.