I was slammed for creating D&D plots that were enjoyable!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I remember when I was first DMing D&D. I was with my girlfriend and a few of her friends. I knew barely anything about the rules (compared to most DMs). I knew how to roll D20s and knew basic rules, but if you were going to, say, perform a Bull Rush, I’d had to spend a minute looking it up. I only DMed at all because I thought that it would be fun, it was a way of entertaining, of creating a world and letting people try to get through it.

Then I talked to Jamie…

Jamie Tachiyama is a friend of mine. He has been playing D&D for way, way too long. After I had DMed a few times, I called Jamie just to let him know that I had started DMing, and told him about a few of the games I had created. He started correcting me at every point. Not on issues about rules, or about enjoyment of the game, but about being realistic!

You see, my stories were all about the fun ideas that I had in my head. One story had the characters go into a spiraling tower with a wizard at the top that was way too powerful for the characters to combat. The only way to kill him was to use your bluff skill to convince the bodak to go upstairs and look at him, without letting him look at you. The players loved it, I mean, I got compliments for making a good game. But I got verbally castrated by my hardcore DnD friend for this one. Oh my God, why would a wizard have a Bodak as a friend!? And there’s no way you can bluff a bodak! I mean, they’re undead! Jesus! And why were the Dwarves smuffling precious metals - dwarves are upright and honorable!

I decided that I wasn’t cut out to be a real DnD player.

2

That’s something D&D’ers don’t like to talk about.

3

Well, that and the steroid allegations against the various barbarian classes. 'Roid rage indeed.

4

God, I said smuffling? I meant “smuggling.” Ouch.

5

Tell your friend (politely) to get stuffed. You had a good time. Your players had a good time. That’s the point of any game. If he didn’t like the way you did things, it’s HIS problem, not yours.

6

If I want realism, I can just go to the office and compile reports for 8 hours. Wheeeeeee!

I’m also not quite getting the whole argument that your Wizard / Undead creature relationship isn’t “realistic” enough. He does realize that this stuff is all made up, right?

7

Well, apparently the idea is that there is this DnD universe that I’m supposed to pay respect to. Apparently, having a wizard with a bodak as a pet would be like having Yoda live on Hoth, or something. It wouldn’t “make sense”.

'Cause, you know, having monsters that are amoeba-like blobs comprising of just mouths and eyes, which run around looking for other mouths and eyes to eat, really makes sense.

Admit it, you know what monster I just described.

8

Eh, I just house rule everything that I feel like. The rules are there to provide structure to combat. That’s it. My creatures’ behavior and abilities may or may not match the rulebook. I don’t want a player who’s read the Monsters Manuals to know every single attack and strategy of every opponent; their character wouldn’t know that, anyway, so in order to provide real surprise I can’t just present them with a standard monster.

Alignment categorization is something I nearly always change. I really hate the alignment system. Sure, a creature may be Lawful Good in his own mind, but that doesn’t mean he won’t kill you if you get in the way of his attempts to make things right. Saying “dwarves are good, therefore they would never do anything I interpret as wrong” is silly. They are a different culture. Likewise I allow some flexibility; I don’t institute alignment penalties (except for priests who violate the tenets of their god in a major way). I have one player in my campaign whose character harbors major grudges because of being enslaved. He hates authority and will torture and destroy to do what he thinks is right and good. Yet, he is kind to children and the poor, and will stop to help anyone in need. What alignment is he?

But then again I place all my campaigns in non-standard worlds so I can interpret things however I like. It’s never been a problem for anyone who actually plays to have fun and not some sense of “winning the game”.

9

The next time your friend complains, just ask him outside for a bit of Calvinball.

Some peoples is just too uptight.

10

Gibbering Mouther, was it not?

11

Don’t you mean “smuffed”?

12

My SO is the DM in our circle of friends, and he is just like you - makes his own rules for everything, and even customizes the monsters to his needs. I say screw the rules and have a good time.

I once bought a D&D manual from the local store. Along with it I bought som e paints for my miniatures. Now I don’t play with the miniatures, merely paint them, but someone stopped me and in the most snooty tone, said “Those don’t go together.” I shook my head, and simply told him I wasn’t putting them together. Who cares, anyway?

13

We should invent a role playing game that is basically going to the office every day. Like you get personal ratings for things like Computer Efficiency, Meeting Deadlines, Accuracy, Orderliness, EXCEL Proficiency, PowerPoint Proficiency, Butt Kissing. Your battles are with Audits, IT, Vendors, etc.

14

Clearly your friend knows what he is talking about. The most realistic solution would be to befriend a Svirfneblin (sp?) and take him to the outer planes where you can attempt to sneak up and subdue a Rakshasa. Having charmed the Rakshasa and convincing it that the wizard is your most dangerous enemy (not counting the Rakshasa once the charm wears off), return to the material plane to confront the Wizard*.

Wizard and a bodak? What were you thinking?

*I did this for memory. I miss playing…

15

The job of the GM is to tell a story. The job of the players is to help by playing some of the characters in the story.

You use a game system or a campaign setting for two reasons: to give you a set of guidelines for stuff you don’t know how it works (like disarming traps, casting spells, balancing your checkbook…), and to keep things consistent from game to game. If there’s something in the game system that works differently from the way you want it to, and you can change it without making the game system inconsistent, go ahead and change it. If there’s a rule that you think is inconsistent and you can change it without confusing the issue as to how stuff works, change it.

Sounds like you did fine.

16

Which one, Beholders? Lurking Stranglers? Mimics? Gibbering Mouthers? Gibbering Orbs?

hangs his head in shame

17

Ignore him. He’s an idiot. If your players enjoy the campaign, and you don’t want to kill them at the end of it, then you’re doing just fine. :slight_smile:

18

Actually, I don’t see it that way exactly. It’s the job of everyone to tell the story together, and a great DM is one who is willing to let his ideas for the story go if the players have something equally cool come along.

A couple years ago I was privileged to play at a convention with a guy who got some sort of RPGA Judge of the Year award before they stopped giving that out. This guy’s games are legendary–and for good reason. We all had an absolute blast. (His one published adventure, Of Sound Mind, is also my favorite module to run).

When I played, I watched him carefully for things I could take home with me. And the main lesson I learned from him can be summed up in one word:

Yes.

When a player tries something out, it’s the DM’s job to try to find a way to make it at least partially successful–or give it a chance of success. The more your DM says, “You can’t do that,” the less fun you’re going to have.

This doesn’t mean that everything is going to work. If I say, “I’m going to throw my toothpick at the evil wizard and hope it pierces his eyeball and kills him,” then the DM doesn’t need to give it much of a chance (unless, of course, your character has some sort of toothpick-accuracy schtick). But if someone says, “I’m a pretty tough guy, so on my turn, I’m going to leap from the hood of the car I’m on to the next car over and then see if I can shove a grenade through their window,” the DM’s job is to come up with a way to make this action plausible within the rules, and hopefully give the character a good chance of success.

Because the more the DM says yes, the more the players feel like it’s their game, and the more elation they feel when their madcap zany shenanigans save the day.

How do you keep the game a challenge? Easy: when the evil NPCs ask if they can do something, you also say yes. :slight_smile:

Daniel

19

D&D and similar games can be played in different ways to appeal people (kinda like different people want different things out of a novel or a movie or a video game). Some are in it for the role-playing, others for the combat, others for the cleverness (finding clever ways of avoiding traps and overcoming obstacles), others for the exploration. Some are sticklers for the rules of the game or plausibility or internal consistency because it makes things more fun; for others, scrupulous attention to such things gets in the way of their fun.

If you’re giving your players what they want, then you’re doing a good job. Case closed.

20

Great post, LHoD.

You did fine, FrantzJ. If everyone had fun, that’s all that matters.