Moments you live for in D&D gaming

[orchid blossom]

That moment when you realize the character has taken over and is going in a direction you never intended, to the point that you know what the character would do, but not necessarily why. As a member of our group put it, "People ask me why Padraic does the things he does and I said, I don't know, he hasn't told me yet."

 

[alsih2o]

1) One player stands up, shifting foot to foot. Another sits back in his chair, and then forward. And then back. Another starts rolling her pencil.

These are the signs that I really have them (and that they have allowed themselves to be had).

And I know them.

2) Fully prepped, full of stats, ready for anything and they stun me.


It dud'n get any beddren this!

 

[Zhnov]

Best moments of playing...

.. the players feel like heroes, and they are... because they have forgotten the DM and are lost in the story.
.. dice thrown in the open speak, and the impossible happens.
.. everything clicks during an impromptu session.
.. players destroy dice because of an impossible failure (do *you* have dented 20's?)

~o.p.

 

[Elrik_DarkFury]

Ok this is not the kind of typical answer about this particular thread but i had to word these.. (feelings?-bah) stuff .

...the time when full of sadness and anger (i had a serious affray with my best friends and also co-players) i swore not to play dnd with them again.

...the time i spent without something i really missed and needed.

...and the time we played again together as nothing bad had ever happened.

For the good and the bad moments,i love dnd,and i hope everyone -including me , -even many years after, will have good friends around and time and lust for good role-playing.

______________
The Wizard

 

[howandwhy99]

My first real threadnomancy. I thought it might be an ideal time for this.


I love it when the whole group is so invested in the game we take moments from of our normal worktime just to chat about it through IM or on our gameboard. Playing gets so infrequent at older ages. I wish we could inforce mandatory naptime at work. (so more sessions could be played )

 

[Shade]

Great thread! I enjoy so many things about the game I'm not sure where to start.

As a DM...

• The look on a player's face when I ask them to roll a d20 without telling them why.
• Springing the latest monster from Dragon/Dungeon/some book on the party and seeing the looks of "what the hell is that?".
• Finding out that the CR for the unique advanced pit fiend I put together was right on the money.
• Seeing my favorite things from the good ol' days updated to 3.5, or converting 'em myself.
• The look on my face when the players come up with something to cleverly circumvent my most devious endeavors.

As a Player:

• Character creation!
• Feeling like a true hero.
• Pulling off a tremendously risky manuever.
• Gaining a level and getting to change all those numbers on my character sheet.
• Finally reaching epic levels and not having to start over at 1st-level, but actually keep playing!

 

[JohnSnow]

(I'm going to answer about RPGs in general, not JUST D&D)

- The last opponent drops, and your character is left standing with no spells, only 1 hit point, and the rest of the party unconscious around him.
- A character is REAL enough to actually be annoying (3 cheers for the Singing Fox!).
- The DM chuckles and you are genuinely afraid.
- Your fellow players suddenly realize that there's a reason your characters carry lots of explosives.
- One of the characters pulls off an impossible stunt - and it succeeds!
- The story that you can tell years later and it plays in your head like a great action movie.
- When the sound of clashing steel and the smells of battle actually fill your mind during a session.
- When the character's real enough that his decisions don't make you think "Oh Bob's going to..." but rather "Of course that's what Sir Edmund would do..."

God I love this game.

 

[Odhanan]

Psion (first post), you put it amazingly well. I'd have posted the exact same things!

 

[mrtauntaun]

I can remember the moment well:

Running a campaign for two years, and comming down to the last game session. Promising to all the players that the Final Battle was comming, and all questions were to be answered. It was to be an all nighter, a session to end sessions. I spent over a week preparing for it. I walked in, laden with books and papers and binders. Only to be told by the players (unanimous to a man) that they did not want to play the Final Battle, because they did not want the questions answered. The did not want to know the result of the battle, what happens to the BBEG. They wanted the mystery to remain with them, and perhaps piece everything together on their own, down the line.
Never before, or since, have I had such a profound feeling of RPG accomplishment than that night. I was touched.

Individual moments from that campaign:

- Having an NPC so beloved by the PCs that they came very near to running me out of town when he tragically died.
- Having a player/bard, while attempting to tell an internationally renown story, roll a '1' on his peform check. He proceeds to actually tell the worst tale you ever heard, had us in stiches for hours. We still talk about 'THE TALE OF THAT GUY!' to this day.
- Having a player bravely sacrifice the character he had been playing for over a year and a half for an NPC.
- A player who had a wolf animal companion, who stole a pastry, and then became addicted to them. The wolf was known as 'Pastry Guy' from there on out.

Edit: And oh, yes as a player: The Holy Head-Butt of Pelor
I had a Paladin who had a spell called divine might or something like that (it's been awhile). It allows you to sacrifice 2 HP to add 1d6 of damage on your attack. Up to 10 HP, for 5d6. I had it running max once, when we were captured and tied up. I aske the DM, 'does it work on touch attacks?' He said "Im not sure, but your hands and feat are tied' "Ok, I head-butt a guard when he gets close" Took the DM completely off guard, to which he responded 'um, ok, he kind of just....... explodes' It was great. Of course, our captors performed a coup de grace, but hey, totally worth it.

Many more moments, but these are the reasons I play!!

 

[sukael]

When I use my very last spell for the day--a single ghost sound--to awe the goblin chieftain--with troops completely surrounding us--into submission.