My Brawler Fighter and how fellow players complain

[jbear]

I can't say much more than what has been said, apart from: You should definitely throw more rocks ... or chairs ... or perhaps even the Backseat DM's character (over a cliff say).

But you should get a pair of Giantkind Gloves! Then you can throw any object under 30lbs At Will with a range 6/12; Atk: STR+2 Dmg: 2d6+STR. Hehehe, I'd love to see your Backseat DM's face when you pull that one out of your Bag of Tricks!! Throwing Rocks Pimped!

As for rocks not being as lethal as a battle axe! Ha! Risable! Ha ha ha ha ha I say! Try telling that to André the Giant, or Wesley (who was having them thrown at him), in the Princess Bride!

Tell that to William Wallace or his big red headed Scottish Barbarian friend (who slept through the rest of the wedding after losing a stone throwing competition) in Braveheart!

Tell that to Wicket and the Ewoks of Endor who defeated an imperial army with little more than a few well placed rocks! And that was rocks vs lasers, let alone battle axes!

Anyway, don't let it worry you. By the sounds your DM has the right of it. The other player is NOT the DM. SO just ignore him. If you can't do that REMIND him he is not the DM.

 

[Ryujin]

This guy sounds like a total prick. I'm not sure I'd be able to play alongside such a jerk. Can you talk to your DM Mike, show him this email, and get his input? Hopefully he'll be equally outraged and ask the jerk to cool it.

BTW it's always the DM's choice whether to pause the game to look up a rule, or just make an improvised ruling. The best ruling, certainly in 4e, is that a thrown rock is an effective improvised weapon. Rocks were probably the first thrown weapons in human history, and are still used today to inflict injury and death. He could also be mean and say there were no rocks to hand, if that was plausible.

I agree, on all counts. Generally speaking if our group comes up against a situation, that we don't have the rule for on at the tip of our fingers, we make a quick-and-dirty ruling and then just move on, looking up the appropriate rule later.

As to the email, he's obviously wrong on all counts. Weapons aren't the only things that can do damage, in 4e. That's explicit. If this so damages his delicate sensibilities then I can only conclude that he'd have suffered an embolism, had he been in the session in which our Rogue rode an animated statue like a bucking bronco.

 

[DracoSuave]

Had you done picked up a rock and thrown it in my game, I might have gone to page 42 had you described it in a way I thought was awesome.

That player'd had a conniption!

 

[Prestidigitalis]

Regarding the other player's motivation of being so concerned about the effort the DM put into the story and atmosphere, etc:

D&D is a game, not "story hour". If a DM is only capable of telling a linear, pre-planned story without interruption... Well, more power to him or her, and his or her group, if that's what they all enjoy. But players are supposed to be able to participate too (it's true, really -- look it up) and that means doing really far out things like saying "I pick up a rock and throw it" without everyone acting like they just witnessed the climax of a bad acid trip.

It would be one thing if the rock throwing incident was in the middle of the DM's thrilling description of a delightful glass house the party had just found, but apparently it was in the middle of a combat encounter in which the player's character had no weapon to hand and needed something to fight with. If you can't do it then, when can you?

At a certain point, it sounds an awful lot like "How dare you bruise my fist with your nasty chin?"

 

[I'm A Banana]

"The reason I'm upset is because we had to bring the game to a screeching halt to look up a rule to see if you could actually deal damage with a thrown rock, when we all know you can't. Not because the rules don't say you can't but because we all know it's cheesy."

In trying to get to the actual point of contention (beyond your fellow player being a goober), it seems like part of the problem was the rules look-up.

One thing you might do, to avoid exacerbating the issue: Get to know your character inside and out. Get to a position where you don't feel like you have to ever ask about what the rule is, just apply it. If the DM wants to stop you, they can, but from the sounds of it, your DM isn't the one with the issue, it's some other dude. If you know how the rules apply, then the game won't have to stop while they look up some obscure rule.

In the "pick your battles" arena, this individual player probably isn't worth the time it takes to debate them. Just go through the DM. OK, they think it's cheesy, you think they're overreacting, ultimately, it doesn't matter.

You still might want to direct him to this thread.

 

[Stumblewyk]

I absolutely love how this dude is claiming to take umbrage for another DM. He's offended because another DM had to handle a *correct!* ruling in game.

"You made Mike do something as a DM that was within the rules and it obviously upset [-]me[/-] him! How could you do that to [-]me[/-] him!?!? Everything was fine and great, and we were all completely immersed in the game until you took advantage of a rule available to all of us and made [-]me[/-] Mike consider something!

And then - THEN! you had the gall to prove how little [-]I[/-] Mike knew about the rule in question by quoting the rules themselves! [-]I'm[/-] Mike is really, really mad about this, I'm sure!"

The OP is right, everyone else in this topic is right, and this doofus wanna-be DM in question needs a swift kick to the throat.

 

[jimmifett]

I'm all for Rule of Cool, and i'll let a player throw a rock in my game, but there has to be a couple things in order to make it cool enough and prevent abuse, esp to mark.

You should already have a ranged weapon on you, at least a javelin or dagger. Lets say you've used it tho, I'll allow the following to find a rock big enough to be useful:

Find Rock
You should have bought more javelins instead of a fourth visit to the brothel house the other night...
Encounter Minor Action
Target: Personal
Effect:

Choose one:

​

• An unmodified Hi-Low d20 roll. 11 or better, you find a rock.
• Nature check with Easy DC when in the woods/field, you find a rock.
• Dungeoneering check with Easy DC in dungeon/cave, you pry a loose rock or stone from the floor/walls.
• Streetwise check with Easy DC in town, you pry a loose brick/cobblestone free.

 

[Herschel]

Hiding a loaded crossbow under the table and pulling the trigger before your adversary? Complete cheese.

Actually, it's only cheese if you shoot second and Greedo shot first.

 

[Ryujin]

Actually, it's only cheese if you shoot second and Greedo shot first.

That's called an 'interrupt'

 

[Crazy Jerome]

If this incident breaks his immersion, then let me be the first to say that 4E may not be for him. He's got a lot ruder surprises in store, shortly. Though, if his immersion is broken this easily, then D&D is probably not for him.

Heck, even Runequest or something like it may not work. A local group many years ago playing RQ 2nd ed. had an extended siege where the PCs couldn't get out of a fortress, but the inhabitants were secure enough to hold out for months. By the end of the siege, all of the PCs had over a 100% in throwing things, because of rocks they threw while bored (and earned legimately under arrow fire).