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Rant - What was the GM thinking?
- Thread starter Gnimish88
- Start date
StalkingBlue
First Post
Quasqueton said:
Yup. Yet very tempting to do. It happens. I know it has happened to me.
DragonLancer
Adventurer
At the end of the day the party should not grumble. They didn't bother searching the last cavern despite doing so for the previous hoever many.
More fool them.
More fool them.
Weren't complaining about loosing the treasure...
I think another contibuting factor was that we defeated the BBEG by the skin of our teeth, then broke for the night. After 50-some rounds and 2+ hours of combat, most of which consisted of the rogue throwing holy water and the wizard dragging people to safety, I don't think anyone was thinking esp. well. Since we didn't pick up again till a week later, plus an e-mail description, it kind of broke the thread. We then left the cavern in a hurry (a number of party members wanted to get back to base), thus we didn't spend the night in the cavern and there was a rather heated debate about what should be done with what we found in the lair. All these things really combined against us. Also think we had finally given up on doing any real indepth searches, since we never really found anything to justify the time spent.
As Quas points out, it would be typical that the one (one of two, actually) cavern we DON'T search...
As a parting comment on the whole mess:
"Eh, even if we had found the orb, the monk probably would have insisted it belonged to the ratmen anyway..."
I think another contibuting factor was that we defeated the BBEG by the skin of our teeth, then broke for the night. After 50-some rounds and 2+ hours of combat, most of which consisted of the rogue throwing holy water and the wizard dragging people to safety, I don't think anyone was thinking esp. well. Since we didn't pick up again till a week later, plus an e-mail description, it kind of broke the thread. We then left the cavern in a hurry (a number of party members wanted to get back to base), thus we didn't spend the night in the cavern and there was a rather heated debate about what should be done with what we found in the lair. All these things really combined against us. Also think we had finally given up on doing any real indepth searches, since we never really found anything to justify the time spent.
As Quas points out, it would be typical that the one (one of two, actually) cavern we DON'T search...
As a parting comment on the whole mess:
"Eh, even if we had found the orb, the monk probably would have insisted it belonged to the ratmen anyway..."
Breakdaddy
First Post
diaglo said:yeah, sounds like a rookie
which means he was frustrated and couldn't think of a way to make it work at the time. and afterwards he was taking out his frustration by boasting.
What Diaglo said!
Another view
I am one of the other players in this group and I have to say that this really didn't bother me that much. An NPC told us that another group found the item, I got the impression that they knew it was there and were specifically searching for it, and from the area that was dug up it seemed obvious that if we had searched we would have found it. The DM confirming this fact afterwards seemed merely surprise that we hadn't, not boasting at all. As for not searching for something that we didn't know was there, isn't that the point of search?
In response to the other comments, this is not a novice DM, he is quite good. And this is one of the less bone-headed maneuvers of the group.
I am one of the other players in this group and I have to say that this really didn't bother me that much. An NPC told us that another group found the item, I got the impression that they knew it was there and were specifically searching for it, and from the area that was dug up it seemed obvious that if we had searched we would have found it. The DM confirming this fact afterwards seemed merely surprise that we hadn't, not boasting at all. As for not searching for something that we didn't know was there, isn't that the point of search?
In response to the other comments, this is not a novice DM, he is quite good. And this is one of the less bone-headed maneuvers of the group.
kamosa
Explorer
Ask the question
In situations like this where the party has been actively searching every room and then a battle disrupts their pattern, I don't think it hurts to give them a little prod on the search. You don't have to say much, just a subtle, "Do you search the cavern?" It gets them back into their pattern of checking, searching and crawling again.
I've often found that after players beat the BBEG, they are distracted and unfocused. Everyone must count coup and discuss what they could have done better. They often don't think of even the simple things(like searching the room) A little prompt from the DM is just a way to recover them to a point where they are thinking again. Especially if they have been searching every room.
In situations like this where the party has been actively searching every room and then a battle disrupts their pattern, I don't think it hurts to give them a little prod on the search. You don't have to say much, just a subtle, "Do you search the cavern?" It gets them back into their pattern of checking, searching and crawling again.
I've often found that after players beat the BBEG, they are distracted and unfocused. Everyone must count coup and discuss what they could have done better. They often don't think of even the simple things(like searching the room) A little prompt from the DM is just a way to recover them to a point where they are thinking again. Especially if they have been searching every room.
DragonLancer
Adventurer
The DM isn't there to point the players in the right direction. If they come out of an encounter and don't bother to continue where they left off searching, thats their own fault.
Not to sound harsh, but thats the way it is.
Not to sound harsh, but thats the way it is.
First off, I definately agree that with dedstuff, Quas is a good GM. He has good plots, consistant NPCs, and a good grasp of the rules.
Looking at some of the posts, I think it is worth repeating that I don't think the fact we missed the orb is a problem. As has been said, if you don't search, you don't find. My problem is, as Quas himself has said, he should have kept his mouth shut about how we should have found it. The role of the GM is a position that gives one the advantage knowing all the secrets. This reduces ones credibility when you talk about things that shouldn't have been missed.
Actually, all this has reminded me of another time this happened, many years and GMs ago. This GM set the stipulation that the party members be friends that had known each other for years. We were visiting the home of a beloved, wealthy aunt of one of the PCs. We were searching the home looking for her, as no one had met us at the door. Upon finding her body, obviously murdered, we were informed that the house was on fire and we had mere minutes (rounds, this was 2E) to get out of the house or be killed in the fire. After we finished the session, the GM said he couldn't believe how much treasure we missed. In a friend's aunt's house. THAT was BAD GMing.
Looking at some of the posts, I think it is worth repeating that I don't think the fact we missed the orb is a problem. As has been said, if you don't search, you don't find. My problem is, as Quas himself has said, he should have kept his mouth shut about how we should have found it. The role of the GM is a position that gives one the advantage knowing all the secrets. This reduces ones credibility when you talk about things that shouldn't have been missed.
Actually, all this has reminded me of another time this happened, many years and GMs ago. This GM set the stipulation that the party members be friends that had known each other for years. We were visiting the home of a beloved, wealthy aunt of one of the PCs. We were searching the home looking for her, as no one had met us at the door. Upon finding her body, obviously murdered, we were informed that the house was on fire and we had mere minutes (rounds, this was 2E) to get out of the house or be killed in the fire. After we finished the session, the GM said he couldn't believe how much treasure we missed. In a friend's aunt's house. THAT was BAD GMing.
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