Things that annoy you as DM?

[Fanog]

Guys, relax... Everyone has their own style of play, please let's not tell other people what they "should" or "should not" do...

That said, reading this list came at an interesting time for me as a DM, close to a campaign ending and deciding how to proceed.

I dislike
... how much trouble it is to get all of my players together on a regular basis.
... when players aren't given the opportunity to play their characters as they'd like to do it.
... and am quite annoyed when in-character disagreements are taken personal and thuis ruin the afternoon for everyone.
... when players actually count out squares on the battle mat, and keep counting alternatives until they're reaching some kind of optimum.
... when players take very little effort to get into the mood of the adventure.
...when rules are still being discussed after I've told that it's right, or doesn't even matter.
... when the game is slowed because people don't know basic information, of haven't written if down anywhere.

That's pretty much it, I think.
Fanog

 

[Beard in the Sky]

Its simple

I try to game with people that I respect and am friends with outside of the game. I have had a -few- of these things happen, but very rarely. I am reading this thread with my mouth hanging open; I have never had any serious problems running for any of my groups. I guess I am lucky. I'm not a new poster btw, just a new name.

 

[Belen]

Who the hell do you think you are to judge someone else's faith? He enjoys playing the game and is a great roleplayer but he is NOT going to get up and say "ALL PRAISE BE TO TORM!!!" and I am certainly not going to force him. There is something called MUTUAL RESPECT that Players and DMs must all posess otherwise you might as well pack it up and forget dealing with anyone in ANY social situation... not just gaming. You wouldn't gay-bash if you had a gay player out of mutual respect. I'd hope that you'd ommit any instance of rape from the game if you had a rape victim in your group. Gaming is supposed to be FUN and forcing players into uncomfortable situations is NOT FUN.

How can you roleplay a cleric and not praise the God? The whole point of playing a cleric is that you worship another being. Playing a cleric just to get divine spells is not roleplaying.

(Note: I am not dissing you personally, just making the comment that the definition of playing a cleric is that you worship another being. If a player would find that uncomfy, then they should not be playing that class; just as if someone who was raped should not play a character that has been raped unless they can deal with it.)

The argument of "the roll substitues for lack of charisma/ social skills in real life" is a joke. Part of the game is learning those skills! I have had several people in my group over the years that severely lacked social graces. However, each an everyone of them used the game to get over it.

The fact that you can roll a die and have someone else speak for you is a load of wet horse turd.

 

[Belen]

Like someone else said, some people are VERY uncomfortable getting up and speaking to people, be it large groups, or small groups. Roleplaying is about having fun and playing someone different the yourself. If you automatically have the player that just rolls fail, you are unfairly penilizing the player IMO.

Not in the least. Take Gather Information as an example, if a player in my group says, "I roll gather info, get a 28. What do I learn?" Then all he will discover is the rumors floating about town or maybe someone that they can go speak with that knows a good deal of info.

A roll should never grant success to roleplaying or solve a story plot. At best, they should be aids in the process, that provide hints or clues to help them along.

There is no point in being a GM if you cannot play your NPCs. If all of character interaction revolves around numbers, then go play evercrack!

If they do not try, then they do not succeed. I am not interested in sitting around rolling die all evening. That's fine for combat, but complete crap for personal interaction.

 

[Storm Raven]

I do not force my players to roleplay.

Yes, that's pretty much exactly what you are trying to do. More to the point, you are trying to force them to roleplay in a way that suits you.

 

[d4]

A roll should never grant success to roleplaying or solve a story plot. At best, they should be aids in the process, that provide hints or clues to help them along.

There is no point in being a GM if you cannot play your NPCs. If all of character interaction revolves around numbers, then go play evercrack!

If they do not try, then they do not succeed. I am not interested in sitting around rolling die all evening. That's fine for combat, but complete crap for personal interaction.

it sounds to me that you'd be better off just removing the Charisma stat and all skills based off Charisma in your game. since you are not allowing them to have any effect.

it sounds like you are basing success or failure purely on the social skills of the player and completely ignoring the social skills of the character. i agree with several others here, that that attitude is just as unfair as requiring a successful physical performance from the player in order for his character to succeed at a physical task, or for mental / intellectual tasks, etc.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Guys, I like this thread. Please don't get it shut down.

As far as using Charisma-based skills...

I have my players describe to me what they're doing in combat. It doesn't need to be (and shouldn't be) at expert level, describing specific martial arts moves. But I do ask for more than "I rolled a 10, do I hit?" Given that I expect description in combat, I don't think it unfair to expect description/role-playing on social rolls, either.

That doesn't mean I penalize a player for not being a good public speaker. If the player can't string a sentence together, he'll still succeed if his Bluff check (or whatever) is good. But I do expect the effort, just like I expect people to try to describe their moves in combat in an interesting/cinematic way.

Note that this is how I play, and I'm not telling anyone else what to do. But I personally feel that if the game is just about the dice, it might as well be Warhammer.

 

[the Jester]

Players who tell you too late about a health warning on the label of a bottle of hot sauce you eat 1/3 of with one of them that read 'Do not consume if you have heart or lung problems, use caution around children and the elderly. Use diluted drop-wise in food, not intended for direct human consumption." This then leads to a capsaicin and endorphin high, pot level giggle fits, deleriousness, and finally the 24 hours of horrific cramping. Curse you my players, curse you...

Dave's Insanity Sauce!

 

[Belbarrus]

Here's some more:

(To my current players, most of this does not apply to you guys, but more to my old gaming group LOL )

-Players that get all high and mighty to the point that they act arrogant and start talking down to powerful people like kings and nobles. Then whine about being arrested or punished.
-Players who play criminal types (like rogues/thieves that actually steal from just anyone) and complain when their character is caught and punished.
-Players that hold a grudge when another PC or an NPC correctly and justifiably chastises or confronts their character and the player goes on single minded "revenge" quest.
-When a player misinterprets some text for a spell or feat that would give their character a lot of power, not realizing that the spell or feat couldnt possibly work that way *because* of the huge boost in power. (for example, there is a feat in some book that Sorcerers could take that will allow them to "prepare" some of their spells like a Wizard, instead of spontaneously casting them so they could make full use of Metamagic feats. A player assumed this meant that by taking this feat, his Sorcerer could "prepare spells as a Wizard" in ADDITION to his normal Sorceror spells, thereby getting gaining double the spellcasting ability. From one feat.)
-Players who dont roll the dice in front of the DM, then get mad that the DM actually wants to "witness" the die roll.
-Players that keep asking me what some spell/feat/rule does/is. I have to reply, "I dont memorize the books. Look it up!"
-Players who dont appreciate when I as a DM try to put more flair into the game, or as a player I try to spice up what I do (Example, I say, "I draw forth colored sand and fling it at the monsters!", fellow player, "Oh, just say that you cast Color Spray already!")

B

 

[Belen]

it sounds to me that you'd be better off just removing the Charisma stat and all skills based off Charisma in your game. since you are not allowing them to have any effect.

it sounds like you are basing success or failure purely on the social skills of the player and completely ignoring the social skills of the character. i agree with several others here, that that attitude is just as unfair as requiring a successful physical performance from the player in order for his character to succeed at a physical task, or for mental / intellectual tasks, etc.

I said try. They must make the attempt to roleplay the situation. Their rolls modify what/ how they say it. I do not require Shakespeare, but I do require more than "I bluff him" or "I use diplomacy."

If someone wants to gather info, then they had better know what they want to find out. If they want to haggle over a price, then they need to know what price they want. If they want to seduce the king's daughter, then, darn it, they had better look at me and say something about her eyes rather than reciting a third person account or rolling a die.

If they roll well, and they TRY to get the gist across, then they will succeed. If they just roll, then no deal.