Post/Author/DateTime	Post
NHdjinn 01-20-04, 10:45 PM	Stole the topic. Seems the DM's are having fun at the players expense over on the "whats a DM to do" forum. Seems to me a little retribution is order. I'll kick this mother off 1.The DM who is 40 and still lives at home. You know the type. "MOM...wheres my Orange Juice?!?!?!" Has an "apartment" in the basement. Lives on Dew, Pizza, and the once a month shower. Never had a girlfriend.....never will. Posters of Britney Spears on the wall. Endlessly drones on about having to take his mom to the proctologist... Let the games begin guys. NHdjinn :smirk:
adiaven 01-20-04, 11:06 PM	2) The Railroad worker creates a nice campaign... with only 1 plot line. No matter what the players do, there is only 1 path to take. So everyone get on for the ride...
green_yawgmoth 01-21-04, 12:12 AM	3) The Rules Lawyer. Similar to the player type, this DM will never make any house rules, ever. He thinks that the books are sent from the heavens, and refuses to break from them. The only good that comes from this is that most of the time, this DM can be convinced into anything via "errata". PC: Can I ______? It makes sense. DM: No, the books don't say you can, so obviously you can't. PC: ..... Oh, didn't you hear about the errata they made? Now you can. DM: Oh, alright. Repeat as many times as you can get away with.
Tarlac-Redclaw 01-21-04, 12:28 AM	The kind who make all their monster stats and can't seem to remember from turn to turn. It's weird when one round a 24 hits, but then in the next a 27 doesn't :confused: He basically just decides when he wants you to suceed or fail. You might as well not have a character sheet, which wouldn't be so bad really if it was a roleplay game, but it isn't :p
Faeryl Zauvirr 01-21-04, 06:54 AM	5. The Pyschopath Goth rock blaring in the background of every session. Constant twitch in his eye. Dresses up as his villians, and yes, even the female ones. For some reason these DMs are always guys...
ashera 01-21-04, 10:46 AM	6. The DM who does not know want kind of game he wants to play. DM: Ok I am getting tired of D&D, because it is too much hack'n slash, besides the rules are so complicated. I have found a game with easier rules and I would like you all to think a lot about your characters goals, background, habits etc.. Players: OK what is the campaign about? DM: Well, it is set in Aalborg (the city we live in), in the year 2010. Most of the world has been transformed into zombies, so your only goal is to survive. Players: :confused: :confused: :confused:
Thorak 01-21-04, 11:09 AM	7: The Megalomaniac. His theory is that, as the DM, he is God. And a nasty, vengeful God at that. He will, 90% of the time, have a "PC" in the game as well, who will always be more powerful than the rest of the party combined, both level-wise and magical gear-wise. And heaven forbid the party stand up to this avatar if he should, say, be insulting or overly violent. Those posing a threat, physical mental or social, will be somehow slaughtered in short order. Those few times this kind of DM doesn't play a PC, he inevitably turns the game into a smash-fest, trying to kill the players as violently and quickly as possible, in a demonstration of his lordly might. Also known to try and force OOC things by using the game; "Get me a Pepsi, or your character's a dead man! MWAHAHAHA!" Only known cure: removing yourself from the party, along with the rest of the party, forcing the Megalomaniac to go cheat at Baldur's Gate 2 instead of lording it over you guys.
adiaven 01-21-04, 11:50 AM	The "Boyfriend" or "wannabe boyfriend" This DM always plays with his girlfriend as a PC, or a girl who he is trying to date. You might as well get used to following orders and playing a seconday character, because whatever she says goes. Also, a nice tactic is to stay 5 feet behind her character, because it is imposssible for her to die or take any type of damage...
Gothic_Demon 01-21-04, 12:29 PM	#9 The DM and his pet This DM has a pet NPC. He's actually a DMPC, and is a PC as often as he can get away with it. This PC is hugely more powerful than anyone elses PC, to the point where your 5th level paladin gets a horse and his 5th level DMPC rides a gold dragon. You may as well just watch this DM play on his own. Is known to be related to the megalomaniac. #10 The eccentric scholar This DM knew every rule once, and remembers them all from AD&D, and still applies them to the current system. One backstab, not when your opponent is aware, feats are for girls, bring back proficiencies. #11 Forgetful umm... where was I? This DM knew all the rules and promptly forgot them. The same goes for his campaign and the personality of all his NPCs. You have to wait for 10 minutes every time the party does something while he figures out what he is supposed to do now.
gpstar 01-21-04, 02:03 PM	The Micromanager EVERY action you do is monitored. Not one day goes buy where are you forced to play out every hour of every day. Its an effort to get to the next game day, often taking the entire gaming session. Any type of creative action taken by your character is met by a "no" or a series of made up rolls to satistfy his view of realism. This type of DM almost always imposes some sort of over elaborate level training system that he feels coincides with reality, when in fact, it is more absurd than helpful to the game.
The Stray 01-21-04, 02:44 PM	The Overly Cinimatic DM: This one has been watching FAR too much DBZ. All of his combats (and combat happens just about every five minutes or so after the end of the last fight) start with the BBEG staring down the players and making dramatic speaches or trying to force the characters to get into a suspense-building staredown before any dice are rolled. He often describes "waves of building power" rising from the BBEG just before he unleashes his attack. He also brutally describes the attacs (both yours and the BBEG's) in excruciating amounts of detail. Thanks to the amount of description he uses when running combat, one minute of game time can last the entire session!
spellondarkness 01-21-04, 04:03 PM	oh man those kind of dm's make dnd look bad.
Benjy Mouse 01-21-04, 04:06 PM	Any DM who has a shrine to Erythnul in his/her bedroom...
NHdjinn 01-21-04, 04:06 PM	14. The "homebrew" dm You know him...you hate him. For weeks you hear all about the exciting, amazing, original world he has built for you. Going ot be the greatest campaign ever, "I think I may try to get it published" et al. Only to find out its middleearth with purple grass, elves that are green, Halflings that sleep all the time instead of eat...Orc war partues called "Yourik-Bia"(true story), a mage called "Sakromon" (also true)...and when told its not original, adn definetly not cool takes it as a personal attack. This chap also gets High and mighty about "Masterpiece Homebrew Worlds", cant stand greyhawk, ro FR, or Ravenloft...or any commercial setting. His snobbery knows no bounds when it comes to "homebrew". DM: "You guys like my world or what?" me:....(insert crickets chirping)... DM:"Fine...you all are dead...I smell a TPK!!!" me: "I got to go...I think I left my....uhmm...toaster on. Oh yeah I cant play anymore either...my dog...has...alzheimers" DM: "you dont have a dog?!?!?!" me:.........
thalious 01-21-04, 04:09 PM	The Forced Retirement DM This DM will always make you start at level 1 or 2, and stop making adventures for a character as soon the character starts getting some power (around level 12-20 depending on the character).
xirr2000 01-21-04, 04:55 PM	16. The "Warden" DM This DM likes to constantly have his PC be taken prisoner, their gear dissappearing. For some reason he will think the game is much more interesting and challenging if the PC are constantly stripped of spellbooks, weapons, tools, money or anything else and forced to use those cross class skills that they have only been able to put half a rank into. 17. The "see I told you you'd need that" DM This DM likes to put challenging situations in requiring the lesser purchased skills like balance, swim, survival, climb that are usually cross class skills for most classes ( who dont get many skill points to start with, usually 2 per level) and then when you are dead or really frustrated likes to tell you, "You should try to round out your characters more." Watch out for DMs who are both #16 and #17.
Flu]{e B0y 01-21-04, 05:10 PM	the ones who make there 1 rolls into a twenty dang u CHEATERS u should all DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:hoppingma :devil: :hoppingma
Link182 01-21-04, 08:05 PM	18- I'm Gonna Get You Sucka DM This DM views D&D as players vs the DM. He goes out of his way to try to kill you and gets :censored::censored::censored::censored: :censored::censored: when he doesn't. 19- Yesterdays Garbage DM This guys has been playing 1E for years and refuses to DM anything else. He complains about the "new" 3E and how much it sucks.
Deekin 01-21-04, 08:23 PM	20- The New DM This DM is just starting out and insist he knows every rule when he hasn't read the DMG or PHB and only DnD experiance is from playing Neverwinter Nights
Oakspar77777 01-21-04, 10:37 PM	21. The guy who roles every stat for every enemy DURING the game. 22. The Munchifier - creates Uber powerful, usually leveling items, specifically made for characters. "Oh, your first hoard has a Spiked Chain. Gee, Fighter, don't you use a Spiked Chain?" "Yes I do. At least until I figure out sword-chucks!!!" 23. Played off the last one - The 8-bit Theater DM. Whole campiagn is built on humor. 24. DMs who would rather play Castle Building & Economics that D&D. 25. The guy who tells you what you need to roll. "Oh, you need a 12 to hit." or "Man, missed by two." 26. The DM who thinks "You see a Small Red Dragon" is game description.
olothfaern 01-21-04, 11:23 PM	the DM who has favorite NPC's (in many cases former characters of theirs) in the campagin world that have nothing better to do than to manipulate/threaten and otherwise micromanage the party... you know, if I was EPIC level, I wouldn't CARE what the 6, 4th level characters were doing unless it threatend the security of the world and the DM with his unkillable archvillians related to the previous DM, I understand recurring villians, but if I trap your Balor in a tank of holy water on it's home plane, you die, yeah it sucks, but you lose, it's not like there aren't a functionally limitless supply of Balors are there but we killed your pet, can we do something not related to, "...oh he's back and he's really, teally mad this time", next week?
Edymnion 01-21-04, 11:30 PM	29) The Dicemaster. You know the guy. He thinks that its the DM's job to roll all the player's skill checks, all their attack rolls, all of their saves, and anything else that any other human could possibly want to roll dice for. He claims its to "speed the game up", despite the fact he has to constantly stop and ask you what modifiers you have on the roll. He obviously either doesn't trust the players to be able to roll a piece of plastic and read the number off of it, or he wants to fudge in any all rolls in the game so they fit with "the story". Avoid this DM at all costs. If the DM doesn't roll your own checks (with the exception of maybe Spot/Listen in specific situations) and attacks and such, get out while you still can. Its one of the first, and biggest, clues of a total control freak DM.
gpstar 01-22-04, 12:23 AM	29) The Dicemaster. You know the guy. He thinks that its the DM's job to roll all the player's skill checks, all their attack rolls, all of their saves, and anything else that any other human could possibly want to roll dice for. He claims its to "speed the game up", despite the fact he has to constantly stop and ask you what modifiers you have on the roll. He obviously either doesn't trust the players to be able to roll a piece of plastic and read the number off of it, or he wants to fudge in any all rolls in the game so they fit with "the story". this combined with the Micromanager (see above) is someone I recently played with. It was a nightmare. If you ever suspect that your DM is a control freak (more than average :) ) GET OUT!
green_yawgmoth 01-22-04, 01:55 AM	Originally posted by Oakspar77777 25. The guy who tells you what you need to roll. "Oh, you need a 12 to hit." or "Man, missed by two." This one isn't so bad. Every good DM I know has done the "aw man, you missed by one." thing, and for good reasons. Yes, tweaking the players a little by telling them that if the die had rolled over one more time or one less time would have been a hit is a good reason. :D
ashera 01-22-04, 05:02 AM	The DM who wants to make the players be more careful with their characters, thus making a houserue that only one PC of each class is allowed in his entire campaign (when the fighter dies, no one can make another fighter), and if all the classes are used, then people cant play again during that campaign after they die. This does not sound too bad, but it is when plaiyng a campaign that takes almost 2 years, and no ressurection spells exist. (it was 2. ed, so my thief ended up with a CON score of 4. He also allowed a player who only showed up once every three or four sessions to make a new character every time, which meant that all the classes got used up VERY quickly
ashera 01-22-04, 05:57 PM	31 (I think) The DM who helps his best friends. I have had several of these. In one campaign the wizard have a solo-adventure between sessions, and "stumbles" over three artifacts, that make him the ruler of a huge kingdom. The rest of the party were graciuosly "allowed" to get various positions at the court. Another campaign with another DM: The ranger/cleric seriuosly annoys his god, and somehow is forgiven. Later he gets something more than godhood. He was given the power of raw magic (allowed him to do virtually ANYTHING) but stayed in the campaign (this was the DM's best friend) Another player literally destroyed every greater demon/devil on the Abyss and Hell one by one (it was 2e psionics, and there only came one demon prince at a time) He then became demigod and was removed from the campign. This meant that he had to create a new character who got the same super-godly powers as the ranger/cleric. This was another good friend of the DM. The female paladin got married to a king of a large kingdom. She was on somewhat good terms with the DM. The wizard was given to a red dragon after he had shot some magic missiles at it to save the innocents it was attacking. The dragon attacks the party, (the alignments were LG,NG and CG), and the ranger grabs the wizards, says: he did it, eat him, while the paladin and the psion just looks. The dragon ate the wizard and left. Nobody lost any standing or changed alignment, because as the DM said: You were stupid enough to attack a red dragon unprovoked, thus endangering the party" guess who the DM did not like
MonkeyPaladin 01-23-04, 06:54 PM	32. "Mr Houserule" - This guy has had his own set of rules for 20 years, with ever expanding and changing information. These rules often make sense only to him, with irrational statements about how the game doesn't make sense. His changes wreak havoc on game balance, and often he fails to inform of you of this week's rules changes until they come up mid-session. Sometimes the rules are throwbacks from old editions, and other times he's just nuts. 33. "The video gamer." This guy plays fantasy games online or on Playstation, and thinks you won't notice when he drops the plotline from Final Fantasy into the session. I once had this guy drop in Final Fantasy 3 nearly verbatim in a campaign. 34. "The war gamer." This DM thinks it's a game of him vs. the party. He takes CRs the party can technically fight, slaps templates on them, rerolls their feats and generally min/maxs the hell out of them. Then he takes into account the PCs' specific weaknesses and uses them against the group in damn near every fight. If something works on a PC once, he'll use it again and again on the poor bastard. The concept of cooperative play for fun is alien to this guy. 35. "The schizo"- this DM must roleplay out each and every NPC and absent PC, talking to herself for much of the session. I once watched a DM do this for about an hour before I left.
Duke Viper 01-23-04, 07:28 PM	Wow.... you waited an entire hour? jeeze, I woulda been out of there in about 15 minutes, or I would have fliped out on them and told them that the easter bunny was fake or something along those lines...
Eldren 01-23-04, 09:21 PM	36. The Magic is too powerful! Dungeon Master. This is a DM who is unwilling to use the same rules that the PCs use with the same efficiency and skills that the players have to insure that his PCs are challenged. He doesn't want to put effort into the game equal to that the players put in, so he instead chooses to nerf the majority of magic, both divine and arcane, in an attempt to "Balance things out". Such a Dungeon Master was the type who implemented a save vs. Harm in 3.0 on top of the attack roll, mandated that Miasma didn't exist, and enforced such relentlessly literal interpretations of Wish that most players would only consider casting it or using it from an item if they had an already-rolled backup character in their gaming bag. This is a DM to avoid, boys and girls. This is a Dungeon Master who doesn't want to put some effort into their game to insure that players using powers the Player's Handbook and any approved splatbooks give them are challenged in spite of those powers. The DM didn't carefully think about which splatbooks to include or exclude from his/her campaign, and so instead of becoming a better Dungeon Master and using those same rules to challenge the players, the DM instead nerfs magic and insists that it's done "to maintain balance in the game". From such DMs' mouths, that phrase is a euphemism for "Punish the players for being intelligent in applying the rules", and is used to justify the DM's unwillingness to know the rules and use them as well as the players do. I can't stand DMs like this... :headexplo
Duke Viper 01-23-04, 09:32 PM	37. The everyone is good DM No PC can be evil, ever. Fighting between players is not allowed, and PvP conflict is banned. Everyone must agree on the same thing, people are urged to love thy fellow PC, and not disagree with them or heaven forbid there is a fight.
Draco_Whitewind 01-23-04, 11:14 PM	actually, perhaps you misunderstood me. party harmony does not need to exist. they just can't take each other's heads off. no PKing. and guess what? MANY Dms don't allow evil PCs. it's a preference. ~Draco
green_yawgmoth 01-23-04, 11:21 PM	Originally posted by Duke Viper 37. The everyone is good DM No PC can be evil, ever. Fighting between players is not allowed, and PvP conflict is banned. Everyone must agree on the same thing, people are urged to love thy fellow PC, and not disagree with them or heaven forbid there is a fight. Sing it brotha! A properly played evil PC can be the best thing for a campaign. If the PCs have any sort of backstory at all, there should be at least a few conflicts, and perhaps a combat or two. Just make sure that if there is the potential for a PK, there's a high-level cleric NPC around to true res the loser. ;)
Korhal IV 01-24-04, 02:37 AM	I think I can help substantially with this thread... http://www.duke.edu/web/DRAGO/humor/GMList.html This list not only summarizes just about every DM in existence, it also pretty much defines me and my fellow DM. I exemplify #2, 3, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 23. Which is why I am now a player, not a DM. :rolleyes: Them players get ornery after the fifth epic about the next dungeon door.
fruits and vegetables 01-30-04, 03:06 PM	38. the hypocritical DM. this can be a house ruling DM too. this DM makes rules up to add "flavor" to the game. he may not like the way his group plays their characters in some fasion and often may question the group if they would really do that option in real life. now regardless of this his NPCs often do not follow these same rules. mind you it is not on purpose by the DM, it is just an oversight that the DM fails to see most times. this reslutls in the NPCs having many advantages vs the players. players should be alert and realize this dissadvantage. the players can often agree to these rules and not fully understand the dissadvantage they are in. Source: thread that had a DM giving the party 3 lives before final death. :)
CyberCat 01-30-04, 11:49 PM	Originally posted by xirr2000 17. The "see I told you you'd need that" DM This DM likes to put challenging situations in requiring the lesser purchased skills like balance, swim, survival, climb that are usually cross class skills for most classes ( who dont get many skill points to start with, usually 2 per level) and then when you are dead or really frustrated likes to tell you, "You should try to round out your characters more." Watch out for DMs who are both #16 and #17. This one is what good dms do. Not everything the pcs do should revolve around their best abilities. Maybe the player shouldn't have used Int as his dump stat and played an orc to get the +2 to str. If players make pcs that are only good at one or two things, a Dm should toss up plots where never used skills are needed.
Phist 01-31-04, 01:37 AM	39) The "modifier" This DM will do anything to keep the perfect flow of his one-track story maintained. eg: group of bandits with stunning fist attacks party and steals vital item. But they fail the stunning fists on 3 of us, a human fighter (me) an elvish rogue and a half orc barbarian. After 8 arrows from the elf and I (total 43 damage) the half orc catches up to him and gets a crit on his greataxe (another 20 damage, bringing the total to 63) The common bandit, having absorbed enough hits to kill an orc several times, then dissapeared in a puff of smoke.
Harmor 01-31-04, 02:10 AM	40. The "I hate you and so I hate your character" DM This DM, because of Metagame reasons, will make sure your character is always targeted by any mob whenever there's a chance it might attack someone else. All ability damage due to spells, poisons, etc. are maxed. DM: "The Level 1/2 Kobald attacks your character and crit hits for 24 points of damage." - Actually happened btw. 41. The "I hate magic campaign" DM In this campaign there are NO spellcasters, no clerics, no mages, no sorcerers, no bards, no paladins and no monks (why I don't know). Very rare magical items. The only magical items are a +1 Longsword given to the guy who only shows up once a month and is the DM's best friend. Litterally, we're all level 7 and the ONLY magical item we have to show for is a +1 Longsword. 42. The "spontanious houserule" DM This DM will spontaniously houserule things and then change them whenever he see fit. 43. The "feat nerfer" DM This DM will modify every feat so as to make them nearly useless. Or he'll add new feats that are new requiements for existing feats. 44. The "you can't buy that" DM There's NOTHING for sale other than items that are in the PHB. If it doesn't exist there either you have to make it yourself or find it.
Luminosity 01-31-04, 03:27 AM	25. The guy who tells you what you need to roll. "Oh, you need a 12 to hit." or "Man, missed by two." The second quote doesn't bother me at all. After all, a seasoned fighter will know it if he misses by a close margin. Is your melee character attacking by closing his eyes, screeching in a high pitched voice, and doing the alternating-hand dog paddle girly slap maneuver? Such a Dungeon Master was the type who implemented a save vs. Harm in 3.0 on top of the attack roll, mandated that Miasma didn't exist No way, d00d! Your DM suxxorz! I mean, he should let you kill anything that breathes with no save. I'll bet he even didn't let you Shapechange into an Udoroot and cast six spells per round, that bastard. Here's mine: The Female Impersonator: This DM is a 300lb, balding, 32 year-old bixesual man who likes to make heavy use of female NPCs. The worst part about it is the way he has them hit on the straight male players. Creepy.
BruteForce 01-31-04, 05:42 AM	47 (?). The Roleplay Everything Guy: This is the DM who insists that every interaction with an NPC, no matter how boring or trivial, be acted out by the players. Getting a room at the inn? You've got to walk up to the counter, then role-play the entire conversation with the innkeeper, even though the entire thing boils down to "pay X money for a room." And it's not like the innkeeper is an important NPC, or has vital information, or even has a name beforehand. But you've gotta ask him if there's a room available, complement the cleanliness of his establishment, wait while he finds your key, then role-play another conversation with his son who's showing you to your room. The DM will act out the boy showing you where the chamber pot is, then may make you make a ranged touch attack not to miss when you try to use it. Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, etc. are all completely useless, since no matter how many ranks you have, you won't be making any rolls to interact with any NPC's, ever. 48. The "Screw With 'em" DM: This DM loves to force the players to do things in-character that will embarass them or otherwise destroy their fun out-of-character. A popular ploy is the blanket magical effect over an entire region that forces everyone to sing instead of speaking. He'll insist the the players sing for the entire session, and anything not sung "doesn't count." 49. The "I Can Do Better" Pseudo-DM: This isn't a real DM, it's a player who thinks he can DM. He really has no idea what he's doing, and usually ends up being a combination of at least four or five of the other types of DMs on this list. He almost always gets the job by complaining about the campaign's real DM being incompetent because of something like a "no evil characters" restriction or a statement from the beginning that the game would be low-magic, then takes over in mid-campaign when the current guy has to work or something and can't make it to a session. Usually, he doesn't bother to retire his own PC, and uses the adventure he "plans" (typically a very loose idea of what he wants to happen, but no actual notes, plot or NPC stats) to boost said PC to ungodly power levels. After a few sessions, when the other players threaten to leave if he doesn't hand over the reins to the original DM, he happily accepts, and it's up to the real guy to somehow bring his power level back down to something reasonable. Which brings up more complaining from the player about how he's being "nerfed," and generally drags the whole campaign down the toilet.
HammerHeart81 02-01-04, 01:18 AM	50.Roll for Everything Like the microgamer, the DM monitors everything the PC does but in addition makes them roll for doing normal mundane tasks. "Your character took a huge bite out of that stake, make a reflex save to avoid choking."
Luminosity 02-01-04, 02:10 AM	If you're eating stakes, you've got greater things than choking to worry about.
fruits and vegetables 02-01-04, 02:20 AM	ZING!
Qube 02-01-04, 03:45 PM	Originally posted by olothfaern I understand recurring villians, but if I trap your Balor in a tank of holy water on it's home plane, you die, yeah it sucks, but you lose, it's not like there aren't a functionally limitless supply of Balors are there but we killed your pet, can we do something not related to, "...oh he's back and he's really, teally mad this time", next week? i'm really really sorry, but the balor yust had a bath, how would you feel ? you can't kill a balor using holy water, that is against undead. - i could be wrong, it has happend before -
Darth K'Trava 02-02-04, 01:52 PM	Originally posted by Draco Whitewind actually, perhaps you misunderstood me. party harmony does not need to exist. they just can't take each other's heads off. no PKing. and guess what? MANY Dms don't allow evil PCs. it's a preference. ~Draco True. None of mine do, unless they're running an evil game...... One is, but I'm not playing in it.
Neoatomic 02-02-04, 04:45 PM	51. The Rules and Spells Screwer upper. This type of DM uses spellnames literally as the effect I.E, "DM-Turn undead makes the undead turn around and allows the thief in the party to make a Backstab" Me- " ummm, undead are immune to backstabs and criticals because they have no bodily weaknesses." DM- " Anyways, you use turn undead to turn the undead around so the thief can have his backstab." (Totally True Story):sad: 52. The 2nd edition Rocks DM. :b: This DM is by far one of the worst. He wholeheartedly believes that 2nd edition is better because he is too retarded to understand 3rd edition and prestige classes. :behold:
RLWilde 02-02-04, 05:43 PM	The spineless DM Lets one or more players walk all over him, removing any challenge from the game. The generic DM Campaign has no substance... just one dungeon crawl after another.
Master_of_Sarcasm 02-02-04, 05:44 PM	(Not sure which number) The "Oh crap, now what?" DM This has actually been me on numerous occasions: This DM begins planning his campaign over a month before he asks the players to join it. By the time the campaign starts, he not only has a plot complete with tailored plot hooks (since he made sure to slyly find out what the PCs would be to help make it challenging AND fun), but he's thought out NPCs, magic items, and even a few contingency plans and alternate endings - just in case. However prepared this DM sounds, he has forgotten to account for enough: at some point, a PC does something that happens to fall in the small category of things he did NOT consider before. This is often brought about by a seemingly-innocuous new item/spell that turned out to be too powerful, but until now no one realized it. Despite all the DM's plans, he tends not to be a very good improviser (at least not right then) and frantically tries to work with what's there. Trying to work with or around this new twist may take up to 20 minutes, depending on what just happened. The last time this happened to me, I ended up scrapping an adventure I'd planned in order to make things make sense again, but that actually seemed not to be a bad thing.
Phist 02-02-04, 09:40 PM	Damn, that so happened to me. I had a plot where all hinged on the BBEG telling a lie to the PCs (they didn't know he was the BBEG at the time) When the palidin pipes up and asks to do a sense motive check (where he had plus 7) NOOOOO! He managed to fail the check but I don't know what I'd have done if he hadn't...
Rogue_Jedi_99 02-02-04, 10:23 PM	Registered: Jan 2003 Location: San Diego, CA 47 (?). The Roleplay Everything Guy: This is the DM who insists that every interaction with an NPC, no matter how boring or trivial, be acted out by the players. Getting a room at the inn? You've got to walk up to the counter, then role-play the entire conversation with the innkeeper, even though the entire thing boils down to "pay X money for a room." And it's not like the innkeeper is an important NPC, or has vital information, or even has a name beforehand. But you've gotta ask him if there's a room available, complement the cleanliness of his establishment, wait while he finds your key, then role-play another conversation with his son who's showing you to your room. The DM will act out the boy showing you where the chamber pot is, then may make you make a ranged touch attack not to miss when you try to use it. Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, etc. are all completely useless, since no matter how many ranks you have, you won't be making any rolls to interact with any NPC's, ever. ________________________________________ _____________________ 53. This DM also thinks that all his NPC's have a huge role in the adventureing party there are no "normal" NPC's. In his world everyone has a problem. Also if they don't have a problem they are annoying. This leads to epic plot lines such as bubble bath Tuesday and the adventures of the burning kitchen.
Qube 02-03-04, 02:32 AM	Originally posted by Phist Damn, that so happened to me. I had a plot where all hinged on the BBEG telling a lie to the PCs (they didn't know he was the BBEG at the time) When the palidin pipes up and asks to do a sense motive check (where he had plus 7) NOOOOO! He managed to fail the check but I don't know what I'd have done if he hadn't... see DMG: the -2/+2 rule, having cast a spell on him (isn't there something that allows your lies to go undetectable), or give the BBEG a item +10 on bluff
Doji_Kentaro 02-03-04, 03:03 AM	55. The DM that can't roll a crit to save his life....wait.... that's not bad....that also..sounds..like.......me. Players: Woot!! Doji calls DM!! Doji: Doh!!:smirk: :P