Small Acts of DM Cruelty

[Aeric]

I've never done anything outright to screw my players, unless you count giving them a Deck of Many Things at 6th level.

 

[adwyn]

That is fantastic! I hope you recorded it.

I was supposed to get a copy from the station but the guy was able to get the engineer to deep six it.

 

[LostSoul]

He insisted on carrying around frag grenades, and in a fight with Clone troopers aboard their very small starship, he detonated one.

Am I wrong, or did he blow up the very small starship with only 4d6+1 points of damage?

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Am I wrong, or did he blow up the very small starship with only 4d6+1 points of damage?

The damage was just a couple points shy of maximum...I ruled the ship (which had been damaged by an EARLIER frag grenade he'd tried to toss into the patrol ship that had docked with them) destroyed the ship's guidance systems because it went off in the cockpit.

 

[LostSoul]

The damage was just a couple points shy of maximum...I ruled the ship (which had been damaged by an EARLIER frag grenade he'd tried to toss into the patrol ship that had docked with them) destroyed the ship's guidance systems because it went off in the cockpit.

I don't mean to be rude, but that seems arbitrarily cruel to me. But I'm missing the whole picture, so I could be wrong.

In d20 SW, I've seen people standing in closets have grenades go off at their feet and not even have their clothing singed. So I don't have much faith in the strength of grenades.

 

[kanithardm]

I also had a party attacked by trolls that leapt down on them from above while they were traveling along a narrow mountain ledge. The trolls, knowing they would regenerate, would grapple the PC's and throw themselves off the precipice. I was called a bastard many times during that encounter.

nie one.

 

[BullMarkOne]

This isn't something I've done, but am planning to do in an upcoming session. Similar to the poster above with the grappling trolls on a cliff. I, however, will be using Azer monks, and permanent walls of fire and/or a pool of lava.

 

[VirgilCaine]

I hope to be added to this list soon. That thing with the newscast was brilliant.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Extra Bonus Cruelty: The trap was an explosive trap, which not only destroys some of the party's equipment, but also destroys the gold piece.

I find the concept of a trap which destroys a gold piece to the point of making it valueless, yet leaves the party alive an intriguing one to say the least...

It's interesting to note that a lot of these rat-bastardynesses rely on misinforming the players as to how things work or what they are. Given that the DM controls the eyes and ears of the players, perhaps in some cases, DMs take this too far, to the point of abuse.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

And then there was the time the party was sent hunting white wolves by the witch of the fens. Err, make that wight wolves -- but they didn't ask her to spell it for them.