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

[Holy Bovine]

I tried to explain that the curse was destroying what my character was built to do, and making her un-fun to play. He said it was supposed to, but that I should still be having fun. (???).

I think this is your major problem. the DM really doesn't 'get' why you don't want to play a socially-maxed character that has no chance of affecting a social situation in a positive way. This is his blind spot as he has apparently created a 'great' story around your character concept with little thought as to whether anyone would actually want to play such a character. I can't even imagine what you do for fun when there isn't a fight going on. Your character is effectively screwed, chewed and BBQ'ed and the DM thinks you should still be having fun! Blech! Me personally, since the DM has demonstrated that this curse cannot be lifted, would retire the character to NPC status (as a DM I couldn't ever see doing this to a player btw). That way you can roll up a new character and the DM can still run with his current storyline but without having to saddle a player with a 'metaplot' PC.

Good luck - hope this works out for the best.

 

[Agius_Mage]

You have maxed out Bluff, and/or Intimidate, right? If so, I'd go the evil route.

Your friends will buy it when you randomly murder commoners in alleyways and tell them, "I, uh, had to tinkle! Sorry! Back to adventuring!"

Nobody has to like you to fear you, and with your Diplomacy, Innuendo, Intimidate, and Bluff skills you can be the most despised, feared creature in the city! Intimidate the lawmen to do nothing, and threaten to murder their families if they call adventurers down on you! According to your Intimidate score YOU are the real strength of your group, and any who oppose you will SUFFER!

Granted, it's not the usual form of adventuring, but I think that if you try it, you'll have fun again. Not only will you get to think up interesting ways to thwart your fellow PCs, bypass the laws, and reign terror on all the land, but you can also relish the sad look on your DM's face as you tell the BBEG, "Yes, I'll backstab my group!"

If you do it well enough, the DM will not logically be able to stop you, and his campaign will fall apart as you dismantle his storyline peice by piece. I know that seems harsh, but if he nerfed your character, why shouldn't you nerf his campaign? If he says: "But you're ruining my story! " Just tell him, "That's the point. But you should still be having fun. "

 

[Mordane76]

I agree, but....

I agree that the best course of action seems to be show the DM the error of his ways, but you need to consider some things when doing this --


1) You said you are a subpar spell-caster: this needs to change. I'd highly suggest, if you're going the evil route, to abandon the Shaman class (why should you uphold the ways of the Elven spirits if they curse you so), and go into something more deadly, like Sorcerer or possibly just straight Fighter. Be prepared to lose ALL your spellcasting ability as ANOTHER curse.


2) The DM might have you in his plot so thick that he might attempt to circumvent your potentially derailing activities. He'll probably bring the hammer down on you harder and harder, in hopes you return to the place he had set for you. If you attempt to kill yourself, you may find that you are unable to die by your own hand (another curse) as punishment for your wrong-doings, or you may find you are "Curst" (to use an FR analogy), and cannot die by any means. If this is the case, then going evil is DEFINITELY the way to go.



But... to play Devil's Advocate here...

1) The DM might not be telling you the whole truth. He MIGHT have plans in the future for your means of atonement, but doesn't want to tell you about them. He may be intentionally keeping you in the dark, thinking you'll stay on long enough to see the true genius of his story for your redemption.

2) Perhaps he hasn't planned it out, but he does actually intend to develop a means to lift/alleviate your curse as time goes by. Yet again, however, he doesn't want to let on about it, because he feels your being in the dark is important to the development of your character.

 

[Tsyr]

If you attempt to kill yourself, you may find that you are unable to die by your own hand (another curse) as punishment for your wrong-doings, or you may find you are "Curst" (to use an FR analogy), and cannot die by any means.

Hmmm... Forgot to mention, that is one of my curses.

 

[Pielorinho]

Hmmm... Forgot to mention, that is one of my curses.

Are you seriously saying you can't die by any means? Well, hell, then: looks like you can take over entire kingdoms with a salad fork! Run into the king's chambers and poke him over and over until he dies; if they try to kill you, rinse and repeat.

This really sounds like a DM who's lost sight of the cooperative nature of RPG storytelling, who's taking far too much character control out of your hands. It's okay to do weird big plots like this as a DM, but you GOTTA get your player's permission first.

Let us know what comes of it. I do think that talking one-on-one with the DM, maybe giving him a phone call, is your best chance of resolving this. Naturally you want to do it without annoying the spit out of him in the process -- suggestions about ruining his campaign are nonproductive. But were I you, I'd tell him that I'm unwilling to continue playing the character, and that the ball is now in his court. It's up to him to find a way that you can continue in the campaign, if he wants to have you there.

Daniel

 

[Tsyr]

Are you seriously saying you can't die by any means? Well, hell, then: looks like you can take over entire kingdoms with a salad fork! Run into the king's chambers and poke him over and over until he dies; if they try to kill you, rinse and repeat.

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

 

[Dungannon]

Hmm, an unkillable character with high social skills that nobody likes. I say you turn your character into a female Rasputin and run the Kingdom into the ground from behind the scenes.

 

[Storminator]

I think you should multiclass, excessively. Start with a level of commoner...

PS

 

[Agback]

Point is, you don't know where it's going. Isn't that part of the mystery? I agree your character is royally nerfed, but perhaps this will be made up as the story progresses?

G'day

I'm here to repeat and amplify what Cloudgather wrote.

GMs have done this sort of thing to me a few of times, and usually rogered the other PCs as well. Twice I have led players' revolts, telling the GM that we weren't enjoying oursleves, and that we weren't going to play anymore unless the campaigns became more like what we expected when we signed on. 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." And both times, I am now convinced, I destroyed what would have turned out to be a very effective and memorable miniseries campaign. I regret both rebellions.

So before you put your foot down, think very carefully. Do you trust this GM to deliver you an enjoyable game?

Before you make a decision, I think I had better point out that it is possible that you and the GM maight RP game to a different aesthetic. Your complaints seem to centre around the fact that your character is ineffectual. That is a big problem if the thing that turns you on about RP games is deploying the character's abilities to overcome problems and obstacles. 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.

So you have three options:

1. Bail out (either leave the campaign or give up the character).

2. Persuade the GM that you are a gamist player, that you don't want to become a simulationist or dramatist, you don't even want to try the simulationist or gamist experience, and that he has a choice between bowing to your will and chucking you out. (If you're lucky, he'll chuck you out.)

3. Give it a go.

If you want to give it a go, there are two things to try (that I can think of):

1. Get right into your character's experience, his frustration, his rage, his determination to prevail against the odds. Share his experience, and try to make it fathomable to the other players through his reactions to incidents. Despair, rail against the injustice of Fate, refuse to be destroyed, take on Fate single-handed, struggle mightily, and either triumph or go down in magnificent ruin.

2. Try to find something your character might do to overcome his predicament that is dramatically suitable. The first elf to commit murder is enormous. Look for something equally huge to make up for it. Find something else that no elf has ever done (eg. go bodily into the underworld to recover his friend's soul, lay down his life to save his race from imminent corruption) and work towards doing that, a bit at a time.

Of course, you can try both together.

The first rule of improvisation is "never contradict". Whatever story offers a GM (or other player) makes you, adapt, modify, qualify, but don't deny them. If they make things difficulty for your characer, use the difficulty! The GM has (by dramatist/simulationist lights) handed you the chance to be King Lear and (Milton's) Satan rolled into one. Go with it, and be bigger than Ben Hur.

And in future, remember not to design characters whose back-story is bigger than their front-story, or which introduces themes that you don't want to dicuss in play.

Regards,


Agback

 

[SamuraiY]

This is no longer your character. Your DM seems to have grown fond of this character and decided to steal her. My only suggestion is that your character sail away into the sunset and become a hermit. If your DM does this again, then you've REALLY got a problem.