Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nickjagr 04-02-04, 12:57 AM	This was not an experience as dm, but as a character. I was reaching 8th level as a lawful good cleric of Lathander. I tried my best not to metathink; it was my first DD campaign ever. We had been playing for nearly two years. But having all the books by then didn't help, and I found myself constantly thumbing through the Dms guide: magic items. I had my heart set on the book of exalted deeds. To me, it was the sweetest item I would want to ask for. But I couldn't convince my dm to put it into the game. Until One night, we were all together drinking and playing TEKKEN TAG The DM and I consider ourselves efficionados of the game. Little did he know that I can beat any version of Tekken in the arcade on one quarter. So I challenged him to beat me in a best of seven. I win: Book of Exalted Deeds; him; twenty bucks He wouldn't go for it...swearing that he would never take bribes or bets to simply throw an item into the campaign. We play anyway. I beat him seven matches in a row. We play some more. All random matches. ten more wins He exclaims," alright, MF, Book of Exalted Deeds on this match!!!!" A heated battle. I win. Two rounds. One perfect. He keeps his word, puts the Book in the campaign. Upon the night of the campaign in which I finish reading the book, the DM announces " IM RETIRING THE CAMPAIGN." on the basis that he's "running out of ways to go."
Dragonteuthis 04-02-04, 02:40 AM	Talk with the DM without being accusatory. Offer to not hold him to his word, but ask him if he can leave possibilities open. Most importantly don't let this create a rift between you two.
ZooL 04-02-04, 03:42 AM	Dude i soooo wanna game tekken tag with you. I need some a good challenge since no one else i play with can beat me
adamwat 04-02-04, 04:09 AM	We were playing one night and the dm told one of the players to jump up and down fifty times and he will give him 500xp. The guy jumped fifty times and the dm gave him the xp. IT was wierd....
Joe Khol 04-02-04, 06:17 AM	Originally posted by Nickjagr Upon the night of the campaign in which I finish reading the book, the DM announces " IM RETIRING THE CAMPAIGN." on the basis that he's "running out of ways to go." Maybe the Gods of Roleplaying were giving you a slap for trying to bride your DM :D
Sucineri 04-02-04, 01:12 PM	I don't see anything wrong with it..my group always goes with bribing the DM..and yesterday was the first time I DM'd with my group and I got free food out of it..it was awesome. I let the guy who bought the food to change one 17 into an 18 (was before the adventure even started, still in the character creation process so that I could say "Well, it was possible he could have rolled it himself") but I wouldn't let anything like that happen once the adventure started.
Kwyn 04-02-04, 01:26 PM	I accept bribes routinely but I never pay off. Of course my players know this going in and they'd be offended if I actually gave them exp or items for something in real life.
grapedog 04-06-04, 08:30 PM	One of my old DM's instituted a Brownie point system where so many brownies points could be turned into in game things like an item, a re-roll, a NPC looking the other way or falling asleep when he might not normally so the PC could sneak by. Easiest way to get a brownie point was to bring food or drinks for him over to his place since he hosted the games...
Edymnion 04-06-04, 08:47 PM	So, let me see if I can get this straight. You asked your DM to let in a book, and he said no. You tried to bribe the DM to let the book in, he said no. You humilate him in the game to get his back up into accepting your wager. And you are then surprised when he just ends the campaign? Sounds to me like you backed him into a corner, and he simply used his DM power to get himself out of it. Next time your DM says no, just accept it. If you can't find a good, reasonable argument to make in favor of the book, then don't resort to rigged bets to try and force him into it. If you do, then things like this happen.
RobTzu 04-06-04, 09:20 PM	I am a purist. I try not to let anything from outside the game have any effect on whats in it. I wouldn't have bet in the first place. I like my world to have versmiltude, so as close to 0% meta-gaming as possible.
Eldren 04-07-04, 12:12 AM	We do some very light XP bribes in the campaign I run; I'll give someone a few bonus XP points (usually no more than about 200-250) if they buy me food on a night when I don't happen to have cash with me. This, however, isn't going to be an issue any longer, as the gentleman who hosts our games has decided to purchase food for me and my friend who commute to his place for the game, so that we won't encourage everyone to move up to our own place for my campaign (the host only has so much free time, as his job takes up quite a bit of his time, and he doesn't want to waste some of it driving). I think that as long as it doesn't get out of hand, some light and fun-styled XP bribes are kinda cool. As far as out-of-game contests to allow a certain rulebook or whatnot in the game, I wouldn't personally do it. Either the Dungeon Master will let the book be in the game or they won't. There ought not to be a middle ground on this. Most of the time, a Dungeon Master disallows a book because they don't own it themselves (and thus haven't had time to read it, reach conclusions on its power levels, and incorporate it into their campaign), or because the nature of the book just doesn't fit their particular campaign. The Book of Exalted Deeds, in particular, doesn't work for all campaigns, because having an Exalted character in the party can make life pretty difficult at times; there are those Exalted characters who make the stereotypical Paladin look like the worst sinner, and there are those who, because they've taken a couple of the "Vow Of..." feats, can make successfully winning an encounter a true endurance test for the patience of the other players. The Book of Vile Darkness is a lot easier to incorporate into most games, primarily because none of the material is meant for players, and the Dungeon Master, if they're going to use it, has already planned for its impact on the game. For the most part, unless the campaign is more free-form, you probably shouldn't allow books into an existing campaign that come out after that campaign is in full swing. There will be more campaigns in the future, and at that time those books are going to be useful, but sometimes the Dungeon Master just doesn't plan for the input from a particular rulebook, and it might too needlessly complicate or unbalance his/her campaign to include the book.
TheDoomBringer 04-07-04, 12:22 AM	I wouldn't take bribes, its just plain wrong. So the guy with more money (and thus more able to buy me food) is a better gamer? Sure, I appreciate the guys doing nice things, but its not for in game rewards.
Crossover-Chronicler 04-07-04, 12:45 AM	Originally posted by Edymnion So, let me see if I can get this straight. You asked your DM to let in a book, and he said no. You tried to bribe the DM to let the book in, he said no. You humilate him in the game to get his back up into accepting your wager. And you are then surprised when he just ends the campaign? Sounds to me like you backed him into a corner, and he simply used his DM power to get himself out of it. Next time your DM says no, just accept it. If you can't find a good, reasonable argument to make in favor of the book, then don't resort to rigged bets to try and force him into it. If you do, then things like this happen. Let's lay this out (all bold is my emphasis.)Originally posted by Nickjagr ... One night, we were all together drinking and playing TEKKEN TAG The DM and I consider ourselves efficionados of the game. Little did he know that I can beat any version of Tekken in the arcade on one quarter. So I challenged him to beat me in a best of seven. I win: Book of Exalted Deeds; him; twenty bucks He wouldn't go for it...swearing that he would never take bribes or bets to simply throw an item into the campaign. We play anyway. I beat him seven matches in a row. We play some more. All random matches. ten more wins He exclaims," alright, MF, Book of Exalted Deeds on this match!!!!" A heated battle. I win. Two rounds. One perfect. He keeps his word, puts the Book in the campaign.Sounds to me more like the DM let his ego get thebest of him. It was the DM who eventually decided to take the wager; Nickjagr mentioned no further pressure, and the Tekken competition does not mecessarily relate to the D&D game until the bet is made. In fact, Nickjagr's consistent victories should have been proof that the DM was right not to make such a wager, as it is evident that he would have lost. He continued to lose, and then made the bet. I fault the DM on this one for temporary suspense of rational thought. As a DM, I always made it clear that I would accept bribes. My players never took advanatage of it :(
bitnine 04-07-04, 01:42 AM	I think I've made it fairly clear that personally I don't believe in bribes influencing me. That certainly don't mean that I won't take 'em, though. ;)
spasheridan 04-07-04, 02:02 AM	We have a system of DM points. If yer helpful to the GM he gives you DM points. You can even keep a running total of DM points you have. They never do anything though... it's still nice to earn em when you can.
Crossover-Chronicler 04-07-04, 03:04 AM	(somewhat off-topic) Actually, I've found that demanding bribes is a good way to shut whiny players up: Player: "I want this horribly broken exception to the rules enacted as a house-rule!":rant: DM: "Well, that's $35.00 on the DM Bribery Table..." :ayyyy!: Player: :twitch: (/somewhatoff-topic)
Erih, Shadowdweller 04-07-04, 09:10 AM	I vehemently disagree with everyone who takes or gives bribing in a D&D game. Especially those who make their DM fudge stat rolls and so forth. That's just plain unfair to the rest of the team.
Crossover-Chronicler 04-07-04, 10:07 AM	Originally posted by Erih, Shadowdweller I vehemently disagree with everyone who takes or gives bribing in a D&D game. Especially those who make their DM fudge stat rolls and so forth. That's just plain unfair to the rest of the team.Not so: they all have the same opportunities... the same opportunity to bribe me. :D
Nifft 04-07-04, 11:23 AM	I pay XP or Action Point "bribes" to get my players to each write up a Journal Entry, which brings their characters into better focus and helps everyone remember what the heck happened in past sessions. I also pay XP and/or Action Point "bribes" for PC portraits, background material, maps of public places that are important to the PC and may become important to the campaign (which I simply don't have the time to do myself). -- N
Nickjagr 04-07-04, 05:03 PM	Thanks to Crossover-Chronicler for getting the point, and any other posters who realized that I wasn't the one pushing the issue. In truth, I actually only mentioned it once as an in-game thing. My character was a by the book lawful good cleric, so I was looking through the DMS Guide just to see what would be sweet for my character. I actually came up with some really good points for getting it. He was already considering it as an item for me. When we played that game, I only mentioned it as a joke. He'd never accepted any out-of-game stuff before, and I didn't expect him to go for it. I only mentioned it once. It wasn't my fault that he took someone spanking him at Tekken Tag as such a personal threat. I never pushed the issue, I just kept spanking him. Finally, he belted-out that it was up for grabs. Apparently, he was sure he was gonna win. Chronicler is right, I never pushed him, his ego got to him. So anyone that is assuming that I was harping at him to give it to me is wrong, although I can see how it would kinda sound like I did, from what I left out. Anyways, I think its funny that everyone took it so seriously, considering, as a DM, I am very stick-to-my-guns and don't accept bribes. As another note, It was just a coinceidence that our campaign ended when I finished the book, I was just pointing out that that really sucked.
Taran Alvein 04-07-04, 05:42 PM	Hey, I'd accept cash bribes for EXP. If some fool wants to bribe me real money to give them EXP in a game run on paper, they can go right ahead. I'll give them the EXP all right, but the game isn't reality, so in the end, they're just cheating themselves...
Veton 04-07-04, 09:05 PM	My DM is giving a "bribe" of sorts. He apparently wants everyone to look at his webpage (of D&D stuff, of course), so he said that if you tell him where the ~ symbol that he put on his site is, you get your character level * 50 in XP. As for myself...I suppose I might accept it in exchange for minor things.
bitnine 04-09-04, 06:02 AM	Originally posted by Veton My DM is giving a "bribe" of sorts. He apparently wants everyone to look at his webpage (of D&D stuff, of course), so he said that if you tell him where the ~ symbol that he put on his site is, you get your character level * 50 in XP. Well, that's a little different. I, in one game, told my players that those who gave me character histories of a sufficient length by a certain time would start the game at level 2, where those who didn't were free to give me no background at all, but they would start the game at level 1. Oddly enough, I got good character histories that game.
pyk 04-09-04, 07:12 AM	Me, personally, if a player says "I want to find magic item X" that item never gets found. Simple as that. I put plenty of tailor made items that can make a character able to compete at various levels, anyway. If a player tries to "make a bet", bribe me, or whatever, then that item would never see the light of day, even if the character had the ability to make the item, because it would not exist in the game. But, if - in character - the player makes his request, something on the lines of "I pray to my [insert diety here] to find something to make me wiser, and more experienced in my work." Then, perhaps, the [deity] may show compassion and allow him to locate that artifact.
Metis 04-09-04, 09:50 AM	I don't know if I'd call it bribing, but I do something similiar to what was mentioned above. Because there are so many interesting D&D books that come out each year, and because I buy most of the core and all of the Realms releases, it's a bit taxing on my wallet. So we decided as a group (I took a vote) that it'd be a good idea to set up a donation jar of sorts. The minimum donation is $1 per session (every Sunday for at least seven hours of play or more). Every 50 cents about $1 that is donated gives the PC 10 bonus experience points. The only problem is that one of the players who seems to get a lot of allowance money to blow pretty much pays $5 every other session. The money is nice, since I'll be able to pick up material that I'd only pick up if we we're way over what we needed for upcoming releases (optional things like the Book of Exalted Deeds). The only problem is that we've just begun working on a new campaign and he immediately donated $9 before the first session, giving him 160 bonus experience points. He'll probably donate another $5 at the start of the first session... I'm thinking about replacing the experience bonus with a free reroll (choose and die roll made during the game and reroll it yourself). This will be given for any donation of $2 or over, I think.
Ringmereth 04-10-04, 12:09 PM	My DM accepts bribery, usually in the form of food or minis. The rewards range from the DM avoiding killing a character, giving them access to splatbooks and stuff off these boards, and bonus XP rewards, divided among all players. Therefore, the richer players might get more interesting characters and abilities, but they don't become more powerful than everyone else. In my campaign, I'll allow bribery in exchange for mostly the same stuff: being nicer to a player, nicer XP or loot, and using non-official material. No rerolling stats or d20 rolls, though I might allow them to pull off some creative, swing-from-the-chandellier-and-kick-the-bad-guy-in-the-face type move.
hivemind[MVGC] 04-10-04, 02:16 PM	In virtually all games run at the MVGC, we award 500xp for a painted mini of your character, and 500xp for a decent character background. I also give 500xp for Shamrock Shakes brought to me. Mmmmmm....
Mojave Rattler 04-10-04, 04:11 PM	I give XP rewards for character backgrounds and session writeups. Works well for me.
Winternova 04-10-04, 05:02 PM	In an attempt to prompt my players to think their characters out a little more, I offered a large amount of XP (up to about 2,500) for a paragraph-long bio, and all my players but one went through with it. The one that didn't claimed that my wanting it in a .doc file (or printed, or written), and the two-week deadline was retarded and he refused to do it.
Sildatorak 04-10-04, 05:12 PM	Originally posted by Metis The minimum donation is $1 per session (every Sunday for at least seven hours of play or more). Every 50 cents about $1 that is donated gives the PC 10 bonus experience points. Dang, that's $51 bucks to start at level 2. Not worth it IMHO. As for the DM accepting an unwanted rulebook, I don't think that was the case in the original post. I think the player was after the magical item "Book of Exalted Deeds"
green_yawgmoth 04-10-04, 05:16 PM	Originally posted by Edymnion So, let me see if I can get this straight. You asked your DM to let in a book, and he said no. You tried to bribe the DM to let the book in, he said no. You humilate him in the game to get his back up into accepting your wager. And you are then surprised when he just ends the campaign? Sounds to me like you backed him into a corner, and he simply used his DM power to get himself out of it. Next time your DM says no, just accept it. If you can't find a good, reasonable argument to make in favor of the book, then don't resort to rigged bets to try and force him into it. If you do, then things like this happen. It sounds to me more like: He asked his DM to let in a book, and he said no. He offered a friendly challenge to allow the book in, and he declined. His DM threw a tantrum when he got his ass handed to him in Tekken, and accepted the bet. His DM got pwned again, threw another hissy fit, and ended the campaign to get back at him. I'd find a DM who's a little more stable emotionally if I were you. Did he give any reasons to not let it in, other than the obvious "I'm the DM"? Metis: Is your sn an extreme coincidence, or did you used to go to the SomethingAwful forums?
tasslehoff220 04-11-04, 04:25 PM	I give out free exp for several things. Anytime a player writes up notes on a session or a character backround they get some extra exp. I gave a player some extra exp for drawing a portrait of the entire group which came out well and another one exp for making a mix of music which had 2 songs dedicated to each character. Also if a player brings something that makes my job easier they will get a little extra exp, for example a player went out of his way to bring a battle map before I had mine. Free exp for this kind of stuff I think is good but even as I use BoED I disapprove of how you got your DM to agree to use it in his campaign.
Erih, Shadowdweller 04-11-04, 09:40 PM	Well, I love the idea about giving EXP for in-depth character backgrounds and behaviour elaboration. Sounds more fair to me that you reward people for their intelligence and passion for the game, the two most important things when playing D&D, than for the size of their wallets. I might just try it.
Moonstonedragon 04-12-04, 08:36 AM	I dont give out exp or magic items since i try to keep everyone balanced out, even the ones that dont try to do storys or such. But i do reward them with happy points (yeah stupid name but gets point across), anyway with happy points they can reroll failed saves, reroll a failed attack roll, reroll a failed skill check, reroll hps when leveling up, a chance to be different race in next quest, and so on. That way the people that try to get a good back story for their char and try to stand out have better chances to keep living, while the non story, uneventful wither and die off. All without the better chars being to powerful or to much higher level.