I made a Shadow Sorcerer. He was a wholesome Goliath with 6 INT. He passed some INT check regardless and accidentally became the leader of the party. "I may be an idiot. But I'm not stupid."

OP: *makes a character with even the slightest bit of tragedy no matter how light the tragedy may be* DM: "Lol sounds *cringe* and *edgy*." Me: "You use those words. I don't think they mean what you think they mean."

@pavelZhd

2 жыл бұрын

I mean... The DM complains about a character being edgy and then proceeding to world build a whole race being enslaved and followers of a good diety being prosecuted. Year... right. He is clearly avoiding cringy edge...

"Hey, make a character." "What kind?" "I'm giving you NOTHING to work with. Figure it out." *lots of ideas* "...NO." Yeah, this worked well.

@PaladinGear15

2 жыл бұрын

I remember once joining a game of mage the awakening, and was told right away that the best thing about this kind of game is that you don't have to make combat oriented characters whatsoever. Sounded like it'd be an interesting change, so I made basically a rich business man with some control over technology, and some divining magic, not a combat ability in sight. Dude pretty much tears my character down and makes me into Widowmaker from Overwatch XD

@marknezanuto

Жыл бұрын

I will just say goodbye after second no. If no were in exact same worlds i will just say "go fk yourself" just after "its cringe manchild".

I work on a "three-strikes and your out" rule with DMs when I'm a player. If a DM becomes controlling like this one time and won't even attempt to budge, I'll try something else. Two times, and I'll suggest tweaks before moving on. Three times and I bow out of the game, since there is no way the DM isn't this controlling during the game as well. Once is a happenstance. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern.

@curtisfranzen986

2 жыл бұрын

As a DM, you should be the same way. As an example, I kicked an LG PALADIN, RULES LAWYERING,MURDER HOBO from the group. The 3 other players were new to the game. We had alot of fun playing, as they learned the game. Watching new players develop was so much fun.

I think if I had to pitch more than two or three characters to a DM without them all getting shut down, I'd just not join at that point. Even if the DM wasn't being a controlling dick, it would be a good sign that we just want different things out of the campaign. Also, session zeros! Talk together as a group!

@chrisadams1438

2 жыл бұрын

Especially because it was just "shutting down," with no constructive criticism offered. This reminds me of the one about the DM who handed out pre-genned characters to his players for all of his campaigns.

@kevinfelton689

2 жыл бұрын

I wanna play a shadow sorcerer. No. I wanna play a half orc fighter. No. I wanna play a dragonborn. No. I wanna play in a different campaign.

@Eldridozen

2 жыл бұрын

Man, yeah after that many shut downs I would just be like 'If you don't want me to join, just say so.' - that's how I would take it, anyway. Just ridiculous. Especially when this was an online session with strangers? And they didn't even have anything super compelling about the world to go on? Too old to have a taste for bullshit anymore I guess.

@allenyates3469

2 жыл бұрын

I typically see "character pitch" as a red flag anyway. I like rolling random characters and building their story during the game. I'm not interested in playing out a script.

@winterwombat

2 жыл бұрын

@@allenyates3469 I'm a big fan of character pitches myself, but definitely not the way this GM handles it. The pitch isn't there for me (as GM) to accept or reject; it's there so that everyone at the table can take a look, see any potential problems or opportunities, and discuss things as a group to make sure everything works out nicely.

...it just feels like the "fantasy writer" didnt want to play dnd

@chrisadams1438

2 жыл бұрын

Ikr, feels like he wanted actors for a script but didn't want to come out and say it

@unluckyone1655

2 жыл бұрын

Or only he was allowed to make "dark" and "tragic" characters. Im willing to bet that warlock got a pass because he was probably either pre genned or friends with DM "fantasy writer" irl

"My God this DM STINKS!!"

@superboy1200

2 жыл бұрын

Oh come on I'm sure they shower.

@Gazing-09

2 жыл бұрын

I think it was more like "Oh brother this guy STINKS!!!"

There's a right way to be an author in D&D. It's called "Record of Lodoss War", and it worked because it was written after the campaign.... three campaigns... ended.

@DrPluton

2 жыл бұрын

Such a good anime.

@YamadaJisho

2 жыл бұрын

Ah, the anime that got me into fantasy in the first place.

@ArcmageZaln

2 жыл бұрын

Three?

@KentaroMiyamoto21

2 жыл бұрын

@@ArcmageZaln The original light novels told three different stories set in the same world. The OVA combined elements from all of them.

@ArcmageZaln

2 жыл бұрын

@@KentaroMiyamoto21 I see. Thank you. 😁 Only really watched the anime.

Nobody: Chris Redfield: Ethan! No! This dm: *furiously takes notes*

Man, I have fought golems who were more flexible than that DM.

It's amazing that a DM that is so fundamentally disconnected from the idea of player agency can still run a fun session. Am I the only one who sees the huge contradiction here? If you think about it, that means that if he stopped trying to micromanage his players he would be one of the best DMs out there.

A green skin doesn't want to die a warrior's death? That's literally their thing. It's what Grumche would do...

Giving someone a creative task with countless unspoken restrictions is just cruel!

I hope David also tapped two swamps and another land to play that Undead Warchief

Forget horror stories on a session, talk about horror story starting at character creation

There’s being edgy and there’s actually trying to create motivation

@BlazingKhioneus

2 жыл бұрын

Mind defining that line?

@darko-man8549

2 жыл бұрын

@@BlazingKhioneus I think what I was getting at is: it's not "edgy" to create a reason for your character motivation. Like just because your character maybe comes from a broken background doesn't auto-make them edgy murder hobo

@BlazingKhioneus

2 жыл бұрын

@@darko-man8549 Gotcha. Tragedy for a reason is motivation. Tragedy for tragedy is edgy?

@darko-man8549

2 жыл бұрын

@@BlazingKhioneus forced tragedy i'd say is a perhaps first indicator

"I'm not really a fan of John Wick" Neither am I. However it is the players choice of character type. They are playing the character. Not the DM. You don't need to make the adventures John Wick type. But what the DM likes has no relevance to what kind of character the player wants to play.

when i help my players with their characters creation i always worry ill end up like this "fantasy author". in the end his character ended up really great with some tweaking every once in a while. hes one of the whole groups favorite characters.

So I've been watching your D&D horror stories for a while now and, weirdly, they make me want to try D&D more and more? I've never played before tho, and when I went to look on roll 20 I found it kinda confusing and didn't really know how to go about finding a game or what to look for and all that. It would be super useful if you could do a complete newbies guide to how to start playing D&D and use Roll 20 etc. I'm sure I'm not the only wannabe D&Der who is a bit lost as to how to start. Thanks in advance!

@stephaniejenkins7822

2 жыл бұрын

I don't know how practical this is for you, but maybe you should look into joining a D&D Facebook page/group for your area? They're usually full of help and are willing to redirect you to where you can find games if you can't use roll20.

@ratboy2

Жыл бұрын

same lmao 😂 even though the stories are bad and might make some folks feel apprehensive about playing, i really want to find a group after listening to this series for a while. it’s funny. also good idea! idk if crispy’s done anything like that, since im focusing on watching all the horror stories first… would be good tho 👁

@Stephanie568

Жыл бұрын

I only played one session of D&D before (played like 3-5 sessions of Dungeon World) but hearing these horror stories do make me want to play but it also makes me hesitant if that makes sense.

I know in the dnd and ttrpg community that being edgy can be used as a derogatory running joke where that one guy with a tragic origin story has to be this over the top serious boy who can’t emote anything beyond the mile long stare. Thats one example I’m tossing here as a reference. But there can be good edgy characters that can be developed and change from their disposition. In fact, I’ll even admit to liking edgy characters. Best reason I got… I like batman. There, i said it!

@LordSvzklx

Жыл бұрын

I think what can make an edgy character work is self-awareness. Like, an edgy character who realises how messed up they are can have some depth; the better versions of Batman (to steal your example) are the ones that know exactly how traumatised he is and is doing what he does specifically to prevent that kind of trauma happening to other people. A bit of self awareness and you can explore complex character depths as opposed to being just a shallow cliche

If you are giving exp for rp either give it to everyone or to everyone involved, never just make it a competition for xp

I'm sorry but I gotta give OP some flak. There were so many points before the end that should have been the moment of gtfo. The last straw I would have given is where the DM didn't acknowledge any of OP's input into their own character back story. But I'd likely have left before the session started due to how near impossible the dm is making it to create a character. But hey live and learn

@jamiekamihachi3135

2 жыл бұрын

I don’t want to second guess other people I don’t know but dozens of rejected characters over two whole weeks, yeah I would have said I guess I’m not the right fit for this campaign and then leave.

@jamesmahon6788

2 жыл бұрын

@@jamiekamihachi3135 especially from shoddy reasoning too

@jamiekamihachi3135

2 жыл бұрын

@@jamesmahon6788 I don’t play D&D but it seems like a big personal investment in time and energy so if I did want to play I wouldn’t want to spend hours with someone I couldn’t stand. If this was an old friend who became toxic over time, a family member, or friend of a friend I could see that being much harder to avoid but OP seems to not have any personal connections with this group so why not find another?

@jamesmahon6788

2 жыл бұрын

@@jamiekamihachi3135 true indeed. And while you may not play dnd it's a very easy feeling to understand as you put a part of yourself into making characters. Same as you may make a painting/drawing/game and then for someone to dismiss it or replace it. Only thing I could guess is perhaps OP just felt starved to play and hence desperation to want to just play blinded them a bit. Let it be known no dnd is better than bad dnd

"He never referred to himself as a Dungeon Master. He always referred to himself as a Fantasy Author" LMAO...Even I wouldn't do that at a table, and I've actually written 2 fantasy novels. DMing and fantasy writing are slightly similar yet very different things.

I don't think anything can beat the furry "I make you my sexual partner" DM(PC) story, so this seems mild... when it shouldn't...

"David plays an Island" Well it's clear what happened, he played Era Walk and accidentally skipped time.

I belive in milestone supremacy u.u

no

If the DM makes up the character during character creation and it's not a pre-written character, then get out. It's one thing if they want to curtail certain races, classes or even even setting's backstory. But unless it's a pre-written character for a certain type of game, the DM should NEVER force you to play something you don't want to or ignore your character in favor of their own backstory. A character you make is yours and the DM needs to respect this. If they shoot you down without trying to work with you and then force their character unto you, you don't have to put up with it.

@kevinfelton689

2 жыл бұрын

I could see doing it for a first time player. Just because they could take a class that has some really tough features or that they don't really understand. But A) it should ONLY be for first timers and B) you need a ton of input from the player so they still get the character that they want.

@Arlesmon

2 жыл бұрын

i mean, they arlready control the world, the story, the outcomes, how many enemies will appear and what kind of rewards they'll have and if the parts of the backstory will come up At the very least the players need some agency in the only thing they can actually control and interact with the world.

This DM seems to be a firm believer in the idea that HE is the center of the game and the only reason for it to exist. Players having fun among themselves? Bah, humbug!

@ZorotheGallade

2 жыл бұрын

The fact that his response to a player having Covid was starting to piss and rant about HIS CAMPAIGN BEING RUINED just shows how shitty of a person he is.

DM: "I don't like that character idea." OP: "I don't care. You don't have to play it."

@eospolaris9472

2 жыл бұрын

They do have to play *with* it tho. Not defending DM here, but in general a DM shouldn't have to endure characters that he doesn't like

@JD-mh8be

2 жыл бұрын

@@eospolaris9472 you have a point but only if you give some sort of reasoning better than "because I said so" you are not my mother so you can't use that bs better have a good reason

@ZorotheGallade

2 жыл бұрын

DM: "You dare use my own spells against me, OP?"

“Erathis” sounds rather familiar to anyone who’s seen either dune movie or read the book.

My dm runs a roleplay rewards system that actually Works. He doesn't rewards everything, especially just dumping lore and stuff. But every game all players start with a coin they can cash in to either: reroll once, hit to crit, or gain insight when stuck. Players can get get a new coin if they roleplayed something specificly well, or did something clever that adds to the story. In our group it's not a competition, for the most part we tend to forget that theres ways go gain coins. But when we do it feels like our dedication and love for the game gets rewarded and apreciated

As soon as OP mentioned RP based XP rewards I immediately thought that was a terrible idea. I prefer to award inspiration for good RP moments.

I do my best to avoid outright saying no to players. If there’s a way to make their character concept fit into the campaign world, I’ll let them play it.

That DM does us writers a disservice.

"I'm a fantasy Author" is a red flag in my book. I will also save every rejected backstory because I KNOW the more effort I put into one, the more likely he'll be to reject them.... so that he'll get more backstories. Him giving bonus experience for role-play also served two purpose. One was to incentivse players to give him more story material, and give him a means to play favorites while deflecting the blame for the favoritism upon the favored individual.

Bonus exp for RP can work, but you have to do it right. It’s a mechanic in White Wolf/Onyx Path games, for example. The thing is bonus exp is limited to one or two points per session (depending on game). The limit gives everyone motivation to RP without making it a competition and usually results in everyone getting a point in my experience.

Just hearing this story pissed me off enough that I had to pause it a few times to cool off for 10-15 minutes.

Either OP has the patience of a goddamn saint, or had never heard the axiom "No D&D is better than Bad D&D" when this story happened. I'm all for changing elements of backstory to fit the world of the campaign better, but having it completely rewritten or vetoed outright with no good reason is just stupid on so many levels. The idea of "competitive roleplaying," if you will, also rankles. The RP should facilitate and enhance the telling of the story, not serve as a springboard for IRL player conflict. Add in the hypocrisy, pretentiousness, and lack of empathy and this is yet another DM that should have his TTRPG license revoked.

@JD-mh8be

2 жыл бұрын

Probably both

im not a fantasy writer, i just take everything ive ever liked in media and jumbled it together along with my players backstories and called it a day so long as they're having fun

My DM gives bonus XP for having good ideas and tackling his challenges with creativity. Like a time we suspected a big empty room had invisible creatures in it, and the wizard created a fog cloud. Four enormous silhouettes displaced the fog, and he got bonus XP for finding them in a neat way.

"No? Why Not?" "Because I said so."

I offer extra experience for RP.... to all the members of the party. If they RP together and amongst each other and encourage players to join in they get more. As long as there was an effort made.

*puts on my best Pinhead from Hellraiser: Revelations voice* "No!"

Almost 10k subs

"Why are the followers of s 'Good' god taking slaves and committing genocide?" * Stares in RL * ....

I would not have even joined the game at the first hard no without explanation. More over, if any DM. tries writing my backstory for me, that is a hard no. I doubt I need to explain that one.

I like the idea of seeing what kind of character will fit best with an established party. My Son, Josef, Wife Kathie, and I were out to dinner the other night. The subject of DND came up. I asked what kind of PC does the party need. It was suggested that fighter type, and a rogue could be be useful. I have a whole portfolio of PC'S and NPC'S. Being is that I definitely want to fit into the game, but purposely avoid being a focus, I thought playing an NPC from a previous campaign would work best. Sly the Henchlizard. Ranger/ Rogue lizard folk. Sly barely qualifies for a ranger. I would give him both the Ranger's subclass of shadow, and the rogue's. Sly's weapons are a cutlass and a bow. He is the shadow in the night. Josef and friends are interested in having Sly with them. For my part, I hope the young men are OK with an old school guy learning to play a new system.

Wyatt Earp: NOOOOO!;:{

The bonus XP thing is exactly why I'll never reward monster XP exclusively to the player who gets the killing blow. It just seems like it would turn the whole thing into a bitter competition.

The cold open story reminds me of someone finding their spouse is having an affair.

New meaning to railroading and no D&D is better than bad D&D

For the algorithm!!!!

That character creation would have been my final straw lol

No, I will not leave a comment suggesting I made it to the end of the video.

I have no idea why people put up with DMs like this for multiple sessions

@Arlesmon

2 жыл бұрын

some people are just starved for D&D, and thus some will keep up with stuff like this to finally play it

If a DM forced you to come up with a dozen ideas then either tell him “alright fuckface then what do you think I should play since you’re so picky” or leave

If you are doing xp based leveling rp xp seems like a good idea if distributed through the whole party. But only when the entire party is involved. And not every time

Is the DM in this story Harman Smith?

Your supposed to share exp... "No!"

"please leave a comment." .... NO. 😋

"NO"

I am amazed that anyone plays these games with this amount of craziness, laziness, and egotism. It seems that “everyone“ knows what makes a good game, a good leader, and a good storyteller but so many want to be the center of attention and control freaks. And people put up with it because they are friends or they can’t find a good group. But maybe it is listening to too many of these horror stories.

Yo!

Click like if you think had OP said the Character he wanted to play was Female, DM would have agreed on the spot to the first one

The last part was weird. The "Fantasy writer" wasn't blaming OP, he was blaming and complaining about covid

Also, why did this guy even go to the first session? Weren't the mountain of red flags big enough?

Crispy No

Doesn't anybody give XP for Roleplay? I've never played D&D, so I don't know about this system, but in most other games it is a core mechanic, explicitely described in the rule books and published adventures... give XP for good RP, suntract XP for exeptionaly bad RP... and obviousely not "shared" XP. Why should anyone gain experience from the action of someone else. Giving XP for role play doesn't turn the players into spotlight hogs, or if so, then about to the same amount as giving XP for combat turns them into murder hobos.... But then again, there is a reason I don't play D&D. The mechanics are way to combat focused or I don't get the rules..

This DM sounds like a prim a Donna. Honestly if he didn't want any of my character concepts and wouldnt explain why or refused to allow me any input in backstory, id bail.

You can't make me comment if I don't want to!

All of these stories are like incredibly annyoing people running into somehow even more annoying people, and then them fighting over unspoken and to them baffling social codes and obscure or irrelevant rules minutiae for MONTHS, and then trying to figure out who was the most annoying ... XD

Why couldn't the DM get Covid? Why did Bob Saget have to die of it and not this droog?

Nein!

No I won’t leave a comment

No!

No. This DM isn't allowed to write or run games anymore. His gaming license is permanently revoked for complete bull muffin behavior.

The RP for eXp sounds familiar. I did something similar in Wild Beyond the Witchlight. I gave out quiet a bit of eXp once they got to the aforementioned "wild" based on how many punches they had for rides and activities. (I'm a big newbie I don't know if that is normal. It is not in the book) but I didn't tell them that. I just encouraged them to try everything. And then gave them eXp after the carnival story block. That being said I don't enjoy combat heavy stories so they are going to have less chances to actually fight for leveling. They'll be more rewarded for talking thier way out of an encounter. And they did know that ahead of time as we have done a session zero. It's why I chose witchlight as fey pacts fit more my DM playstyle.

Nooooo

Leave a comment No! ^-^

No.... I hate DMs like this. Honestly, what's the point?

*ahem* no.

Poopie DM

That DM sounds insufferable. If you're going to gatekeep characters and backstories so much, write a book.

Hello Rat Daddy

NO

First

Noooooo. No.

No

no

If you're a DM who's gonna be picky about how someone makes, writes, or plays their character, just write a book.

@theuncalledfor

2 жыл бұрын

Define "picky". Because hurting the fun of other players or just making a character that is incoherent and nonsensical should be nipped in the bud, but this DM was vetoing characters for completely idiotic and selfish reasons.

@newbienoah9461

2 жыл бұрын

@@theuncalledfor that IS being picky.

no.

DM sucked, but every single character concept OP listed was edgy as hell. Agree that you need to give notes and not just shoot down ideas with no explanation.

@cuppykin

2 жыл бұрын

I'd have to disagree there, at least from what I've heard here. It just seems like character motivation and a compelling backstory, and you can have a character with an "edgy" backstory but not have the character itself be edgy, its how you play it, backstories can't just be "He was a guy and now hes an adventurer."

I'm guenuinly questioning op here I got to the point where op said he thinks it's a good idea for rp xp and how it's not shared omg that's a bad idea youd want the party to level equally and omg I hate this DM one thing dark and it's all edgy get a grip you baby

None

Why are the followers of a good god taking slaves and committing genocide? Have you read the Old Testament?

@theuncalledfor

2 жыл бұрын

That's not a good god. He just calls himself that and of course his worshippers believe him because they're his worshippers.

@emberfist8347

2 жыл бұрын

@@theuncalledfor He was a good god but that doesn't he had to play nice. He for example gave the Pharoh a chance to repent before he released the 10 Plagues of Egypt.

@emberfist8347

2 жыл бұрын

Well he didn't condone either in the Old Testament.

@jasminebryant4238

2 жыл бұрын

@@emberfist8347 Exodous 7:13 "And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said" KJV

dude you want to write your character? no thats cringe and edgi

No!

no

No