CRAZY DM Gives Players INSANE Rules - DnD Horror Stories

[@DungeonDragon18]

Re: the flameskulls; it's fine for DMs to adjust monster abilities for balance, but if you're doing it with recurring enemies, like these hags and flameskulls, it's a good idea to give the players indications that these are a different variation of the monster, so you don't have situations like this. Make them bigger, a different color, etc.

[@DnDDoge]

Exactly

[@rollanddev]

Palette swaps FTW! The old-school NES did it to indicate enemy variations and nobody complained... much... >_>

[@Nohtal37]

I think something like this can happen easily. I would also nerf the immunity of the flameskull on low levels and i think the dm simply forgot to mention that it "Is not as bright it should be" or something and don`t want to modify the appearance on every normal one. The right way would be to say "yeah that was a lesser, this one is a normal one. i nerfed it before. Let us redcone your turn" or simply say ok this one is also a lesser, but the next one is normal.

[@alarkhar]

About the flameskull story... the DM could just have said "the one at the castle was a LESSER flameskull", or, you know, "an IMMATURE flameskull". Basically the same creature, just less powerful. If asked how to recognize a lesser flameskull, the answer would be something like "check the length of the fangs", or "look where the flame starts from: if it's a corona around the brow, it's a lesser, if it's a full enveloping aura it's a greater." There, all better.

[@dave5857]

Seems like a good solution. Without actually being there and knowing exactly what was said, it's hard to know if the DM did much wrong but there definitely should have been some indication that this skull was different/more powerful from any they'd seen before.

[@NopeNaw]

You don't even have to go that far. You could remain cryptic but still give of the "idea" that the flameskull was different, even if it wasn't. "Your character thought that would work, but it didn't." Then let the players start speculating and unwittingly create their own solution as to why it was the way it was. Really, either way is better than "Oh, I made the other one easier because you guys suck" which is kinda how the GM came across.

[@PaladinGear15]

The flame skull thing, personally if I tweaked the monster and now it's immune, I wouldn't just be like "you wasted your spell, it does absolutely nothing" I'd be like "actually your character can tell that old flame skull was weakened somehow, this is a full strength flame skull and it's immune to fire damage" to let him take another action instead of casting fireball. My general rule with spellcasters is if they've gotten to a high enough level to cast these spells, they know *exactly* how they work and I won't punish players for misunderstanding the situation.

[@ezsoterica]

I've had a DM regret that he gave my kenku cleric a flying broom. When we first started, we all rolled for a random magical item and luck would have it that I got the broom. It was incredibly ironic. Luckily it was just amused exasperation and he didn't do anything crazy to try and get rid of it, because technically it was his fault in the first place.

[@johngleeman8347]

It's in the DMG, so players are going to want brooms when they get powerful enough. XD

[@ezsoterica]

@@johngleeman8347 We were only level four!

[@TitusRedwind]

I've done something similar as a DM except I had a list of homebrew items that players could choose to start with. However, there was a catch. Each item had a d20 roll they needed to pass to obtain it. So if they wanted the most powerful weapon (I believe it was twin daggers with one doing fire damage and the other doing ice damage) they'd have to roll an 18 or higher. To add to this, they had to choose the item BEFORE rolling for it. If they failed, they got nothing.

[@fred_derf]

If the DM is going to have such a roll, then they should make the table of appropriately (and roughly equally) powered items. Otherwise you're just setting up an unbalanced situation where some characters will be over-powered and other under-powered. And they should also consider the "game breaking" capabilities of the items they put on it.

[@fred_derf]

@@TitusRedwind If this is a one shot, then fine, but otherwise why would you want to create a situation where you have over- and under-powered characters?

[@PaladinGear15]

Don't force your bards to sing at the table for their stuff to work, it's just gonna make less people wanna play a bard. Even if before it was super fun for them to sing their spells, now you're FORCING them to do so, and that drains the fun right out of it. Also *never* make spells just fail for literally no good in-game reason, that just pisses people off.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

Bards are not even all singers. The magic is in the sound, but it could take any form. Think of Saruman the White, who can enchant people by talking to them.

[@johngleeman8347]

@@schwarzerritter5724 Exactly. My bard tells stories and plays a drum. Never sings.

[@Euqoram]

That's one reason I've never played on despite it being incredibly tempting, cuz my main DM will absolutely make you "sing for your supper". Not sure about my other DM, but I'm not willing to risk it since all the people in his group are so new to me.

[@kareemmasri3934]

Last week I literally sang ‘I will always love you” off-key so that I could lure a big goblin and 3 wolves to a bridge so that I could activate a flooding mechanism and literally flush them out of their own cave. 😂😂😂

[@BlueTressym]

@@kareemmasri3934 that does actually sound hilarious!😂

[@LiteraryDM]

Yes, I've had DMs get upset about things they approved. As well as just things in base game. Whenever we were struggling he was having a good time. Whenever it was a cake walk he was upset. Even said "I hate DMing," when we easily beat a big bad of his. I didn't go back to the table after that.

[@RiveroftheWither]

Sounds like a classic dm trying to "win" dnd

[@LiteraryDM]

@@RiveroftheWither it was. Which sucks because his puzzles and dungeon designs were sincerely top tier. He had a devotion to immersion that was admirable, but couldn't get passed his competitive nature.

[@inky5574]

For the first DM, for one I HATE veterans and players who target other players and try to make their game experience a living nightmare. If he was THAT concerned over the death saving throw advantage, he should've privately chatted with the OP about it and see if it's ok to nerf the ability. Seriously all of these stories could be avoided if the problem players act like their age and discuss their concerns LIKE ADULTS! Cause trying to kill a character and ruin a player's experience for the stupid reason that they have a death saving throw advantage is just childish.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

Just tell the player the homebrew is not working out. You allow it this time, but for the next session, he should replace it with something else.

[@rollanddev]

You assume they're adults.

[@JangoFox]

The people were losing "commitment" in the second DM's story because they were overbearing. Like, holy hell, making D&D a chore might not be the WORST offense, but I think it's definitely up there.

[@jamesmahon6788]

Reminds me of the story where the DM wanted the players to live out the lives of simple farmers. While the DMPCs went off to try saving the day and that it was all for nought as they bbeg and his army would eventually kill every town or something to that. He had no intention for his to be players to adventure or anything. Thankfully that OP didn't even go to session one

[@SolrSurfr3]

I wonder if the DM in the last story will ever realize that his painfully restrictive gaming style is the reason people aren’t “invested enough” in his campaigns, or if he’ll just keep burning through players until he gives up on the hobby completely, convinced that he’s just too mature and advanced for everyone else 🙄

[@kingdomgnark]

It is perfectly normal to alter monsters from the books. It is not cool for consistency to have two identical creatures altered differently unless there is an obvious difference between the two, or an in game reason why they present as the same exact creature but with different statblocks.

[@bmaz390]

That flame skull bs irks me. My old DM used to do crap like that. The worst is when we were fighting a bunch of mummies. And I mean a lot of them. Well the fighter was a red dragonborn of sorts and hit them with his breath weapon. An the DM was like nope, these mummies are immune to fire. Like WTF! That battle literally took 3 hours.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

Literally the first character I ever played was a monk who dressed like the most stereotypical wizard as a diversion. The first creatures we fought being wererats, who are immune to physical damage, ruining the reveal. Well, it was only the first creature we fought, because we avoided fighting an owlbear; which turned out to be a good decision, because it slaughtered half of the other party he was playing the campaign with. I am not saying he is a bad DM, because he is much better at storytelling that reading monsters' stat blocks. Also, the characters who died in the other party, the DM ruled they are alive, but suffered a level of exhaustion until they see a healer.

[@PaladinGear15]

The worse example is when the DM gives creatures like that all something like rings of resistance, 8 or 9 of them, and when the battle's over "oops, every creature fell ontop of their rings of resistance when they died, now they're all broken, your loot is 3GP and a cursed dagger that makes you stab yourself" xD

[@DoomsdayR3sistance]

You'd think Mummies being vulnerable to fire is kind of one of those things adventurers know about, making a creature that is normally vulnerable to something, immune to it instead is dumb, unless there was like some major plot hooks or clues you could have run across beforehand to indicate something abnormal about them. In regards to the flame skull, I think the DM should have prepared better by making the 1st flame skull abnormal, like it has cracks and signs of degradation where perhaps a cleric or priest tried purifying it with holy water before, basically something to indicate it's normal status is weakened in some way compared to the normal fire immunity that flame skulls do have.

[@anonymoususer4515]

This is just stupid bad DM behaviour and also this more so of DM vs players mentality.

[@LatulaArts]

I clicked just for the thumbnail because my first dm made me write and sing songs for my bard when I was 14 and only on my second ever campaign. I wanted to cry every time.

[@BlueTressym]

I kind of want to hug 14-year-old you, reading that.

[@LatulaArts]

@Kit Hansford I got through it lol, I've had much worse experiences as a dm honestly. Being a female DM you can imagine... But honestly that was the worst that dm did. At least to me. His daughter (our friend) was also a player so he heavily favored her. She got a lot of magic items on low rolls while we would roll high and nearly get killed lol. Taught me how not to dm.

[@kevinchong5424]

Wow, the last DM sounds like a control freak. The horror. Speaking of first time playing, I played D&D for the first time last Saturday, and I had fun. Funniest part has to be that my lv3 Dragon-born Barbarian managed to get through it all without ever receiving damaged. To clarify, we did 2 missions, the first with 2 battles against a Ankheg, while the second we were able to avoid battle. And like the newbie I am, during the 2 fights, I had my PC get up close and personal, and just Rage and Frenzy Attack. And even then, we received zero damage. It’s kinda disappointingly funny

[@zhontac6194]

Abusive DM's make my blood boil.

[@scoots291]

One of the few times I played a Bard I remember I played a kanku. So I got by by Interpretive dance

[@patrickthedragonlord]

*jumps on table and starts twerking g in front of king* King:that's discusting! Kill him. King adviser: if I may my lord I studied interpretive dance as an elective. He is saying he really enjoyed the food. King: oh um well thank you. Nevermind dont kill him

[@pLanetstarBerry]

Honestly, sometimes I think "you gotta sing IRL if you're a bard" is just an excuse some DMs use to discourage players from playing them instead of having the balls to just flat out ban the class. I'm playing a bard in one of my favorite campaigns, and I sometimes sing, but only when everyone present is comfortable with it and I have a song ready to go. Songwriting is something I enjoy, and I've been using DnD as an excuse to finish my projects and using the campaign as inspiration to write more. For example, in between sessions I wrote the first verse of a diss track for a villain who has been menacing us, which piqued the other players' curiosity. In character, my bard was singing it for a potential ally who voiced his dislike for said villain, and wanted to hear it. I'm glad it got the positive reception it did, both in game and at the table, I put in a lot of the feelings from the session before into it. It was a moment where, even though we achieved our goals, it felt like we lost because the villain pulled some shenanigans on us. But oh lawdy, even with everything I just said, singing something irl EVERYTIME I cast a spell, paired with all those other restrictions, would wear on me fast.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

How is a 16 a failure in a death saving throw?

[@Arcticmaster1190]

It is to a DM who is predetermined for your character to die.

[@RiveroftheWither]

The dm wanted the character to die, when a bad dm is in that mind set fairness and rules be damned.

[@patrickedger2448]

I have NO problem with tossing a more powerful version of an already established foe at a party, I've done this myself. HOWEVER, I also made it a point to call for checks so SOMEONE in the party has a chance to learn that this one is different. Just saying "It's a flameskull...that looks and acts exactly like the last one..." with no further description is bad DMing. "The flames on this skull are blue instead of green, and they feel hotter - more intense. Caster - make an Arcana check." Boom, simple, flavorful description, and a hint to the party that something is up. That's all it takes.

[@Mrinsecure]

First story: Homebrew is always an issue, even if you have a good head for mechanics, and sometimes you just need to be willing to go "okay, that thing I approved? Yeah, it is now unapproved, because it's unbalanced in play." But that's not the player's fault, and you shouldn't punish them for going along with something you permitted. Second story: Not the worst thing in the world, but definitely frustrating as a player. You do the work of paying attention, you make the in-character investment of time and resources, and you get screwed over because the DM couldn't figure out how to balance his own encounters. Not sure what could've really been done to avoid this, except have the DM be more up front and open with the fact that he was fudging stats. Third story: Holy crap, I would *never* want to play in a game with a DM that is this controlling. Forcing players to fulfill this many requirements, including not allowing them to clarify things out of character or even look up rules, is a great way to make sure no one wants to play with you. And surprise surprise, the game fell apart for exactly those reasons.

[@Kairos_Akuma]

Also the Save-advantage isn't even that bad honestly

[@ChazMcRich1]

@@Kairos_Akuma genuinely the least offensive homebrew I’ve seen in a while.

[@Qwerty95ish]

1. Don't allow homebrew if your not okay with it. If you realize you made a mistake talk to the player. 2. Make it clear there is a difference if there is a difference. Less bright fire would have worked. 3. DEAR GOD RUN!

[@axel4196]

15:20 Want my Bard to sing?? I got one for you: *"Where's your crown, King Nothing!"*

[@maxbreslin9253]

Oddly enough they’ve made official jackal folk called Khenra that can reroll any 1’s if their twin is nearby

[@annashapiro7503]

Lucky! 😁 I love the Like and Comment Kitten. Thanks for including him in your videos and I enjoy your content!

[@AF-tv6uf]

Regarding the fireball one: If the flaming skulls had varied by type in-setting as part of the setting, that might have been fair. You shouldn't always expect one encounter even with similar *looking* monsters to be the same. But the DM straight-up admitted that he nerfed those previous flaming skulls specifically due to how that last one encounter went. That's engaging in what I call Schrodinger's Worldbuilding: Changing setting conventions that only YOU know on the fly to suit yourself. Not cool, certainly not fair.

[@akmi1931]

The OP getting dropped by such a horrible DM is probably the best thing to happen to them. No one should have to deal with that

[@DnDDoge]

Yup! Dodged a bullet there I'd say

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

On today's episode of "what is it with bad DMs and hating a character, class, or feat so much that they actively target the player for having it, but still allowing it in the game"...

[@fred_derf]

Exactly. If the DM has a problem with a class, feat, race, etc. (particularly a home brew one) then discuss the situation with the player and come to an agreement on how to adjust the... whatever it is.

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

@@fred_derf Or just don't let them play it. For years I didn't let any of my players play Paladins because I was tired of having to boot people for trying to play le epic 4chan crusader racism meme, and just banning the class that everyone used for it was more time-effective than constantly having to plug the holes when they came up

[@fred_derf]

@@whensomethingcriesagain, writes _"Or just don't let them play it."_ Absolutely, for things that you know will be problematic (or just don't like). I'm speaking about things that as the DM you think will be fine and allow, but turn out to be problematic.

[@theofficerfactory2625]

For the 2nd story, it COULD be explained that by pending on the hag killed and not purified, that the flame skull could vary but it would have to be explained early! That was just a dickish move on DMs part.

[@johngleeman8347]

Bad Referee #1 had a lot of nerve calling the first OP a crybaby when he was seething with rage over a minor ability to stabilize more easily.

[@ryanrizzo4869]

Wow, man.."I'm the DM, and I make the rules." To paraphrase Tywin Lannister: "Anyone whom must walk around and say 'I am the DM, isn't the DM."

[@TheGamersfolly]

Neat. I'm early for once. Commenting for the algorithm hobgoblin, *Susan Wojcicki.*

[@Labyethan]

I wasn't going to comment for the kitty, but the moment the doge commented "He sure likes that lizard..." My beardie opened his tired eyes, and nodded before falling back to sleep.

[@bsabruzzo]

Regarding the Flame Skull story... I work at a hotel and on occasion I will lower the rate a dollar or two when I know the person is short money. I will base it on things like how busy we are, if the guest is a regular vs a possible one-nighter, and so on. But if the same person returns expecting the $1 discount when they have a wad of cash in hand, I won't give it. The guest might have learned that they can get a slight discount, but they should not expect it.

[@IronicCliche]

The fire ball story is one of the reasons I started playing PF2. They have rules on modifying creatures to avoid this kind of stuff. You can use the"weak" modifier if a creature is to strong and it makes proportional changes.

[@pinkpirate5]

As a DM, I used to get frustrated with allowing homebrew and later finding it was more powerful in a way I hadn't thought about before. For a while I just only allowed published content, but I was still occasionally getting frustrated when the published stuff would do the same thing. It took sitting down with a couple of my more mechanics minded friends and having them work me through how they build characters and really making a point of learning how the mechanics and systems interact that I learned how to read stuff for balance. Also helped I learned to approve things with the caveat that if it's proving unbalanced in the game, I may ask a player to have a discussion and change it. Pro-tip... start the conversation with 'okay so you've beat me on this one'. Admitting defeat to the player in question is a surefire way to soften the blow of needing to depower an unbalanced ability.

[@deepseastonecore3017]

How often do l make jokes about chemistry? Periodically.

[@fatmork834]

As a bard player who does sing, it best way to get me to stop is to try and force me to

[@NEKOEVE]

1. If you don't like the homebrew, work with the player to change it, don't be a dick about it. Player should have got up and left long before, how the hell do you not get level ups with the party? 2. Either make the exception again, or give him his turn back. 3. Any DM that says "No OOC at my table" Just leave, you're in for a nightmare. You're playing a game, not larping.

[@BlueTressym]

As a larper, we do not claim that DM! Seriously though, larpers do OOC as well, though in many groups, it is considered immersion-breaking to overdo it, which I think is fair enough. Also, in larp, there is usually an OOC area you can go to if you need to do something OOC, or you can pull aside a ref and talk to them OOC if necessary.

[@vidmanandrew09]

For that first story? The DM was out for blood cuz anything over a 10 on a Death Save means you pass. OP should have gotten right up at the Nat20 alone.

[@Kro1401]

I think it depends on house rules. I know some tables do “over 10 is a pass” while other tables rule “over half the damage that killed you is a pass” or something like that.

[@yoyoboy87]

I have a funny short story. So I had a DM who didn’t know how breath weapon attacks worked for monsters. We were playing one on one and he had a dmpc join my air genasai on a mission. We encountered some half dragons. My character used levitate on herself to float out of range of their breath weapons. I just started to pick them off with arrows while the dmpc was roasted to death. As it turns out, the dm mistook the recharge feature for breath weapons as meaning that they had five uses. When I explained how it really works, he looked at me like I was speaking another language. But yeah, I think this is the first time I ever seen a dm kill their dmpc.

[@iank472]

Internal consistency is a cornerstone of DM-Player trust. If you don't remain consistent with rules and monsters then be prepared to lose players.

[@werebuffalo]

My first DM had that same 'Bards must sing their spells' rule. He allowed you to either make up songs on the spot, or sing a real-world song that was appropriate to the situation/spell being cast. But you HAD to sing. 20 years later and I *still* refuse to play Bards.

[@fred_derf]

+werebuffalo, writes _"My first DM had that same 'Bards must sing their spells' rule."_ By the time I've finished singing my first song the DM will have changed that rule and then left the table to find something to stop their ears bleeding. Telling bard players they have to actually sing is about as stupid as telling a Wizard's player they have to actually have a tiny ball of bat guano and sulfur to cast fireball.

[@dragis097]

I had something similar in the third story but alittle different as its a nightmare being told to read the lore 3 or 4fucking times, told not to talk out of character, and also kicked me out without them explaining why.

[@flameloude]

Lucky is adorable.

[@Pandadude-eg9li]

Barring sociopaths and criminals, that last DM is the worst DM yet.

[@Iceblade269]

Ngl after that fireball story, I immediately checked the Lunar Devil’s statblock because my first fireball also hit an immune creature. Fortunately DM didn’t fuck me over on that one

[@dave5857]

Bards. Don't. Need. To. Sing. I mean, DM can make whatever rules they like but if you want to make a rule that so fundamentally alters a player's ability to enjoy playing their character you should speak to them beforehand to make sure they're comfortable with it. Personally I enjoy playing a bard who inspires allies with dad jokes and whose cutting words take the form of groan inducing pun-based insults. And as bad as my puns/jokes are, they're way better than listening to me sing ;)

[@Dumbdog124]

"YoU hAvE tO sInG iF yOu PlAy BaRd" is the bane of my existence sometimes. Legit why can't I play a bard that's a fortune teller and uses their powers to do fancy card tricks as well as other sleight of hand tricks to embolden the party? Why can't I just play an old fuddy duddy former mayor that can deliver rousing speeches? Why can't you be a wizard school teacher that's highly charismatic and teaches alternative means of arcane study? Legit. This trope of "bard = music" is so over done and I'm tired of it

[@jdd11529]

YOOO THATS MY STORY: THE FIRST ONE

[@fred_derf]

I agree with the "you have X amount of time to act on your turn" rule. You should have plenty of time to figure out what you're going to do, or at least narrow it down to a very short list, while the other players are taking their turns. Combat is slow enough without minutes long waits while a player decides what they're doing. You see the most with two types of players, those who want to act optimally at all times and those who aren't invested enough in the game to know their character's abilities. The first type spend minutes mulling over their options trying to figure out which one will be "the best" -- to them I'll make the point that _Combat is messy! You're not going to always make the best, or even a good, move". A combat round lasts 6 seconds, your character (in game) has a small fraction of that time to decide what to do -- as they player you're already getting a massive advantage by being able to plan while the other players (and the DM) take their turns. You don't need additional minutes to decide what to do. Just pick something, if it doesn't work out pick something else next time. And if anyone thinks this isn't fair... as the DM I'm making decisions on what a dozen (or sometimes more) NPCs do in a couple of seconds each. If I can do that for a dozen characters while dealing with the rest of the combat surely it's not unfair requiring you do it for one character... To those players that are unwilling to take the time away from the table to learn what their character can do, for example to memorize the basics of their spells do -- then don't play a spell caster. Play a human fighter so you only have to decide "Sword or Bow". The rest of his rules are just nuts and are pretty much going to reduce (if not eliminate) any fun anyone is having at the table. I can appreciate a hard-core game, but you need very specific players for that to work.

[@realdragon]

Second story: I really don't like when laws of universe are inconsistent. When it was well established monster is resistant to the fire it should be resistant to the fire the whole time. Like Doge said DM could say it's different type or snorted huge amount of magic from area to become more powerful but no. Third story: I get that DM don't want to be interrupted when they describe something so players get the full image but you can interrupt someone when they say something. And why would "Oh my god" be bad? It doesn't even break immersion

[@Cornfiglep]

I've counted at least four different cats in these videos. a Lucky, Nipsy, Alice and I think Luna.

[@skyravens5798]

Im waiting for a horror story to show up were a creepy DM gets out creeped by a player, then kicked for being creepy . I cant be the only one with such an experience.

[@thebritishgamer836]

You don't need a homebrew jackalfolk race, Khenra are probably the same thing you're looking for and already exist officially

[@pug8714]

My friend DM once gave us a tank cause we rolled well on what vehicle we would get. This was in a zombie campaign with guns. We abused the hell out of that tank using it to run over zombies and for cover, he had to nerf it a ton

[@fred_derf]

@pug8714, writes _"he had to nerf it a ton"_ Or just let it run out of fuel / ammo. A tank is a death trap, or did you not see the first episode of _The Walking Dead?_

[@fred_derf]

While there should be consistency from encounter to encounter, if there is no variation then things can get boring. First, the DM shouldn't have nerfed the last Flame Skull because the party was too low level, or at least never admitted it. The easy solution to this would be to say that different types of hags become different types of Flame Skulls and the fact that you can't tell them apart is part of what makes them dangerous.

[@beeziebubs2756]

So the dm in that last story was expecting major character development to happen between 2 pc’s… while never allowing for character banter or conflict or, you know, any interaction that would actually permit for major character development to happen? Yeah, sure, 2 characters existing statically next to each other for 20 hours is *totally* how that happens.

[@marooniballooni03759]

Maybe it's just me, but I think if you can give a couple pats to the side of problem players & dms, it might give them some more thinking power they didn't already have.

[@Albertosn3]

Now to be fair to the flameskull story regarding the stat changes; in Lost Mines of Phandelver I think there is a fairly powerful monster at some point that is nerfed in some way. So I can't say it is necessarily _uncommon_ for monster stats to be reduced/changed at early levels seeing how (assuming I remember correctly) it is done in one of the official modules. Although I do think that just that once I would have allowed that fireball to do damage and then make every flameskull afterwards be blue-flamed or something.

[@fred_derf]

Player: "I cast fire-ball at the Monster". DM: "The room in engulfed in flame and as it clears the monster appears unharmed, it smiles and laughs at you". Monster: "Haw haw haw". Player: "Wait, X-monsters aren't immune to fire". DM: "This one is".

[@thatanonymouschocolate]

Ah yes the cute cat and the magical DnD doge 😌

[@arcanetrueblood9790]

I agree he should have just said that was a weaker flame Skull from before

[@lamiahunter]

Its called “flame skull” you really thought

[@Ginger_bearded_bro_88]

My buddy is an amazing person but stuck a Forever GM. Give love to your GM as often as you can.

[@KentaroMiyamoto21]

And this is exactly why Matt Mercer allows the CR crew to do as they please. No matter what kind of absurdity ensues from it.

[@viperblitz11]

In the flameskull story, i personally think both parties played a role. The DM should have made up an in-universe explanation for the nerfed stats instead of a meta one, but I don't think the player should feel like they've been punished. This seems like a low point in an otherwise decent campaign that'll be easily put behind them.

[@alexjohnson9629]

how to fix a broken homebrew as a dm. Oh hey that ability is a wee bit broken. Would you mind getting rid of it in exchange for this?

[@fangirldsq5707]

My DM is more layed back as he allows me to do side activities while I wait for my turn suck as draw, play my lyre and kalimba (for ambiance) and do torrid cards but lately ive seen hes been allowing one player to meta game even came out and said he was too. Witch pissed off 2 another player. Leaving me and another player to calm the situation as the shop was looking at us. But the DM said nothing and just allowed him to meta game. Im starting to think its less about him being layed back and more like he might not know how to set rules for the players

[@AaronJLong]

Yay for Tunic! I first saw that game in 2019. I'm tempted to pick it up on PC, but if there will be a Switch version after the exclusivity period with Microsoft ends I'll want to get it on there because I prefer handheld games.

[@DnDDoge]

It's currently on game pass

[@AaronJLong]

@@DnDDoge Well I guess I have no excuse then~

[@keybladewizard49]

DM: Nobody is allowed to ever speak when I am speaking, about to be speaking, or am not done speaking Also DM: -does long involved side-sessions with other characters- Also DM: Nobody is allowed to ever be silent for too long ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? guess i'lld ie then??????????

[@foxqueen6214]

I love lucky

[@REfan2002]

All hail Lucky!

[@snonyabeeswax]

pretty sus dm ruining fireball for a newbie like that.

[@falconpv1]

I don't think either OP or DM are Aholes there. It isn't uncommon for DM's to adjust stats, but yeah having your first fireball do nothing kind of sucks.

[@milhy6567]

It isn't uncommon but you have to tell the players *somehow* that this creature will react differently to the one they have encountered before so the players don't end up wasting their turns because of the inconsistent ruling.

[@fred_derf]

Casting your first fireball against something that is literally on fire is kind of foolish. The OP even said that he thought it would only do half-damage.

[@Tzkaar]

my dm is nice. if you can sing, just roll on it and people will like it (or not). if you want to sing something specific, like a song about the wrathfull witch that is part of the party... "write one and "sing" it to the players." the bard made something that one could call a rap... it wasn't flattering... i was like: as a player i think the song is funny, but my witch doesn't... he (not the PC) is still pissed at my witch for not finding it funny and hurting his PC whenever she heard him sing it. my witch is dead by now, i play a different PC and he is still pissed xD

[@axelwulf6220]

DM of the first story didn't know what it was about, and the prejudice of the inexperienced player was present already by not even asking what it was about Personally, I would like my Players to have advantages, that way I won't have to pull my punches because they're not so squishy The other story is just.... Oh man, how do we unpack that? Having these kinds of rules is just signs that the DM is insecure about his own Playstyle I was associated with one whom, if you couldn't read his mind as to what he wanted, your characters were getting lethaly punished Unless you were his wife, and then it was okay

[@pteeto]

The flame skull story, just wondering if the DM could've argued it's higher level or stronger flame skull. Perhaps instead of full immunity it has higher resistance and that is made obvious? I'm no DnD player, but it just makes sense to me that opponents grow stronger as the story progresses, otherwise there would be no challenge. So I'd not blame the DM for not thinking of the case where someone would use fire spell on it when it's just resistant instead of immune.

[@johngleeman8347]

The hurt feelings might have been avoided if the ref made sure to indicate that they were fighting a "lesser flameskull" the first time. Then it would be fairly reasonable to assume the stronger normal version has extra abilities and immunities.

[@fred_derf]

To the OP: What were you doing using fireball (an area of effect spell) against a single creature? A single creature you knew was (at least) fire resistance? So your spell was ineffectual, learn from it. Don't cast fire based spells against things that are literally on fire! Take the loss, it makes for a better story anyway "My first time casting fireball I completely muffed it" is a much better story and just improves the story of the second time you cast it and wiped out a horde of charging Orcs.

[@AHilton21]

Hello all, I played DND a couple of times a few years back and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately due to various circumstances I am no longer involved in that group. I like the Idea of dnd and hearing about these virtual sessions interested me, but I know nothing about it. How much of a time commitment is it usually and where would you even find them?

[@Evoker23-lx8mb]

Yeah, with the first story, the second OP was told a 14 death save was a failure they should’ve left, the death save DC is supposed to be 10, a dm should NOT get that wrong for the sake of the party. And as someone who loves playing bards (along with wizard they’re my go to class), they literally have an ability called Jack of All Trades at level 2, you can’t miss it unless you stupidly decide to play only level 1 one shots which doesn’t sound fun at all. This ability literally says bards are good at literally everything. Saying someone has to sing to play a bard properly literally goes against the bard class concept.

[@Pachitaro]

this video goes very hard love from america 🇺🇲 I love Lucky so much it's unreal

[@Guts2508]

For the flame skull and fireball story : DM is the asshole, not for changing the stats but for how he did it. He could have put some details about how this flame skull seems more powerful, bigger, brighter with another color but no he said it was the exact same and that the first one was nerfed ... How can the players trust everything they'll encounter after that ? If everything was nerfed the same way then they don't know a single thing and the players achievements don't represent shit because the DM basically said "you won because I was nice with you" players are being robbed of their game.

[@paulhesketh4289]

+5 to all magic rolls if you fade to black with the DM after the game

[@LEWS316]

My opinion for whats it worth if the dm is gonna change the weaknesses etc of a monster there should be some clue of that factor rather then pulling that stunt

[@fred_derf]

Here's your clue -- the fireball had no effect.

[@TheSealMayor]

If the flameskull DM gave some sort of clue for the first flameskull being nerfed, it'd be reasonable. Like "This flameskull, unlike the one you saw in the castle, glows a completely different color." or some HINT to say "This is a HARDER enemy". Video games do this a lot. "The wolves you have been fighting have all been BROWN but this one is WHITE"

[@vodostar9134]

For the flame skull, yes, DMs change stat blocks all the time, but punishing a player for not metagaming is mind-bogglingly stupid. Once the DM realized why the player thought fire damage should work he should at least have retconned it and let the player take a different action. Better yet, if he really nerfed the fireskull for the lower level characters (as opposed to say - just made a mistake in the earlier fight), he should have told them not to draw any conclusions from the successful fire damage at the time.

[@3of6mylove]

There's an official race option with advantage on death saves. It's good, but not op.

[@TorsilClimber]

Morning doge! ☕

[@kalajel]

Personally, I would have allowed the equivalent of Inspiration 1/rest on death saves. Much more balanced.

[@FordPrefict42]

Nearly 8K views, but only little over 400 likes?!? Nothing at all going wrong on YT's end!?!

[@mikem2849]

The first story... I've seen DMs try so hard to kill characters, and get so mad when they survive, and I don't get it. D&D is just interactive storytelling, like a movie you interact with. Imagine watching a movie... like, imagine watching Star Wars, except that five minutes in Luke gets killed. And then Han Solo becomes the main character, but then he gets killed. And then Leia, and she gets killed. Then it's Biggs and Wedge, and they get killed. Then Admiral Akbar is the main character and gets killed. And so on and so forth. Every five minutes, all of the focus characters die and get replaced by shallow, half-baked replacements, who also die and get replaced by even more shallow replacements. How long would it take you to decide that movie is dumb and not worth watching? Well guess what, killer DMs, that's what your game is!

[@jacksparrowismydaddy]

I suppose a paladin has to physically fight then? should a mage actually cast a spell? should a thief actually pick a lock?

[@michelcosta76]

Cat!

[@BlueTressym]

*sees Lucky, likes video*

[@tsifirakiehl4250]

If you don’t want players to have a specific race/class/whatever, just ban it from the beginning! It’s not fair to punish players for breaking “rules” they didn’t even know existed!

[@mondenkindqueen]

Or at least be an adult and have a conversation with them about nerfs.

[@lulospawn]

Fireball story, not convinced the DM did wrong.

[@gazblackheart4596]

It is common to balance mobs in dnd and the dms explanation makes sense. It sucks that it ended up resulting in this confusion but yes the doge's fix is a good one, somehow make it clear that its different in some way, even if its just "this one looks stronger than the last". I get the players disappointment but it is not a huge deal and I don't think its something malicious to be mad about.

[@DisneyChar]

So he gate keeps against new players and isnt smart enough to read

[@dragowolfraven3806]

No talking out of character?😕 How do you expect that to work?😂

[@drakeloki4214]

I've DMed before and it's not uncommon to forget or miss an Immunity or some defensive ability of a creature and then later when that said same creature is used to remember it, also seems common enough to boost up creatures and later encounters make them tougher. Kind of feel like the guy with the flame skull story is being a bit winey. I mean yeah it sucks in the moment but I'd would not have pushed the issue.

[@DrRiddlez2015]

"THEY were a great DM" 🙄

[@WladcaPodziemia]

First story is a bit suspicous... It might have as well been furry OP pushing some cringey OC. Side-note -> It is unfair to go "You approved it, so it is what it is", since many ppl cant really homebrew (many still do) and what they create in theory is ok ,but in practice is shit/OP.