Really need some advice now! - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Really need some advice now!

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
draaka
May 03, 2008 11:49:52 Right, we started a forgotten realms campaign, we have played a few sessions with three of us and the DM. The DM brings a friend that he has known for around 15 years. Now, I am a level 5 Assimar knight, we have a level 5 Assimar cleric and a ECL 3 bard/wizard halfling.

It had been really fun up to this part, we had barely managed to overcome our challenges, it had always been fun and challenging. But the new guy comes along and we meet his character, he appears to be a Tiefling fighter. By the end of the session it turns out he is an ECL 11 Dragonkin/some kind of drow. He has a level of rogue, a couple of paladin, cleric and fighter (I think). He has tons of magic items & his lowest stat is at 18.

He starts off by stealing all our magic items then selling them and donating it to the poor because one of our members is NE. He then demands to follow us and join our party, he challenges us to combat and takes us all to -HP then heals us and follows us where ever we go.

What the hell am I meant to do to counter this? We are taking a major encounter at every couple of sessions, and we blow through 2 months of the campaign in one session because the new guy just kills anything that opposes us.

(I think the worse thing is he gets to be trained by Drizzt in his back story, I know it doesn't make any in-game difference but it just sucks...)
#2
kelvinaw273
May 03, 2008 12:04:29 Take a wet kipper and slap your DM a few times around the face with it.

Seriously, this is bad on his part.

You need to tell him that:

1) You are not enjoying this kind of play. Getting pushed around by a bully may be the bully's idea of fun but it isn't yours. Your characters would never put up with this from anyone if you RPed them properly. They would either go a different way to this guy or else CdG him in his sleep.

2) He is showing vastly blatant favouritism to this new player, who has obviously cheated on his dice rolls as well as coming in at a much higher experience level to the rest of the party. ECL should not be more than 1 different for the whole party if challenges that make one character sweat are not going to kill the others.

3) If he wants to keep his three players, the new character has to be reduced in power to match the three of you, and your items returned - in fact, do a stop and rewind to meeting this thief again at a proper level. If not, one of you other players can DM.

I know this sounds extreme, but this is really, really bad gamesmanship on the part of your DM, and it needs to stop RIGHT NOW if friendships and your game are to survive it.
#3
etarnon
May 03, 2008 12:26:55 Your DM knew this when his buddy joined, and doesn't care, because he's actively letting it happen.

Find a new game.
#4
draaka
May 03, 2008 17:51:48 I don't really want to quit the group, I am good friends with everyone else there (including the new guy) and we do other weekly rollplaying games on mondays and fridays.

I talked to the group at school and we decided to kill my character and come along with the cheesyest thing short of a Pun-Pun to make a (not so) subtle point, either the DM will let me play it (not gonna happen) or it will give me an excuse to complain without offending anyone or sounding whiny.

Whats the level adjust of an ogre? I don't have access to my books at the moment.
#5
shinikama
May 03, 2008 17:57:46 Go for templates... but make sure you don't go farther than his supposed level adjustment.
Make sure you write everything down.
I suggest trolling the CharOp boards for ideas...
#6
stormbrand
May 03, 2008 18:04:27
I don't really want to quit the group, I am good friends with everyone else there (including the new guy) and we do other weekly rollplaying games on mondays and fridays.

I talked to the group at school and we decided to kill my character and come along with the cheesyest thing short of a Pun-Pun to make a (not so) subtle point, either the DM will let me play it (not gonna happen) or it will give me an excuse to complain without offending anyone or sounding whiny.

Whats the level adjust of an ogre? I don't have access to my books at the moment.

That is not a solution. That is compounding the problem.

You already have a valid reason to complain. The DM is showing blatant favouritism to a jerk who is messing you about in game. If someone is going to be offended or call you whiny, they are going to - they will either take your objections seriously or they'll be jerks about it, that is up to them, trying to disguise your true concerns will not change that.

As kelvinaw273 said, tell him to get shut of the bully or someone else will DM.
#7
draaka
May 03, 2008 18:09:36 I guess. Thanks guys.
#8
kelvinaw273
May 04, 2008 1:54:33
I don't really want to quit the group, I am good friends with everyone else there (including the new guy) and we do other weekly rollplaying games on mondays and fridays.

I talked to the group at school and we decided to kill my character and come along with the cheesyest thing short of a Pun-Pun to make a (not so) subtle point, either the DM will let me play it (not gonna happen) or it will give me an excuse to complain without offending anyone or sounding whiny.

Whats the level adjust of an ogre? I don't have access to my books at the moment.

I agree with Stormbrand about this ... the thing to bear in mind is that an out-of-game problem requires an out-of-game solution. Here the problem may appear to be in game (one uber-character pushing everyone around) but it isn't - the character is uber because of out-of-game circumstances and the DM has allowed something he really never should have permitted. Now if they were completely legal (same ECL as the rest of the party, and while being a bit of an ass wasn't being seriously nasty to everyone) then I would say yes, make up some optimised characters and kick butt, that'll get the message across.

But in this case it won't work. What if the DM decides that your new character should start at ECL 1? Your problem is the DM as much as the player. Getting rid of the new player is not necessarily part of the solution, but getting his character toned down to everyone's level (including equipment) is, because then he can't push you around (or if he does it'll be the classic CdG in their sleep stuff, in which case you can kick him for being an unrepentant ass). I suspect that he won't want to play without a huge unfair advantage over the rest of you, so the problem will solve itself, but if he's prepared to play ball give him enough rope to hang or save himself.

Remember that you have the ultimate fall-back, you can vote with your feet and not play. I suspect your DM thought this would be a great idea to help him get the game on track and make you all follow his plot-line, be prepared to make concessions on this. But don't yield on the issue of the new player's character and your missing gear: the former gets toned down to the same ECL as you all, the latter is returned.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 draaka May 03, 2008 11:49:52	Right, we started a forgotten realms campaign, we have played a few sessions with three of us and the DM. The DM brings a friend that he has known for around 15 years. Now, I am a level 5 Assimar knight, we have a level 5 Assimar cleric and a ECL 3 bard/wizard halfling. It had been really fun up to this part, we had barely managed to overcome our challenges, it had always been fun and challenging. But the new guy comes along and we meet his character, he appears to be a Tiefling fighter. By the end of the session it turns out he is an ECL 11 Dragonkin/some kind of drow. He has a level of rogue, a couple of paladin, cleric and fighter (I think). He has tons of magic items & his lowest stat is at 18. He starts off by stealing all our magic items then selling them and donating it to the poor because one of our members is NE. He then demands to follow us and join our party, he challenges us to combat and takes us all to -HP then heals us and follows us where ever we go. What the hell am I meant to do to counter this? We are taking a major encounter at every couple of sessions, and we blow through 2 months of the campaign in one session because the new guy just kills anything that opposes us. (I think the worse thing is he gets to be trained by Drizzt in his back story, I know it doesn't make any in-game difference but it just sucks...)
#2 kelvinaw273 May 03, 2008 12:04:29	Take a wet kipper and slap your DM a few times around the face with it. Seriously, this is bad on his part. You need to tell him that: 1) You are not enjoying this kind of play. Getting pushed around by a bully may be the bully's idea of fun but it isn't yours. Your characters would never put up with this from anyone if you RPed them properly. They would either go a different way to this guy or else CdG him in his sleep. 2) He is showing vastly blatant favouritism to this new player, who has obviously cheated on his dice rolls as well as coming in at a much higher experience level to the rest of the party. ECL should not be more than 1 different for the whole party if challenges that make one character sweat are not going to kill the others. 3) If he wants to keep his three players, the new character has to be reduced in power to match the three of you, and your items returned - in fact, do a stop and rewind to meeting this thief again at a proper level. If not, one of you other players can DM. I know this sounds extreme, but this is really, really bad gamesmanship on the part of your DM, and it needs to stop RIGHT NOW if friendships and your game are to survive it.
#3 etarnon May 03, 2008 12:26:55	Your DM knew this when his buddy joined, and doesn't care, because he's actively letting it happen. Find a new game.
#4 draaka May 03, 2008 17:51:48	I don't really want to quit the group, I am good friends with everyone else there (including the new guy) and we do other weekly rollplaying games on mondays and fridays. I talked to the group at school and we decided to kill my character and come along with the cheesyest thing short of a Pun-Pun to make a (not so) subtle point, either the DM will let me play it (not gonna happen) or it will give me an excuse to complain without offending anyone or sounding whiny. Whats the level adjust of an ogre? I don't have access to my books at the moment.
#5 shinikama May 03, 2008 17:57:46	Go for templates... but make sure you don't go farther than his supposed level adjustment. Make sure you write everything down. I suggest trolling the CharOp boards for ideas...
#6 stormbrand May 03, 2008 18:04:27	I don't really want to quit the group, I am good friends with everyone else there (including the new guy) and we do other weekly rollplaying games on mondays and fridays. I talked to the group at school and we decided to kill my character and come along with the cheesyest thing short of a Pun-Pun to make a (not so) subtle point, either the DM will let me play it (not gonna happen) or it will give me an excuse to complain without offending anyone or sounding whiny. Whats the level adjust of an ogre? I don't have access to my books at the moment. That is not a solution. That is compounding the problem. You already have a valid reason to complain. The DM is showing blatant favouritism to a jerk who is messing you about in game. If someone is going to be offended or call you whiny, they are going to - they will either take your objections seriously or they'll be jerks about it, that is up to them, trying to disguise your true concerns will not change that. As kelvinaw273 said, tell him to get shut of the bully or someone else will DM.
#7 draaka May 03, 2008 18:09:36	I guess. Thanks guys.
#8 kelvinaw273 May 04, 2008 1:54:33	I don't really want to quit the group, I am good friends with everyone else there (including the new guy) and we do other weekly rollplaying games on mondays and fridays. I talked to the group at school and we decided to kill my character and come along with the cheesyest thing short of a Pun-Pun to make a (not so) subtle point, either the DM will let me play it (not gonna happen) or it will give me an excuse to complain without offending anyone or sounding whiny. Whats the level adjust of an ogre? I don't have access to my books at the moment. I agree with Stormbrand about this ... the thing to bear in mind is that an out-of-game problem requires an out-of-game solution. Here the problem may appear to be in game (one uber-character pushing everyone around) but it isn't - the character is uber because of out-of-game circumstances and the DM has allowed something he really never should have permitted. Now if they were completely legal (same ECL as the rest of the party, and while being a bit of an ass wasn't being seriously nasty to everyone) then I would say yes, make up some optimised characters and kick butt, that'll get the message across. But in this case it won't work. What if the DM decides that your new character should start at ECL 1? Your problem is the DM as much as the player. Getting rid of the new player is not necessarily part of the solution, but getting his character toned down to everyone's level (including equipment) is, because then he can't push you around (or if he does it'll be the classic CdG in their sleep stuff, in which case you can kick him for being an unrepentant ass). I suspect that he won't want to play without a huge unfair advantage over the rest of you, so the problem will solve itself, but if he's prepared to play ball give him enough rope to hang or save himself. Remember that you have the ultimate fall-back, you can vote with your feet and not play. I suspect your DM thought this would be a great idea to help him get the game on track and make you all follow his plot-line, be prepared to make concessions on this. But don't yield on the issue of the new player's character and your missing gear: the former gets toned down to the same ECL as you all, the latter is returned.