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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Serge" data-source="post: 589959" data-attributes="member: 4049">Bravo!This is one of the most interesting threads I've seen in a long time.  Bravo, everyone!Xarlen, I think most everything has already been said about what happened with you and your players.  We all know that your age is probably irrelevent.  We also know that clearly the Player was not necessarily upset at you, but with the circumstances of the game.  Finally, we've already had some people recommend that you speak to players about what they expect.  It's here that I'd like to chime in.IMC, my Players have come to expect very morose situations.  Still, I sometimes worry about the some of the experiences I put them through (My players would scoff at this notion, but it's the truth).  For example, once the PCs encountered the dead souls of children...  I started rattling off how terrible they appeared due to the way they were murdered and mentioned that one was a girl about 2 years of age.  As I was prattling on, I realized that I may have just made a very insensitive comment because two of the players are married and had a 3 year old daughter (who's, unlike her father, a delightful young lady).  I even remember the two of them glancing at me as I was describing the souls.  This was not intentional on my part and I look back on it as a somewhat insensitive faux pas, but I think the players knew what my intent was.  In the games I like to play, I want complex stories with complex relationships where not everything is all happiness and roses.  I want evil to be completely reprehensible, but not always clearly horrible.  I want variety in villains and Evil and I want the PCs to really feel what's at stake.  Providing a world in which horrible things happen and in which the forces of Light and Good can and do win after perservering is essential to me and I think my players appreciate it (although they would never admit as much).I think it would behoove you to sit down and discuss the situation with your gamers.  It may be that they would prefer not to deal with certain things in the game.  It may be that they don't expect to deal with certain things because, historically, you haven't offered them and this situation was a complete shock.  Talk with them and find out what things may be too much.  Still, make it clear to them what your interests are as a DM.  I really like having villains that, while evil, love and can be hurt by simple things as much as I like having villains that are so horrible as to be entirely alien to PCs.  I don't know if I would want to give that up as a DM.  Anyway, it sounds like your story was a good one and one that made your PCs feel.  I think that for sophisticated games this is very important.  It gives the players ownership.  Still, don't go too far (I can't wait until my Players read this.  Boy am I gonna get it!).  If your games get to the point where the PCs are always dealing with these types of events, you may want to lay off for a while.I'm done!</blockquote>

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