Campaign ended [Archive] - Wizards Community

Campaign ended [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sonics0200
10-21-07, 12:08 AM I was playing a level 10 Psion and my friend was playing a 8 fighter 2 crusader and we had to investigate a palace. A god controlled the palace and can control anything in it. The god assigned us to retrieve three artifacts if we refused he would kill us. The god put a seal on our hands to read our thoughts and yes we cut off out hands and it didnt work. We slowly went insane as we found 2 of the 3 artifacts. We opposed the god many times and he gave us many punishments. Which included knocking us unconscious, imprisoning us for years in his plane, and breaking our limbs. We were imprisoned once for 3 years, once for two years and finally for 15 years. This was the last straw and when he brought us to his plane to give us one last chance we attacked him. Are attacks were futile we were both blinded by a piercing blow from his fingers and we were placed in a black void for eternity. What do you think?
Unholy_King
10-21-07, 12:34 AM Check your ticket stub. You might have boarded the wrong Train.
Krusk
10-21-07, 02:11 AM sounds like a campaign i would have left after session2 or 3 .

Im not sure what your question/story is supposed to be some help might be nice.

I think your DM was probably a horrible railroader, and when you got fed up with it and tried to do anything else, he had you killed.

Where do you want to take this thread?
CCS
10-21-07, 03:51 AM Ok, so?
KedynCrow
10-21-07, 08:27 AM Feel better now?

Aside from giving you the standard "Hand your DM a conductor's hat and whistle" advice, I'm not sure what to do for you...

Sorry?
Artector
10-21-07, 08:31 AM Your DM obviously needs to learn how to run a game. Beating the players over the head with a god isn't the way to get them to retrieve 3 powerful artifacts. I wouldn't have played in that game. I might have played in a game where the world is being threatened by a BBEG who can only be stopped by using 3 artifacts in unison.

So... my thoughts? Get a new DM.
DeliriousYeti
10-21-07, 01:21 PM lol this is why I didn't want this posted. This was a completely off topic adventure that was not supposed to happen. They were in a resistance against the government and we had about 5 sessions before this. The god just came into play this session. They were asked to go to a palace to prove their worth. Unfortunately, it was attacked and destroyed. The god was not able to touch anything in the material plane except the palace.

When they came to the ruins he sucked them in and planned on requesting them to do some things. They were snotty, sarcastic, and insulted the god. They could have easily gotten out of the scenario and not have had to get the artifacts. The first sarcastic remark caused him to break their arms and heal them to show his power. They still continued to act the way they did which ended up with them being forced by the god.

If they were nice and weren't forced into being their slaves then when he released them into the world to get the artifacts they could have easily escaped. They continued being rude and were enslaved and even when they were enslaved they were still being rude to him. He then imprisoned them and tried to force them to be respectful.

The more he tried to teach them who was the boss the more they got sarcastic and insulted him. He didn't punish them for not getting the artifacts, he punished them for not being respectful. In fact they were going to get the artifacts with no resistance. They just don't know how to show respect to someone as powerful as a god.

I did not kill them because I wanted to. They wanted me to kill them. They came to the plane with the artifacts and attempted to destroy them. Then they attacked the god. The god then blinded them with his hands. He then took one by the neck and offered him one last chance to redeem themselves and they attacked him. They were thrown into a void where they would be left there forever.

He did not post this so you could all comment on what any of us were doing. He posted it because he liked the ending. He left out many details and he just summed up what happened.

I think your DM was probably a horrible railroader, and when you got fed up with it and tried to do anything else, he had you killed.

I wasn't going to post but this is the one thing that ticked me off. They had many many choices before this mission. Their choices could have had them not in the resistance anymore. When it came to them meeting the god they could have been polite and escaped, rude and enslaved, or polite and get the wish. They chose the worst one. Then there were various other ways of escaping like when he gave them chances to be nice they could have gotten the seal off of them. They continued to disrespect him.

They were not fed up in real life. In fact we were all laughing real life. They were fed up in game. You know this is a roleplaying game where you take up the role of a character. Then they attacked the god and got themselves killed. On top of that they wanted to be killed. They were happy because they thought my campaigns were too easy. This was the first campaign where they died completely. He thought it was an epic way of dying so he decided to post it. I told him not to leave out details because you people will rip it apart.

Your DM obviously needs to learn how to run a game. Beating the players over the head with a god isn't the way to get them to retrieve 3 powerful artifacts. I wouldn't have played in that game. I might have played in a game where the world is being threatened by a BBEG who can only be stopped by using 3 artifacts in unison.

So... my thoughts? Get a new DM.

I do need to learn how to run a game. We are fairly new. We just started playing when 3.5 came out. I did not care if they got the artifacts at all. I beat them with a god because the in-game god was made at them being disrespectful. I was never mad. The players were never mad.

You wouldn't play in this game? Why not. That was not the campaign. That is something they got sucked into by being foolish. Your ideal campaign right there is a campaign. There campaign was being in the resistance. This god thing was one session and was not supposed to happen the way it did.

Where do you want to take this thread?

I don't even know why he posted it.

EDIT: He didn't threaten to kill them until they were rude to him for about the 20th time.
seanwalsh
10-21-07, 01:46 PM I was playing a level 10 Psion and my friend was playing a 8 fighter 2 crusader and we had to investigate a palace. A god controlled the palace and can control anything in it. The god assigned us to retrieve three artifacts if we refused he would kill us. The god put a seal on our hands to read our thoughts and yes we cut off out hands and it didnt work. We slowly went insane as we found 2 of the 3 artifacts. We opposed the god many times and he gave us many punishments. Which included knocking us unconscious, imprisoning us for years in his plane, and breaking our limbs. We were imprisoned once for 3 years, once for two years and finally for 15 years. This was the last straw and when he brought us to his plane to give us one last chance we attacked him. Are attacks were futile we were both blinded by a piercing blow from his fingers and we were placed in a black void for eternity. What do you think?I think that reminds me of Kafka and, to a lesser degree, some of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber.
Also, I think, if your account describes more than one session, then on some levels you enjoyed the game. It is hard to tell from your post whether you, the characters, or you, the players, went insane.
If you did not enjoy the game, I suggest that the DM did not enjoy it either. Apparently, you had different visions about how the game should go. Better communication about what you expect and what the DM expects will result in better games. Many of the previous posts blame the DM, but I would also blame the players. All three of you played together; it is your collective responsibility to have fun. While one could say the DM was railroading the players, another could say the players were derailing the train. Why were you required to investigate that palace? Why did you resist the god so strongly?
On that note, there are many stories about a hero resisting the gods and/or their hero's fate: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and Oedipus, for example. Also, both Spider-Man and Superman tried to give up their powers. However, these stories usually end tragically, as did yours. That is one kind of story that a DnD game can tell. Perhaps that was the intent of the game, I don't know.
It occurred to me while reading your post that tragedy is very unusual in RPGs. Perhaps this is a reflection of the Me Generation's or the Baby Boomer's feelings of entitlement. Perhaps this arises from the escapist nature of fantasy games. Whatever the case, I think perhaps a little more tragedy for the characters could lead to more enjoyment of the triumphs for the players.
Anyway, your post gave me some interesting thoughts. Thank you.
DeliriousYeti
10-21-07, 02:06 PM I think that reminds me of Kafka and, to a lesser degree, some of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber.
Also, I think, if your account describes more than one session, then on some levels you enjoyed the game. It is hard to tell from your post whether you, the characters, or you, the players, went insane.
If you did not enjoy the game, I suggest that the DM did not enjoy it either. Apparently, you had different visions about how the game should go. Better communication about what you expect and what the DM expects will result in better games. Many of the previous posts blame the DM, but I would also blame the players. All three of you played together; it is your collective responsibility to have fun. While one could say the DM was railroading the players, another could say the players were derailing the train. Why were you required to investigate that palace? Why did you resist the god so strongly?
On that note, there are many stories about a hero resisting the gods and/or their hero's fate: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and Oedipus, for example. Also, both Spider-Man and Superman tried to give up their powers. However, these stories usually end tragically, as did yours. That is one kind of story that a DnD game can tell. Perhaps that was the intent of the game, I don't know.
It occurred to me while reading your post that tragedy is very unusual in RPGs. Perhaps this is a reflection of the Me Generation's or the Baby Boomer's feelings of entitlement. Perhaps this arises from the escapist nature of fantasy games. Whatever the case, I think perhaps a little more tragedy for the characters could lead to more enjoyment of the triumphs for the players.
Anyway, your post gave me some interesting thoughts. Thank you.

I just sort of explained this but you probably were already typing this and didn't see the post. They were never required to do it, they were just required to do it if they wanted to earn respect from the leader of the resistance. When they went there they were never forced to do anything for the god but they started getting rude. They had tons of choices and chose the worst ones.

I fail to see how this could be railroading. They had a buttload of choices but he just failed to talk about them. He just summarized what happened in that one session. They could have escaped from the god. They could have not went. They could have gotten the artifacts and be set free. They could have found a powerful caster who could save them. Their options were unlimited. They chose the epic option that ended the campaign. Even if lets say I forced them (which I didn't) and gave them no possible way to prevent being the god's slave. It was still only going to be for only session and not the entire campaign.

We all enjoyed it and I think that is all that matters. The entire session we were all laughing and having a load of fun. We all agreed that this was our best campaign yet and the players liked the tragedy ending. Thank you for saying something useful.
seanwalsh
10-21-07, 03:18 PM ...
We all enjoyed it and I think that is all that matters. The entire session we were all laughing and having a load of fun. We all agreed that this was our best campaign yet and the players liked the tragedy ending. Thank you for saying something useful.I'm glad to hear the tragic tale of Sonics0200 the Psion and The Nameless Crusader who battled a mad godling was a happy story for the players and the DM. Like I said, it was hard to tell who was going insane, the players or the characters.
You are absolutely right; having fun is all that matters. You may be a new DM, but if everyone was laughing and having a load of fun, then you are doing it right.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sonics0200 10-21-07, 12:08 AM	I was playing a level 10 Psion and my friend was playing a 8 fighter 2 crusader and we had to investigate a palace. A god controlled the palace and can control anything in it. The god assigned us to retrieve three artifacts if we refused he would kill us. The god put a seal on our hands to read our thoughts and yes we cut off out hands and it didnt work. We slowly went insane as we found 2 of the 3 artifacts. We opposed the god many times and he gave us many punishments. Which included knocking us unconscious, imprisoning us for years in his plane, and breaking our limbs. We were imprisoned once for 3 years, once for two years and finally for 15 years. This was the last straw and when he brought us to his plane to give us one last chance we attacked him. Are attacks were futile we were both blinded by a piercing blow from his fingers and we were placed in a black void for eternity. What do you think?
Unholy_King 10-21-07, 12:34 AM	Check your ticket stub. You might have boarded the wrong Train.
Krusk 10-21-07, 02:11 AM	sounds like a campaign i would have left after session2 or 3 . Im not sure what your question/story is supposed to be some help might be nice. I think your DM was probably a horrible railroader, and when you got fed up with it and tried to do anything else, he had you killed. Where do you want to take this thread?
CCS 10-21-07, 03:51 AM	Ok, so?
KedynCrow 10-21-07, 08:27 AM	Feel better now? Aside from giving you the standard "Hand your DM a conductor's hat and whistle" advice, I'm not sure what to do for you... Sorry?
Artector 10-21-07, 08:31 AM	Your DM obviously needs to learn how to run a game. Beating the players over the head with a god isn't the way to get them to retrieve 3 powerful artifacts. I wouldn't have played in that game. I might have played in a game where the world is being threatened by a BBEG who can only be stopped by using 3 artifacts in unison. So... my thoughts? Get a new DM.
DeliriousYeti 10-21-07, 01:21 PM	lol this is why I didn't want this posted. This was a completely off topic adventure that was not supposed to happen. They were in a resistance against the government and we had about 5 sessions before this. The god just came into play this session. They were asked to go to a palace to prove their worth. Unfortunately, it was attacked and destroyed. The god was not able to touch anything in the material plane except the palace. When they came to the ruins he sucked them in and planned on requesting them to do some things. They were snotty, sarcastic, and insulted the god. They could have easily gotten out of the scenario and not have had to get the artifacts. The first sarcastic remark caused him to break their arms and heal them to show his power. They still continued to act the way they did which ended up with them being forced by the god. If they were nice and weren't forced into being their slaves then when he released them into the world to get the artifacts they could have easily escaped. They continued being rude and were enslaved and even when they were enslaved they were still being rude to him. He then imprisoned them and tried to force them to be respectful. The more he tried to teach them who was the boss the more they got sarcastic and insulted him. He didn't punish them for not getting the artifacts, he punished them for not being respectful. In fact they were going to get the artifacts with no resistance. They just don't know how to show respect to someone as powerful as a god. I did not kill them because I wanted to. They wanted me to kill them. They came to the plane with the artifacts and attempted to destroy them. Then they attacked the god. The god then blinded them with his hands. He then took one by the neck and offered him one last chance to redeem themselves and they attacked him. They were thrown into a void where they would be left there forever. He did not post this so you could all comment on what any of us were doing. He posted it because he liked the ending. He left out many details and he just summed up what happened. I think your DM was probably a horrible railroader, and when you got fed up with it and tried to do anything else, he had you killed. I wasn't going to post but this is the one thing that ticked me off. They had many many choices before this mission. Their choices could have had them not in the resistance anymore. When it came to them meeting the god they could have been polite and escaped, rude and enslaved, or polite and get the wish. They chose the worst one. Then there were various other ways of escaping like when he gave them chances to be nice they could have gotten the seal off of them. They continued to disrespect him. They were not fed up in real life. In fact we were all laughing real life. They were fed up in game. You know this is a roleplaying game where you take up the role of a character. Then they attacked the god and got themselves killed. On top of that they wanted to be killed. They were happy because they thought my campaigns were too easy. This was the first campaign where they died completely. He thought it was an epic way of dying so he decided to post it. I told him not to leave out details because you people will rip it apart. Your DM obviously needs to learn how to run a game. Beating the players over the head with a god isn't the way to get them to retrieve 3 powerful artifacts. I wouldn't have played in that game. I might have played in a game where the world is being threatened by a BBEG who can only be stopped by using 3 artifacts in unison. So... my thoughts? Get a new DM. I do need to learn how to run a game. We are fairly new. We just started playing when 3.5 came out. I did not care if they got the artifacts at all. I beat them with a god because the in-game god was made at them being disrespectful. I was never mad. The players were never mad. You wouldn't play in this game? Why not. That was not the campaign. That is something they got sucked into by being foolish. Your ideal campaign right there is a campaign. There campaign was being in the resistance. This god thing was one session and was not supposed to happen the way it did. Where do you want to take this thread? I don't even know why he posted it. EDIT: He didn't threaten to kill them until they were rude to him for about the 20th time.
seanwalsh 10-21-07, 01:46 PM	I was playing a level 10 Psion and my friend was playing a 8 fighter 2 crusader and we had to investigate a palace. A god controlled the palace and can control anything in it. The god assigned us to retrieve three artifacts if we refused he would kill us. The god put a seal on our hands to read our thoughts and yes we cut off out hands and it didnt work. We slowly went insane as we found 2 of the 3 artifacts. We opposed the god many times and he gave us many punishments. Which included knocking us unconscious, imprisoning us for years in his plane, and breaking our limbs. We were imprisoned once for 3 years, once for two years and finally for 15 years. This was the last straw and when he brought us to his plane to give us one last chance we attacked him. Are attacks were futile we were both blinded by a piercing blow from his fingers and we were placed in a black void for eternity. What do you think?I think that reminds me of Kafka and, to a lesser degree, some of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber. Also, I think, if your account describes more than one session, then on some levels you enjoyed the game. It is hard to tell from your post whether you, the characters, or you, the players, went insane. If you did not enjoy the game, I suggest that the DM did not enjoy it either. Apparently, you had different visions about how the game should go. Better communication about what you expect and what the DM expects will result in better games. Many of the previous posts blame the DM, but I would also blame the players. All three of you played together; it is your collective responsibility to have fun. While one could say the DM was railroading the players, another could say the players were derailing the train. Why were you required to investigate that palace? Why did you resist the god so strongly? On that note, there are many stories about a hero resisting the gods and/or their hero's fate: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and Oedipus, for example. Also, both Spider-Man and Superman tried to give up their powers. However, these stories usually end tragically, as did yours. That is one kind of story that a DnD game can tell. Perhaps that was the intent of the game, I don't know. It occurred to me while reading your post that tragedy is very unusual in RPGs. Perhaps this is a reflection of the Me Generation's or the Baby Boomer's feelings of entitlement. Perhaps this arises from the escapist nature of fantasy games. Whatever the case, I think perhaps a little more tragedy for the characters could lead to more enjoyment of the triumphs for the players. Anyway, your post gave me some interesting thoughts. Thank you.
DeliriousYeti 10-21-07, 02:06 PM	I think that reminds me of Kafka and, to a lesser degree, some of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber. Also, I think, if your account describes more than one session, then on some levels you enjoyed the game. It is hard to tell from your post whether you, the characters, or you, the players, went insane. If you did not enjoy the game, I suggest that the DM did not enjoy it either. Apparently, you had different visions about how the game should go. Better communication about what you expect and what the DM expects will result in better games. Many of the previous posts blame the DM, but I would also blame the players. All three of you played together; it is your collective responsibility to have fun. While one could say the DM was railroading the players, another could say the players were derailing the train. Why were you required to investigate that palace? Why did you resist the god so strongly? On that note, there are many stories about a hero resisting the gods and/or their hero's fate: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and Oedipus, for example. Also, both Spider-Man and Superman tried to give up their powers. However, these stories usually end tragically, as did yours. That is one kind of story that a DnD game can tell. Perhaps that was the intent of the game, I don't know. It occurred to me while reading your post that tragedy is very unusual in RPGs. Perhaps this is a reflection of the Me Generation's or the Baby Boomer's feelings of entitlement. Perhaps this arises from the escapist nature of fantasy games. Whatever the case, I think perhaps a little more tragedy for the characters could lead to more enjoyment of the triumphs for the players. Anyway, your post gave me some interesting thoughts. Thank you. I just sort of explained this but you probably were already typing this and didn't see the post. They were never required to do it, they were just required to do it if they wanted to earn respect from the leader of the resistance. When they went there they were never forced to do anything for the god but they started getting rude. They had tons of choices and chose the worst ones. I fail to see how this could be railroading. They had a buttload of choices but he just failed to talk about them. He just summarized what happened in that one session. They could have escaped from the god. They could have not went. They could have gotten the artifacts and be set free. They could have found a powerful caster who could save them. Their options were unlimited. They chose the epic option that ended the campaign. Even if lets say I forced them (which I didn't) and gave them no possible way to prevent being the god's slave. It was still only going to be for only session and not the entire campaign. We all enjoyed it and I think that is all that matters. The entire session we were all laughing and having a load of fun. We all agreed that this was our best campaign yet and the players liked the tragedy ending. Thank you for saying something useful.
seanwalsh 10-21-07, 03:18 PM	... We all enjoyed it and I think that is all that matters. The entire session we were all laughing and having a load of fun. We all agreed that this was our best campaign yet and the players liked the tragedy ending. Thank you for saying something useful.I'm glad to hear the tragic tale of Sonics0200 the Psion and The Nameless Crusader who battled a mad godling was a happy story for the players and the DM. Like I said, it was hard to tell who was going insane, the players or the characters. You are absolutely right; having fun is all that matters. You may be a new DM, but if everyone was laughing and having a load of fun, then you are doing it right.