Post/Author/DateTime	Post
High Octane 06-08-06, 03:37 PM	What kind of things has a good DM done for you. I dont mean just handing over Vorpal swords or fudged rolls, I mean done something that helped you enjoy the game and look back on it with fondness. I'll start.... 1) At one point I was playing a first level thief in a 1st edition game, and one thing we would do with thieves were pickpocket runs. Well my character was on the prowl. The DM described a lady with a "Bulging coin purse". He also mentioned two large guards in front of her. My response: Im not going to try it. He was a first level thief, he would get clobbered by one shot by the guards. He awarded me a couple hundred XP for not doing it saying that part of being a thief is knowing limits and showing intelligence.
Salty_Boy 06-08-06, 04:26 PM	My first DM bought the whole group, myself included, miniatures for each of their characters that were really detailed and swanky right after we started his campaign. I was brand new to the game at the time, so I thought that was really cool.
Herald@Large 06-08-06, 04:38 PM	1. A DM who allowed psionics, once. The first psionic battle took well over an hour while the rest of us sat and twiddled our thumbs. When the battle was resolved, the DM sighed and said "Well, *that* was a big mistake on my part. Psionics is OUT. T (the player with the psionic character), I'll meet with you during the week to dice up your new character. My apologies, gang. The pizza's on me." :D 2. A DM who finally had enough of a whiney player and told him to either shut up and play like an adult or get out. 3. A DM who had a wizard character thrown in jail because he'd decided to test his new darkness spell on my newly-diced-up paladin (who hadn't even been introduced to the party yet!)
Ryusage 06-08-06, 04:41 PM	Um... They work for hours between sessions thinking up plot hooks, creating worlds, fleshing out NPCs, keeping PCs alive (sometimes)... I think that deserves some recognition...
Vacerious 06-08-06, 05:13 PM	This happened recently with a lvl 1 dwarf fighter of mine, I was flanked by kobolds, and because of this, I had taken damage the last turn. When my turn came, my fighter turned and yelled, "Take this, ya buggery bass-turd." And happens to roll a nat 1. DM asks me to make another roll. This time, it's a total of 25. Here's what happened: DM: As you turn to swing at the kobold behind you, your grip on your axe loosens, and it flies out of your hands. A second later, you hear a "THUNK!", followed by a "YIP!" as your axe flies into the back of another kobold nearby. That was pretty damned cool. :cool:
john_045412 06-08-06, 05:46 PM	Ran an open ended campaign in a well fleshed out world.... with 6 players with a variety of backgrounds and interests. If you have never been a DM, this is one of the hardest things to do. EXTREMELY rewarding when done correctly and frustrating when not. It requires TONS of time, prep, materials, and flexability.
zae 06-08-06, 05:59 PM	So, above and beyond the normal call of duty? After all, as said previously, there's a lot of effort involved, and patience as well. Hmm... There';s one GM who seemed to have a specialty of getting a group of characters together. He made it work. He found a way of removing the problems of "Well, realistically, would we choose to work together just because we all have the Aura of Player Character (Ex) ?" In one game, he started with "Okay, you're all going to wake up in a cell together, equipped with only your clothing. Now, buy your equipment as normal, because you WILL get it back, but you're all starting off pretty close together." Then when we used unexpected ways of escaping, he rolled with it and let us have our fun in surprising him. Of course, in that setting, we all had draconic souls, so there sort of was the aura of all PCs having a special kindred bond. In another, there was one very neutral monk, travelling with a "holier than thou" paladin (who was getting on everyone's nerves, In and Out of Character) and a half-dragon ogre on the path of redemption. An evil preistess of Loviatar then joined, not hiding her evil nature. He found a plot hook to work them all in together, forcing them to work together (although part of that may have possibly been in the hope of driving the paladin off). This is the same guy who gave Loviatar the Water domain because the group (Planescape) went to a world with no deities (but divine casters were not "blocked off"). It was covered in desert, and they made an absolute killing off "Create Water" (the orison). When asked about how she did such a miraculous thing, she tried explaining what Loviatar was... long story short, these NPCs didn't quite understand, but figured she was a great omnipotent being that could create and deliver water to anywhere (in that place, much better than a 9th level spell). So much belief that she picked up the domain. I guess he's the kind of DM who constantly does great things like that - letting PCs do cool things (and handling them well, running with it to make it fun and exciting and different) and change the world. Oh, there's another DM. Great guy. "Okay, I'm trying to kill you, but I'll be fair about it. If the CR is too high, then they're not planning on killing you, but kidnapping you and taking the story in a new direction. Oh, if you beat it, we ignore the DMG, you get full XP!" Thanks to action points, tactics and LUCK, we managed to beat one very hard encounter and gain two levels. He was impressed, and let us know. I guess it was just really cool that he went at the start and told us his plan to give us the rope to hang ourselves with, but was at the same time generous with rewarding us. He also would frequently unleash world-affecting events that we all had an impact on. It allowed us to feel important to the game. He's also the kind to go "You want to make a custom class/feat/prestige class/spell/skill/item/whatever? Sure, let me look at it and see if it's cool, balanced and not already covered by something else I've seen somewhere." It was also kind of cool how he had us given titles of nobility, and military rank. No game effect, but it made us the new poipular people in town. We could hobnob with the nobles. It was cool and fun and made us feel good about our achievements - even better than the level gain did (though I'm sure next time we're admiring the tonsils of a dragon, we'll appreciate the level more!) I can't really think of a case where an otherwise "normal" DM went and did something exceptional. Mostly I know DMs who do a good job but nothing completely memorable, and ones who constantly do great things.
Sunai_Retsinis 06-09-06, 04:33 AM	is most likely as dependend on the players as the other way round. If everybody works together to allow everyone to have a good time and easy going, it will be more fun. Some things of my own ... During my first campaign, in a modified version of the Sunless Citadel, we were fighting a bunch of goblins and hobgoblins. One of the coolest things he did was just spam more when he found out that we were chopping through them like grass. It may seem insignificant by now, but back then it was very cool. It still comes up occasionally. The descriptions were absolutely perfect. A low wall (5ft) were they were hiding behind gave us cover as well. Me, as a Ftr3 with power attack and cleave stood on top of at after a lucky jump check. Behind me was a wizard (3), a ranged ranger (3) and a cleric (3). It was so cool. After some 12 goblins and at least 9 hobgoblins we were ready to rest, as all spells and HP were gone but by Tiamat, Bahamut and the rest up there, it was good. During the same adventure we ended at the root of elemental evil with some far to high level creeps in there (it was modified a bit). We lost half the party (charmed or dominated), and fled. Later we came back with some kobold skirmishes and we were almost able to defeat them (thangs to three lucky crits with my greatsword, which dropped a guy 2 levels higher than me at Ftr(5)). Only our wizard was able to escape (bloody expeditious retreat), but there was only 1 monster left (and the rest of us was dead or dying, including our former party members). The fun part is, that the same wizard went into a private campaign of our DM, and has been encorporated as one of the ultimate villains of our present groupcampaign. Its player is now a Paladin of the Light, can you imagine :D For some reason, my character deaths are always very memorable. My last character died (rogue6/ftr1) fighting two ftr1 scythe ladies and a rogue6/assasin3 on his own. With my new armour, which was due the same day, his deathattack wouldn't have hit me. Low fort save and bye bye. Luckily my present character is still alive. Keep it coming! Sunai
Arbitrary Aardvark 06-09-06, 11:14 AM	My first DM bought the whole group, myself included, miniatures for each of their characters that were really detailed and swanky right after we started his campaign. I was brand new to the game at the time, so I thought that was really cool. I've been doing that for my campaign. If I don't have an appropriate figure, I'll order one. (Or you can bring me one and I'll paint it.) I'm having problems, however, with the midget monk, the half-dragon wu-jen, and a couple of the NPCs. I'll get round to them at some time or another.
Big_Mac 06-09-06, 02:34 PM	Our DM is a great story teller he ties in our various backgrounds like weaving a web. The great thing he has done with our 3.5 campaign is that he rolled into the history of our FR campaign our old 2ed characters who where all very high level, 15 minimum, pc's when the campaign ended.
Tarkwin 06-09-06, 05:22 PM	after 20 years of D&D one former DM of mine stands head and shoulders above the rest because in his games there was nothing that was imposable. I remember one night of 2nd ed ravenloft and my lvl 10 ranger came out of a tavern to see his newborn child in the hands of his nemesis a few hundred yards away about to kill the kid. realisticaly there was no chance to save the kid but after a brief moment he said "how much does it mean to you?" after some discusion he alowed me to basicaly push my self beyond my limits (taking dex & str dmg with torn muscles) to cover the distance and on a roll of natual 20 (pure luck) the kid was saved. to this day after being in many groups he still is the best and once a year we still get to play his games (now 3.5 dragonlance) and i look forward to it more than any holiday :D