Yep the book thing at the beginning says it all really: Tom doesn't want players, he wants an audience to do as they're told and appreciate his story

Wow, Horrible DM, with childish tendencies. and I felt for the paladin guy, he didn't deserve this sort of emotional abuse. especially with stripping of paladin's holy power.

For me, DMPC would only be with the party until the end of that fight. In character I would have said "No, he's mine!", Paladin uses killing blow. I would let party know. DMPC I'd the one who is angry, and storms off. Then slowly I would turn the now NPC into Paladin's rival, and eventually a boss fight.

You can tell a DM's gonna suck when he looks at the paladin and goes "yep, he's my bitch, I've got the whole outer planes to come down on this guy if he doesn't kiss my ass every step of the way". Divine classes always get shafted like this, it's so stupid.

Other way to avoid DMPC but also send "strong" NPC with team - make them support. "Since X is with you, you will get advantage on all stealth checks, if you allow him to help you and guide yo through this cavern". PArty is still in charge, NPC just helps + gives great bonus... Players love bonuses.

@alarkhar

3 жыл бұрын

Another way is to use characters that aren't strong, but that are useful in a pinch; once in a campaign a player had decided to "play main character" and decided that if the rest of the team wouldn't follow his backstory he would simply not play - so, since the team wasn't exactly overpowered (three level one characters) I sent in three losers I created as NPCs: Takagi the Ninja Pirate ("he who skulks in the shadows, moves behind his victim and says ARRRR!"), Jonathon the CRIME INVESTIGATOR! (yes, I had to say it in all caps - basically an alchemist who thought he was the world's greatest detective, despite being eternally clueless) and... the Lusty Argonian Maid herself. They were mostly comic relief, but when in a pinch Takagi would use his Throw Anything feat to pelt the enemy with everything he could put his hands on, Jonathon could provide healing and Lifts-Her-Tail could offer skill support (lizard lady was pretty much a commoner, but had a TON of useful skills, from healing to cooking to crafting - for repair purposes only - and so on and so forth). The players LOVED them. Mr. Main Character not so much, though...

@XMaster340

3 жыл бұрын

But if your DMPCs are not completely overpowered, how would you show the party that you, the DM are the most awesome edge lord in the entire universe and that without your support they don't stand a chance against the evil godlike creatures that only your DMPCs can kill?

@draconicfeline6177

3 жыл бұрын

They also love healing and damage sponges!

@starbird3939

2 жыл бұрын

This. We had an npc who climbed up a tree and lobbed potions, cast spells, and readied actions

Yeah, the DM actually being angry about his DMPC's nemesis being killed by someone else should've been the key note to get out of there. Not as though he couldn't have fudged the creature's HP to keep it alive until the DMPC's turn or anything if he NEEDED him to kill it that badly... But no, turn it into a reason to hate a player for something his character did. And how is opening a fight ring to make money an evil act? Lot of weird stuff.

@wargrizzero5158

2 жыл бұрын

Selective enemy needing death saves instead of dying out right.

There is an insane level of emotional maturity required to be a DM and this guy? Had precisely NONE of it. Dear potential players: if your DM ever gets mad at you and starts screaming and cursing, you leave. That. Game.

I relate so hard to this story. it almost feels like a 1 for 1 of what happened to me, but a lot of switching around. Dm would be our knight and wizard, paladin would be our cleric, OP would be me. wizard and knight would always tell me how hours of RP would be deleted and how if i didn't allow it i would be a bad DM. our cleric just wanted to play but if the wizard didn't want him doing something, he would hold the cleric's npc wife over him. like seriously, leaving the game for hours and stalling the game only to come back and say "nothing happened" was something the wizard and knight did constantly. it got to the point that, as a DM, i would have to ask my players "hey, is this role play canon?" and the answer would always be "yes" until there were consequences or the NPCs involved weren't doing what the wizard and knight wanted. so sorry for OP and everyone involved in that game.

I found your channel so young yet your video quality is so grown, all the music, audio quality. Crisp, sir.

@CrispysTavern

3 жыл бұрын

Heh, crisp. I see what you did there... In all seriousness, thank you so much. Happy to have you here friend.

@IrrevMike

3 жыл бұрын

Tom just wants to railroad the characters into the story HE wanted. That and he's a whiny little dipshit.

I've seen a few situations where player of paladin says "I'm lawful good because I say so and everything I do is okay because I say so" Kill an innocent bystander? "I'm lawful good, so it's okay" Abandon his post as guard in the middle of the night? "I'm lawful good, so it's okay" Torture the captive goblin after the truth spell indicates it knows nothing? "I'm lawful good, so it's okay." Those I could see having the paladin's powers nerfed or taken away, but what the DM in this story did is (in my mind) inexcusable.

@360entertainment2

Жыл бұрын

Depending on the player alignment is usually subjective. That Paladin sees themselves as being lawful good just like a wild Karen who attacks a retail worker believes they’re being “lawful good” but we all know their beliefs don’t make them good, actions do!

Apart from everything else, that 50-40-10 really got me. First I thought the priest was played like a dick on purpose, then I realized the DM was being trite and stingy. IT'S MAKE-BELIEVE MONEY.

Honestly love your channel. I started to get really into dnd and it's now a special interest and ngl- I've been binging some of your videos.

@CrispysTavern

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much, glad you found them helpful and/or entertaining

I think most DMPCs should be support characters, the type of characters the party needs in a game, like if they need a healer, or a rogue, and they only step in when there's real trouble, and roleplay with the DMPC could happen only if the party wants to.

About the fighting rinks - Yeah so this campaign takes place in Exandria, where there _are_ fighting rinks. In Critical Role, Matt Mercer, DM and _creator of the campaign world_ placed at least one in Rexxentrum, Capital of the Dwendalian Empire in Wildemount. Granted, it was an illegal fighting rink but it existed and operated without trouble. It seems pretty nonsensical to say characters who want to start a fighting rink would just immediately get arrested.

Chachki I love listening to your stuff. Your opinions are always really good and well put together you're considerate kind and you're a great list and when I'm driving. Thanks for being awesome. May your adventures always be fun for everyone at the table.

DMPC was the evolution of the hirelings that were high level but smell of the Ego of the DM

When your fist D&D experience is your first bad experience. 🤦‍♀️

Everytime you say "today" I think of goddamn wonderwall

All these novel writers trying to make players go through a book... Honestly makes me feel bad for my own setting. I'm writing a book, that takes place in the same world that my D&D game does, and yet, I don't run it like a book. Any game I run takes place at minimum 15 years after any actual story events from the book. Establish characters are there, establish kingdoms and rulers are there, establish rules, council's, and more are all there, and the players influence all this. One way or another. Is that really so hard to do?

@mondenkindqueen

2 жыл бұрын

Anything less than a 60/40 split in the party’s favor is insulting.

I love this channel a lot and listen to it all the time, aber crispy insisting on saying DMNPC is an absolute pet-peeve, aarghh /nm

Every one of his groups has left him? You'd think he'd get a hint maybe.

If you want your campaign to be a Book, then play if first then write it as it happend.

I make game maps for my party in advance (this is my fav part of being a DM tbh) BUT try very hard not to railroad. So I'll make a few that the party can go to and change what's in them depending on where they go and what they do. That way I as a DM am still in control of the world and what's in it but the players get to pick what part of the world they'd like to explore. Annnnnd now I have a bunch of recyclable dudgeon maps. XD But yeah, like... IDK what is wrong with this DM. If they didn't want the party to do something they should have just said "no" or offered a compromise. Screwing over the party to try to dissuade them from what they want to do is just going to make everyone upset OOC.

What I prefer about IRL session. I get spit in the face of a DM like this.

Trinston was here...

Retconning is okay in small doses, and should be discussed with the players first. After all, it's their time, effort and roleplay that's largely being changed.

wait, what class was zee?

...I kinda like the _Fjord but in reverse_ paladin... too bad they had such a horrible GM

Nnn m

I used to like D&D back when it used to be a game about developing heros and overcoming obstacles with cunning and guile. Now it's some weird game about super powered characters at first level on par with the most powerful of the X-Men, but still call it Dungeons and Dragons for some reason.

@strawman5300

2 жыл бұрын

?

Lmao the players try to force a fight club money making scheme despite specifically being told by the DM that he didn’t want to run that kind of game. The real horror story here is the players