Might be old, but what's your favorite torture you play on your players?
- Thread starter nethervoid
- Start date
Enevhar Aldarion
Hero
Yeah, old thread, so I will say the old classic DM line: "Are you sure you want to do that?" And then sit back and watch the frantic second-guessing and waffling on their choice.
If multiple players give me vague/ambiguous tragic backstories, I like to weave their backstories together to make them (or their families etc) responsible for eachother's suffering and then deliberately push them into situations that'll encourage them to bond before they uncover the clues about their pasts.
My level best, I was about eight months into a (mostly) weekly game before the Necropolitan Fighter/Rogue discovered that the little Elan girl Psion/PrC Soulknife that he was getting all fatherly towards was the one who'd (unwillingly) murdered his wife... and his son... and his self.
Last time I ran a Spelljammer game, I introduced a doppelganger infiltrator to their ship. When they started coming up with anti-doppelganger countermeasures... one of the crew asked to speak with the PCs, to confess that he was a doppelganger... but that he'd been a doppelganger all along and was still loyal to the Captain... along with nearly a third of the rest of the crew. And while they were trying to root out the evil doppelgangers... some of the normal human crew, instead of being replaced by the doppelgangers, had been mind-controlled by them.
My level best, I was about eight months into a (mostly) weekly game before the Necropolitan Fighter/Rogue discovered that the little Elan girl Psion/PrC Soulknife that he was getting all fatherly towards was the one who'd (unwillingly) murdered his wife... and his son... and his self.
Last time I ran a Spelljammer game, I introduced a doppelganger infiltrator to their ship. When they started coming up with anti-doppelganger countermeasures... one of the crew asked to speak with the PCs, to confess that he was a doppelganger... but that he'd been a doppelganger all along and was still loyal to the Captain... along with nearly a third of the rest of the crew. And while they were trying to root out the evil doppelgangers... some of the normal human crew, instead of being replaced by the doppelgangers, had been mind-controlled by them.
darjr
I crit!
Dropping players from a great height. Gargoyles in Chult. Ghosts possessing PC's in the Tall Trees then leaping off. Big dragons snatching up PC's to carry them high and dropping them. Attacking the their airship late at night in the middle of a freak storm that has carried them much much higher than they expected.
Though it barely beats out the others, I think this is it.
Though it barely beats out the others, I think this is it.
pming
Legend
Hiya!
Me (DM): "Oh, uh...hold on... [rolls dice]. Gerdin? As you brush the crumbs of breakfast out of your beard you notice something on your finger tips. They are...bluish-purple; both hands".
Player: "What?! What is it? I wipe it off...?"
Me: "Nope. Won't come off. After a bit of vigorous rubbing they are starting to get both 'hot' and 'numb' at the same time".
Player: "Crap! Guys! I've been poisoned! Everyone check your fingers! See who else has been poisoned!"
Me: [rolls dice] "Terl, Valaria...you guys also have the same discolouration. Oddly, Nevven the thief DOESN'T have it..."
...hilarity ensues as Players loose their kittens, cast spells, drink potions and accuse Nevven of poisoning them.
...eventually...
Me: "Well, you all wake up the next day. The discolouration isn't gone, but it is lessened. Oh, and Gerdin? Yeah, you notice that the ladle you bought at that last town? It seems to be made of a wood that is excreting a purple sort of 'sap' when it warms up in the rabbit stew you are cooking. Nevven, you're not going to have any again are you? Considering you're a vegetarian, right?"?
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Me (DM): "Oh, uh...hold on... [rolls dice]. Gerdin? As you brush the crumbs of breakfast out of your beard you notice something on your finger tips. They are...bluish-purple; both hands".
Player: "What?! What is it? I wipe it off...?"
Me: "Nope. Won't come off. After a bit of vigorous rubbing they are starting to get both 'hot' and 'numb' at the same time".
Player: "Crap! Guys! I've been poisoned! Everyone check your fingers! See who else has been poisoned!"
Me: [rolls dice] "Terl, Valaria...you guys also have the same discolouration. Oddly, Nevven the thief DOESN'T have it..."
...hilarity ensues as Players loose their kittens, cast spells, drink potions and accuse Nevven of poisoning them.
...eventually...
Me: "Well, you all wake up the next day. The discolouration isn't gone, but it is lessened. Oh, and Gerdin? Yeah, you notice that the ladle you bought at that last town? It seems to be made of a wood that is excreting a purple sort of 'sap' when it warms up in the rabbit stew you are cooking. Nevven, you're not going to have any again are you? Considering you're a vegetarian, right?"?
^_^
Paul L. Ming
Ovinomancer
No flips for you!
Posting in 16 year old threads!
Also, closing doors. PC wins initiative, runs into room with badguys, badguy goes next and move to door, closes it, and locks/bars/braces it. Other badguys chuckle at suddenly alone PC. Been doing this "trick" for decades -- it's amazing how often the PC that wins initiative just charges into a room full of badguys. I don't ever plan this -- I have never planned an encounter where I say, "and then the baddies will close the door." But, when the PCs tee it up, I can knock that one out of the park.
Also, closing doors. PC wins initiative, runs into room with badguys, badguy goes next and move to door, closes it, and locks/bars/braces it. Other badguys chuckle at suddenly alone PC. Been doing this "trick" for decades -- it's amazing how often the PC that wins initiative just charges into a room full of badguys. I don't ever plan this -- I have never planned an encounter where I say, "and then the baddies will close the door." But, when the PCs tee it up, I can knock that one out of the park.
Imaculata
Hero
I have a talent for disrupting the well laid plans of my players, by playing their opponents as being just as cunning.
Last year, my players tried to set a trap for a lake monster. Rather than wait it out, each night the monster would be up to something, to force the players into an early conflict.
He would throw the bodies of petrified dwarves at the shore, thus shattering them. He would drag a boat with a fisherman out to the middle of the lake. He would drag an entire church into the lake at night. It was a campaign of terror.
Last year, my players tried to set a trap for a lake monster. Rather than wait it out, each night the monster would be up to something, to force the players into an early conflict.
He would throw the bodies of petrified dwarves at the shore, thus shattering them. He would drag a boat with a fisherman out to the middle of the lake. He would drag an entire church into the lake at night. It was a campaign of terror.
aramis erak
Legend
I, as player and GM, feel "fake rolling" is bad GMing.
I will, however, make a roll, and let them see and note it, and tell them "I'll let you know what it is when it becomes apparent to your characters." I also note the roll and what it's for in my notes, and tell them when it's relevant.
I don't fake roll anymore. I've found that it builds more distrust than dramatic tension. And I want my gaming to be more collaborative.
- Egg Timer / Stop Watch - just a dramatic device to keep the game moving
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