Too good to be coincidence?

[Eldragon]

Playing Devils Advocate here:

A good DM will have his monsters anticipate player tactics, and those monsters will take steps accordingly. My players have come to learn that they can use a tactic about 3 to 4 times before they can expect their opponents to have a devious counter to the plan. My players take extra steps to ensure that no enemies escape to tell the tale when they encounter a group of monsters. If one escapes, then it will tell it's brethren the PC tactics.

Players should not expect all monsters they fight to be stupid, and not adapt to a rapidly changing combat enviroment. For me, spells are what makes DnD combat fun. The right spell can turn a tactic into a deathtrap. Every battle is different, players can't rely on one uber-combo and expect to get away with it forever.

My players used to use the Invis/Fly/Fireball tactic a lot. Problem is, one day the enemy expected this and had 3 mages with see invis and wands of lightning waiting. The party lost a lot of good heroes that day. Much like in your situation, the players said I (the DM) was cheating. I calmly explained to them something similar to the above.

Sometimes I explain my tactics ahead of time to a player who is either dead or not participating in the next battle. Just to ward off the nay-sayers. It also gives said player a chance to play as the monsters.

 

[Shadowdweller]

I thought this attack was too perfect to be coincidence. The party has faced the nilbog many times before and he as never demonstrated the ability to fly. He just happened to be flying 90 feet above the combat.

THE nilbog? HE? Many times before? If this specific nilbog has faced you and observed your tactics before, you don't have the slightest excuse for whining. If the nilbog in question has good cause, based on rumors of past encounters with yourself, to anticipate your tactics he may have very good reason for planning such an ambush as well.

To EXPECT that enemy monsters live in a static world and are incapable of hearing about the PCs or planning ways to thwart them based on personal experience is the height of arrogance.

 

[jgsugden]

Rule #1: Thou shalt not argue with the DM! Feel free to offer the DM advice, but if he makes a decision, it is law. The DM needs complete freedom to do his job.

Rule #2: If you hate your DM's decisions, get a new DM. The DM's job is to provide a game his players will enjoy. If he isn't doing his job, fire him.

DMs often have reasons for doing things that can not be explained to players. The DM/player relationship requires trust. If you find you can't trust your DM to do what he thinks is in the best interestes of the game, you need to find another DM.

 

[sithramir]

THE nilbog? HE? Many times before? If this specific nilbog has faced you and observed your tactics before, you don't have the slightest excuse for whining. If the nilbog in question has good cause, based on rumors of past encounters with yourself, to anticipate your tactics he may have very good reason for planning such an ambush as well.

To EXPECT that enemy monsters live in a static world and are incapable of hearing about the PCs or planning ways to thwart them based on personal experience is the height of arrogance.

He already stated that the nilbog has NEVER seen the wizard nor the tactics before. He also stated that the group normally has noone invisible or flying.

However, that might be why the nilbog was invisible and flying so it could gain an advantage to beat the group. The net thing is a bit unbelievable. But I could see you being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What I suggest is doing something immature to get him back. Do something you probably shouldn't to an NPC or something that causes him some grief that equals yours. If he gets angry tell him next time to plan out encounters better instead of winging it cause that definitely seems a bit much

 

[silentspace]

I don't know your DM, or what kind of person he is.

BUT, the situation sounds within the realm of possibility to me. You say you were having problems with this nilbog, so it obviously knew you and your tactics, regardless of whether the wizard was aware of it or not. And give your DM a break. So what if he didn't have it fully statted, with detailed tactics written down. Do you know how much time it would take for someone to do that for every possible creature you might encounter in a given session? I'm assuming the DM has some sort of outside job, or life, or something. He's not going to spend 80 hours prepping for your 4 hour game. Arguably (but not definitely), he may have used some metagame knowledge to the nilbog's advantage, but everyone does that! You have access to the DMG and MM, no? Do you ever refuse to use that knowledge? Have you ever attacked a skeleton with cold spells or piercing/slashing weapons when you had other means available?

It sounds to me like YOU have issues with your DM which go beyond the game. Don't forget, its just a game! Its not worth losing a friend over.

 

[Shadowdweller]

He already stated that the nilbog has NEVER seen the wizard nor the tactics before. He also stated that the group normally has noone invisible or flying.

Oops. Missed that addendum in the course of the thread. My apologies. That does indeed sound somewhat suspicious.

 

[jgsugden]

On the issue of coincidence:

In the early 90s, in a second edition game, I was DMing a campaign that everyone seemed to enjoy. During one encounter, a PC was idsintegrated by an opposing wizard. For a change of pace, he made a dwarven fighter to replace his lost PC.

In the very first encounter, that dwarf went up against some drow. In the treasure for the drow was an arrow of dwarf slaying. This had been predetermined before the PC decided to be a dwarf. You can figure out what resulted from an arrow of dwarf slaying and a dwarf.

The player promptly created an elven wizard to hunt down the drow. In his first encounter, he ran across a golem that was immune to all his spells. Unable to effect it with any of his prepared spells (and unable to flee with his current spell selection), the wizard was killed.

So, the PC created a halfling thief. The thief, in his first encounter, ran across more drow. In their random treasure was an arrow of halfling slaying. Dead halfing.

Four encounters, four deaths that were pretty much unavoidable. The player's next character, a paladin (human) lasted a long time as I recall (thankfully), but sometimes coincidence does team up to get one player.

 

[dark2112]

You have access to the DMG and MM, no? Do you ever refuse to use that knowledge? Have you ever attacked a skeleton with cold spells or piercing/slashing weapons when you had other means available?

Some of us don't use said resources, to preserve the mystery of the game. I ran a group of players that had a very hard time defeating a troll, because they kept 'killing' it, and never hit it with any acid or fire, so it would regenerate, then sneak up and attack again.

I've also been hit by a cone of cold as collateral damage by a wizard attempting to kill the BBEG, a Lich. Sadly, the player completely forgot how productive that would be. Poor Barbarian I was playing, after surviving going solo with the Stone Golem, the Chain Lightning, and the Cone of Cold, he finally bit the dust to a Fireball just before he lept into the room where the Lich was hiding. Or at least, the Lich's illusion, as he was hiding around the corner...

 

[silentspace]

I don't think anyone reads the DMG or MM with the intention of metagaming, and hope thats not what came across. The point is that a little metagaming is unavoidable no matter how much you try to avoid it. If you think about it, the PHB has a lot of metagame information in it too. Spells, for instance - is a teenage fighter supposed to know all the spells by every spellcasting class?

In any event, I'm not ready to accuse the DM in this case of metagaming. What's so farfetched about an invisible flyer with a net who can see invisible creatures? In this game, not much, as far as I'm concerned. Just because it's a PC's favorite tactic doesn't mean other creatures can't use the same tactic! Or even use it better! Seems to me that everything that occured could be easily explained without making accusations of cheating (metagaming/'winging' it). Other posters have put forth several explanations about how this could have happened.

 

[James McMurray]

What I suggest is doing something immature to get him back. Do something you probably shouldn't to an NPC or something that causes him some grief that equals yours. If he gets angry tell him next time to plan out encounters better instead of winging it cause that definitely seems a bit much

Oh yeah, there's a winner of an idea. If you want this game to fall apart and quite possibly lose a friend because of pettiness.

Sithramir: have you ever been in the DM chair? If so, then you know that it is impossible to plan everything out and never have to wing anything unless you drag your players by their nose rings down the plot you've already laid out. If you're doing that you might as well just type up a short story, hand it out for everyone to read, and then head on home, it'll be just as much fun for your players, and won't take nearly as long.