Something happened in our last gaming session that made me somewhat uncomfortable.
We run a heavy role-playing focused campaign in a realistic style (lot's of grey moral issues, realistic repercussions, etc). When the campaign was first started, this was something that was communicated to all the players. The group ranges in age from 24–41, two women and four men (myself included). We all take turns at DM'ing, but I'm the "main" DM and I feel very responsible for the quality of the game.
Anyway, last gaming session the party was investigating a series of murders in Waterdeep (FR campaign). A tip led them to the Bloody Fist tavern in the Dock Ward.
Now, *my* version of the Bloody Fist is quite infamous. Many years ago I had made some significant changes to it from the "canon" version. First of all, due to a legal loophole, the land the Bloody Fist is on is not technically part of the city. Waterdhavian laws do not apply inside, nor do Waterdhavian protections. The place became a haven for criminals (especially those on the run) and the clergy of Tempus, already established there, saw a chance to further their goals by building a fighting arena inside.
A series of rules were established, wherein any patron could challenge another patron to a duel in the arena (the challenged gets to set the rules of the fight, the challenger gets to set the rewards). As you can guess this made the place extremely dangerous, and only frequented by the most hardened of people.
Now, back to last session's game...
The characters are investigating a murder and the suspect is hiding out at the Bloody Fist. It's noon and its fairly empty at this time, except for a twenty or so grizzled customers (the place is quite large). The first to enter is the dwarf; he fits in well with the existing clientele and is ignored. He goes immediately to the bar and orders a drink. Then comes in the next character, a foppish elven boy. His bright blue outfit, complete with banana yellow shoes, brings sneers of derision and a few laughs from the watching customers. Next enters an unarmed human male, at his arm a beautiful human female. She is armed with a falchion, but otherwise dressed softly and unprotected.
This causes the customers to really take notice, most ogling openly. This is obviously not the kind of place that women come to. One particularly rough looking fellow tells his buddies “He don't look like much...” and chuckles. The man stands up and begins to brazenly walk towards the couple, his intent clear. Just as he reaches them, in comes the last of the characters. She’s a beautiful human woman, dressed in a delicate dress, completely unarmed and unescorted.
The rough man gives an evil grin and walks past the couple, directly to the lone woman. He leers at her and says, "I'm buying you a drink." She gives him a smile, and wraps her arm around his.
As a DM, I'm a bit surprised by this, but I'll run with it.
The man grins and roughly grabs her... derriere. "Not so rough", she chuckles.
Again, I'm taking a bit aback by this.
The two make their way to the bar and the man orders two ales. With a wide smile, he openly leers at his “prize”. The half-orc bartender brings two ales, and the rough man raises his mug, toasting: "Here is to your fine t*ts."
I couldn't even believe I said it. I suppose it was very “in-character” for the npc, but still...
The players didn't seem bothered by it, and it gave them a good laugh. The player directly involved wasn't bothered by it (she's my wife, so that might have been part of the reason I felt comfortable enough to even blurt that out), but still, I wasn't sure if I had gone too far. It made me somewhat uncomfortable. I've never said anything even close to that, in-game or not. Normally, I'm quite the opposite of that.
I suspect it didn't bother anyone because it felt very in-character for the NPC though, and in the context of the place they were in it made sense. But I still felt bad about it. I've DM'd some very evil NPC's and they've done some very cruel things, but this felt different for some reason.
Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone else has had this sort of experience. Have you ever DM'd something that made you uncomfortable, but that made sense in the context of the situation?
Any comments welcome.
-Arravis
We run a heavy role-playing focused campaign in a realistic style (lot's of grey moral issues, realistic repercussions, etc). When the campaign was first started, this was something that was communicated to all the players. The group ranges in age from 24–41, two women and four men (myself included). We all take turns at DM'ing, but I'm the "main" DM and I feel very responsible for the quality of the game.
Anyway, last gaming session the party was investigating a series of murders in Waterdeep (FR campaign). A tip led them to the Bloody Fist tavern in the Dock Ward.
Now, *my* version of the Bloody Fist is quite infamous. Many years ago I had made some significant changes to it from the "canon" version. First of all, due to a legal loophole, the land the Bloody Fist is on is not technically part of the city. Waterdhavian laws do not apply inside, nor do Waterdhavian protections. The place became a haven for criminals (especially those on the run) and the clergy of Tempus, already established there, saw a chance to further their goals by building a fighting arena inside.
A series of rules were established, wherein any patron could challenge another patron to a duel in the arena (the challenged gets to set the rules of the fight, the challenger gets to set the rewards). As you can guess this made the place extremely dangerous, and only frequented by the most hardened of people.
Now, back to last session's game...
The characters are investigating a murder and the suspect is hiding out at the Bloody Fist. It's noon and its fairly empty at this time, except for a twenty or so grizzled customers (the place is quite large). The first to enter is the dwarf; he fits in well with the existing clientele and is ignored. He goes immediately to the bar and orders a drink. Then comes in the next character, a foppish elven boy. His bright blue outfit, complete with banana yellow shoes, brings sneers of derision and a few laughs from the watching customers. Next enters an unarmed human male, at his arm a beautiful human female. She is armed with a falchion, but otherwise dressed softly and unprotected.
This causes the customers to really take notice, most ogling openly. This is obviously not the kind of place that women come to. One particularly rough looking fellow tells his buddies “He don't look like much...” and chuckles. The man stands up and begins to brazenly walk towards the couple, his intent clear. Just as he reaches them, in comes the last of the characters. She’s a beautiful human woman, dressed in a delicate dress, completely unarmed and unescorted.
The rough man gives an evil grin and walks past the couple, directly to the lone woman. He leers at her and says, "I'm buying you a drink." She gives him a smile, and wraps her arm around his.
As a DM, I'm a bit surprised by this, but I'll run with it.
The man grins and roughly grabs her... derriere. "Not so rough", she chuckles.
Again, I'm taking a bit aback by this.
The two make their way to the bar and the man orders two ales. With a wide smile, he openly leers at his “prize”. The half-orc bartender brings two ales, and the rough man raises his mug, toasting: "Here is to your fine t*ts."
I couldn't even believe I said it. I suppose it was very “in-character” for the npc, but still...
The players didn't seem bothered by it, and it gave them a good laugh. The player directly involved wasn't bothered by it (she's my wife, so that might have been part of the reason I felt comfortable enough to even blurt that out), but still, I wasn't sure if I had gone too far. It made me somewhat uncomfortable. I've never said anything even close to that, in-game or not. Normally, I'm quite the opposite of that.
I suspect it didn't bother anyone because it felt very in-character for the NPC though, and in the context of the place they were in it made sense. But I still felt bad about it. I've DM'd some very evil NPC's and they've done some very cruel things, but this felt different for some reason.
Anyway, I'm just curious if anyone else has had this sort of experience. Have you ever DM'd something that made you uncomfortable, but that made sense in the context of the situation?
Any comments welcome.
-Arravis
