Yet another DM problem (*sigh*)

[Tsyr]

My only question I don't get is: WHY are you playing Lawful Evil?

I dunno. When I made the character, it seemed to fit. My character was supposed to be the hated son of a minor nobel, who got disinherited. He's got a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas, and a vendetta against his family. I thought about making him CN, but he also had a sort of code of honor he lived by... it seemed like LE was as close as I could come.

 

[Maraxle]

I'd like to reiterate my suggestion to invite the the DM to a game run by you. It sounds like he's lost sight of what makes a good game. It sounds like he picked up some bad habits while at school, probably because it was a bunch of directors each trying to direct the game.

Also, make sure to invite the new player to the game. You don't want the player to be turned off because of the bad DM experience. They could both benefit from seeing how a good game is run.

 

[jollyninja]

except for the odd assortment of magic items and the repeated uber villians, my current dm used to be the guy you are describing. also he didn't cheer on every critical hit, just most. i discussed it with others in the group and we decided to look for a new game. we offhandedly mentioned said other game at the table a few times to see if it would get any kind of reaction. things like "jim (new gm, can't actually remember his name as he was not a person i actually knew outside gaming) wants to run his game on wednesday", which is our regular game night. finally the dm asked me if everyone was enjoying the game as i was the one who spent the most time with him outside the game. at this time i calmly and plainly listed every problem that i had with his gaming style. then i listed the problems that others had expressed. it took him awhile but he got over it but he changed enough of his bad habbits that at least we stopped looking for a new game. the other guy wated to run a rifts game anyway so that was doomed to fail.

 

[TiQuinn]

It's more that, the DM in question really wants to DM, and we are his friends, and have been for some time... If we just stop comming, he will get mad, if we talk to him, he will probably be offended... We just don't know how to deal with the situation. And what makes this so galling is that, as I've stated before, he used to be a VERY good DM. Fair, fun, etc.

So what will he do if he gets offended? Not DM? Not play? That would be as much his loss as yours. Right now, it doesn't sound like any of the players are having a good time, so why bother? Unless he's truly a baby who is going to pick up his ball and go home and never talk to you again (in which case you really have to wonder whether he's worth the effort), things will pan out fine if you call him on this stuff.

Or you can just keep playing a game that's as fun as doing homework or going to the dentist....but what the hey, he's a friend.

 

[Maraxle]

So what will he do if he gets offended? Not DM? Not play? That would be as much his loss as yours. Right now, it doesn't sound like any of the players are having a good time, so why bother? Unless he's truly a baby who is going to pick up his ball and go home and never talk to you again (in which case you really have to wonder whether he's worth the effort), things will pan out fine if you call him on this stuff.

Or you can just keep playing a game that's as fun as doing homework or going to the dentist....but what the hey, he's a friend.

In my opinion, it depends on what you value more: your friendship or the game. If you prefer the friendship over the game, take the subtle approach. Help him be a good DM. If you prefer the game over your friend's feelings, go ahead and point out everything he does wrong or just stop going.

 

[TiQuinn]

In my opinion, it depends on what you value more: your friendship or the game. If you prefer the friendship over the game, take the subtle approach. Help him be a good DM. If you prefer the game over your friend's feelings, go ahead and point out everything he does wrong or just stop going.

It doesn't exactly sound like he's open to help or constructive criticism. Maybe he is, in which case, certainly that's the best way to deal with it. If he's power-tripping and just being an all-around jerk thinking there's no way his friends are going to ditch his game, then it's a different matter.

 

[gordonknox]

Yeah you gotta talk to him.

It sounds as if he went off to college and was abused in a gaming setting...ridiculed, killed easily, etc. Now, he wants to return some of that again in a friendly setting.

Fireballs always hit.

gk

 

[UniversalMonster]

I've been guilty of number 1!

Every once in a while I do sorta cheer the bad guys when I'm DMing or if I get a bad hit in.

I actually had a devil taunt a character that had been poymorphed into a mouse one time by saying "Squeak squeak!"

I'm a jerk! I shall reform.

 

[Dagger75]

I too laugh at the party when I crit. Which by the way I have only critted the party 5 times this year. I am not kidding. My dice hate me

I would offer to run a few games, maybe change of setting. Run a Spycraft for a while, give the DM a break. Run a game like you ran and he may change.

 

[tburdett]

I feel for you. Not sarcastic.

While I didn't agree with you in your last post, I really feel for you after reading this one.

Basically, your DM is breaking just about every rule that there is when it comes to DM'ing.

While you might not have liked the way he handled the Paladin, I think that it is probably how most DM's would handle it. If the Paladin figures out that you are evil, no matter what the circumstances, he or she is NOT going to associate with you.

We had a DM a while back who sincerely seemed to enjoy killing our characters off. He would shout and pump his fist when he got a critical or killed a character.

He would also change fundamental game rules for no apparent or logical reason.

Once we picked up the Hold the Line feat EVERY MONSTER EVERYWHERE got the "Don't Charge These Guys!" memo and stopped charging.

Once we picked up the Close Quarters Fighting feat the monsters stopped trying to use Improved Grab. It was AMAZING.

Even the lowliest goblins and kobolds would use 'special forces' style tactics to take on our 2nd level party.

And he would blatently cheat when he rolled his dice.

Me: "Uh, you just added your full base attack bonus to all four of those dice..."

Him: "No I didn't. I didn't change a thing. I always use the LOWEST attack bonus because it's easier to keep track of."

Me: "Ok, it's my initiative... Denderheim! Polymorph me into one of those creatures now!"

Denderheim (who acted next): "Done!"

Me: "Ok, what are my new stats?"

Him: "Oh, wait, I (wait for it, wait for it...) DID add the full attack bonus all four times. Sorry!"

We discussed this type of behavior among ourselves and mentioned to him that it was bothering us and left it at that.

The thing that finally put an end to him DM'ing was the "THERE, YOU'RE DEAD! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?" incident.

We had just entered combat against a group a warriors who had Blindsight(every creature we fought had this ability since our Wizard learned to cast improved invisibility).

As the Fighter I waded into battle and started collecting body parts. I took a critical (which came with the usual "YES!" and fist pump as a freebie) and was hurting bad.

The Cleric came up and maneuvered to hit me with a CCW. At that moment the DM, seeing that I might actually live, made a ruling that only squares that had base to base melee going on were 5' squares. All other squares were 10' squares, and moving into one (and subsequently through since you can't 5' step through a 10' square) would earn you an attack of opportunity AND leave you in a threatened square.

We had a brand new player there that night and he called the DM on it. He hadn't built up the resistance that the rest of us had and blasted the DM. We quieted the new player down, but told the DM that we agreed with what he was saying. Changing rules on the fly to ensure that a character would die was unacceptable.

DM entered "full on pissy fit mode" and uttered the immortal words to our completely silent and neutral, up to that point, cleric player...

"THERE, YOU'RE DEAD! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!?"

We gathered our stuff and left.

That is really the only thing that you can do.