Lost faith in my DM

[Uller]

The boots of speed thing: Yeah...when you try to use a magic item and the DM says "nothing happens" you need to realize that the item may be out of charges. Live and learn on that one.

But looking at the beginning of the log, it looks like a misunderstanding. If you had gone through the mirror, you should have said so straight away and insisted that you were through the mirror. Instead you tried to go through it and didn't say anything like "I'm being attacked in town?!?!?" You were the only player that didn't say you went through the portal. So I guess as DM, I would have assumed that you were still in the dungeon. "In the right place..." can be interpritted a lot of different ways. If you meant something else, you should have insisted on it rather than playing along with the encounter.

Edit
I can see how it is frustrating to have a character die in a misunderstanding. In that regard, I'm with Pielorinho. The DM needs to slow things down and make sure he understands the players and the players understand him before he springs a monster on you that will likely kill you.
/Edit

 

[Cedric]

One of the first things I learned about D&D...feel free to get attached to your characters. Feel free to appreciate the items you've gained while playing them...

But never get so attached to either the character or the items that you lose your ability to enjoy the game if the character or items become lost.

As for the scenario...

The GM was as clear as he needed to be about the boots. For items that have daily charges, which are out of charges, the only message a player should get is ... nothing happens.

Also, while it sucked and you died...you also learned some valueable stuff. If you get stuck in a dungeon for some reason...that is not the time to explore. Backtrack "maybe" ...if you have reason to believe it's still clear. But never explore new areas.

Also, when using magic items...be very careful how you word your actions. Most GM's won't let you take things like that back...and this one didn't.

Cedric

 

[the_mighty_agrippa]

man, consider yourself lucky. i've got a list of blatant dm horror stories that would scare your 18th level character!

i don't think your dm was out of line at all. maybe his intention was to encourage the other players to spread the magic items around a bit more. i don't know his motivation but i can't really see any sinister plot here.

now, back when i was playing a male barbarian in a campaign run by a lesbian, that was different. mind you, i have no problem with your lifestyle or life choices - whatever - but when you are led into into a subterranean ambush with a superior group of foes, a fighter 2 levels higher with ac so high you need to charge to hit on an 18 or better plus spellcasters - then you've got a problem, yes?

oh wait, damn near every male character was wiped out. i was playing the barbarian (6th) and a 2nd level tyrran priestess. i was given the option that she could have made it out alive.

oh, fair.

but wait! how about joining a new group and hearing the dm's opening line of "anybody going to do anything smart tonight?"

man, that just breathes insecurity.

 

[LGodamus]

It is a DM's responsibility to the players to do the utmost possibible to keep all the players on the same sheet of music....if I desbribe a situation and a player declares an action that seems odd I usually ask something along the lines of" are you sure you do that, or do you need more description.?"

 

[Dash Dannigan]

Hmm, sorry, but no sympathies here. It sounds like to me more of a case of poor sportmanship than a bad call.

To be honest our game group had a player recently that acted like this (he brought in a PC concept from another game and was overly attached to it) and got a little too upset when something bad happened to his character. We didn't invite this fellow back after that game session.

Character attachment is okay as far as generating player interest but too much... it is a far greater thing to be attached to the fun and adventure of group play and game. Characters come and go but the game and the fun is forever.

Cheers!

Besides, adversity of character is far more fun to roleplay!

 

[Tewligan]

Just have a look at what I lost... and this is only the major objects too. It's not limited to this list.
-----------------
Boots of Springing and Striding and Speed
Pearl of the Sirines
Bracers of Archery
Ring of Protection +1
Cloak of Resistance +1
Gloves of Dexterity +6
Buckler +3
Mighty Composite Longbow +2 (+3)
Studded Leather +1
Flaming Falchion +1
Keen Throwing Returning Falchion +1
Mighty Composite Longbow (+2)
Staff of Fire (lvl 8)
~5000gp in coins
-----------------
Approx. value: 196320

On the upside, you're probably no longer mistaken for a traveling magic item peddler.

 

[SamuraiY]

I agree Riveneye. I don't think this is bad sportsmanship, I think it's just anger at a DM who just took almost everything you had. I can see taking a few items, but all those? that's just ridiculous, and the true ressurection thing is even worse.

 

[Shadowlord]

Riveneye, maybe this is the moment for you to try DM-ing.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

I'm with most people here, your DM didn't make a bad call, exactly... I'm a little bothered by his attitude, but that's hard to read from chat logs. He seemed to be in a "woo, you made a mistake, time to die!" kind of mood... Normally as a DM, I'll ask for a lot of clarification before I let a character get into a dangerous situation. I do that for good situations as well, and my players know this, so it means I don't tip them off too much

Re: The boots... That was all your bad. You should have never needed to be reminded you were out of charges in the first place (unless for some reason you didn't know how many charges were in the boots)... As much work as I put in before and during a game, planning and book-keeping, my players can at least mark a little dash down when using charged items. Just because something is tedious (and I don't see it as that tedious) doesn't make it the DM's sole responsibility.

Depriving you of all your items seems a little harsh, since it's based largely on misunderstanding (although you should have made that an issue before getting killed.) Of course, the whole thing may have been an intentional power limit, possibly short-term... If it seems like he's dragging out the punishment on your specifically though, dump the game. Whether or not I agree with his calls, if his attitude about player death is as smirky as it comes across in that log, the game's not bound to be fun for anyone who cares about their characters.

 

[Wayside]

I agree that poor communication between you both was the culprit; but the other is that, if you care so much about a character's life, you should probably play that character as caring about their life too. Something tells me you won't be heedlessly searching out ancient ruins and looking for things to loot or kill there any time soon, so why would your character, if he wanted to keep himself in one piece? Precaution is the word of the day.