When I was in college a guy who was friends w/some of the folks I played Star Wars d6 and Call of Cthulhu with was looking for one more person to round out his D&D game. I said sure. Turns out Dino was a film major who fancied himself quite the storyteller. He had designed the role of my character to be the son of a king blah blah blah. So second session we ever play (possibly even first it's been 13 or 14 years now) I get to the game and warn everyone that I'm super tired, up late studying and had an early test. We're playing for about an hour or so and the game is dull as can be and I'm operating on 3 hrs of sleep and his couch was awful cozy...wake up a lil bit later to find we were attacked by a cave bear while investigating a cave and heh ad just eaten my throat. Of course, i was the cleric in the group. They manage to stabilize me and get me back to town where they are able to heal me..mostly. My voicebox is shot and the healer gives me a bottle of about 20 pills. If I take a pill I'll be able to speak for 2 minutes. These are the only pills he's EVER going to be able to make me. I tell the DM this is a)unfair, and b)highly stupid if he wants me to ever cast any spells. He then says something about how I shouldn't have fallen asleep. Needless to say, I never gamed w/that guy again.
-
NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
Worst role-playing experience?
- Thread starter heavensblade23
- Start date
Dlsharrock
First Post
SSquirrel said:
I actually would sympathise with your GM in this case (edit: though he shouldn't have exercised his resentment in-character).
evileeyore
Mrrrph
Silver Moon said:
Why do so many sad tales I've heard start with either those words...
...or "Hey, lets all play ourselves, it'll be fun".
Anyway two of my non-Vampire LARP related "and it killed the game" stories...
The ST had an Immortals system (I don't remember the name *, I probably never actually knew it), she'd cut the covers off and put the pages in slip covers, in a 3-ring binder (she did this all her softback rpgs). To make it "fun" we were all supposed to play ourselves (first clue it was destined for "bad"). To stat us out we rated ourselves (run children, run fast) on a scale of 1-10 in different categories. We weren't allowed to actually read the rules, we'd have to learn the game through play (second clue everyone should run). So the game had been going for a bit when she asked me to join, she said "I think you'll bring a unique style to the game..." (clue 3 for those keeping score... unique styles often clash) I show up, she hands me a character sheet "based on what I think your like", it looks alright... a bit more than I think I am, but hey, its a game right (it wasn't too far off, some average, some above average in only a few spots, nothing "uber", except "Movement" but then I used to do track and field and this was a group of "gamers" [read fat-***es]... so I rolled with it).
First session was pretty cool. Everything went smoothly, I was introduced during a huge "boss battle", I was (in character) thinking it was "all a dream" so I start using "powers" like all my buddies were. No biggee... we all escape, travel for about a week or so, fleeing big bad enemies, along the way my two best buds explain the "what is going on" thing (we're all Immortals and real, other people have no souls, this world is just a "dream" that connects the other "real" worlds, etc).. its all good. Then after 6 sessions one guy realizes "Hey, he wasn't 'awoken' like we all were". A mini arguement breaks out, its explained that in order to 'awaken' them, ie make them believe this whole "Immortals Crap" was real, they were shot. My two buds were all "Hell no, he's up to speed" the rest of the group (6 more guys, 9 players total) were all "I got shot, he gets shot".
Here it goes left folks. I say (in character) "Shoot me, I will kill you." Now we all have different powers (some of us have one, some have two or three), one guy can go invisible, one does energy damage with his hands, one can turn into metal or crystal, one is telepathic, etc. I can move, shape, and sense through inanimate objects and heal myself and others. Anyway... they decide to shot me and my two buds (they got in the way). I heal us, the 6 laugh and do the whole "Hey man, now your one of us". I just say, "You six are dead. You just ain't stop walking yet".
Two sessions later I seal them in a 20 story building and cause it to implode. Then sift through the rubble and remove their "Vox", the seat of their "souls". Evidently as long as this isn't destroyed (and it can only be destroyed by an Immortal) they'll come back. I heal my buddies, pass out doing so. When I awaken my buds ask "What now? If you 'eat' those voxs you'll incorporate them and thier powers". I ask, "So how do I destroy them forever?" with a wicked smile on my face... at this point the six guys are pissed. Apparently the ST had a firm "Your character dies, your out of the game" policy. Session ends with me thinking about it...
Luckily for those 6 my hours changed at work I couldn't make anymore games. So I phoned in my plan to teh ST and she implimented it. Basically track down their "spirit place" and force grow their bodies with a single defect in it, a "tattoo" that reads "I was killed by EvilE for being a putz" in the "Immortal" language on their foreheads. My buddies thought it was hilarious and rolled with it...
Game disolved about 6 sessions later when the 6 found out it was "permanent" unless they destroyed their bodies again... and they didn't trust each other enough to be at that level of risk...
HAHAHAHA. **
Second story, same game system, same ST, my two buddies , 4 new guys and the STs littel sis... anyway the ST and my buddies had raved about me enough the ST's fiance and the other four relented to asking me to join.. again game had been on going for a bit and the ST had run a bunch of "mini-sessions" for the other peeps, so she gave me a list of powers I could choose, or I could choose to be better at what I knew I could do, or I could be "better" in general (upgrade stats)... anyway I choose to be better at what I already knew and a general increase in stats, like wahtever ya know?
I was added by a "Neutral" party as an "Observer" to the group based on the notion "I knew these guys" and they needed help from the "Neutral" group I was a member of (all Immortals mystically get religious/political affiliations when they remember being Immmortal, WTF? Whatever).
Anyway game runs smotth for about 6 sessions (bizarre how the session count correlates), every session I either keep pace with or manage to show up the boyfriend. Its just my natural "Roll with it"-ness I'm guessing. The dice rolled my way and I didn't hero worship his ass (like the 2 players he brought did). The group is split in half, me and my two buddies (who think its great I'm "beating him", whatever), the boyfriend and his two buds, and the STs littel sister who rubs on whoever will piss her sister off (the boyfriend mostly) but she is seriously trying to play us (me and bf) off each other. I'm not having it and he is mostly trying to avoid it (good choice). So
is getting tense, the ST is on a slow boil over the sisters behavior and the two groups are in a slow build of one-ups-manship.Last session has the ST doing a "personal" sidebar with me while half the group is off getting food. Boyfriend is there, little sister is there, but pretty much everyone else is out. Boyfriend is getting angrier and angrier and I can't figure out why. Sidebar is going well, I'm getting loads of info (about how to do use the "other" powers I had) from my pastlives (something Immortals can do, either most commonly by battling and "consuming" the past life, or more rarely by negotiation as I was - both held extreme dangers). Anyway bf is getting angrier and angrier and lil sis says somethign along the lines of "I didn't know we could any of that stuff" (meaning the negotiations) and bf boils over "Yeah, and he wouldn't either unless he read the rules!"
SCREECH! WTF? I'd never read the rules. "Hell," I sez, "I don't even know what game this is". /shrug
"BULL!" "I the only one who was supposed to be allowed to read the rules!" he yells at the ST...
Aha. Now I get it. I'm thinkin, okay, simple enough to solve. I let this "Alpha dog" bs cool down and just stop one upping him. I can roll that way, was only trying to outdo him because he was such a damn snot and lording his crap over the other players.
Then the others return and lil sis says to the boyfriend "You know, you shouldn't be so worried about who she's let read the rules. You should be upset about who she's been sleeping with." The look of guilt on everyone's face but mine was pretty damn funny...***
END OF GAME
* Funny. I just googled "Immortals" and "Vox" the only two terms I could remember... the name of the game was Immortals: the Invisible War.
** Why I laugh? I used to be known as "[Real Name] Destroyer of Worlds" because I destroyed all the poorly run politically imbalanced Vamp LARPs I been in (roughly two per year)... so "breaking" table top games has a special place in my cold dark heart.
*** Apparently she'd been sleeping with the other players in the group... for quite a while too. Damn, wish I'd known, she was pretty good looking.
Sparafucile said:
-winces- I have to admit, a bad DM who doesn't know what he's doing will kill Shadowrun pretty quick. Part of the problem is you just don't design a Shadowrun scenario like you do a DnD game or most other RPGs. The DM has to be on the ball, set up situations where everyone can have a part and at the same time give the players absolute autonomy to do things their way. It's a great challenge for everyone, honestly. I highly recommend 4th edition even if you don't end up playing the books contain some of the best RPG material ever printed.
Ok, ok, end proselytizing.
Dlsharrock said:
OR you could give your buddy a break and realize that no gamer falls asleep at the table unless they're half-dead. People are more important than the game.
Dlsharrock said:
I DID warn him at the outset and it had been staying up late studying for a test. If I drank and I had been on a bender the night before, sure, but I don't even drink
if it had been "hey your throat was ripped out, but we got you healed, try not to fall asleep in the future" I wouldn't have had an issue. But when he basically says "hi you fell asleep, now you don't get to do anything your character is supposed to do ever" that just isn't cool.Ipissimus>I knew maybe one person in that game, the DM was a friend of several friends of mine and they liked my RP style and recommended me. But yes, exactly
Last edited:
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
You're an evil person indeed!evileeyore said:
Ever wondered why she invited you _again_ in her group, even after you "broke" the first one? Why she created a character that basically was a compliment to you in the first game?*** Apparently she'd been sleeping with the other players in the group... for quite a while too. Damn, wish I'd known, she was pretty good looking.
Talk about missed opportunities.
TracerBullet42
First Post
Don't think I've posted this here before...so here goes
I'll share my awful Lord of the Rings game experience from GenCon '06. I'd like to point out before the story, though, that Decipher was very cool about the situation and sent me a copy of the rulebook, a DM screen, and an adventure to compensate me for the crappy game even though it wasn't their fault. Anyway, without further ado, I present to you the story of the worst game of all time. Enjoy!
(or wince in sympathetic pain, if it suits you.)
Next on my schedule was a good ol' Lord of the Rings game. I had played in a game last year in which the party was comprised completely of hobbits and was an absolute blast (except for that one loud guy at the table, but that's another story). I was very much looking forward to another journey in Middle Earth. I had no idea that I was about to play "The Worst Game Ever." I use capital letters because I believe that this should be the definitive "Worst Game Ever" to which all other bad games should be compared. Yeah, it was that bad. I'll choose my words carefully, so that you might experience my pain without having to physically endure it.
Again, the GM is late. Not as late as the first game, but still a good ten minutes late. When he does arrive, he ignores our table for a bit and apologizes profusely to the table next to us, for there is a full group of people waiting to play in a Star Trek game that his company is responsible for and will have no GM at all. When he eventually gets over to our table, he asks if any of us have brought our own characters. Nobody did. The GM is not pleased at this. He only has one copy of some sample PCs that he begrudgingly allows us to use. It is at this time that I would like to cite part of the official game description:
"Bring your own Middle-Earth Campaign Setting character to play, or use any of the available pre-made characters."
Now, why is this part of the description if they intend for us to bring our own PCs? Oh well, the GM begrudgingly gives us each a pre-made character to play, but says, "Do not write on these. I'll be needing them back. Please don't smudge them." (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt with the word "please." I do not recall if that word was actually used or not.) So I look over the character that I am handed. At the top of the sheet is written "Dwarven Weaponsmith." He does not have a name. The GM goes around the table asking everyone to name their characters. Nice touch, I thought. Nice touch, until he tells one of the players that their suggested name wasn't "elvish" enough for their elf character. He then told the player a new name to use.
Yes, folks, he was one of those guys. He was a self-proclaimed Tolkein-ista. I prefer the term Tolkein-nazi. As the adventure went along, he repeatedly (and proudly) pointed out things within the adventure that were inconsistent with the LotR books or the Silmarillion. (He claims to read them all three times every year.) He also took every opportunity to remind us that the books were FAR superior to the movies, and seemed insulted that one of the players at the table had " never even read the books."
At the start of the adventure, our travelling party came upon two groups of non-friendlies fighting over the rights to a large steer that had been slain. I suggested to the group that we leave them to settle the difference between themselves, since it is none of our business. The GM informs me otherwise, however. He says something to the effect of "You're a dwarf...you're not fond of either of these groups and would want to get involved." I relentingly agree. (I should've walked away from the game at this point.)
So the game goes on...and on...and on. And even then it goes on a little more, complete with more references to the superiority of the books to the movies. Anytime there is something that needs to be "learned" in the game, one of the elf PCs "figures it out" because "you're an elf...you would know that." Yes, this DM was an elf fan-boy...big time. Elves can do just about anything. There was even a time when a group of wandering elves wandered past the group singing a dirge, and the entire party had to roll Will saves to resist their charms and follow them...forever. When asked about what would happen if our whole group failed, he said something like, "The adventure would be over." Only two PCs saved, by the way...I'll leave it to you to figure out if they were elves or not.
Towards the end of the game (finally), the camel's back was broken. The final straw followed the only funny moment of the game. The party had discovered, in the distance, a man beaten, bruised, and restrained to a pole with ropes. The hobbit, being played by a 10 year old boy, sneaks over, away from the party, to the disheveled man. The man is inches from death, and pleads to the young hobbit to just put him out of his misery. The kid thinks about it for a bit and then utters the words, "Ok. I'll give him his mercy killing. I'll stab him in the face." The table erupts with laughter. It was kinda funny. But then, remember that final straw I was talking about? Yeah, here it comes...
The GM tells the boy that the hobbit would probably have a very hard time killing this man. That it is something his people are not used to doing. I mentioned that I thought we should try to save the man. The GM then says to me, "No, you wouldn't want to save him. You're a dwarf. He's just a man."
It was at that point that I pretty much tuned out the rest of the game. I'm not exactly sure what we were doing but the end result was that we flooded a valley, killing a bunch of bad guys...or something like that. I just rolled dice when asked, periodically looking at the clock. Yes, that's right, the game not only was bad, but LOOOOOONNNNNNG. When it was finally over, the GM asked if anybody would like to stick around for part three. (Apparently, it was part two of three.) I gave my answer by leaving my sheet (not smudged or written on, by the way) and just walking away from the table...not saying a word. The dealer hall beckoned.
And thus, my "Worst Game Ever" event was over...and there was MUCH rejoicing. (YAY!)
I'll share my awful Lord of the Rings game experience from GenCon '06. I'd like to point out before the story, though, that Decipher was very cool about the situation and sent me a copy of the rulebook, a DM screen, and an adventure to compensate me for the crappy game even though it wasn't their fault. Anyway, without further ado, I present to you the story of the worst game of all time. Enjoy!
(or wince in sympathetic pain, if it suits you.)
Next on my schedule was a good ol' Lord of the Rings game. I had played in a game last year in which the party was comprised completely of hobbits and was an absolute blast (except for that one loud guy at the table, but that's another story). I was very much looking forward to another journey in Middle Earth. I had no idea that I was about to play "The Worst Game Ever." I use capital letters because I believe that this should be the definitive "Worst Game Ever" to which all other bad games should be compared. Yeah, it was that bad. I'll choose my words carefully, so that you might experience my pain without having to physically endure it.
Again, the GM is late. Not as late as the first game, but still a good ten minutes late. When he does arrive, he ignores our table for a bit and apologizes profusely to the table next to us, for there is a full group of people waiting to play in a Star Trek game that his company is responsible for and will have no GM at all. When he eventually gets over to our table, he asks if any of us have brought our own characters. Nobody did. The GM is not pleased at this. He only has one copy of some sample PCs that he begrudgingly allows us to use. It is at this time that I would like to cite part of the official game description:
"Bring your own Middle-Earth Campaign Setting character to play, or use any of the available pre-made characters."
Now, why is this part of the description if they intend for us to bring our own PCs? Oh well, the GM begrudgingly gives us each a pre-made character to play, but says, "Do not write on these. I'll be needing them back. Please don't smudge them." (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt with the word "please." I do not recall if that word was actually used or not.) So I look over the character that I am handed. At the top of the sheet is written "Dwarven Weaponsmith." He does not have a name. The GM goes around the table asking everyone to name their characters. Nice touch, I thought. Nice touch, until he tells one of the players that their suggested name wasn't "elvish" enough for their elf character. He then told the player a new name to use.
Yes, folks, he was one of those guys. He was a self-proclaimed Tolkein-ista. I prefer the term Tolkein-nazi. As the adventure went along, he repeatedly (and proudly) pointed out things within the adventure that were inconsistent with the LotR books or the Silmarillion. (He claims to read them all three times every year.) He also took every opportunity to remind us that the books were FAR superior to the movies, and seemed insulted that one of the players at the table had " never even read the books."
At the start of the adventure, our travelling party came upon two groups of non-friendlies fighting over the rights to a large steer that had been slain. I suggested to the group that we leave them to settle the difference between themselves, since it is none of our business. The GM informs me otherwise, however. He says something to the effect of "You're a dwarf...you're not fond of either of these groups and would want to get involved." I relentingly agree. (I should've walked away from the game at this point.)
So the game goes on...and on...and on. And even then it goes on a little more, complete with more references to the superiority of the books to the movies. Anytime there is something that needs to be "learned" in the game, one of the elf PCs "figures it out" because "you're an elf...you would know that." Yes, this DM was an elf fan-boy...big time. Elves can do just about anything. There was even a time when a group of wandering elves wandered past the group singing a dirge, and the entire party had to roll Will saves to resist their charms and follow them...forever. When asked about what would happen if our whole group failed, he said something like, "The adventure would be over." Only two PCs saved, by the way...I'll leave it to you to figure out if they were elves or not.
Towards the end of the game (finally), the camel's back was broken. The final straw followed the only funny moment of the game. The party had discovered, in the distance, a man beaten, bruised, and restrained to a pole with ropes. The hobbit, being played by a 10 year old boy, sneaks over, away from the party, to the disheveled man. The man is inches from death, and pleads to the young hobbit to just put him out of his misery. The kid thinks about it for a bit and then utters the words, "Ok. I'll give him his mercy killing. I'll stab him in the face." The table erupts with laughter. It was kinda funny. But then, remember that final straw I was talking about? Yeah, here it comes...
The GM tells the boy that the hobbit would probably have a very hard time killing this man. That it is something his people are not used to doing. I mentioned that I thought we should try to save the man. The GM then says to me, "No, you wouldn't want to save him. You're a dwarf. He's just a man."
It was at that point that I pretty much tuned out the rest of the game. I'm not exactly sure what we were doing but the end result was that we flooded a valley, killing a bunch of bad guys...or something like that. I just rolled dice when asked, periodically looking at the clock. Yes, that's right, the game not only was bad, but LOOOOOONNNNNNG. When it was finally over, the GM asked if anybody would like to stick around for part three. (Apparently, it was part two of three.) I gave my answer by leaving my sheet (not smudged or written on, by the way) and just walking away from the table...not saying a word. The dealer hall beckoned.
And thus, my "Worst Game Ever" event was over...and there was MUCH rejoicing. (YAY!)
Unfortunately, that reminds me of another game that broke since it was set in LotR as well. Not as good as yours, Tracer, but relevant.
(BTW, Tracer, I do sympathize there. But then, I like pointing out to Tolkein nazis that JRR had absolutely no concept of pacing or relevance with examples and seeing them squirm )
So, a buddy of mine convinced us all to play Middle Earth RP, the Rolemaster variation. I played an Elf wizard, another guy played a dwarf fighter-type and finally we had the equivalent of a human rogue. Things went normally for a while: we walked around a bit, had some RP and then finally settled in an Inn for the night.
While sleeping, we were attacked by a couple of Orc bandits and what I can only describe as the mother of all frustrating battles ensued. The other two grabbed their melee weapons and set to, we had one Orc each. I grabbed my crossbow, figuring that I was dead if I got into melee with the Orc but none of us could hit and do significant damage for ages.
My Orc closed with me and I started taking penalties with the bow, so I flung the crossbow aside and took the heavily armed and armoured Orc bandit on with my bare hands. My puny, low strength, elf wizard snapped the Orc's neck with one blow. I then went about beating the other two Orcs unconscious... only I was SO good that I killed them both by accident.
The other two PCs balked at that, I thought the whole thing was rather silly and we never played Rolemaster ever again.
(BTW, Tracer, I do sympathize there. But then, I like pointing out to Tolkein nazis that JRR had absolutely no concept of pacing or relevance with examples and seeing them squirm
)So, a buddy of mine convinced us all to play Middle Earth RP, the Rolemaster variation. I played an Elf wizard, another guy played a dwarf fighter-type and finally we had the equivalent of a human rogue. Things went normally for a while: we walked around a bit, had some RP and then finally settled in an Inn for the night.
While sleeping, we were attacked by a couple of Orc bandits and what I can only describe as the mother of all frustrating battles ensued. The other two grabbed their melee weapons and set to, we had one Orc each. I grabbed my crossbow, figuring that I was dead if I got into melee with the Orc but none of us could hit and do significant damage for ages.
My Orc closed with me and I started taking penalties with the bow, so I flung the crossbow aside and took the heavily armed and armoured Orc bandit on with my bare hands. My puny, low strength, elf wizard snapped the Orc's neck with one blow. I then went about beating the other two Orcs unconscious... only I was SO good that I killed them both by accident.
The other two PCs balked at that, I thought the whole thing was rather silly and we never played Rolemaster ever again.
