Tying back into the "Am I a Mean DM" thread... here's something that happened on that night when I killed the PC two sessions before the last session of the campaign.
So, here's how it went.
ME (DM): All right, he hits you with the halberd again! The point tears into your guts and blood cascades out, and you take 18 points of damage!
HE (PLAYER): Umm... I'm unconscious.
ME (DM): Really?
HE (PLAYER): Yes, I had 5 hit points.
ME (DM): That means you have -13 hit points... uh... actually... I'm afraid you're dead. You sink to the floor. The last thing you're conscious of is that you just have to close your eyes for a moment, and then you black out.
OTHER PLAYER: Aww man, that sucks!
ME (DM): Yeah, I'm sorry. What bad luck! Well... anyway... it's the next round now, so...
HE (PLAYER): (after a brief pause where he looks depressed) Hey, wait a minute! I think I actually might be alive! I think I have -8 hit points.
ME (DM): Really? Wait, how many hit points did you have before you were hit? You said you had 5, right?
HE (PLAYER): Um.. yeah.
ME (DM): Well, you took 18 points of damage, so that would put you at -13. So you actually are dead.
HE (PLAYER): Oh. (looks depressed)
I didn't realize it until after the game, but I think... what if he was trying to give me an option to "back out" of killing him by saying "Wait a minute, I think I'm actually just at -8 hit points!" :/ Could he really have been trying to do this? Or did he just have bad math skills?
If he really thought I'd consciously pretend "Oh, yeah, you have -8 hit points... whew! You're still alive!", though, then buddy, you're dealing with the wrong DM.
I hate it when DMs break the rules to keep players alive... even when I'm playing, iit makes survival seem so cheap and unearned... and it's one thing to do it in an "subtle" manner (like having bad guys be surprisingly merciful), but another thing to do it by actually fudging the math.
On the other hand, maybe he really miscalculated and though he had -8 hit points instead of -13. There's no way for me to be certain.
Has anyone else ever been in a situation like this?
Jason
So, here's how it went.
ME (DM): All right, he hits you with the halberd again! The point tears into your guts and blood cascades out, and you take 18 points of damage!
HE (PLAYER): Umm... I'm unconscious.
ME (DM): Really?
HE (PLAYER): Yes, I had 5 hit points.
ME (DM): That means you have -13 hit points... uh... actually... I'm afraid you're dead. You sink to the floor. The last thing you're conscious of is that you just have to close your eyes for a moment, and then you black out.
OTHER PLAYER: Aww man, that sucks!
ME (DM): Yeah, I'm sorry. What bad luck! Well... anyway... it's the next round now, so...
HE (PLAYER): (after a brief pause where he looks depressed) Hey, wait a minute! I think I actually might be alive! I think I have -8 hit points.
ME (DM): Really? Wait, how many hit points did you have before you were hit? You said you had 5, right?
HE (PLAYER): Um.. yeah.
ME (DM): Well, you took 18 points of damage, so that would put you at -13. So you actually are dead.
HE (PLAYER): Oh. (looks depressed)
I didn't realize it until after the game, but I think... what if he was trying to give me an option to "back out" of killing him by saying "Wait a minute, I think I'm actually just at -8 hit points!" :/ Could he really have been trying to do this? Or did he just have bad math skills?
If he really thought I'd consciously pretend "Oh, yeah, you have -8 hit points... whew! You're still alive!", though, then buddy, you're dealing with the wrong DM.
I hate it when DMs break the rules to keep players alive... even when I'm playing, iit makes survival seem so cheap and unearned... and it's one thing to do it in an "subtle" manner (like having bad guys be surprisingly merciful), but another thing to do it by actually fudging the math.On the other hand, maybe he really miscalculated and though he had -8 hit points instead of -13. There's no way for me to be certain.
Has anyone else ever been in a situation like this?
Jason
