DM misstakes [Archive] - Wizards Community

DM misstakes [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
talast
06-21-04, 01:00 AM What are some of the things you have seen a DM have done to try to cover their misstakes/inability to handle a situation?

I used to game with a DM from long ago, he ran us thru Undermountain, a ForgottenRealm adventure. On the 1st level of that dungeon, there was a secret shine with 3 crates of gems in it, all cursed, but worth about 3 million gold. Our group found it and looted. We then deposited all of the gems in the Waterdeep bank. The next session, because he didn't want us to have that much gold, he promptly told us that all the banks in Waterdeep has being robbed, therefore we loose out on our gems. (there wasn't any plot or storyline leading from there)
Mr. VanderMeer
06-21-04, 04:45 AM I used to play with a DM that would start giving his villain strange new abilities when he was having trouble fighting our character. They got the weirdest, most unbelievable powers and the DM would alway use the following excuse:

'Well dragons' don't really exist, so I don't have to abide by the laws of logic.'

What he meant was:
"It's a fantasy game, so I don't need to use common sense, fairness or believeability.'

When this started happening more and more, and the DM started to become a megalomaniac, we all quit. I've heard that even after years of not being able to find a group he still thinks he knows everything and is convinced he is a great DM.

sad, really :(
Ogre4Hire
06-21-04, 01:27 PM This first one doesn't really fit, but I'm going to post anyway, because it's a good story:), unlike the other two.
I once had a DM forget to divide the XP we got after a fight with 3 Stone Golems by the number of people in the group, so we each gained about 2 levels. He realized his mistake next session, but said that because he'd messed up and we'd all already leveled up our characters he let us keep the extra XP (he did, however, bump up the power level of the next encounter).

In less cool news, I sat in on a session with a different DM one time. I knew the people in the group, since they'd played in what was then my regular group a couple of times, and knew that they weren't exactly the best group of people out there, but since it was at the local Comic Book store and I had some time to kill anyway, I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I found out was that, dispite being only a 5th level party, the cleric somehow had the ability to cast True Resurrection at will. This was useful because one of the characters was killed about once every ten minutes (the DM had it in for the player).

Then we got into combat. I was running a pre-made 3rd level Paladin whose stats seemed to have been generated using some system other than any talked about in the DMG (he had about a 24 INT, but STR and CHA were both around 11). I also discovered that dice weren't necissary, the DM would simply decide at random what happened. First, one of the monsters grabbed a PC (no attack roll, no grapple roll) and shoved him up its, well, I'm sure you can guess. Then, I said I was casting 16 Tons Protection From Evil (which I got out of a Nodwick, and keeping in mind that my character didn't even know any spells!) and told the DM that it did 20D6 damage to all evil creatures within 300 feet of the caster with no save. The DM actually let it happen! After that, things became so bizarre that, despite all evidence to the conterary, I became convinced that the DM was on drugs at the time.

The only other example of a frequent DM mistake is the infamious "monsters pop out of the ground" random encounters.

I was playing with yet another group of people, trying to decide whether I wanted to actually join the group. We were walking along a WIDE dirt road with open fields all around us, when suddenly the party was surrounded by Goblins who were all somehow within 15 feet of us. So I said to the DM "Shouldn't we have gotten a spot or listen check?" And he said "Um... All the goblins attack your character!" What I called him at that point cannot be posted on this message board.:censored: :headexplo
Darth K'Trava
06-21-04, 03:58 PM Originally posted by talast
What are some of the things you have seen a DM have done to try to cover their misstakes/inability to handle a situation?

I used to game with a DM from long ago, he ran us thru Undermountain, a ForgottenRealm adventure. On the 1st level of that dungeon, there was a secret shine with 3 crates of gems in it, all cursed, but worth about 3 million gold. Our group found it and looted. We then deposited all of the gems in the Waterdeep bank. The next session, because he didn't want us to have that much gold, he promptly told us that all the banks in Waterdeep has being robbed, therefore we loose out on our gems. (there wasn't any plot or storyline leading from there)

I think he shoulda sat down with you guys and said, "Guys, I screwed up. I shouldn't have let you get that much loot. How about we make it xgps instead?" Shoulda been up front and honest about his mistake instead of a silly "excuse" in game of someone robbing all the banks in Waterdeep. :nonono:
Killgolli Knight
06-22-04, 09:39 AM I once played in a game where the DM had us fight an adult black dragon. As the fight progressed it was clear that the party was putting a spanking on this green dragon, and things then started to get strange.The fight took place in a swamp so there was planty of water around so naturally the dragon not wanting to die went into the water so we couldnt find it. All of a sudden water exploded up and we were hit with acid, but we didnt see the dragon. It was apperantly under improved invisibility??? We started taking shots but it went back under. We decided to go in after it and the dragon flew up out of the water. The DM said we still couldnt see it to shoot at it. We asked if there was water running off of its body, and if so could we shoot at the falling water trail. He said dragons dont drip???:rolleyes:
eca
06-22-04, 02:09 PM (I once played in a game where the DM had us fight an adult black dragon. As the fight progressed it was clear that the party was putting a spanking on this green dragon.)

Adult BLACK dragon? Spanking the GREEN dragon? what color was it?

any way.......... i have a good DM mistake. the second time i was playing D&D (our DM was almost as new as me) we had slaughtered 6 zombies in a bar owners cellar. the funny thing is, i got a pearl of power, my friend got a pimpin fire staff, and my neighbor got some flying robe thing, and his friend, (beeing a lvl 1 half orc) got the second best axe ive ever seen.

our DM's better now though.
Killgolli Knight
06-22-04, 10:28 PM It was a black dragon, my mistake

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
talast 06-21-04, 01:00 AM	What are some of the things you have seen a DM have done to try to cover their misstakes/inability to handle a situation? I used to game with a DM from long ago, he ran us thru Undermountain, a ForgottenRealm adventure. On the 1st level of that dungeon, there was a secret shine with 3 crates of gems in it, all cursed, but worth about 3 million gold. Our group found it and looted. We then deposited all of the gems in the Waterdeep bank. The next session, because he didn't want us to have that much gold, he promptly told us that all the banks in Waterdeep has being robbed, therefore we loose out on our gems. (there wasn't any plot or storyline leading from there)
Mr. VanderMeer 06-21-04, 04:45 AM	I used to play with a DM that would start giving his villain strange new abilities when he was having trouble fighting our character. They got the weirdest, most unbelievable powers and the DM would alway use the following excuse: 'Well dragons' don't really exist, so I don't have to abide by the laws of logic.' What he meant was: "It's a fantasy game, so I don't need to use common sense, fairness or believeability.' When this started happening more and more, and the DM started to become a megalomaniac, we all quit. I've heard that even after years of not being able to find a group he still thinks he knows everything and is convinced he is a great DM. sad, really :(
Ogre4Hire 06-21-04, 01:27 PM	This first one doesn't really fit, but I'm going to post anyway, because it's a good story:), unlike the other two. I once had a DM forget to divide the XP we got after a fight with 3 Stone Golems by the number of people in the group, so we each gained about 2 levels. He realized his mistake next session, but said that because he'd messed up and we'd all already leveled up our characters he let us keep the extra XP (he did, however, bump up the power level of the next encounter). In less cool news, I sat in on a session with a different DM one time. I knew the people in the group, since they'd played in what was then my regular group a couple of times, and knew that they weren't exactly the best group of people out there, but since it was at the local Comic Book store and I had some time to kill anyway, I decided to give it a try. The first thing I found out was that, dispite being only a 5th level party, the cleric somehow had the ability to cast True Resurrection at will. This was useful because one of the characters was killed about once every ten minutes (the DM had it in for the player). Then we got into combat. I was running a pre-made 3rd level Paladin whose stats seemed to have been generated using some system other than any talked about in the DMG (he had about a 24 INT, but STR and CHA were both around 11). I also discovered that dice weren't necissary, the DM would simply decide at random what happened. First, one of the monsters grabbed a PC (no attack roll, no grapple roll) and shoved him up its, well, I'm sure you can guess. Then, I said I was casting 16 Tons Protection From Evil (which I got out of a Nodwick, and keeping in mind that my character didn't even know any spells!) and told the DM that it did 20D6 damage to all evil creatures within 300 feet of the caster with no save. The DM actually let it happen! After that, things became so bizarre that, despite all evidence to the conterary, I became convinced that the DM was on drugs at the time. The only other example of a frequent DM mistake is the infamious "monsters pop out of the ground" random encounters. I was playing with yet another group of people, trying to decide whether I wanted to actually join the group. We were walking along a WIDE dirt road with open fields all around us, when suddenly the party was surrounded by Goblins who were all somehow within 15 feet of us. So I said to the DM "Shouldn't we have gotten a spot or listen check?" And he said "Um... All the goblins attack your character!" What I called him at that point cannot be posted on this message board.:censored: :headexplo
Darth K'Trava 06-21-04, 03:58 PM	Originally posted by talast What are some of the things you have seen a DM have done to try to cover their misstakes/inability to handle a situation? I used to game with a DM from long ago, he ran us thru Undermountain, a ForgottenRealm adventure. On the 1st level of that dungeon, there was a secret shine with 3 crates of gems in it, all cursed, but worth about 3 million gold. Our group found it and looted. We then deposited all of the gems in the Waterdeep bank. The next session, because he didn't want us to have that much gold, he promptly told us that all the banks in Waterdeep has being robbed, therefore we loose out on our gems. (there wasn't any plot or storyline leading from there) I think he shoulda sat down with you guys and said, "Guys, I screwed up. I shouldn't have let you get that much loot. How about we make it xgps instead?" Shoulda been up front and honest about his mistake instead of a silly "excuse" in game of someone robbing all the banks in Waterdeep. :nonono:
Killgolli Knight 06-22-04, 09:39 AM	I once played in a game where the DM had us fight an adult black dragon. As the fight progressed it was clear that the party was putting a spanking on this green dragon, and things then started to get strange.The fight took place in a swamp so there was planty of water around so naturally the dragon not wanting to die went into the water so we couldnt find it. All of a sudden water exploded up and we were hit with acid, but we didnt see the dragon. It was apperantly under improved invisibility??? We started taking shots but it went back under. We decided to go in after it and the dragon flew up out of the water. The DM said we still couldnt see it to shoot at it. We asked if there was water running off of its body, and if so could we shoot at the falling water trail. He said dragons dont drip???:rolleyes:
eca 06-22-04, 02:09 PM	(I once played in a game where the DM had us fight an adult black dragon. As the fight progressed it was clear that the party was putting a spanking on this green dragon.) Adult BLACK dragon? Spanking the GREEN dragon? what color was it? any way.......... i have a good DM mistake. the second time i was playing D&D (our DM was almost as new as me) we had slaughtered 6 zombies in a bar owners cellar. the funny thing is, i got a pearl of power, my friend got a pimpin fire staff, and my neighbor got some flying robe thing, and his friend, (beeing a lvl 1 half orc) got the second best axe ive ever seen. our DM's better now though.
Killgolli Knight 06-22-04, 10:28 PM	It was a black dragon, my mistake