D&D questions and concerns? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

D&D questions and concerns?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
cbebop90
Mar 08, 2010 19:10:12
So I'm new to d&d, and I think my DM isn't being fair. Is it normal for a DM not start off as level 1? I play with him, his gf, my sister and this other guy. My sister and I are friends with his gf. Is it normal for her to know of the campaign and totally add their own little fantasys in the story? From what I hear, she always picks the same charactor and she won't tell us hardly anything of her charactor or let us peak at her charactor stat sheet when they gladly look at ours. Can we even look at eachother's stat sheet? For my alignment, he wouldnt let me pick neutral or anything, my charactor had to be good, same with my sister but his gf could be bad. Can you start a campaign with man-made weapons that you have to make and you haven't forged any materials to make it? Also, I think they're trying to kill the group. How can I prevent that? Please help. ^_^ I'm asking another friend that's played with them, but I want more opinions. Also, he doesn't know much about my charactor at all, like he didn't even read into it.

Well i think they are higher level than everyone else and won't tell us. I know the DM is higher level but he won't tell us what level he started out as. I like playing by the rules and I hate cheaters and cheating, I just don't what the rules are except for the ones they make up. They also have a jacked up storyline that includes the DM's charactor being Alucard from Hellsing that randomly appears and his GF is a Josette teifling that can morph between human and monster. Of course though, he's totally favoring his gf which is totally unfair. Should I bother playing with them?
#2
MalakLightfoot
Mar 08, 2010 19:59:11

So I'm new to d&d, and I think my DM isn't being fair. Is it normal for a DM not start off as level 1? I play with him, his gf, my sister and this other guy. My sister and I are friends with his gf. Is it normal for her to know of the campaign and totally add their own little fantasys in the story? From what I hear, she always picks the same charactor and she won't tell us hardly anything of her charactor or let us peak at her charactor stat sheet when they gladly look at ours. Can we even look at eachother's stat sheet? For my alignment, he wouldnt let me pick neutral or anything, my charactor had to be good, same with my sister but his gf could be bad. Can you start a campaign with man-made weapons that you have to make and you haven't forged any materials to make it? Also, I think they're trying to kill the group. How can I prevent that? Please help. ^_^ I'm asking another friend that's played with them, but I want more opinions. Also, he doesn't know much about my charactor at all, like he didn't even read into it.

Well i think they are higher level than everyone else and won't tell us. I know the DM is higher level but he won't tell us what level he started out as. I like playing by the rules and I hate cheaters and cheating, I just don't what the rules are except for the ones they make up. They also have a jacked up storyline that includes the DM's charactor being Alucard from Hellsing that randomly appears and his GF is a Josette teifling that can morph between human and monster. Of course though, he's totally favoring his gf which is totally unfair. Should I bother playing with them?

First impression would be that this is a campaign and DM to avoid....

But I obviously don't have all the facts.

If I understand correctly, the DM has his own character that he is running that is a member of your party, and seems to be significantly more powerful than the rest of the party (possible exception being his own girlfriend). Normally, it is considered a bad idea for the DM to include one of their own characters in a party, but if you only have four players + DM, I could see why it might be done. It would be better to have the more experienced player play an extra character so that the DM can concentrate on DM'ing, or simply scale the encounters so that they are suitable for four players as opposed to five.

It also sounds like the DM's girlfriend is more powerful (the morphing could be Druid wild shape?) but it could be fluff and description more than mechanics.

Alignment, equipment and level restrictions are alright, provided they are equally enforced for all players. If the three of you need to follow these rules, but the girlfriend does not, there is definately some favoritism going on.

Enforcing character secrecy, especially if one of the players is inexperienced is a VERY BAD IDEA. For new or inexperienced players, things should be as transparent as possible so that the new players learn and understand the rules. This is especially true when it comes to character creation. The DM character sounds like a plot device or deus ex machina for if the party or girlfriend gets into trouble, so there probably are no stats that aren't completely fudged when necessary anyway, so seeing that character sheet is pointless. But the girlfriend's character should be as transparent as your own.

The only thing that isn't sending up red flags is the girlfriend knowing campaign details. We DMs are prideful creatures. Get us in a social or semi-social situation where somebody appears to be listening to us, and we will spill the details of our campaigns in order to dazzle our (possibly captive or unwilling) audience with our brilliance and creativity. Seriously, go out to pizza with them after the game, put a beer in him and start talking about the game. Say something like "I can see that Hellsing played an influence on the campaign, I can't wait to see how you have built on the storyline for us." Five to one he will start spilling half of the ideas he thinks are good within the first ten minutes of conversation. Say "Your character is obviously inspired by Alucard. I can't begin to imagine how he stats out," and he will tell you the entire character background and detail every little way his character is NOT Alucard, revealing "secret background campaign info" in the process. There is simply no way he could hold back any of this information from his girlfriend if he tried. She is a gamer, and she (presumably) snuggles with him from time to time. Telling her about the campaign will be pillow talk for him.

All things considered, the direct approach is probably best. Let the DM know that a) his character seems to be a lot more powerful than the rest of you and can and will steal the spotlight because of it, maybe it would be better if he were an occasional NPC than a party member, b) it seems unfair to restrict your alignment when other members of the party are not required to, c) it IS unfair to restrict your equipment when other members of the party are not required to, d) it IS unfair for his girlfriend to know your character sheet intimately when she refuses to show her character to you, and e) while he may be doing it unconsciously, he appears to be favoring his girlfriend over the rest of the party.

If he does not answer these concerns to your satisfaction (or worse, answers "Yeah, so?" to any of them), find another group of people to play with or start your own game.
#3
TwitchTheBard
Mar 08, 2010 20:33:47 I agree that the situation does seem somewhat unjustly stacked, but asking questions as Malak said is probably the correct course of action.

I've been in a situation similar to the GF in the OP's commentary. My brother often runs games and occasionally brings me in with a 'guest character' or the like. Sometimes I'm asked to conceal the true nature of the character from the other party members, for good or for ill, though my preferred method is just to have no compromising information displayed on the character sheet.

When I am playing with groups in his games I always have equal starting footing with all of the other players. Only when it's requested of me do I normally 'assist dm' with an NPC that is supposed to be with the party. (Sometimes I have to control both the high-level NPC and my own character.)

The reason my brother asks me to do stuff like that from time to time is because if *HE* were running the NPC some of the players would complain about his DMPC and either abuse it or not trust it. If *I* am running the NPC... the other players don't assume chicanery. (I occasionally do things with said NPC that fit with the paradigm I'm assigned, but no my brother's ultimate vision. He always rolls with it and I help him afterwards.)

As far as campaign knowledge, I have way too much knowledge about every story my brother comes up with. He always has grand and sweeping story ideas... and I help him patch the logic holes and come up with ways to overcome player ingenuity. I generally try and supply him with 3 or 4 ideas so I'm not sure exactly what he's going to do... and when I have some idea I generally try not to allow it to influence any in-character decisions.

As far as being favored... I actually tend to fall in the other direction as far as my character goes. I normally get less in the way of magic items/wealth/power etc. as rewards than other players. Sometimes the other players even speak up on my behalf because I'm getting shafted. (Which is TOTALLY not fair btw... I almost invariably host said events AND buy pizza. The laws of DM bribery state that *I* should get the Shiny Thing™ j/k)
#4
chaosturtle
Mar 09, 2010 15:01:37 Sounds like the Dm and his GF are just stringing you guys along as NPCs in their campaign world. I mean really, you sound like dm companions more then anything else.
#5
Krusk
Mar 09, 2010 15:35:47
I'd say there is a reason this guy and his GF have only one player aside from you and your sister.

It sounds a lot like they have done similar things before in games and driven other players off. My suggestion to you, would be to go to the store you bought your players guide at, and look at it on the shelf. I know I can't browse a DND book in a store without someone coming at me asking if I play, if I have room to for another player, or if I need a DM.

Do this until you find someone who isn't annoying you, and see if you can join their group.
#6
umruk
Mar 09, 2010 16:52:18
To be perfectly honest, this sounds like a great opportunity to DM your own game instead, without them. It's a group activity and it has to involve everyone equally. Heck, the DMG even says so.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 cbebop90 Mar 08, 2010 19:10:12	So I'm new to d&d, and I think my DM isn't being fair. Is it normal for a DM not start off as level 1? I play with him, his gf, my sister and this other guy. My sister and I are friends with his gf. Is it normal for her to know of the campaign and totally add their own little fantasys in the story? From what I hear, she always picks the same charactor and she won't tell us hardly anything of her charactor or let us peak at her charactor stat sheet when they gladly look at ours. Can we even look at eachother's stat sheet? For my alignment, he wouldnt let me pick neutral or anything, my charactor had to be good, same with my sister but his gf could be bad. Can you start a campaign with man-made weapons that you have to make and you haven't forged any materials to make it? Also, I think they're trying to kill the group. How can I prevent that? Please help. ^_^ I'm asking another friend that's played with them, but I want more opinions. Also, he doesn't know much about my charactor at all, like he didn't even read into it. Well i think they are higher level than everyone else and won't tell us. I know the DM is higher level but he won't tell us what level he started out as. I like playing by the rules and I hate cheaters and cheating, I just don't what the rules are except for the ones they make up. They also have a jacked up storyline that includes the DM's charactor being Alucard from Hellsing that randomly appears and his GF is a Josette teifling that can morph between human and monster. Of course though, he's totally favoring his gf which is totally unfair. Should I bother playing with them?
#2 MalakLightfoot Mar 08, 2010 19:59:11	So I'm new to d&d, and I think my DM isn't being fair. Is it normal for a DM not start off as level 1? I play with him, his gf, my sister and this other guy. My sister and I are friends with his gf. Is it normal for her to know of the campaign and totally add their own little fantasys in the story? From what I hear, she always picks the same charactor and she won't tell us hardly anything of her charactor or let us peak at her charactor stat sheet when they gladly look at ours. Can we even look at eachother's stat sheet? For my alignment, he wouldnt let me pick neutral or anything, my charactor had to be good, same with my sister but his gf could be bad. Can you start a campaign with man-made weapons that you have to make and you haven't forged any materials to make it? Also, I think they're trying to kill the group. How can I prevent that? Please help. ^_^ I'm asking another friend that's played with them, but I want more opinions. Also, he doesn't know much about my charactor at all, like he didn't even read into it. Well i think they are higher level than everyone else and won't tell us. I know the DM is higher level but he won't tell us what level he started out as. I like playing by the rules and I hate cheaters and cheating, I just don't what the rules are except for the ones they make up. They also have a jacked up storyline that includes the DM's charactor being Alucard from Hellsing that randomly appears and his GF is a Josette teifling that can morph between human and monster. Of course though, he's totally favoring his gf which is totally unfair. Should I bother playing with them? First impression would be that this is a campaign and DM to avoid.... But I obviously don't have all the facts. If I understand correctly, the DM has his own character that he is running that is a member of your party, and seems to be significantly more powerful than the rest of the party (possible exception being his own girlfriend). Normally, it is considered a bad idea for the DM to include one of their own characters in a party, but if you only have four players + DM, I could see why it might be done. It would be better to have the more experienced player play an extra character so that the DM can concentrate on DM'ing, or simply scale the encounters so that they are suitable for four players as opposed to five. It also sounds like the DM's girlfriend is more powerful (the morphing could be Druid wild shape?) but it could be fluff and description more than mechanics. Alignment, equipment and level restrictions are alright, provided they are equally enforced for all players. If the three of you need to follow these rules, but the girlfriend does not, there is definately some favoritism going on. Enforcing character secrecy, especially if one of the players is inexperienced is a VERY BAD IDEA. For new or inexperienced players, things should be as transparent as possible so that the new players learn and understand the rules. This is especially true when it comes to character creation. The DM character sounds like a plot device or deus ex machina for if the party or girlfriend gets into trouble, so there probably are no stats that aren't completely fudged when necessary anyway, so seeing that character sheet is pointless. But the girlfriend's character should be as transparent as your own. The only thing that isn't sending up red flags is the girlfriend knowing campaign details. We DMs are prideful creatures. Get us in a social or semi-social situation where somebody appears to be listening to us, and we will spill the details of our campaigns in order to dazzle our (possibly captive or unwilling) audience with our brilliance and creativity. Seriously, go out to pizza with them after the game, put a beer in him and start talking about the game. Say something like "I can see that Hellsing played an influence on the campaign, I can't wait to see how you have built on the storyline for us." Five to one he will start spilling half of the ideas he thinks are good within the first ten minutes of conversation. Say "Your character is obviously inspired by Alucard. I can't begin to imagine how he stats out," and he will tell you the entire character background and detail every little way his character is NOT Alucard, revealing "secret background campaign info" in the process. There is simply no way he could hold back any of this information from his girlfriend if he tried. She is a gamer, and she (presumably) snuggles with him from time to time. Telling her about the campaign will be pillow talk for him. All things considered, the direct approach is probably best. Let the DM know that a) his character seems to be a lot more powerful than the rest of you and can and will steal the spotlight because of it, maybe it would be better if he were an occasional NPC than a party member, b) it seems unfair to restrict your alignment when other members of the party are not required to, c) it IS unfair to restrict your equipment when other members of the party are not required to, d) it IS unfair for his girlfriend to know your character sheet intimately when she refuses to show her character to you, and e) while he may be doing it unconsciously, he appears to be favoring his girlfriend over the rest of the party. If he does not answer these concerns to your satisfaction (or worse, answers "Yeah, so?" to any of them), find another group of people to play with or start your own game.
#3 TwitchTheBard Mar 08, 2010 20:33:47	I agree that the situation does seem somewhat unjustly stacked, but asking questions as Malak said is probably the correct course of action. I've been in a situation similar to the GF in the OP's commentary. My brother often runs games and occasionally brings me in with a 'guest character' or the like. Sometimes I'm asked to conceal the true nature of the character from the other party members, for good or for ill, though my preferred method is just to have no compromising information displayed on the character sheet. When I am playing with groups in his games I always have equal starting footing with all of the other players. Only when it's requested of me do I normally 'assist dm' with an NPC that is supposed to be with the party. (Sometimes I have to control both the high-level NPC and my own character.) The reason my brother asks me to do stuff like that from time to time is because if HE were running the NPC some of the players would complain about his DMPC and either abuse it or not trust it. If I am running the NPC... the other players don't assume chicanery. (I occasionally do things with said NPC that fit with the paradigm I'm assigned, but no my brother's ultimate vision. He always rolls with it and I help him afterwards.) As far as campaign knowledge, I have way too much knowledge about every story my brother comes up with. He always has grand and sweeping story ideas... and I help him patch the logic holes and come up with ways to overcome player ingenuity. I generally try and supply him with 3 or 4 ideas so I'm not sure exactly what he's going to do... and when I have some idea I generally try not to allow it to influence any in-character decisions. As far as being favored... I actually tend to fall in the other direction as far as my character goes. I normally get less in the way of magic items/wealth/power etc. as rewards than other players. Sometimes the other players even speak up on my behalf because I'm getting shafted. (Which is TOTALLY not fair btw... I almost invariably host said events AND buy pizza. The laws of DM bribery state that I should get the Shiny Thing™ j/k)
#4 chaosturtle Mar 09, 2010 15:01:37	Sounds like the Dm and his GF are just stringing you guys along as NPCs in their campaign world. I mean really, you sound like dm companions more then anything else.
#5 Krusk Mar 09, 2010 15:35:47	I'd say there is a reason this guy and his GF have only one player aside from you and your sister. It sounds a lot like they have done similar things before in games and driven other players off. My suggestion to you, would be to go to the store you bought your players guide at, and look at it on the shelf. I know I can't browse a DND book in a store without someone coming at me asking if I play, if I have room to for another player, or if I need a DM. Do this until you find someone who isn't annoying you, and see if you can join their group.
#6 umruk Mar 09, 2010 16:52:18	To be perfectly honest, this sounds like a great opportunity to DM your own game instead, without them. It's a group activity and it has to involve everyone equally. Heck, the DMG even says so.