How My First DnD Player Experience Got Ruined By A Problem Player | Narrated D&D Story

[@Zarkonem]

As a DM myself, the moment that a player says they snatch something out of another players hand, i pause the game and work out if there is an issue and what the issue is. I also try to encourage a mindset regarding someone getting a magic item that they are a TEAM and that anyone getting a magic item improves the TEAM as a whole and to consider strategically who on the TEAM could make the best use of such an item.

[@Willlive032]

Another way I’ve always dealt with something like that is that I always make them roll for it, and if it’s an actual situation happening then I pause and see what’s going on.

[@Astropeleki]

I've even a better solution: if someone shows signs of being a murderhobo/imbecile, tell them once to quit the crap and if they don't comply tell them to fuck off. No, I don't care it will ruin the session: it's on the problem player, not me.

[@Majora48]

Or at least have a roll off..

[@justinparry1621]

Hmm. Killing Squish with no evidence he was the thief sounds like metagaming to me. Grounds to disallow an immediate attack on the kobold?

[@milkman4407]

Yeah

[@TheMightyBattleSquid]

Also, his character didn't even know it was stolen yet, only his player did.

[@windiashe126]

Exactly! #1 rule characters don’t know what the players discuss between them

[@ShiKageMaru]

Honestly, the DM should take half of the blame. When a player is being that obvious a problem, they need to get taken to the side and/or kicked out way before it gets that far.

[@trinalgalaxy5943]

The fact the rest of the party was more interested in keeping the problem player in than the multitude of grievances that player committed against OP is disturbing. Moreover, the fact that OP had to apologize and revert while that ass didnt even get reprimanded is very much a bad DM.

[@VaughnSilver]

We can only guess but to me it sounds like a party of individuals who may only want to look out for themselves. You can't blame someone for being toxic to the team if you are never a team.

[@CursedVideos]

To play devil's advocate. Maybe we are only seeing the story from this man's POV. Maybe in reality he was the problem player, or some parts of the story were purposely left out. But what do I know, I am just a lowley bard.

[@JoshtheOverlander]

@@CursedVideos very true, but at that point it's just a matter of he said, she said

[@WhyYouMadBoi]

@@CursedVideos If we look at the story, we got a character who most likely doesn't have magic items and is generally weaker than the rest of the part. (Then again he's a buffer bard) but lets assume any magic item he gets he has to give to his master. B: He has a Lol so r4ndumb kobold who can turn invisible at will. The DM then gives them the Deck of many things a notorious magic item that can ruin a campaign. Yeah so far OP might've been in the wrong a bit.

[@Stungunwol]

@@WhyYouMadBoi none of b was the player's fault, that was all on the dm.

[@Deathbringersora]

His player knew about the theft, but not his character... definitely a metagame move and a bad DM who cared more about his friend's feelings than his new player.

[@marooniballooni03759]

That part when rant wanted to kill squish because he took the deck from him even though he was sleeping is definitely meta gaming.

[@Lietuvis0000]

Meta gaming rocks

[@Roukle]

DM should never have allowed 90% of this.

[@MazzaAzi]

This party and DM really did just go "No! Not the asshole who used a wish spell just to kill the party mascot!" un-ironically . Oof, that's bad.

[@Lizard-Man-WB]

Squish is adorable

[@EclipseHighroller]

The fact the dm didn’t stand up for the player, I would have quit. The dm was almost as toxic and bad as rant.

[@TheMightyBattleSquid]

Exact same, I said to myself at that point that I would've just left then and there. Problem player went out of his way to be an asshole throughout the campaign and then did multiple back-to-back with metagame knowledge (he said he had already gone back to his room to sleep but suddenly teleported back in to kill Squish) before claiming that he was justified because HE feels like HE doesn't have enough player agency when he isn't being allowed to get his way 100% of the time. Fuck 'em and fuck the DM and to a lesser extent the party that let that get so bad. I can't imagine being in anyone's shoes here and letting a player like OP who just wanted a fun character quirk face this kind of abuse to this extent for this long.

[@jorgemigueltavares6041]

Honestly, I would've just left the group, but not before calling Rant out for his idiocy and hypocrisy. You do not touch the Squish.

[@cnkclark]

Exit with the declaration that No D&D is better than Bad D&D.

[@immortaldestruction4072]

A dick option but a bard at a high enough level to cast mass cure wounds has clear potential to annihilate a Fighter like Rant or even the entire party if needed with control spells without even needing magic items. And starting pvp against them that many times, humbling Rant would had been well deserved.

[@thehowlinggamer5784]

Ah! Squish is so adorable!

[@ryaku5]

The DM should have had a stronger spine in dealing with that problem player Rant. He sounds like an absolute jerk and I hope I never have him at my table.

[@kardoxfabricanus7590]

Your channel avatar looks pretty cool where did you get it?

[@ryaku5]

@@kardoxfabricanus7590 My talented sister, the co writer/co artist of the Shiloh Web comic, drew it for me as a gift.

[@kardoxfabricanus7590]

@@ryaku5 Cool i love dragons so i would love to check out this comic.

[@ryaku5]

@@kardoxfabricanus7590 Oh, the comic doesn't have any dragons in it. It's more of a realistic grungy story. The picture is one of my OC's. I'm just a terrible artist.

[@kardoxfabricanus7590]

@@ryaku5 hah my avatar is also of my OC I even made a costume and am planning a lot with that character.

[@chuchupow]

I think OP should have talked to the DM and problem player well before the 15th session. Like I understand they're new to the server and they don't want to start anything; but DND is a collaborative game and it's everyone's job to make sure everyone is having fun. If no one knows you're having a bad time then nothing is going to change. People can't read minds

[@fugitiveunknown7806]

Agreed. This should have been handled way earlier. After the Rant literally had his life saved by Autumblight, he should have at least begrudgingly accepted him as a party member.

[@Amayawolf_01]

I *maybe* understand the other players not stepping in because this guy would probably roll pvp on them, but how is the DM allowing any of this?? Just because the character is a slave to someone else doesn't make him untrustworthy, especially considering he can't lie, and this is just blatantly bullying another character. At the beginning it could be considered rp distrust/dislike, but when he started actively metagaming it was just this guy trying to ruin someone else's fun. I also think the DM should have privately told OP about the deck being returned, because a similar thing happened in one of the games I played where something was stolen from a player and despite our suspicions we couldn't actually prove it was the player we all immediately looked at. Probably would've saved Squish from getting killed off for no reason from an rp standpoint.

[@cullenlatham2366]

At least while listening, up until the fallout, i can at least give benefit of the doubt to the problem player only role-playing, especially as the "rivalry" was taken well by the victim. Where i draw the line is going out of their way to try and kill the mascot. Sure, maybe an attack or 2 is valid enough in roleplay if the context was better, but wasting a wish?! Then comes the biggest problem: the group going out of their way to keep the player instead of addressing their selfishness. To have any chance at being an understandable choice, we'd need a novel of the exploits of the player, at which point "main character syndrome" would only become ever more apparent.

[@lordkhaelesdrakos5153]

Alot of this could have been avoided if op had stood up for himself at session 1, the minute another player yanked something out of my hands I'd have let him know that if he doesn't return what he took he gets no heals

[@Amayawolf_01]

This is the reason I always say "Don't piss off the healer"

[@lordkhaelesdrakos5153]

@@Amayawolf_01 back in 3.5 you knew better, and any earlier you might as well leave the table if the cleric was mad

[@fugitiveunknown7806]

To be fair though, as someone magically bound to the LoW to help the party, he didn't really have that option. Normally, not a big deal, unless one of the players is being an asshole.

[@willparry530]

@@fugitiveunknown7806 yeah, but he could have justified it as 'the character is harming the party by interfering with me' and their orders were to help the party.

[@NessaEllenesse]

I had to do this over a scroll of wish. It was in my inventory. The party ranger needed some gold for something. That was when the ranger remembered my wizard had a scroll of wish and demanded it. The market value of the scroll (he would have only gotten half) was exactly what he needed. I refused. This was when the monk joined in and demanded I give everyone their gold piece value of the scroll or forfeit the item. I am going to pause the story right here to tell you that we had not done this for anyone's items before this. And I had obtained this scroll before the monk joined the party. So all through out his time in the campaign the monk had been acquiring items he did not have to pay the party for and now he wanted a share of a treasure for an encounter he wasnt present for. I reminded him of these two facts. That was when the cleric also not there for the encounter butted in said and demanded the scroll be sold as it was too dangerous to be kept. The player had really bad experiances with wish in previous campaigns from a player who abused the spell. Finally my sister stepped in and threatened to sneak attack anyone who didnt back off. Bare in mind, this is 3 5 I had a fulky optimized wizard/Warmage/ ultimate magus. I could have if I wanted to leveled the rest of the party especally if I had my sister's help

[@koryh9802]

got a semi-problem player, he's not really meaning to hurt the game but when he smokes so much weed before hand that he forgets that we're in combat when we're all invested, it ruins the immersion or when we gave him the spotlight for a moment in the game, he didn't pay attention to anything happening to his character till it was over, and asks to repeat it all over again like dude please for the love of god stop smoking before game

[@jessegoonerage3999]

Player: "I use my wish to kill squish." GM: "How do you phrase that?" Player: "I wish to kill squish" GM: "Okay. A boulder falls on you. You're killed by being squished."

[@GreaterGrievobeast55]

AAAAGH! Everyone keeps making kobolds so dang cute!!! Killing one after negotiating is way too ruthless!! *yirbek lives!*

[@corncrab]

Anyone notice the phrase "straw that broke the camel's back" is used a lot in these stories?

[@hackcubit9663]

It kind of makes sense. Someone behaving badly one time tends to be easily forgiven both in-character and out. After all, if you're all a team fighting on the same side, minor idiocies are easy to look past. Especially if it's good roleplaying (e.g. the first time Rant was an ass). But when faced with repeated bad behavior, I think each situation is a case of "just how much of this can I tolerate?" Those of us with forgiving natures can tolerate a lot but that doesn't mean we like it.

[@willparry530]

@@hackcubit9663 hear hear!

[@hackcubit9663]

Disliking another character, in character, is one thing. But when your roleplaying is deliberately putting that other character at a disadvantage, how is that not a form of metagaming in and of itself? I feel like it should have been the GM's responsibility to first meet with Rant's character in an attempt to reach some kind of agreement, and failing that, secretly deck OP's character out to keep things balanced, with an added "binds on attunement" effect just to spite Rant and to prevent the guy from just strong-arming his way through every situation he didn't like.

[@TheHighborn]

Guy should have stopped healing the problem player after the first altrecation, using his words "i don't work for you, i work for waterdeep"

[@mlawler1984]

Your sponsor content audio was slightly off from the video throwing me off a bit lol. Really enjoy the channel and stories! Can't wait for the rest of the all guardsmen party.

[@androzeta]

Video starts at 1:28

[@Squidly_the_Witch]

Unless we're missing some context (which is always a possibility with these stories.) It certainly sounds like the whole group sucked. PC rivalry and some inter party conflict is fine, but the fact that nobody but the DM stood up for OP's character by session 15 is more than enough evidence of that. And even then the DM was more concerned about the douchey fighter leaving, than the fact that he'd used a Wish to kill Squish for giving OP a magic item. Seriously what kind of DM would let that kind of shit happen anyway? Rant never seemed to have to roll to just snatch shit away from Lyndon, any decent DM/PC would've stopped that shit dead in its tracks. Not even talking about it from an ingame perspective, just on principle alone. The rest of the party doesn't looks any better either, since they let this crap continue for the entire game. Only caring when Rant killed Squish, despite OP saying that Lyndon had made friends with some of them by that point. Didn't seem like they cared after OP's blowup either... I understand if their characters didn't care that someone who'd been helping them along their quests, isn't getting any magic items or gold.(I don't agree with it but I could understand it) But the players themselves? That's what really annoys the shit out of me.

[@LocalMaple]

Haven’t had a problem player yet. I’ve only played in family games though… I guess the familiarity means we don’t dare try anything.

[@lkriticos7619]

Or that you know each other well enough that you know what would be OK at the table and what would upset people. I've encountered problem players, but only really online. Face to face games with strangers and games with friends I haven't really had any problems and I think that's pretty normal. Most of the time when I hear these stories it's strangers playing online. Not all online games are like that but it really helps to know the others players.

[@willparry530]

@@lkriticos7619 being acquainted definitely helps people already understand some boundaries

[@sipsomecrowsoda]

My problomatic player story is a rather recent one, it happened at the summer of last year. That campaign is still going on now. However I joined this campaign a couple of days before it started, my good friend invited me to his campaign and I was jazzed for it. I hand;t played normal dnd for years(I had spent almost 4 years writing and dming for a homebrew creation called Future DND that ended up having just short of 10 seasons with 7 different parties) so when I joined I was excited. The first few sessions went normally, until the problematic player noticed that I was very good at conversation and checking for things I could exploit. He did not like that I was good at talking. The DM rewarded me with certain items to help this newbie party(forgot to mention I was the only player who had played before) but the problematic player saw this as me being the main character even though he was the one with the most RP breaks/metagaming/kills in combat. I was obviously confused, because he was doing well, but he thought that I was just more important than him. He decided to be a jackass to me the entire time until the DM and I had a conversation about him. He got a warning but didn't change, he repeatedly tried to kill of my character because he didn't like me. He is now a somewhat decent player that I let join my homebrew campaigns because his friends beg me too. He is much better but I still don't like that he acts like that when someone speaks up to talk to NPCs instead of keeping a calm head

[@agsilverradio2225]

If my paladin were in the party, he would force the other players to treat this character as a equaly, do the quest as normal, then liberate the character from her slavery or die trying.

[@sheep9546]

Mine got ruined by a problem dm. He always attacked me and killed off my character. And always tried to prevent me from doing something because of some bs reason

[@SnepBlepVR]

Problem players are a lot more rare than problem DMs .-. A lot of Problem players are created by Problem DMs.

[@ShitpostingJoJo]

Ah, the memes are strong on this one 🤣👌

[@ZippKitt]

Heavy platinum

[@layedout778]

wow. That's some CRAZY table behavior. I've been involved in an Issue a time or 3 :) In the end...I love Squish and did'nt even play your game!

[@Key-jc8kw]

Always have a plan. In some cases a few non lethal spells would help if words don't get across. I.e sleep, gravity, hold person.

[@maxrobinson4835]

Damn that’s so unfortunate but at least there was a happy ending!

[@nvfury13]

Moment I, as a DM, learned dumbass, who has been acting the way he has throughout the game, had gone down and not informed the party (or me). “Don’t worry about it. You guys notice [character] isn’t there.” Op goes back for him “You find a group of scavengers tearing at his very dead body. Roll a new character dumbass, maybe next time remember that I and the party need to know if you go down, and this time try not to create a complete jerk. You get all his items, OP?”

[@25taylor91]

What a dillweed

[@clericofchaos1]

a whole lot of metagaming and a whole lot of open hostility. Sounds like a bad experience all the way through. On the one hand, i do kind of get it. If someone openly admitted that they were there to spy on the party, i'd be kind of mad too. Especially if he also openly admitted that he had no free will and had to do what his masters said. I'd basically have to be on guard constantly, knowing that this guy would probably betray the party at some point. That might make me hesitant to give him magic items too. Honestly, anything at all that might make it easier for him to kill the party would make me nervous. On the other hand though, if the character admitted all this and still tried his best to be a help and not a hinderance i'd probably ease up on him after a couple of sessions. Just sort of making peace with the situation he's in and adopting a "we'll cross that bridge if we come to it" attitude.

[@hackcubit9663]

I mean how hard is it to respond to "anyone want this magic short sword?" with "go ahead, your open honesty and deliberate help to us has earned you that sword."?

[@fugitiveunknown7806]

Yeah, he literally goes out and risks getting flambed to rescue the fighter. That was the cue to stop being an asshole.

[@Zarkonem]

I think the correct response from the party should have been "Oh no! That's terrible! We should help you gain your freedom whenever we get the chance!"

[@clericofchaos1]

@@Zarkonem I'd be down for that.

[@willparry530]

@@Zarkonem 100% this

[@DomyTheMad420]

cmon man, less negatives more positives :(

[@hedwigon6951]

As soon as the sword got snached, I would have left

[@elknerdgary2698]

I need more all guardsmen party stories

[@willparry530]

I have o doubt we'll get 'em XD

[@brothercrazzer2883]

My dm is very specific with good behavior we also have 3 strikes and all our players are good but we have a problemish player but she's trying to change so it's all good

[@AngelicEternity92]

ya... it makes no sense why that player wasn't removed early, or even mid way through, with all that...

[@TheSqoad]

Wow, I'd hate to play with this DM. Problem player is actively enabled by the DM. Roleplay is good and all, but who actually enjoys playing a cooperative game where players choose to be mistrustful, untrustworthy, and unhelpful toward one another? Is this really what people look forward to when playing TTRPGs? Surely a bare minimum of party cohesion should be enforced by the DM. Work together.

[@Lietuvis0000]

it seems a problem player is a Forefer Dm :D

[@Stxrria]

Honestly wanna play dnd but I’m 14 with no friends and insecure of my voice 💀

[@getefix3]

as a player it might take a few applications to games but you could always try roll20 to find a group, from my experience the best way to get more confident is to 'rip off the band aid' as it were, to just get stuck in and go for it - i used to get nervous too but years of online gaming and roleplaying has really helped. at your age i would always add the obvious "be careful who you talk to online" line - not that i think anything will happen but just be careful

[@Stxrria]

@@getefix3 thank you I’ll try harder to come out of my shell I’m just scared ppl will turn me away because I’m too young 😭

[@Alfredox314]

I would beat the crap out of that player.

[@evangrescol7772]

Oh boy. OP was new, so I don't blame him, but he probably should have stood up to Rant at some point or at least message the DM how he was feeling. The only thing I can think of is that Rant must have been a friend to the DM or something, because it sounds to me like he got away scot free for essentially metagaming and throwing a fit any time op did something for himself. But perhaps there was more to this that would explain why the DM ruled that way. Either way, this situation sucks. Hope op is still playing though. Still a lot of good players and DMs out there. :)

[@NEKOEVE]

While the Problem player comes out as an absolute asshat, especially when using a wish to try and kill another player's companion and should have been addressed by the dm. Really they should have just let the fighter leave after calling him out on the BS of his player agency over taking another player's item when he wasn't there to begin with. Up until then, the fighters not exactly wrong, OP is playing a "Problem Player Character." ((Can really tell OP is a DM)) The character has to report truthfully to the people running waterdeep, and can always be tracked by them. Depending on the alignment of the party, it's a free pass of "That's what my character would do" To get away with screwing over the rest of the party.

[@russdarracott395]

Wtfh???!!!

[@idkwhat___is]

Let’s gooooo

[@finalfox6323]

Yay second comment

[@kiritokazuto4383]

Ha First comment

[@superk-boy5299]

HA! The first comment on the first comment.

[@willparry530]

@@superk-boy5299 HA! the first reply to the first comment on the first comment :P

[@absolutelydemonic]

Tbf, Rant has brought up some really good points and his actions are justified. 1) How and why would you trust someone who has openly admitted to not having free will and who will turn on the party at any moment because the masters said so. 2) Kobolds could've betrayed them, warned the dragon and bushed the party potentially causing player death. 3) Drawing from the Deck of Many thing IS dangerous and shouldn't be done at a whim unless that's what everybody wants. So I am on board with 90% of everything Rant did.

[@DeathsHood]

1) A character who flat out tells you they have been ordered to help you, and cannot go against his masters wishes, is the character you trust *the most.* He literally can't act against you unless his master says to. So his aid is _absolute_ until that time, if it ever comes. 2) Your logic would mean that literally anyone isn't trustworthy, because literally anyone can betray you. Never trust a shopkeep. They could betray you. Never trust the urchin you paid for info. Betrayal around the corner. The BBEG's disenfranchised minions? Betrayers. The enslaved populace working the mines? Backstabbers. Never trust a turncoat from any faction ever throughout the entirety of every campaign you ever play. They could betray you. 3) Yes, drawing from TDoMT is incredibly dangerous. *Literally every player who has ever read about it* knows that. It can also be one of the *most useful and powerful* aids in the game. Deciding that you, as a player, get to veto the decisions of another player because "yOu CaN't bE tRuStEd!" or whatever other nonsense, when every decision they have made up to that point in-character has been for your *explicit* benefit, makes you an asshole. If this story is true, Rant was deliberately acting against the _player,_ not the character. His decisions were to mess with a player; not to be safe, smart, or practical.

[@Molzzok]

Not trying to start any arguments so take what I say as my opinion and nothing else. Note: Forgive me for long post... In regards to #1 OP said his collar forces him to tell the truth + let his masters track him...so if anyone is worried about OP betraying the party during any part of the campaign all you real have to do is ask (In better words to ensure he can't find a loophole) If he has been ordered to do anything against the party prior to joining or anytime after...and nothing stops you from asking as many times as you want. Basically he can't lie even if his masters ordered it. As for #2 I agree with DeathsHood in regards to literally ANYONE can betray you kobold or not and if anyone believes otherwise well...I hope you have a plan to win that fight or a backup character already written up. If you think said person/monster/pet/whatever will betray you then have a plan in advance AKA be prepared not paranoid...that or I'm paranoid but still... #3 Yes Deck of many things is very VERY dangerous any any use of it needs to be planned very carefully or not at all but if I find it in a campaign I hope if whoever draws ends up drawing something that would kill the party/end the campaign the DM instead kills the player who drew it cause no even the DM does not want the campaign to end normally... Normally when I hear the Deck of many things being in a campaign its a plot device of some kind but never think that is a 100% guarantee.

[@craigtucker1290]

Why didn't Rant tell Lyndon he went down earlier? He can't because he is down and can't speak. Saying as much is metagaming. I also can't blame the initial reactions from Rant to the posters character, it actually makes sense as who is this and Lyndon is not actually part of the party, just an agent for someone else. A party does not have accept such a character or one with a weird backstory into their group as that is the groups player agency. However, the last bit involving the the deck and killing squish is when Rant's player was actually being a bad player. I agree with Rant not allowing Lyndon to draw from the deck as this can end campaigns and missions, but taking the deck and retaliating for things his player doesn't know isn't cool, it's metagaming.

[@Lietuvis0000]

people and need pc and dm to lower they expetacions people not to used to play so difficult campains . 90% players plays dnd like skyrim .

[@timberwolf8182]

This is tolerating way too much. I dont know where people get stories like this because every player i have had puts up with very little. All this strikes me as odd