DM TPKs Players For Roleplaying In DnD | r/rpghorrorstories

[@stephenreyes2632]

"Since the DM didn't plan for us to investigate the danger..." Bruh, Players will always investigate, ESPECIALLY if they sense danger. DM'ing 101, dude.

[@M_Alexander]

Why even _mention_ it if you don't want them to investigate?

[@davidtherwhanger6795]

@@M_Alexander Exactly. If you don't want the players to be distracted by useless window dressing, don't mention it.

[@M_Alexander]

@@davidtherwhanger6795 it hasn't taken me much DMing to learn that if I mention a desk or a bookshelf or a box or a window, my players will check it. If I mention a particular sound they expect it to mean something

[@jfangm]

ALWAYS have a backup plan. A.L.W.A.Y.S.

[@M_Alexander]

@@jfangm it didn't take me many sessions to learn that I need to set results for success and failure and bypassing and still stay flexible

[@alphons1456o]

For the archfey, I'd have probably made the archfey slap him across the face, and when he tried to speak, I tell him, "You try to speak, but no words come out. In the archfey's hand, you see a pair of lips. YOUR lips. And your face, where your mouth once was, is smooth and featureless. The archfey tells you 'Since you like running your mouth so much, maybe you should chase after it for a change!"" Then make him run after his running lips which have a speed of 40 feet. I dunno, maybe that's kinda cruel and dickish, but it also kinda suits the trickster nature of archfey

[@Remoniq]

Sounds like something a fey would do.

[@clauro6153]

I would keep the desitegration but would not kill the character, making him particle spread out in the Faywild, giving the choice of bringing him back to the party. Also make him wake the entire time

[@johngleeman8347]

I would have the Archey put the rogue in a tube of force, then spin a big wheel with different outcomes on it. One would be the instant death option, one would be a full pardon, one would be a duel, one would be a reward, one would be plane shift to a random plane of existence, one would be the juiced up polymorph spell DD suggested, and then you need only create a few more outcomes to make things interesting. :D

[@justinmargerum2559]

I'm thinking it would be a True Polymorph or similar curse at the very least. Making the player chase his own lips around would be a relatively harmless way to teach the player character (if not necessarily the character) that behavior has consequences. Without consequences, there is no player agency because nothing the player does matters.

[@viennasavage9110]

​@justinmargerum2559 tbh I think keeping op DMPCs around kind of invalidates player actions anyway though. I would've outnumbered him with weaker npcs or something.

[@iank472]

What is with the freaking anti RP, anti creativity DMs? Some DMs would give their eye teeth for players who do these things!

[@RiveroftheWither]

They've always existed but social media definitely makes them more noticeable. Unfortunately some people just see DND as mechanics and battle simulation.

[@LucyBean42]

Role play, in MY role playing game? Instant death.

[@Nyx685]

"DON'T THEY KNOW ALL THAT MATTERS IS KILLING SHIT AND TAKING LOOT?!" 😂

[@uvveshlurvvesh6515]

​@@Nyx685it is? 😳

[@M_Alexander]

​@@Nyx685 nah it's just rolling dice to write down new numbers

[@mrosskne]

based

[@ramirezthesilvite]

That first story is the very definition of the phrase "Just write a book!" If the PCs doing literally anything at all is so inconvenient for you, then why are you running the game in the first place?

[@iank472]

The Archfey story is pretty funny. Hurr Durr Imma stick my arm in this owlbears beak! Ohhhn noo my arm got bitten off! Who could have seen this coming?! The DM in that story gave plenty of warnings and even an "Are you sure?" so we're back to the old "When will you learn your actions have CONSEQUENCES!?".

[@shadiafifi54]

I would have just had the Archfey curse the Rogue into being a toad until the party does a quest. He got his warnings, but still has a chance to redeem himself. If he continues to be an ass, he gets the curse back.

[@brianvance1178]

The instant death thing might be acceptable if the rogue insulted, say, a powerful god or even a powerful devil. I think the archfey should have turned him into a fantasy version of a Ken doll she can play with as she desires and IF the party wants him back they have to do a quest for her

[@iank472]

Both excellent ideas. Just remember the player was warned this Archfey (a borderline Demigod tier power) was very vain and prideful and the rogue outright repeatedly insulted it. While death was a a harsh response it wasn't entirely unreasonable.

[@ArcCaravan]

​@@shadiafifi54That sounds like punishing the party.

[@vigo0santiago]

He had plenty of warning In game knowledge and out of game knowledge. This thing is not to be toyed with. He was given DM courtesy "Are you sure?". No mercy or further explanation needed. Get wrecked learn from it.

[@oneandonlymario659]

With the Archfey antagonist: I'd say that the insta-kill was the right move. The DM can talk to the player about their behavior and if they're receptive, their character can be brought back. If not, then the kill stands. The table already seems fine with it, so there's not much loss if the Rogue stays out.

[@raymondbrasuell2564]

Personally, I would've had the Archfey polymorph the rogue into a donkey, so when he complains and asks why, I can tell him to his face, "Because you're being a jackass."

[@MrBuns-yi2hk]

The dude who insulted the archfey is like the players who insulted Vlakith in BG3. Like... what did you expect?

[@AppleWoods6]

100% the first story's DM was likely one of those idiots who see DnD as nothing more than a tactical combat simulator, especially with having "scheduled combat"

[@lrogersgaming4373]

I switched off 5e to pf2e during the ogl crisis. Even though it’s hella crunchy I still don’t think it’s a heavy tactical combat sim. I like the strategy involved in the system but if I want a highly tactical combat to suffer through I already play xcom and darkest dungeon.

[@mrosskne]

THE ADVENTURING DAY Assuming typical adventuring conditions and average luck, most adventuring parties can handle about six to eight medium or hard encounters in a day.

[@kilmerenterprises7148]

In regards to the Arch Fae story, whenever I run Arch Fae I like to try to strike a balance between terrifying power and unpredictable whimsy. So the OP disintegrating him into confetti is an acceptable solution. However, it probably would have been better to do something that left room for that player to continue his story. My solution would have been to have the Arch Fae be supremely amused by his insults and remark, "It's been centuries since someone has spoken to me so boldly! You're going to be my new court jester!" Then shrink him down to a couple inches tall and Teleport him into a little silver birdcage. This solution turns every abusive or hateful thing he can say into a silly amusement for for the Arch Fae court, offers the party a few interesting story options, and teaches the player that actions have consequences. The party can then try to negotiate for his release (giving the DM leverage to send them on missions for the Arch Fae), attempt a daring prison break, or even just abandon him and try to recruit a new member to replace him.

[@nigeltucker4202]

I had a thought like this as well. Insta death seemed unlike an Arch Fae. My first thought was when the rogue was in the middle of talking, he starts to have problems forming words as the rest of the party turns to notice the rogues body has started to contort and sprouting roots and their skin looking like tree bark. The reason the rogues voice started breaking would be due to his jaw locking up as his body was changing mostly into a tree, keeping facial features and general body of his character so he could still see and hear all around him. The Arch Fae would say something about how the rogue dared to speak down to him/her as he shrinks down to a sapling (about 2-3ft tall) "how dare an ugly thing like you thought to enter my hall without respect." She would walk over and pull the rogue/sapling from the ground and take a long look at him and say something else like.. "What an ugly little tree you make. I think I'll plant you at the entrance of my garden, for all the animals to relieve themselves on before they enter" as she sticks her fingers in his mouth and removes his tongue. "I'll keep this and give it a room where others who dare to be as you were can learn about their fates from your brash, insulative, ignorant tongue. It will be the only way you will be remembered."

[@DarkEvilFoxy]

here the thing player like that dont learn by babying them or turning there pc in something they use that as fuel to burn the dm more killing him was the right move dm give him the are you sure? and rogue still did it so dont baby your players shut them down bad pc need to punish or it ruin the game for everyone

[@gearsofdawn]

The tortie reminds me of my cat that passed away last year in August. She had developed cancer in her stomach then her brain. I had to have her put down because she wasn't eating and had seizures and some of the cancer became an oozing abscess. I stayed with her during the whole process and felt miserable when they injected the final shot. I cried and petted her for almost an hour after she passed. My reasoning to keep petting her is I wanted her to know she wasn't alone in the end and that I loved her. I cried so hard with my girlfriend. When I finally stood up and set her on the exam table, I removed her bow collar and felt so weak. The cat was my little girl, and I got her to help me with some trauma. She was 10 years and 5 months old and I'd had her since she was a kitten.

[@mostcertainlyben]

god thats so heartbreaking man. I'm so sorry for your loss, it always sucks losing something or someone that important to you. I'm sure she loved the time that was spent with you :(

[@UnholyCameraman]

Honestly; with the Archfey who is very sensitive... it is not far from plausible that immediate execution is on the table. The DM effectively warned that player like Willy warned Violet. If all NPCs behave like their DM, then the players are just chatting with the DM, not the characters and the players (if malicious) can take advantage of the DM's weaknesses to "win". The Fey are meant to have rules that is very alien to us, yet very whimsically childish. So in a sense, the Archfey has little understanding of object permanence and morality that was understood by humanity; all she saw in that rogue is another very annoying thing, which can go away for good by making them gone for good.

[@Sombrelame]

Archfey: i would have turned his character into a chicken or frog and deal with it, would have been worse than a dead character

[@Galaxykuma]

Or a donkey

[@saikotamagachi7884]

@@GalaxykumaBut what if they tried to seduce a dragon? We all know that Donkey is the patriarch of Bards, he layed the dragon and married it

[@Galaxykuma]

@@saikotamagachi7884 Hmm.That is a possibility, a non talking donkey then. You can't seduce a dragon if you can't talk.

[@easiestcc6451]

He tirned himself into a chicken! Funniest shit I've ever seen!

[@AlinNightwing]

I think the disintegrated character is more or less in a "fey time-out". He looks vaporized but he's imprisoned, then comes back with a curse that any time he insults a fey of any kind he takes int/wis damage that remains until long rest

[@MogofWar]

He's disintegrated, but he's still alive and conscious, floating around as helpless dust, that never quite blows away...

[@bandwagonbuzzard1617]

So basically Darkseid's omega sanction. It looks like death and is a terrible place to be, but could be pulled out.

[@ailinfergan]

No. Rogue got it coming. I don't tolerate that at my table.

[@monikasernek1177]

Exactly. The rouge player act like he's untouchable. He even insults other players characters. He needs a little bit tough love.

[@ArcCaravan]

Bragging about avoiding consequences after the warnings definitely makes disintegration look like justice.

[@Evoker23-lx8mb]

@@ArcCaravanagreed. I recently had a character that due to luck and dm BS was saved from death multiple times. He began to believe he was invincible but the very next session I rolled a nat 1 con save against finger of death. The character finally not only died but died instantly. I’d previously told the dm that I was getting tired of constantly being saved (even the times I was saved by dm BS it was still just mostly luck so the dm couldn’t help it) and wanted him to actually die at some point so I was fine with the consequences.

[@MogofWar]

The problem isn't that the Archfey killed his character. The problem is that the DM let it take that long for his actions to have consequences.

[@AvatAR42420]

What the heck is up with the first DM? Punishing players from RPing in your play by post and then punishing a player for investigating danger....which was their job. Does this guy know how RPGs work? In regards to the "Flavor" post, I hate gotcha DMs like this. Blade Ward sucks enough as is, you don't have to make it weaker. This type of DM just kills creativity.

[@IronTrojan32]

I was playing a Level 1 Bard in a 5e One-shot online and cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on a bad guy that had attacked another player, which was supposed to just knock the bad guy prone. I role-played the laughter part and the DM said it killed the previously untouched bad guy. Me and another player argued that the spell doesn’t do that, but the DM didn’t care. I had been itching to use that spell to help out the other players, but the DMs insta-kill just killed the fun of it for me. Didn’t use the spell again that session.

[@CooperAATE]

DTT! Expecting to walk away unscathed after insulting an archfey? Nah

[@seebassteterismaster7879]

At that point, you may as well be begging to off oneself when mocking an archfey!

[@mrosskne]

what does dtt mean?

[@StellaDraco]

I felt that last one. I understand that sometimes jobs suck and won't be reasonable about letting you know your schedule, but if the DM is in that situation, they can't DM. I've dealt with GMs like that in the past, I once had someone agree to run a game, run one session, and then be unavailable for around a month. At the player's request, I took over that particular game and we just gave up on him. It's one thing for a player to admit that they won't know their availability until the day of and it's one thing if there's a different reason to cancel last minute (so long as everyone accepts and agrees to it), my current group has someone with severe health issues that sometimes mean we need to cancel the game, but if the GM has a consistent issue with needing to work and not knowing about it, that person should accept that they cannot run a game. If they want to join in when they are available as a player, that could work and I've done that in the past, but dude, if you are going to be unavailable half the time or more, even if it isn't your fault and even if you MIGHT be available sometimes, you can't promise to run a game regularly and shouldn't make that kind of commitment in the first place.

[@shelleykoone2987]

I would add that many jobs where the schedule changes on a weekly basis will allow you to ask for a specific day off each week, so the GM could maybe let the boss know that he needs Saturdays off. Or if it is shift work, maybe you could change the time of the game so that he could run the game before or after work.

[@mentalrebllion1270]

I had a teen dm who I played at the table of for a time (mostly to help be another adult at the table to keep things under control above table, as it wasn’t fair to ask the dm to arbitrate that stuff). I played a swarm keeper and themed the swarm after “souls of the dead who can’t move on” as I didn’t feel like playing it as bugs as what is usually assumed. This was approved and the dm loved the idea and the story behind it all. At first I had the full amount of souls for my swarm but after something in game I suddenly had none left which was weird. I did have to pull the dm aside. I was fine with it storywise for a bit but when he was essentially debuffing me too long I had to sit him down and explain how that made it no longer fun and defeated the purpose of me even choosing this subclass. I didn’t mind overall but it was obvious that this was more a thing he went with because he was a newer dm. He hadn’t realized how much it would debuff me and my abilities. He took it well and it got worked out. Unfortunately schedules changed for me and another player so the group mostly dropped out. I haven’t been able to return since then but I have heard that he is still running games and seems to be going well.

[@TheGamingEngi]

bio-engineer with experience in mycology here. Fungi usually just needs two things to grow: 1) a (nutritious) surface and 2) high humidity. Due to 2) neither fruitious fungi nor filamentous fungi are particularly combustable, so making a zombie made with fungi instantly die due to fire damage does not make sense. Especially by the fact of how resiliant alot of fungi can be to both chemical and physical damage due to sporilation and encapsulation, aka. the ability to encapsulate the spores. Aside from that, I am actually the opposite of that GM, as I am more leaning toward rewarding people for roleplaying and flavouring their actions, like making a dual-wielding rogue, who makes the first strike against the knee of someone attempt to trip the foe as part of the attack.

[@AmaryInkawult]

I may need to refer to your expertise sometime. I keep mistakingly eating psychedelic mushrooms on my hikes.

[@TheGamingEngi]

​@@AmaryInkawultbe my guest, but generally in mycology, there are two fundamental rules: 1) all fungi are edible 2) some fungi can only be eaten once.

[@AmaryInkawult]

@@TheGamingEngi I just want to quit waking up naked in the woods after mushroom stew

[@MCPicoli]

Maybe a bonus when cast in wet environments and some penalty in dry ones instead of such cut and dry behavior?

[@TheGamingEngi]

@@MCPicoli that is a good suggestion 👍

[@mirrortherorrim]

About the archfey - instead of just insta-killing the character, I would turn him into a cute bunny on the way out of Feywild - of course, he would lose everything he was wearing and wielding. The stats of an ordinary bunny, except for Intelligence, unable to speak. And underneath this curse I would put another one - as soon as he is hit with Remove Curse or Dispell, he becomes himself again (his stuff is still gone), but unable to taunt, curse, or berate anyone - whenever he does, a random effect is triggered, ranging from vomiting 1d6 spiders to breathing out a 10ft cone of fire damaging both him and everyone directly in front for 1d4 Fire damage, to his mouth disappearing or him just barking like a dog instead of speaking for 1d4 hours, to other similar stuff - and this curse can only be removed by casting Greater Dispell once or Remove Curse/ Dispell as many times as the sides on that die, because it's actually this many individual curses folded into one. About the vampire with a displaced heart - how is it any letdown to announce that the character has a displaced heart *after the character gets stabbed in the chest?* How is it petty? It's kind of obvious, as soon as the vampire gets stabbed in the chest, and doesn't go into torpor (get incapacitated), that she has a displaced heart. Also, it's, like, a ••• (?) Boon, IIRC, not that big of a deal. ••••• (?) if the heart is removed from the body completely and preserved elsewhere in a jar - and the Storyteller didn't specify to the players whether it was a ••• or ••••• version, so I don't get why the OP is so frustrated.

[@7thsealord888]

On that last, I believe the issue was that the DM went Full Disclosure the instant the stabbing happened. The Player probably should have had the option to, for example, fall over and play dead, or stand there and laugh in the stabber's face, or whatever. I don't know the system, but there could have been any number of reasons how / why an individual could be stabbed in the chest and apparently survive. But this DM apparently did everything except provide the actual page number in the book.

[@jfangm]

Ray, when a GM asks "are you sure," you say "NO!"

[@mikeesplace]

I'm with Doge on home homebrewing changes to spells. I could see saying "ok the zombies aren't vulnerable to radiant damage but are vulnerable to fire damage. They also have turn resistance"

[@zixserro1]

Third Story: I feel like the DM's reaction is totally justified. Legitimately sounds like karma catching up to the player & the character. Considering that the DM has let the player off and allowed them to play characters similar to that one for as long as they have, and this is the first time they've seen consequences for acting that way, calling the DM unfair and claiming a DM-vs-player mentality is an insane call. Like, you've gotten away with being a jerk for over a year through multiple characters, but when the DM bites back once, after a warning and with ample reason for it to happen, you suddenly act like the DM can't handle you being a jerk? He deserved it.

[@AlinNightwing]

it makes me so happy to see the other cats took to Luna so well, extra likes!

[@weaverdc292]

I see stories like this all the time. Pro tip. If you can't get over the feeling of rejection and use the game to get back at someone for rejecting you then either don't play the game at all or don't try to ask someone out at your table.

[@lrogersgaming4373]

What was there for you to do differently? You opened a door to I’m assuming a horse drawn carriage, somehow get flung out from the wind, and then the dm just narratives everyone getting executed without anyones say.

[@YouW00t]

Adding flavor to spells that also modify the mechanics behind the spells is a cool idea but you need a balance of good and bad if you want it to work. For instance, in the case of animate dead by fungi infection altered, you could argue that instantly dying from fire is very excessive, just being vulnerable should be enough. I'd also make it so Turn Undead doesn't work since mushrooms are probably not scared of the divine. It also reeks of DM not wanting to have cool ideas, or make it easier to "defeat" his players.

[@Slashthekitsune]

Also a note: Many mushrooms are actually extremely hard to kill with extreme heat/fire, and extreme COLD is a better way of "instantly" killing them instead, so "instant" death doesn't make sense for fire anyway unless there's an EXACT species of mushroom chosen. Also this should be a thing everyone knows about if the flavored spell has such a mechanical weakness.

[@RiveroftheWither]

Most of the DMs I've played with had done it this way, however they TOLD us and in a way that incentivized "rule of cool" rewards. We rarely got negatives and when we did it was something everyone could laugh off and have fun with.

[@mrosskne]

Or you could simply say that they're animated by fungi. It doesn't need to have a mechanical effect.

[@LoneWanderSpark303]

The rogue getting away with mouthing off so much is why he thought he was invincible.

[@lordofpidgeons]

Nah archfey reaction was warranted. Bye rogue!

[@ArcCaravan]

Rogue got two warnings before disintegration. That combined with previous bad behavior which rogue admitted to proudly continue due to lacking consequences makes the character death justified.

[@ladydarkangelyuki]

13:40 polymorph would have been a good idea and as a fey you have a lot of potential to make it into a funny whimsical event.

[@theofficerfactory2625]

Intro: "Dad, his whiskers are pointy." Story 1: DM license revoked. As a DM, I LOVE it when my players RP. This jackass; they make my blood boil. Story 2: Oh, god. One of those types. "Muh realism". As a DM and in the spectrum, I get where DM is coming from but COME ON! Though the acid on stone does make sense. That I do like BUT only from a descriptive side. To mechanically apply it, is dumb. Story 3: DM warned the player. Actions have consequences. DM did nothing wrong. Though as an archway, she could rebuild the PC but with a warning there will be no second chance. Story 4: Lol, OP's username. That is not adventure's ;vague fault; that's DM's fault. Da hell was that!?!? Story 5: What? What a self entitled jerk. Story 6: Oh, Masquerade. 2nd most common besides DND. "You dare betray me, the story teller!!!!!" Wait, 2 decades!!!! Story 7: Sigh. An edge lord wanna be. Story 8: Hmm. Either the DM's boss is that much of a jerk or DM has burn out and doesn't know how to tell the group.

[@ss3nm0dn4r8]

nah half of that adventures league enables although the having less magic items then others adventures league does try to prevent

[@gawainethefirst]

Archfey- “So…you want your rogue back?” Party- “Whisperwhisperwhisper…No. We’re good.”

[@calebhughes4226]

That feeling when the DM is mad cause you investigated the danger

[@martabachynsky8545]

On the last story: Have a side campaign (it even can be a different world/setting) with a DM chosen/volunteer on the days the original DM can't make it. That way, players get to play on any Saturday they want.

[@BlueTressym]

With Story 2, I think the most charitable reasoning I can think of is that some GMs are doing this as a knee-jerk reaction because they've had previous players try to cheese spells by using flavour to buff them or other such nonsense. Still, they're being egregiously unfair and no, it's not normal or reasonable behaviour and they're going to drive players away. Story 3 "He plays his characters as he sees fit..." is just a rewording of "It's what his character would do," and you don't have to keep letting him off the hook for how he CHOOSES to have his characters behave. This dude was well overdue for consequences and if you did anything wrong, it was missing the opportunity to make the consequences he deserved more creative. That said, Reiterating what the players has said they want to do in a way that spells out the action and possible consequences can often be more useful than an "Are you sure?" Say, in this case. "So, you want to insult the extremely powerful archfey that you have been repeatedly warned will not stand for being insulted, is that right?" Story 6, if anyone was petty, it was this GM; spilling a character's secret because their player turned you down, especially when it'll get the character killed, is the epitome of pettiness. Last story: Maybe they could set up another campaign with someone else GMing and play that when Last-Minute GM isn't available, and play his when he is? Combining that with Doge's suggestion would mean they at least get to play when Last-Minute GM can't make it. Whether or not his given reason is valid, if he cannot be available, the rest are well within their rights to find someone who can.

[@lipeandjoao2358]

I finally found ur chanel again! Im so glad that i did, love ur content sooo much. Its nice to see u are still kicking.

[@edsimmons3984]

Yeah, the insta-kill is a bit extreme. For an Archfey, better to polymorph them into something for a few minutes (probably a donkey, as they just made an "ass" of themselves, and it's a nod to Shakespeare), then have them revert back. Then link it to a curse, so anytime in the future that they gratuitously insult someone, they polymorph back into that creature for a few turns.

[@mountainaccident2001]

Lol thats a very funny and very archfey idea

[@7thsealord888]

Story #1 - Expecting Player-Characters to NOT do anything like opening a closed door or running towards the screaming, was 100% ridiculous. It is what PCs do. This DM was on a power trip, expecting the Players to only do whatever HE told them to, hence penalizing them for their off-the-cuff RP. I put this TPK entirely on that DM, who clearly set out to "punish" the entire group for not following HIS script . OP did nothing wrong, as far as I can tell. Glad they found a much better DM. Story #2 - As a DM and a Player, I'm not opposed to using flavor to gain advantage - under very special circumstances. For example, one D&D game I was in, my Character used a spell that, amongst other effects, created an area of cold weather around the caster. Since we were fighting monsters comprised of molten metal, I asked if that cold could have any effect on them. The DM thought on it, said, "That's fair" and ruled that the creatures took an extra point or two of damage per round when in that area. If he'd said no, I'd have been OK with that, it was just a minor detail. No problem, no penalizing or gimping of that spell afterwards. If I tried using the spell that way in every single encounter thereafter, I would understand why a DM might start imposing limits. But I didn't, this was a one-time thing. If we ever met any more similar creatures, I might have attempted it again, but that never came up. It was a canned adventure, btw, and I'm certain that our DM didn't secretly remove those monsters from the campaign because of what I did. Not his style. In the instances described here, I feel like these DMs took things too far. Rather than Players trying to leverage actual advantages, sounds more like these DMs set out to leverage DISadvantages. I wouldn't do it, and I wouldn't stand for it. Story #3 - Zero sympathy for Rogue. He was warned repeatedly, even given the "Are You SURE You Want To Do This?" line. He did it regardless and, from the sounds of things, this Player was pretty toxic anyhow. As a DM, I am reluctant to kill off Characters, UNLESS they do something damn stupid and/or unavoidable. This incident certainly qualifies. Story #4 - So, this guy's Adventurer's League was exactly like real-life school. I sympathize. Story #5 - Taco had issues, and proved it. Story #6 - That DM was either incompetent or extremely petty. Story #7 - Sorceror should have been invited to leave, once it was clear he wasn't going to do anything except complain. Probably wanted to be the Main Character, and sulked because it wasn't so. Story #8 - Find another DM. It really is that simple. A 'stand-by' DM might be ideal, someone in the group who can step up and run something whenever this DM is unavailable. Perhaps more than one, and make it a rotation thing. Plus, maybe the option of making it a board game night now and then.

[@andreacallegari7137]

Could've turned the Rogue into actual confetti with a True Polymorph You get the shock value and the party can still beg the Archfey for forgiveness (much like Devils, Fae love their deals) I don't think an Archfey would resort to disintegration

[@Galaxykuma]

Sentient confetti? Lol Also would the party want him back?

[@andreacallegari7137]

@@Galaxykuma That's their decision If my character was at the mercy of an Archfey and no one in my party wanted to help me, I'd honestly retire my character right then and there It's a collaborative game after all

[@Galaxykuma]

@@andreacallegari7137 Sounds fair honestly. Like other RPG horror stories I see. Why would a party of good guys want a baby killer on their team?

[@Doodle1776]

Okay, the second to last story was a GM issue too. The guy made a crappy open-world sandbox. A sandbox isn't just "go roam aimlessly and find stuff to do" is why so many have a bad view of sandbox games. The GM should be pre-populating the world area with potential quests and then add more as needed or interested by the players. I run nothing but sandboxes now and have three sandbox games going currently. When the players started I had already populated the world for 34 potential quests for them to interact with in the world and I gradually expanded from there. Sandboxes are great. No linear storyline that everyone is forced to follow, no BBEG to force the players to care about killing that ends the campaign, it's all open for the players to explore. But good sandboxes require more upfront work by populating the world with enough quests to give the players then expanding from there as needed. It also means not going in with any pre-planned endings but playing everything as it comes based on what the players do. This game though sounded like a really crappy sandbox where the GM used the term "sandbox" as an excuse to not be prepared for anything. Even a sandbox needs to have a first quest and hooks to other quests ready to go.

[@ArcCaravan]

Archfey alternative solution sounds like punishing the party for the problem player.

[@K_i_t_t_y84]

Punishing the party? By getting rid of an unpleasant person that made social interactions difficult and sometimes dangerous? By removing a literal thorn in their side, that's punishing them? What a curious viewpoint you have of what constitutes punishment. 😮

[@ArcCaravan]

@@K_i_t_t_y84 I was referring to the idea of making the party fix whatever affliction the problem player got, not the actual story's solution of facing consequences that the DM warned him about. The party would be completely justified in just leaving that guy to his fate.

[@dragonmaster4556]

For the 5th story, I think they could have met a middle ground, because you can make a discord server viewable by everyone, just not have people not 'invited' able to send messages. But, from the sound of the guy, I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't enough to satisfy him either.

[@seleckt6600]

"I cast animate dead, causing fungal spores to invest the corpse, gaining control over it like a puppet" "Because it's a fungus it dies if it takes fire damage" "I change the spell. It now just raises dead RAW." Congrats. You killed some free flavor and worldbuilding for no reason.

[@jamcalx]

Honestly, the Flavor texts altering spells and abilities into variants is actually a really cool idea. The problem is if the GM instants exploit that mercilessly against his players and doesn't have give proper upsides or work arounds, such as how mushroom undead have bonus in humid/moist and fertile/dark environments because it's ideal for fungus growth. Plus, high moisture boost should reduce fire weakness. Stone/earth armor should have acid resistance add based on what earthen material forms it, such as dense stone being better than hardpack soil and sand, yet sand/soil can be cast off and regenerated quickly compared to heavy rock.

[@Karajorma]

For the last story, I agree with getting someone else to DM. Or prep an adventure for when the DM cancels at the last minute that you can play instead. As soon as the DM sees they're missing out on the fun, they'll change their availability.

[@rynowatcher]

2nd one on negatives for flavor text: this is a really conditional one, in my mind. It depends on how you like to play; some people like to use spells for out of the box sorts of things that can be fun. Ie, using shocking grasp on enimies in a puddle of water to do more damage or spread it out to more enimies. A lot of groups I have played with like that and earlier editions of the game encouraged it because there were less spells and less specific wording. It generally cuts both way; you get pros and cons when you specify how something works, so fire balls might do less damage if creatures are in water or needs oxygen to work at all becomes less of a debuff and more of a feature players and enemies can use to add tactical elements to the combat. That can be fun, and that is RAW; it is a dm ruling. The dmg gives the example of hitting something with a touch, which has no stats, and the dm ruling it does a d4 fire damage. Edge cases are built into the system via dm rulings. Issue is if it is only being used negatively. Op said they do not remember it coming up in their favor, but did they try? Ie, Raise Dead works by spores so fire kills them, cool; did he try to cultivate the spores to try to get free castings of raise dead, does the spell last till the corpse falls appart now, can I put a spore infected corpse in a pile of bodies to raise additional bodies that are all the same creature, can I feed an infected corpse to a gargantuan creature and attempt to take control, the necromancer is using the same spell so their zombies do down with some fire magic too, ect? Seems like you can work with that, but it requires the player to try to think of these edge cases and think of how to use them. I can see an issue with giving a flat bonus just because you narrate your spell a certain way as it punishes less clever narration and irl players may not be as good with descriptions as others.

[@darby2314]

Archfey: I would have had they Fey curse him to always tell the truth and teleport him away. I'd have let him roll saves, but at that level the DC wouldn't have been achievable.

[@attackfrogs]

shouldda turned that rogue into a chicken, if he wanted to keep acting so _cocky_

[@MarquisLeary34]

To the Vampire story; Yea, he should be salty, as the ST is NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT! At best, the attacker would be confused, NOBODY short of someone familiar with the discipline (and the Setites don't teach it outside the clan!) would immediately know that was what was going on.

[@EternaMidnight]

Archfey - Rogue is annoying. Leave him dead so he has to make a hopefully less annoying character. DM gave him more than enough warning, and the rest of the party agrees already.

[@jamesscheurich6006]

On the Archfey, I think it would be funny if the rouge was sent to some pocket plane were he is floating with nothing to see for miles (No locks to pic) .

[@TheKompromissi]

If a dm is going to use spell descriptions to alter the effects, the better have a masters in relative sciences.

[@Commandant_Aeon]

For the Archfey : My position is quite harsh, if this is the first warning against the shenanigans (which seemed like it was) I would have made it clear that the character took a maximized disintegrate/power word death and the soul is now kept by the ArchFey to do whatever she want with it. The first punishment has to be the harshest so that the player understand that there are close to no line that won't be crossed when punishing them for bad actions (InRP only, if the player is a problem outside of it I simply kick his backside out of the session so fast that his head spin).

[@zixserro1]

Seventh Story: Yeah, something as simple as the DM going "You sense a strange magical presence coming from the east, as if it is beckoning to you" or something along those lines would've worked. At the same time, though, this sounds like a game that the DM was hoping would be entirely player-driven, without really much of an idea for an overarching plot, or at least not one the players would get into right away. While some of the fault does fall on the player for getting into that sort of game, it is also the DM's role, in part, to keep players engaged and understand what it takes to keep their attention. I can understand the player not really being into a game as sandboxy as this one sounds like; the DM providing what sound like minimal hooks themselves, and kind of making the players develop their own hooks, is kind of pushing the job of creating the narrative onto the players, and I can see how someone would be upset about that. The player didn't need to be as much of a jerk about it as he was, but he was just also in the wrong game for him, and from the sounds of it, OP was the only player that was into that kind of game in the group. Hopefully OP and the DM can find other likeminded players to get into playing that sort of game.

[@Aichi1138]

With the archfey one, killing his character is deserved but far FAR to kind for a punishment from an archfey Punishment from Fey typically are worse than dying

[@Devan.Mf19]

My favorite underrated youtuber🍻

[@Svartalf14]

the archfey could have been more moderate.. .. like turning the rogue into a toad until he got kissed by a princess...

[@Trivial_Whim]

Reincarnate him as a newt or something and make it one of those 'learn your lesson' type curses.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

I have a Discord that is invite only with voice and text channels specific to each game being run. Only a child would trow a fit over not having access to a channel for a game he or she is not playing or GMing. I give the GM of each game control over the voice and text channels so they can invite, and block players at their choosing. I also play with all adults, the youngest player so far is 42.

[@AtelierGod]

3:45 if you don’t want something to happen don’t put it in there!

[@GundamAngelicDevil]

For the last story, the DM needs to stop being a DM, period. How I'd approach it? Just lay it straight with them, tell them that I don't want conflict and disappointment when a group shows up to nothing burgers. That their current employment situation won't allow them to be a DM and that's neither their's nor our choices. Let someone else be DM and as doggo said, they can be a pop in character.

[@Ra88ful]

I believe for the #5 story, i belive thr dog right but I also believe its a "im not allowed to go somewhere then its bad" or a "i need to be in control" kind of thing

[@RuinQueenofOblivion]

When Lucky and Luna came on screen my cat was staring at the TV (I was streaming it to my TV) like "What the heck?" Or possibly, "How do I get on TV?"

[@vortega472]

I'm so happy Luna is getting along with her new family. It can be hard integrating a new family member into the brood. Especially if you have an older cat. What are some things you have tried to integrate new fur-babies in with the others?

[@l0stndamned]

1st story: I suspect the DM had a very railroady way they were planning on running things and a player not sticking to their stagnant and limiting idea of a script messed up their plans. 2nd: Debuffing because of flavour is a scummy thing to do. Saying no to extra benefits would be fine, but not making stuff noticeably worse. 3rd: I think a non-lethal but highly embarrassing punishment would fit fae stuff much better, but other than that I'm very much on the OP's side. 5th: I suspect this guy was an attention-junkie and having a tantrum that folks were doing something where he couldn't have eyes on him. 8th: New DM. Only simple solution.

[@Svartalf14]

Doge, your reaction to the guy whose toxic DM nefred things for being flavored mirrors mine,

[@lordroyalnightmare]

I've worked a job with almost last-minute scheduling before. Nothing day of, but the schedule was official Friday evening and started that Sunday, so you had very little time to make plans. This DM's scheduling system is terrible. He needs to confront his boss about this. Like at least tell me Friday if I'll be working Saturday

[@tesuniekataren46]

Story: Let Me In They did know they could have made that chat zone invisible to anyone who wasn't permitted to view/enter into it via Discords own channel management? Story: Last Minute Do what I kinda did with my own GM who was basically doing the same thing... Become the new GM. Plan your sessions as a "whenever he doesn't show up, we play my game. When he does show up, we play his" and have a good time.

[@ketrava0425]

The displaced heart story reminds me of all the times I wanted to play at kitsune Is in a league or convention game With the background of my character pretends to be human for fear for their life. So often , the very first thing that would happen is the gm What announced to the table?Okay , we have two humans an elf and a kitsune playing today. ???like dude thanks for killing mynl secret and rp.???

[@byronsmothers8064]

Flavor: he's capitalizing on his party's creativity with exploitable penalties while never considering upsides for them. This is real GM vs player mentality thats killing expressive play, why add more to a spell than what's printed in the book when the GM is looking for gotcha moments?

[@Slashthekitsune]

In character player job: Protect a group from danger in a scenario where any warning would be audio based. Event: Players hear a scream from one of said group members Intended response: Players do nothing to interfere Not adding up here chief, DM just wanted to be an ass.

[@SinnerChrono]

I think id rather get my teeth pulled than be in a play-by-post game.

[@RQS321]

An Archfay instantly killing a PC is a bit of a mercy compared to what they -could- potentially do.. Depends on if they'd be okay with the other kind of things they could do to them.. Killing them outright will feel bad, but what other horrors could be inflicted could have been a more interesting direction.

[@M_Alexander]

I think if a player wanted to flavor a spell or effect a certain way, I might discuss with them if they wanted mechanical effects both in roleplay and combat. Like the fungal zombie, if fire is a weakness then maybe spreading the spores is an advantage.

[@M_Alexander]

Oh he said that next

[@deepseastonecore3017]

Thanks 4 all the hard work.

[@ashuradragosani5960]

Second story, that DM never played Champions did he. Powers are designed mechanically and described by flavor text.

[@mojpiesto]

26:30 because people on rolegate just join a new game when it pops up and do not read the blurb. Happened to me multiple times when I tried running there

[@PrideOfFantasy100]

For the second story, that can be very fun if you actually do it right. Specifically, SWADE (Savage Worlds) does this with its powers. But that DM just sounded like one that wanted to punish players and not reward them for creativity.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

It sound more like the DM is too concerned about realism. This is a relative harmless example, but my character (war domain cleric) used a whip flavoured as a chain sickle. It would lose the Finesse property when used at short range, because the character would be attacking with the sickle part of the weapon instead the chain.

[@PrideOfFantasy100]

@@schwarzerritter5724 Which honestly doesn't make sense. Maybe if it was a hammer or something, but sickles id argue definitely could be finesse weapons.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

@@PrideOfFantasy100 Sickles are in the Player's Handbook and they don't have the Finesse property. Although they do have the Light property, which my chainsickle did not.

[@PrideOfFantasy100]

@@schwarzerritter5724 Fair, my point was just to say that I would rule it as still having that property. After all, the rules are more guidelines and player fun comes first IMO

[@justinmargerum2559]

"Let Me In"--Wow. There's FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and then there's whatever this was. It sounds like he was deliberately trying to ruin the game experience for everyone else, or there was some manifestation of mental illness going on. Those possibilities aren't mutually exclusive. The chat settings seemed reasonable; spectators could spectate without distracting the players. The guy had the option to fully join and participate in the game but chose to be the reason boundaries had to be set in the first place.

[@Nikodraws149]

Flavor being used to make your rules as written abilities worse feels really bad to me, personally. Me and my group do okay a lot of systems where your intent in doing something and how your doing it will affect the outcome a lot outside of just the check and the dice roll. But since I've started running games I personally only let flavor affect the game in any meaningful way if I think it'll make what the player is trying to do cooler. Unless it's something that's discussed ahead of time. Like changing the flavor of an element based attack so now it affects some things differently from the way the book says.

[@viennasavage9110]

To the Archfey story, im always against DMPCs that are designed to make the party seem lesser because then it raises the question "Why dont THEY just take care of the BBEG instead?" So while I dont support the execution, I think OP had the right idea. I wouldve instead have them be outnumbered by multiple weaker NPCs.

[@marybdrake1472]

Quite frankly, the Archfey out offing that guy's character is the least of what could have happened. That guy could have gotten much worse. Flop around, find out.

[@TheNateRule]

That first DM didn't want to DM.

[@theandroidartist5897]

For the Archfey, I'd make it look like the rogue had been insta-killed, only the the party to discover him in a cage later. To make the message sink in a little more, I'd also have him polymorphed into something that doesn't make a lot of noise. And the party will have to find something valuable to the Archfey to get him back. But OP likely reacted based on a subconscious frustration with the rogue's behaviour, which is why they acted the way they did.

[@keybladewizard49]

Archfey story - in game solutions don't fix out of game problems. While I do agree that the character needed some kind of in-game consequence, the out-of-game conseuence should be removing the player from your table. He's obviously not a good fit.

[@flemm4025]

The Spore reanimation thing sounds like a power gamer issue tbh.

[@alejandroarroyo7223]

what is the music track's name playing at 3:29 ?

[@speed-0-Sound-Sonic]

Now I finally know what Tpk means

[@Svartalf14]

Adrenturer's league, like all forms of 'organised' RPG is something that I can't deal with, like alwayus running the risk of being with strangers who went through the very same advenrures you had, and that's not mentioning the risk of problem people at the table...

[@Shane-hx4xp]

I’ve never been this early to a dnd Doge post 😮

[@blesper3415]

It might be that I'm the weird one, but I'd rather have the spider climb cloak and water walk ring than the greatsword. The rest sounds pretty toxic

[@phoeberia2734]

The 2nd story on flavor i've had a player who did this, I let the flavor go without thought cause FLAVOR then they would INSIST all kinds of extra things about it because of the flavor r.r

[@absolutfx]

I don't believe in instadeath no matter what. They should definitely go with a curse or something similar if not at least allow the character to roll a save.

[@fred_derf]

To the third OP, you wrote "but until now, I have always let it slide" and that's the source of your problem. Don't let this kind of crap slide. Hold the character accountable for their actions.

[@Gripen1974]

If you get the schedule just the last minute you got a shitty boss and workplace. Yes the DM need to be replaced, but he/she also need to try find a better job for his/her sake. Asshole bosses who toss schedules on you last minute suck big time and they don't deserve have ppl working for them.

[@swallowed103]

Flavor Story: I've heard of DMs Asking players to describe how they do things with flavor before but this one is a no go for me. I applaud my Players for giving creative and interesting Flavor to their Spells. But what the OP is describing here just sounds like a DM vs Player Mentality where he wants to use your Flavor as justification to poke holes into your actions Mechanically and give himself the upper hand and basically make your choice of actions invalid. Not Cool DM Bro, Not Cool...

[@davidpantaleoni6492]

I have to wonder about the DM of the first story. There were so many other ways they could have handled OP's character being curious. Was the DM looking for an excuse to cause a TPK?

[@ArcCaravan]

I'm honestly more concerned why the party roleplaying while DM was absent was wirth punishment by denying quest giver.

[@justinmargerum2559]

"Flavor"--No. "Flavor" is a cosmetic change, never a mechanical one. Any alterations in mechanics need to be discussed between the DM and the player.