Bad/Crazy DMs... Post your stories here! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Bad/Crazy DMs... Post your stories here! [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Voldar_Mecorthio
03-10-07, 10:06 PM It's back! For its umpteenth incarnation (third by me), it's the Bad Dm Thread!

Have you ever had a DM who had some idiotic houserules? Was his campaign setting created for the sole purpose of annoying the players? Did he put players in idiotic or freakish senerios? If so, tell them here!

Basicly post stories of really bad DMs you or your friends have played with. I'll start out:

One DM I had was a total Anami fan and thought that if something came from Japan it was instantly better than anything the rest of the world could ever create no matter what. In his game, katanas did 2d8, 18-20 x3 and Samuri were guestault knight/warblade with no XP penalty (this was a nonguestault game mind you).

In another game I played in, the DM ran a PC like a normal character. This annoys me, but I've seen it pulled off with no problem. This was not one of these instances. The DMPC was a 20th level warblade, 20th level sorcerer, 20th level druid, 20th level cleric, 20th level psion. It was idiotic. He also railroaded unbelievably, as if we did ANYTHING he didn't like, his 100th level monster would catch us and force us to do what he wanted. It got so bad, that eventually we would just ask the DM "what do we do?".

A third bad DM (one that I did not witness, but a friend did) thought mages were overpowered and was determined to fix them. While this was stupid, the way he did it was truly idiotic. There were four things: When a caster cast a spell that has an area effect, the DM throws a piece of fabric cut to the right size into the air and where it lands on the grid is where the spell takes effect. Secondly, to cast a spell, the caster had to make a spellcraft check, DM is 10+double the level of the spell. Failure means the spell doesn't do anything, but you loose the slot or preped spell anyway.

Post your own stories!
KillerGM
03-11-07, 12:42 AM I have to put one of my DMs here.

He would have seemingly random NPCs come up to our characters and basically tell us the ENTIRE plot of the game. And the funny thing was - our characters didn't really care - we weren't involved enough in the story to know who these people were or what they were fighting over. It was really weird. Like watching a really really boring anime.

Example:

PCs just finish the little "quest" we had to do, get our reward and leave NPC's building.

Random NPC approaches the party: Hey, *PC's names*, you know that guy who just paid you?
PC1: Who the heck are you?
Random NPC: Well, he wants to take over the world.
PC2: Again, who are you?
Random NPC: Don't you want to know about it??
PCs 1 & 2: Don't care.
Random NPC: It involves *people's names we have never heard of and don't know, either in character or as players*.
PCs 1 & 2: Don't care. (Keep walking)
Random NPC: *continues blabbering on about the plot, seeming like a raving looney*
Player 1: Ok, I lose the guy in the city. He's a nutcase.

This was like the end of the first game. We didn't even know anyone he was talking about, or who the heck he was.

It was like the DM was *SO* proud of his storyline that he just coudn't keep it to himself. I could possibly have enjoyed playing through it, but just hearing the beginning to end plot and secrets of the NPCs from some random guy in the street was really boring.

That happened more than once, in more than one game. We even mentioned it to him, but he never did listen.

This was also the DM who, when running a d20 Rokugan game, decided to put the party in "Winter Court". That's when everyone goes to live in the Palace for the winter, and it's supposed to be all social interaction and intrigue.

The party? A Samuraii, Ninja, Shugenga, and Barbarian. We were bored out of our minds - it was all fighty in the beginning and then it just slammed to a halt with the Winter Court thing. Add to that the DM who couldn't play social interaction OR keep a mystery (see above) if his life depended on it, and we went nuts.

I mean, I really tried to go with it (my Ninja was posing as a Courtier), but every NPC either stared at me like a goldfish or got really, really, really petty whenever we were socially sparring. No inbetween, regardless of what I said - it was either no reponse or "You're not worth my effort, puny mortal". And there was no mystery or intrigue. It was like "interact with these people", but there was no point or story to try to move along.

I think the Samuraii and Ninja ended up setting someone up socially just so that we could spill some blood. LOL. At that point the game was a joke anyway.

Good times, good times.
Gamili
03-11-07, 01:09 AM You just admitted to creating two others of these threads recently. Don't you think it's time to, y'know, let the dead horse rest in peace?

How about making a thread about the awesome things our DMs have done instead of making another *****y-fest?
KillerGM
03-11-07, 04:35 AM You just admitted to creating two others of these threads recently. Don't you think it's time to, y'know, let the dead horse rest in peace?

How about making a thread about the awesome things our DMs have done instead of making another *****y-fest?

Oooh. I like that idea too.

It's part of our natures to like to compare gripe stories. It's fun and it provides a vent and also a comparison ("At least my bad DM isn't *that* guy."). :P

*Runs off to start "Awesome DM" Thread*
DyloniusFunk
03-11-07, 04:22 PM You just admitted to creating two others of these threads recently. Don't you think it's time to, y'know, let the dead horse rest in peace?

How about making a thread about the awesome things our DMs have done instead of making another *****y-fest?

We can do that when the folks in the DM Forum make a thread about all the good players they've had. Why should all the love come form our end?
kelvinaw273
03-11-07, 04:29 PM We can do that when the folks in the DM Forum make a thread about all the good players they've had. Why should all the love come form our end?

:rofl:

No need to fear that ...

The problem with an 'awesome player thread' is that any truly excelent player will not hog the limelight from his fellow players, and hence will not stand out. You could have an 'Awesome Party' thread ... hmm ... may be that's an idea ...
IceFractal
03-11-07, 07:23 PM Eh, threads about good DMs/players aren't as fun to read as threads about bad ones. Sometimes there's interesting examples therein, but it just doesn't compare to the comedy value of bad DMing horror stories.

Of course, I think the same thing about reviews - good reviews are only useful if you're planning to buy something. Bad reviews provide entertainment regardless. :devil:

"Comedy is tragedy happening to someone else" —W.C. Fields
Ack
03-11-07, 10:54 PM How about a thread for *types* of bad/crazy GMs, with the required examples :P

Such as this one:

The Ability Nullifier

He's forgotten that your character has a specific ability or skill or class feature, and has built up an entire plot (or even simply a creature type) which has a glaring weakness to that ability ...

... and so he handwaves "that ability doesn't work against this" because he's too lazy to adapt to changing situations.

See my thread on "when is 'disguised as stone' not 'disguised as stone'" for one such example.

Closely related is The Assumer.
He knows the character type you're running, or at least he thinks he does. He's looked over your character sheet so he knows you don't have anything campaign-killing in it ... but when it comes to working up the plot, he bases a pivotal aspect of it on something he thinks you have, or can do ... and you simply don't, or can't, or won't. And when the plot runs into this brick wall, it leaves no way out, not without serious deus ex machina.

Example: in one d20 Modern game, I had a Charismatic character who was fully into guns. Took every gun feat I could, and was aiming to end up at Gunslinger. Fast would have been easier, but I had the concept "Charismatic gunslinger" in mind, and I was sticking to it.
The GM remembered 'gunslinger' and forgot 'charismatic'. We were in a situation where we needed to get an item off someone without them knowing about it. We were all out of ideas, and the GM suggested that my character pick the guy's pocket. I had to remind him that my character was a Charismatic base, not Fast.

Anyone else got one?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Voldar_Mecorthio 03-10-07, 10:06 PM	It's back! For its umpteenth incarnation (third by me), it's the Bad Dm Thread! Have you ever had a DM who had some idiotic houserules? Was his campaign setting created for the sole purpose of annoying the players? Did he put players in idiotic or freakish senerios? If so, tell them here! Basicly post stories of really bad DMs you or your friends have played with. I'll start out: One DM I had was a total Anami fan and thought that if something came from Japan it was instantly better than anything the rest of the world could ever create no matter what. In his game, katanas did 2d8, 18-20 x3 and Samuri were guestault knight/warblade with no XP penalty (this was a nonguestault game mind you). In another game I played in, the DM ran a PC like a normal character. This annoys me, but I've seen it pulled off with no problem. This was not one of these instances. The DMPC was a 20th level warblade, 20th level sorcerer, 20th level druid, 20th level cleric, 20th level psion. It was idiotic. He also railroaded unbelievably, as if we did ANYTHING he didn't like, his 100th level monster would catch us and force us to do what he wanted. It got so bad, that eventually we would just ask the DM "what do we do?". A third bad DM (one that I did not witness, but a friend did) thought mages were overpowered and was determined to fix them. While this was stupid, the way he did it was truly idiotic. There were four things: When a caster cast a spell that has an area effect, the DM throws a piece of fabric cut to the right size into the air and where it lands on the grid is where the spell takes effect. Secondly, to cast a spell, the caster had to make a spellcraft check, DM is 10+double the level of the spell. Failure means the spell doesn't do anything, but you loose the slot or preped spell anyway. Post your own stories!
KillerGM 03-11-07, 12:42 AM	I have to put one of my DMs here. He would have seemingly random NPCs come up to our characters and basically tell us the ENTIRE plot of the game. And the funny thing was - our characters didn't really care - we weren't involved enough in the story to know who these people were or what they were fighting over. It was really weird. Like watching a really really boring anime. Example: PCs just finish the little "quest" we had to do, get our reward and leave NPC's building. Random NPC approaches the party: Hey, PC's names, you know that guy who just paid you? PC1: Who the heck are you? Random NPC: Well, he wants to take over the world. PC2: Again, who are you? Random NPC: Don't you want to know about it?? PCs 1 & 2: Don't care. Random NPC: It involves people's names we have never heard of and don't know, either in character or as players. PCs 1 & 2: Don't care. (Keep walking) Random NPC: continues blabbering on about the plot, seeming like a raving looney Player 1: Ok, I lose the guy in the city. He's a nutcase. This was like the end of the first game. We didn't even know anyone he was talking about, or who the heck he was. It was like the DM was SO proud of his storyline that he just coudn't keep it to himself. I could possibly have enjoyed playing through it, but just hearing the beginning to end plot and secrets of the NPCs from some random guy in the street was really boring. That happened more than once, in more than one game. We even mentioned it to him, but he never did listen. This was also the DM who, when running a d20 Rokugan game, decided to put the party in "Winter Court". That's when everyone goes to live in the Palace for the winter, and it's supposed to be all social interaction and intrigue. The party? A Samuraii, Ninja, Shugenga, and Barbarian. We were bored out of our minds - it was all fighty in the beginning and then it just slammed to a halt with the Winter Court thing. Add to that the DM who couldn't play social interaction OR keep a mystery (see above) if his life depended on it, and we went nuts. I mean, I really tried to go with it (my Ninja was posing as a Courtier), but every NPC either stared at me like a goldfish or got really, really, really petty whenever we were socially sparring. No inbetween, regardless of what I said - it was either no reponse or "You're not worth my effort, puny mortal". And there was no mystery or intrigue. It was like "interact with these people", but there was no point or story to try to move along. I think the Samuraii and Ninja ended up setting someone up socially just so that we could spill some blood. LOL. At that point the game was a joke anyway. Good times, good times.
Gamili 03-11-07, 01:09 AM	You just admitted to creating two others of these threads recently. Don't you think it's time to, y'know, let the dead horse rest in peace? How about making a thread about the awesome things our DMs have done instead of making another *****y-fest?
KillerGM 03-11-07, 04:35 AM	You just admitted to creating two others of these threads recently. Don't you think it's time to, y'know, let the dead horse rest in peace? How about making a thread about the awesome things our DMs have done instead of making another ****y-fest? Oooh. I like that idea too. It's part of our natures to like to compare gripe stories. It's fun and it provides a vent and also a comparison ("At least my bad DM isn't that* guy."). :P Runs off to start "Awesome DM" Thread
DyloniusFunk 03-11-07, 04:22 PM	You just admitted to creating two others of these threads recently. Don't you think it's time to, y'know, let the dead horse rest in peace? How about making a thread about the awesome things our DMs have done instead of making another *****y-fest? We can do that when the folks in the DM Forum make a thread about all the good players they've had. Why should all the love come form our end?
kelvinaw273 03-11-07, 04:29 PM	We can do that when the folks in the DM Forum make a thread about all the good players they've had. Why should all the love come form our end? :rofl: No need to fear that ... The problem with an 'awesome player thread' is that any truly excelent player will not hog the limelight from his fellow players, and hence will not stand out. You could have an 'Awesome Party' thread ... hmm ... may be that's an idea ...
IceFractal 03-11-07, 07:23 PM	Eh, threads about good DMs/players aren't as fun to read as threads about bad ones. Sometimes there's interesting examples therein, but it just doesn't compare to the comedy value of bad DMing horror stories. Of course, I think the same thing about reviews - good reviews are only useful if you're planning to buy something. Bad reviews provide entertainment regardless. :devil: "Comedy is tragedy happening to someone else" —W.C. Fields
Ack 03-11-07, 10:54 PM	How about a thread for types of bad/crazy GMs, with the required examples :P Such as this one: The Ability Nullifier He's forgotten that your character has a specific ability or skill or class feature, and has built up an entire plot (or even simply a creature type) which has a glaring weakness to that ability ... ... and so he handwaves "that ability doesn't work against this" because he's too lazy to adapt to changing situations. See my thread on "when is 'disguised as stone' not 'disguised as stone'" for one such example. Closely related is The Assumer. He knows the character type you're running, or at least he thinks he does. He's looked over your character sheet so he knows you don't have anything campaign-killing in it ... but when it comes to working up the plot, he bases a pivotal aspect of it on something he thinks you have, or can do ... and you simply don't, or can't, or won't. And when the plot runs into this brick wall, it leaves no way out, not without serious deus ex machina. Example: in one d20 Modern game, I had a Charismatic character who was fully into guns. Took every gun feat I could, and was aiming to end up at Gunslinger. Fast would have been easier, but I had the concept "Charismatic gunslinger" in mind, and I was sticking to it. The GM remembered 'gunslinger' and forgot 'charismatic'. We were in a situation where we needed to get an item off someone without them knowing about it. We were all out of ideas, and the GM suggested that my character pick the guy's pocket. I had to remind him that my character was a Charismatic base, not Fast. Anyone else got one?