Looking for opinions/advice on a game I'm in...

[Kilmore]

Run your own campaign and show them how it's done. Seriously, it may have come to that.

 

[Angcuru]

OK, here's what you do. You only have one arm left, corect? So you take a longsword and stick in part of the way into a tree(so that you can still hit the blade) at about neck level. Then, you take a second longsword in your hand, and you put it at the back of your neck. Then, you run full speed at the tree, aiming your throat at the blade stuck into the tree. BOOM! Decapitation.

Then roll up a new background. Say "I've led a happy happy life and I didn't piss anybody off!" as your background.

DAMMIT DREW! HE ISN"T TED!

 

[Angcuru]

I can die. Just not for good. I come back in like 1D4 days.

Slaughter, die, rise, repeat. NICE!

Start killing all the nobles and taking their stuff, and hide it all in a big warehouse. When it gets to the point where you CAN die permanently, live it up with the moolah!

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Both times the GM said "I know what I'm doing, and I'm planning to deliver a great game. Stay on board, I think you'll be glad you did." And both times we said "No, we don't want to be glad about it afterwards, we want to have fun this Saturday." And both times the GM said "Okay then, choose another GM, because I can't and won't run this campaign any other way."

[begin bab5 season 5 reference] who do you game with, JMS? [end bab5 reference]

But what turns your GM on may be vicariously sharing the experience of a character in another world, or extemporaneously crafting a powerful narrative. And so from his point of view he might have made your character more fun to play: sure, he achieves less, but his core motivation is clearer and more accessible, he gets lots of spotlight time, and the main thread of the story is about him. To a certain type of player, these gifts are golden.

I am a very story oriented player and GM, but I make it clear what the story is in advance and try to make it cooperative. If I want to run a "build up from nothing" type of campaign, I *gasp* tell the players that so that their characters can be adaptable to that kind of campaign.

Bottom line, you can go on and on about crafting a powerful narrative, but that doesn't make it ok to screw the other crafters. The GM can have a cursed NPC, or run a cursed character himself in the next game, or just WRITE A SHORT STORY if he has to tell that particular tale. Inflicting it on an unwilling player is the act of only one "aesthetic" and that is Control Freak.

-Kahuna Burger

 

[Zhure]

Tsyr-
I think you did the right thing by telling your DM that what is happening to your character appears to be unfair. Since he doesn't seem to be seeing your side of things, and you've tried the fair and honest approach, let's look at what you've got left:

- Leave the game. Not really workable, as you've said.
- Commit character suicide. Not really possible, as you've said.
- Revel in your curses.

I'd take "revel in my curses" for $500, Alex. You can't be killed, you're a social character, so you needn't require a whole lot of gear when you come back in 1d4 days. Whatever your other curses are, exploit them mercilessly. Trust me, the DM will somehow have them removed.

If you're short in ways to exploit the curses, I'm sure the fertile minds at EN World will gladly help out.

Greg

 

[mmu1]

I can't leave the game... I just left another group, and there isn't an opening in another group for several weeks yet... This is my entire source of gaming right now. The DM's brother is starting up another game, which I'm gonna be in, but it's gonna be a while too... (He's a far better DM, IMHO). Can anyone give me any suggestions on how I can deal with this situation?

I pretty much agree with every bad thing said so far about your DM... But with an attitude like "I can't leave the game" you're not really helping the situation, either.

If anything like this was happening in any game I was in (for FIVE levels, no less, and after trying to talk things over reasonably with the DM) my reaction would have been: "You're screwing my character over, there was no mention of any of this being inflicted on me when we started, and if you don't stop crippling my character at every turn or let me play a new one, I'm getting the hell out of here."
So what if you get kicked out? You're not having any fun anyway, it seems like. You're letting some moron screw around with you because there won't be another game for a few weeks?

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

I agree with the suggestion to ask the DM to switch you to NPC status and roll up another character. Sounds like the right approach to try first.

 

[Fenes 2]

If nothing helps, if not even telling the DM straight that you do not have fun with that character, if you cannot even switch characters, then wreck his fun. Do not take him or his campaign seriously anymore. Laugh at his descriptions, make funny quotes whenever he tries to be dramatic, inquire if you have gotten another curse yet every five minutes. Make fun of his NPCs, make fun of his ideas. You can even keep in character for all of this with a cynic, immortal nihilist.

If I told a DM explicitly that I am not having fun and he would not alter his campaign or allow me to switch to another character then I would either leave his campaign, or try to take over the group and kick him out.

 

[Mordane76]

If I told a DM explicitly that I am not having fun and he would not alter his campaign or allow me to switch to another character then I would either leave his campaign, or try to take over the group and kick him out.

This upsets me quite a bit... I know this is an emotionally charged topic (DM Power balanced with Player Enjoyment), but saying anything about kicking the guy out on his ear is just mean.

I HAVE to allow for the idea that Tsyr's DM has a narrative in mind, and has just gotten into a bit of a "Control Freak" mode like Kahuna Burger said, but I also HAVE to allow for the possibility that he's not intentionally being a jerk, and honestly doesn't understand WHY Tsyr is upset about this. People think differently -- perhaps the DM thinks this should be enjoyable, maybe he's misjudged Tsyr's style (and thinks the angsty melodrama is what Tsyr was looking for), or maybe he thinks he's putting forth an adequate situation for evoking Angst, but actually falling a bit flat. I think rehabilitation is definitely much more preferable to ostracizing the guy.


Tsyr --> Have you ever gamed with this DM before? You said the group you came from before this had a better DM, but you didn't say whether you've played in a game by this guy before? If this isn't your first time with the DM-in-question, was the other game(s) he's ran been similar in theme or punishments? If you haven't run with him before, did you talk with others who had? Did they say anything about difficulties?

 

[Angcuru]

Luckily, my group's current DM is more fun/story-based than power-hungry. Sure we all want to slit his throat five times over for what he did in the last session, but he kept it understandable...to an extent.

If I were you, Tsyr, I'd turn this character into a chaotic evil man-slayer. It'd actually be very in-character to do so. Think about it. You've lost your arm, your happiness, everyone hates you, and you're practically immortal....STAB TIME! Make your character a homicidal man-hunter who hunts down men, women, AND children just for the sheer fun of it, since you've been diven insane and bloodthirsty by the way you've been treated by the world and the opportunities given to you by this 1d4 then ressurect curse of yours. It seems to me that this DM is just ASKING to be messed with. Think Hammurabi's Code, but more extreme. I.E. 100 newborn human children for a paper cut. MAKE YOUR DM PAY!!!