Has anyone had to deal with DMs being too lazy to fix things in thier campagins, then saying: "I don't like the abilities a certain PC has, and I don't want to look for ways to get around them, so I am going to summarily rule that the PC can't do these things." This has just happened to our group, and I am not happy. Granted, it is the DMs world, but I really don't think he should do things like this. I am looking for ways to try to fix the problem, besides quitting. I am planning to do that if things don't get fixed, but I would like to be able to get the problem worked out, as I do like to play (I have run a game before, and definitly prefer playing to running) and it is the only game I can find in my area.
The situation is this: My best friend and I play in this game here on campus. I have known the DM since I came down here to college last year, and my best friend has known him for 3-1/2 yrs now. I am the one that originally got the DM into D&D.
My best friend is playing a 4th level sorcerer and 10th level shifter. He used the fan-created Shifter class that was posted on wizards.com Masters of the Wild message boards. This fan-created class is a compromise between the Shifter PRC in Masters of the Wild and whatever they updated it with in 3.5. A big complaint about the MOTW Shifter PRC was that it was too powerful, and a big complaint about the replacement 3.5 PRC is that it was too weak. This fan created class tries to find a balance.
We originally started playing this campagin at the beginning of the summer. At that time, my best friend went to the DM and said: "I want to play the 3.0 Shifter PRC, but it is very powerful; if you want, I will play this fan-created PRC that is less powerful. Here are both PRCs; look them over and let me know which one you want me to play before the first session." The DM never got back to him, so he played the 3.0 PRC. The DM did not like it, because it was powerful, but couldn't do much about it. However, in the past month, more than half our group dropped out due to other reasons having nothing to do with the game, the DM, or any of the players. At that point, the DM decides to restart the game with us being at 14th level, and with 3 new players replacing the ones that left. He also ruled that my best friend would have to use the fan-created PRC instead of the 3.0 one. My best friend did not much like it, as it required him to make massive changes to his character, but went along with it to keep the peace. After chaning his character, he has maxed out the PRC and can shift an unlimited amount of times per day (although not all of those shifts heal him - only a certain number can do that) and can turn into an etheral creature, so the only way the DM can capture him and hold him is to surround him in a cube of force, requiring the use of 6 Wall of Force spells.
This Sunday was our first session in the "new" game. It went pretty well with only a small hitch when the DM couldn't figure out that having 0%-20% hit gave an 80% miss chance, when it should have been only 20%, but that got cleared up and we moved on. However, on monday, I am sitting in my room playing a video game, and the DM comes in (we live next to each other and share a bathroom). He says that he has decided that my best friend can only shift 10 times per day and cannot become etheral.
I sat stupified for a moment, then asked: "You just decided this, just like that?" He affrimed that he had, and I said that I didn't think it was fair to suddenly impose suce a sweeping rule change like that after we had already started playing. I made it clear that I wouldn't be complaining if he had, for example, read the PRC before the first session and made that ruling. He did not, however, read the PRC at all; that much is obvious.
The DM feels that my best friend's character is overpowered, but I do not see it. Every form he takes has a weakness; the DM does not like the Stone Golem due to its immunity to magic. He should have us fight in a small room; a stone golem is a large creature. Some forms have really high strength, but very low AC. The DM just needs to read about every single form he can take and exploit thier weaknesses. My best freind even offered to point some out to the DM. And still, he says his ruling stands.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but this really bothers me. I don't see how he can justifiably make sure a sweeping rules change after we have already started the campagin. His only defense (and I think it is VERY flimsy) is that this is a fan-created PRC, and is not published in a book, and therefore he can do whatever he wants to with it.
Does anyone have any suggestions as how to deal with this, outside of quitting? I am prepared to quit over it, but, as stated above, would prefer to find a solution to this problem, as I do like to play, and as I do not want to make my suitemate angry with me for quitting his campagin over something that really has nothing to do with me.
The situation is this: My best friend and I play in this game here on campus. I have known the DM since I came down here to college last year, and my best friend has known him for 3-1/2 yrs now. I am the one that originally got the DM into D&D.
My best friend is playing a 4th level sorcerer and 10th level shifter. He used the fan-created Shifter class that was posted on wizards.com Masters of the Wild message boards. This fan-created class is a compromise between the Shifter PRC in Masters of the Wild and whatever they updated it with in 3.5. A big complaint about the MOTW Shifter PRC was that it was too powerful, and a big complaint about the replacement 3.5 PRC is that it was too weak. This fan created class tries to find a balance.
We originally started playing this campagin at the beginning of the summer. At that time, my best friend went to the DM and said: "I want to play the 3.0 Shifter PRC, but it is very powerful; if you want, I will play this fan-created PRC that is less powerful. Here are both PRCs; look them over and let me know which one you want me to play before the first session." The DM never got back to him, so he played the 3.0 PRC. The DM did not like it, because it was powerful, but couldn't do much about it. However, in the past month, more than half our group dropped out due to other reasons having nothing to do with the game, the DM, or any of the players. At that point, the DM decides to restart the game with us being at 14th level, and with 3 new players replacing the ones that left. He also ruled that my best friend would have to use the fan-created PRC instead of the 3.0 one. My best friend did not much like it, as it required him to make massive changes to his character, but went along with it to keep the peace. After chaning his character, he has maxed out the PRC and can shift an unlimited amount of times per day (although not all of those shifts heal him - only a certain number can do that) and can turn into an etheral creature, so the only way the DM can capture him and hold him is to surround him in a cube of force, requiring the use of 6 Wall of Force spells.
This Sunday was our first session in the "new" game. It went pretty well with only a small hitch when the DM couldn't figure out that having 0%-20% hit gave an 80% miss chance, when it should have been only 20%, but that got cleared up and we moved on. However, on monday, I am sitting in my room playing a video game, and the DM comes in (we live next to each other and share a bathroom). He says that he has decided that my best friend can only shift 10 times per day and cannot become etheral.
I sat stupified for a moment, then asked: "You just decided this, just like that?" He affrimed that he had, and I said that I didn't think it was fair to suddenly impose suce a sweeping rule change like that after we had already started playing. I made it clear that I wouldn't be complaining if he had, for example, read the PRC before the first session and made that ruling. He did not, however, read the PRC at all; that much is obvious.
The DM feels that my best friend's character is overpowered, but I do not see it. Every form he takes has a weakness; the DM does not like the Stone Golem due to its immunity to magic. He should have us fight in a small room; a stone golem is a large creature. Some forms have really high strength, but very low AC. The DM just needs to read about every single form he can take and exploit thier weaknesses. My best freind even offered to point some out to the DM. And still, he says his ruling stands.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but this really bothers me. I don't see how he can justifiably make sure a sweeping rules change after we have already started the campagin. His only defense (and I think it is VERY flimsy) is that this is a fan-created PRC, and is not published in a book, and therefore he can do whatever he wants to with it.
Does anyone have any suggestions as how to deal with this, outside of quitting? I am prepared to quit over it, but, as stated above, would prefer to find a solution to this problem, as I do like to play, and as I do not want to make my suitemate angry with me for quitting his campagin over something that really has nothing to do with me.
