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D&D Story: Don’t Taunt the Dungeon Master - A Tale About Consequences
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- Опубліковано 15 кві 2019
- This is the story of a time a D&D player challenged me to kill the party. In this tale, we learn some important lessons about consequences in Dungeons & Dragons, and why you should never taunt your dungeon master.
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#dnd #dungeonsanddragons
Player dares me to kill them. *looks at tarrasque* “Nah not yet”
The Tarrasque is a bit cliche. I would personally go for an Ancient Red Shadow Dracolich with Innate Spellcasting. You know, mix things up a bit.
What about the OFFSPRING of the Tarrasque and an Ancient Red Shadow Dragon? 😈
*Looks down at notes. Scribble Scribble*
Welcome the Lair! 😈
You always have the random kraken in a cavern that's connected to the ocean for no other reason besides giving an explanation for why the kraken is in the cavern.
no one expects the random kraken in a cavern
TL;DR
'WHEN WILL YOU LEARN, THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES?!'
"The risk I took was calculated. But MAN am I bad at math."
Lmao
This is funny
It's absurdly easy for a DM to kill PCs. They ARE the world, they ARE the gods, they ARE the rules. It's providing a proper challenge that becomes difficult.
100% agree.
It is a very fine line.
Providing a challenge that doesn't become a grind is what I find hardest
We have a saying at our table. "I am the DM. The GODS bow to ME." We even have the existence of the players/DM as part of the lore of the world, so it's sometimes frighteningly literal. :P
Dumb player “Dungeon Master is such a puss, he couldn’t kill us if he tried!” Dungeon Master “...Guess there’s Nabasus in the Dungeon now.”
"He double dog dared me to kill my party"
"Anyways heres the story of how my party mysteriously died to rocks.. In the middle of the open plains"
reminds me of the recent session, the players dropped a big large chunk of adamantium onto the dragon when they lured it from its lair. i told the rogue after he made a rocks fall joke that even in the open sky i can have rocks fall on him, and itd be up to him to figure out how it happened or where it came from
Those are called meteors
Winged Kobolds, throwing rocks from 500 ft above could annihilate an entire city xD
Me: (yelling at airship crewmen): *WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DROPPED OUR SHIPMENT OF ORICHALCUM?!?*
"We're gods." - Keyleth of the Air Ashari. Famous last words.
Yep. 😂
Part of me actually thinks that's what made Matt pull the trigger on killing her, my money is he was gonna let her hit the water and take maybe half damage but she would survive, but the second Marisha said that Matt was like "ok i gotta show them they are still mortals who can die from piss poor choices"
That's a reference to critical role. I totally missed that. I haven't had much time to keep up the speed with all that stuff. What happened there? Did did they say or do something that made Mercer like need to kill them or something?
@@theDMLair it was mostly player stupidity.
*Spoilers below*
They were looking for a diamond that was just thrown off a cliff described as "so high you cant see the bottom."
The ranger flew down on her magic broom and couldnt see it. They were rather high leveled at this point. Like close to level 16 or 17ish.
Knowing this, the druid (Keyleth) decides to help her look. And says she was going to jump off the cliff. After everyone else on the table said it was a bad idea, she says, "We're gods." And jumps.
A few skill checks later and she cant tell if shes going to land on the water, or the rocks. She decides to wildshape herself into a goldfish... not a flying creature... not an elemental... a goldfish.
She hits the rocks. The damage is insane. It blows through the 1 hp of the goldfish, and more than double her full health pool. Killing her on impact. She protest at her character having such a stupid death. Matt then said, "I didnt plan on this. It just kinda happened."
This ended up being a turning point for Marisha (Keyleths player) as she began putting thought and foresight into her actions. Also the party had a ton of wealth at thier disposal, so reviving her was a simple task.
Wow, kuddos to Matt on that one. The stupid death was 100% on her. Matt did the right thing.
“Sometimes death is the fault of the players”
I mean, you’re right, but there’s also something even more likely to kill the players, the dice
That happened with my lizardfolk ranger. I could have survived that fight with a demon, if I didn't roll 4 natural 1s in a row.
Man, worst than dying by the Dice is dying because your dumb companions decided to abandon you or that one PC helping you only gets in the way and make you die by HIS dice. =(
Depends on your slingshot skills...
VoltisArt or your proximity to the center of a fireball spell
@@visionaeon rogue archer nat 1's an arrow and hits you for a critical sneak attack
player:ha the dm wont kill us. that baby does not have the balls. me,the dm: out of nowhere a ancient red dragon appears,roll initiative.
That's what I'm talking about! 😈
Only an ancient red dragon? Why not two?
The Bard: I roll to seduce
Bard, you've seduced 2 red dragons. Now what?
@@theDMLair the first time my PCs seduce a dragon, it'll eat them, vore fetish
Never, ever take the DM lightly. In DnD, you are mere mortals playing a game and the DM is the god.
LOL - As far as the game is concerned, yes. (Though players can choose to leave the universe the DM controls.)
On intro' to new Players or to a new Table, I often say exactly the following :
"I am the Game Master, and I do not play God. I even tell Him what to do." ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Love it!
@@urdaanglospey6666 ...for what it's worth, my other "motto" in-game, is "The first cardinal rule of a GM is, never EVER let the rules get in the way of the game."
Glad you like. ;o)
And there's a reason gods don't have stat blocks.
"He doesn't have the rocks to kill us..."
"...You mean like these? The ceiling begins to shake, dislodging several boulders... *Rocks fall. Everyone dies.* "
I totally had a similar experience with a player taunting me before a game that I didn't have the "guts" to kill their character, there were additional taunts throughout the game, often rhyming with "wussy" and "meek". It was all in good fun of course, as we are close friends, but I will say that his character 100% died in that adventure. He got separated from the party (his own fault), surrounded by enemies, and taken down. No party members were close so it came down to his death saves, which he failed 1-2-3. I of course pretended that his death was due to the taunts. He had no hard feelings, and it ended up being a fun session.
LOL. That's basically the same thing that happened in my game. I just pretend that they're dying was due to the one guy taunting me. It was a happy coincidence.
Thomas Newton I believe he was saying he failed the first second and third saving throws consecutively. Not that he rolled those numbers.
@@seDrakonkill That is correct. I don't remember the rolls, but I'm aware a nat 1 is 2 fails.
one of my players thinks he cant die hes a lvl one character walking into the one place that can insta no death save kill him in one round . i tell him this... he doesnt care... i literaly show him the stat block for every demon and devil and he thinks he can "use his charisma" i tell him that it wont help him these things will one shot you and even if you roll max damage and crit you wont take out even a quarter of its health............ Player- "BuT I HAve To fINd mY sOn"
I want to like so much but this has 69 likes lmao xD
My players said "you said this game would be lethal and yet no ones died yet"
I stopped interfering and now have my first PCs death
hehe, nice! DCC RPG their asses, player deaths left and right.
I mean if you set the expectation that it would be lethal and your players are on board with that then yeah got to follow through with that right? 😂
@@theDMLair I was just talking them I'm running hard-deadly encounters. But I don't control the dice
This new campaign a lvl 1 player got max damaged from a goblin arrow and then crit... outright dead
@@elgatochurro
Had the same thing happen to a level 1 Wizard vs a Twig Blight. 1HK.
They don't understand that the DM is not here to have them die, the DM normally wants them to live and do cool things, but if they ask for it then .......
"I'm not going to try to kill them"
*proceeds to find a OP monster, puts two of them in the next room*
Something I've done many times and my groups do just fine.
Yesterday my DM inadvertently gave me the power to kill every other member of the party (minus the one with me) by not opening a locked door.
It was very tempting, as our party has wildly differing ideals and the situation could have gotten better
However, I saved them. That encounter made me want to try my hand at being a DM though.
Hah now they cant say shit to you. "Remember that one time i saved litterally all of you?
So having the PCs lives in the palms of ur hands makes you wanna be a DM? If that's your main reason, don't.
@@docdamnij I think his reasoning is more along the lines of presenting his players with situations that provoke weird, conflicting feelings like this, not always making life or death choices
@@ToxycBanana You might be right.
If that's the reason, do. As long as you keep everbody's fun in mind.
Do it! It's fun.
Some times, Player Deaths are Due to their own Stupidity... like say a lv 5 Rogue Bringing a Mirror to a Medusa's Magic Shop and then Challenging her to a Staring contest, he thought the Mirror would help, it did not... The Medusa in question made a pretty Penny Selling some Petrification Curing potions to the Party members of Said Rogue.... Yes, she Keeps a Stock on hand, this is not the first time something like this has happened to her...
I think the best part of the encounter was having 3 players and Myself Explain to said Rogue Just what Petrification meant: "Ya, you're Dead dude, you're a Statue Forever unless something Magical is done for you..." Took em a while to catch on anyway....
So he treated a Medusa like a basilisk?
Technically, he did win.
@@paydenjohnson8692 oh no, he Ran away with his Tail Between his legs, the Medusa in question is still Happily Running her Shop....
John Just John , Frankly I have No Idea where he got the Idea to try and Mirror her, he Must Have thought that she Could Petrify herself by Looking into a Mirror (then again I've Seen Versions of the Medusa Myth where that's how it works, but Traditionally the mirror shield thing is just so that Percius Could Look at her Distorted Reflection while Fighting her so he wouldn't get Petrified...)... I Do Know he was Hoping to Rob the Magic Shop afterwards though.
@@kgmotte2363 In the actual greek mythologies, Perseus kills Medusa by only looking at her reflection rather than Medusa herself. This mythological story is commonly misinterpreted by idiots and bad fiction authors who don't research the original material, so some think Medusa can be killed by showing her a mirror, but it is commonly known that she was killed using a mirror.
Fun fact, this is false. There was no actual mirror involved, and rather Perseus was staring at her reflection in the SHIELD that his half-sister Athena lent him. It also makes no logical sense since her turning people to stone was supposedly because she was cursed to be so magically ugly that looking at her face could turn people into stone, but also PERSEUS WAS USING THE HELM OF INVISIBILITY THAT HADES LENT HIM, WHICH MEANS THERE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN A REFLECTION IN THE FIRST PLACE. In essence, Greek Mythologies have shittons of plot holes.
Wow. Not the brightest rogue. That madusa is a savvy buisiness person though.
My players want to feel like they're fighting intelligent enemies, which usually results in difficult encounters, as the PCs are out flanked/out numbered/etc.
Perfect. If that's what the players want, then lay it on, right? 😁
Nothing terrifies my players more than hearing "Orcs."
@@alexbrown1930 For my players it's a well, especially the over grown sort that you might see in a forest, apparently after several encounters with a psychic creature that looked like a well unless you broke through the illusion they started noticing wells in real life that they'd never seen before XD
@@SkyeRequiem001 Orcs terrify my players because my Orcs use professional military tactics, often leaning towards special forces. They are not mindless hordes, but organized, disciplined, and patient. in my game world, all but ONE time that they have engaged Orcs, they have lost someone(and this is a world without Resurrection or Wish spells)..and the one time that they didn't? It was a VERY near thing....
@@alexbrown1930 I'm running a Curse of Strahd campaign, and my players are learning to fear vampire spawn. One of them stayed a round too long in a room full of vampire spawn when everyone else had fled, and forgot the vamps can spider crawl on walls. He rolled a new character.
Overconfidence is a slow, insidious killer...
when the last gobling evades everething and crit kill you: "How quickly the tide turns!"
Rubén ElMaplache I lost a character to Wilbur. It feels bad.
@@JJJJJJJJJAAAAAA I killed Wilbir first, so... yeah, dont wanna talk about the end of that
Death waits...for the slightest lapse in concentration!
Or a sudden, quick but horrifically brutal killer, but hey you never know
One member of our party taunted the dm. He had 20 dragons come and kill us all, then the next 4 sessions were us trying to escape hell. It was actually super lit.
That sounds pretty cool, if a TPK happens to my party I may do something like that. End up in hell to escape to live.
“Danger and death is just a tool we use to facilitate that fun”
My DM credo:
I might save you from a bad roll.
I may save you from a monster.
I REFUSE to save you from yourself.
I also run an organic world. In other words, dungeons have levels, nature doesn’t. A shark doesn’t care what level you are. If you stroll into Hill Giant territory at level 3, that’s not my fault. There were signs.
Additionally, I roll my dice openly. I have an elevated tray for rolls players can’t really know, like Stealth and Deception.
In my last campaign, six characters died. One died from a bad Crit. The rest died from really REALLY bad choices.
I completely sympathize.
Every single TPK I've presided over, they happened because of bad choices the players made. Every. Single. One. lol
>It's better to let what happened remain happened. Even tho you might feel better if you take it back.
Actually a good "how_to_get_over_breakup" advice.
Lol. I know, right? 😂
Nobody:
Luke: I've been a Dungeon Master since high school
Does this Luke also have an ancient nemesis of Frost Trolls??
When something like this happened in Critical Role Campaign 2:
Spoilers below.
I mean it, this is a biggie.
Mollymauk's death was not planned at all. Matt announced two attacks on him, then Taliesin said he'd use his reaction ability - said ability deals damage to him, and Taliesin rolled too high on his d4, so he went down. Matt was clearly torn at that moment, as continuing with the two attacks would mean death while backing off would be out of character for the villain. After some hesitation, Matt went with the two attacks, clearly feeling pretty bad inside about it - he noted that the battle beforehand had been approached with good planning, but some deliberately inaccurate information paired with rotten luck on the dice turned it really nasty really fast. In the end, the roll of the dice is most to blame, not the player, villain, or DM who all played true to their characters to the end.
It was a bad player decision to use a feat that causes self harm at such a low level. Taliesin is fully to blame for Molly’s death.
@@runefire4483 Actually, it's partially Mercer fault for making a class that self-harms, but Taliesin did choose that class.
@@runefire4483 yeah but it was literally his only choice at that moment. Doing nothing would've caused him to be knocked unconscious with their only healer gone, and the party out of health pots. Blood Hunter doesn't give you any "Dodge" or "Evade" reaction type stuff like Rogues and Monks get.
He literally had two options. He could do nothing and definitely die, or use the reaction, giving him a chance to either die straight away or, if his roll didn't kill him, he might be able to turn the tide.
It would be like if you're in a survival situation, and you have 1 iodine pill, and you find some lake water. You either die of dehydration, or risk the iodine pill not being enough to purify the water.
Both CAN result in death, but one gives you a fairly significant chance of not dying, where as the other one WILL result in death.
We has this one DM and he stated at the start that he let whatever the dice roll stay, and surprisingly his gameplay was MOST enjoyable overall. Especially this one fight where a Hill Giant chieftain fumbled a club swing and took himself out... :P
That's funny dude I love it when like enemies do stupid stuff that ends up biting them in the end. That's fun for me as a dungeon master as well to role-play that stuff because I know the players are really enjoy it. As a dungeon master I tend to let the dice rules stay as they are as well. I roll all of my dice out in the open especially especially during combat. In fact for really important roles I often roll it on the battle map in front of all the players so everyone can clearly see them. There are so many other ways to cultivate the game that fudging dice is just an inferior method in my opinion.
Rolling in the open FTW! 😈
@@theDMLair I disagree, sometimes hearing the DM roll behind the screen can be terrifying lol like when I rolled a D20 every round of combat on a ship and on a 1 roll the boat capsizes.
I do both depending if I want the players to know what I am up too.
One of my favourite scenes ever went as follow :
The pc went on a boat to the island that is far in the mist. The wizard casts a water construct to protect them during the travel. He crit fails. The construct turns against them. They kill it after a somewhat too long fight for what it was. Everyone look at him, he says "Lol it was just a joke to see your reflexes. Now I do it for real"
He casts again. He crit fails again. The construct turns against them. Turn 3 the construct missteps, hits its head on the boat and dies.
After that the others forbid to ever use magic on water again. The next time he tried was on the island where he tried to cast light to see the killer snake in the muddy water, he temporarily blinded himself.
It all happened in the same cession
Lmao I was dming once and a goblin rolled a 1 on a acrobatics roll and fell into a fire pit 😂
If you could kill them running the module's contents as written, it would be an actual challenge for the DM. If I had players give me that challenge, I wouldn't change the encounter difficulty, I would try to kill them using the content as written. For example, killing level 12 players using goblins is easily possible so long as there is a sufficient supply of them to restock the dungeon rooms. Ambushes, traps, murder holes, Molotov cocktails, flanking rules, always retreat with them into places they have trouble following, take advantage of prone and shoving rules. 2 Goblins work together to trip someone, so they roll at advantage on their athletics check. Goblin 3 and 4 run in and get attacks at advantage.
Fighting smarter. Not harder. I approve.
True. That would have been a true challenge. My players were level 12 in a level 11 module, and my players are quite good. 😁
Look up Tucker's Kobolds. That's basically how basic un-modified 4 HP each Kobolds became so deadly that a party of veteran adventurers preferred to fight *demons* (like Balors) rather than face Tucker's Kobolds. The Kobolds themselves were pathetic, having only 4 HP a pop, but they used the environment around their lair to their advantage, and they fought smart by using hit-and-run tactics through trapped regions of tunnels too small for anything larger than a Kobold to comfortably traverse. The plan that party's leader came up with to deal with Tucker's Kobolds? *Run like hell* to the next level of the dungeon.
Luke: so I got something called a nabassu from mordankainen's tome of foes
Me, knowing demons well: oh no they eat souls this will kill them
You should have the reincarnate spell work like human transmutation in Full Metal Alchemist. Keep giving them subtle (or not so subtle) hints of things like your NPCs saying "I don't know if this will work, their soul doesn't appear to be on the astral plane" or "I have a bad feeling about this.."
If they go through with it, force the player who enacts the spell to incur a permenant stat penalty. (If you're feeling generous, give it back if/when they Wish it back). Then, have the character be reincarnated as a soulless, amorphous blob of rotting flesh. That'll teach 'em.
Make their bodies into an undead air bnb. Their character is still alive, but the undead have part time rule of his/ her body for a level.
This produces undead archenemies, and some angry villagers. And lots of fun.
man I sure was edgy 3 years ago huh
player: i dare you to kill my pc
DM: show me your sheet.....*proceeds to set it on fire with his cig*....so who's next?
TrenchCoat Dingo “you won’t kill me” “do a dexterity saving roll” “17” “you fall into a pit trap doing” *rolling noises* “year you’re dead gg”
I'm a long time player.. I taunt my DM all the time. As long as it's all in good fun. Sometimes I die. Sometimes the dice gods favor me and we crush everything in our way despite his efforts. Ever see a goblin rogue suplex a boss npc off a cliff? Sneak attack with gravity. Gravity is a finesse weapon yeah?
If it is, my rogue is just going to grab his opponents and jump up and down over and over again, since jumping up and down is a free action and every single time I go up, gravity will bring us down.
Who cares if it looks like I'm humping them? I multiclassed Bard. That's what it'd look like even if I wasn't grappling them or jumping.
@@kmaple9 your rogue will need the strength and skill to standing leap while encumbered at least ten feet straight up for gravity to get enough of a hold to deal damage and initiate your sneak damage, for that tactic the be combat viable from a damage perspective. As for the wierd spoony bard humping effect? Well.. That's always an effective distraction.
My question is.. Is one of the character's that died the person who was challenging the DMs might?
Indeed he was. 😈
He sure managed to cause a karma crash.
Because the pcs both fell for a obvious trap, a treasure room is never left unguarded. So when the DM noticed the others weren't going to go in he decided to spring the trap
@@chillchatsbee8017 They all deserve to be in danger. That is a necessary part of the challenge of the game. Make a poor decision and that danger WILL catch up with you...and you taste good with ketchup.
@@chillchatsbee8017 Becasue he didn't set out to kill anyone, thus, no one was safe from the result of that trap. If he had only let the one who taunted him die, sure that would teach a lesson to not tuant the DM, but it wouldn't necessarily teach the lesson that you arctions have true consequences.
"Lol you would _never_ kill us."
"Zeus and all of his children come down to fight you and it turns out they're level 20 in every class. I would say roll initiative but they get a suprise round first."
One of the best videos yet. LOVED the underlying music, it added to the mood a lot. Also, is it wrong to want to kill a character because the way he is played makes it really hard to DM? He is constantly using his character to say "F it" and fight those he shouldn't yet.... he is also leaning into Murder hobo territory.
Thanks dude! Do you think you'll be at the Friday stream this week? I could address your question then.
Have him pick a fight with someone he could never hope to beat and someone with no qualms against turning him into tomato soup. Problem solved.
In one campaign I'm playing in, taunting the Dm to kill me is now a game in of itself, as he has currently killed all the other players at least once, myself twice, and the player with the most character deaths is currently on his fourth character.
That's fair. It's your turn right? 😂
One of my players (most of them haven't lost any charactes) texted me "I have 6 deaths, that means I'm winning, right?"
I once tried a similar thing, but instead of Nabasu I used the Inevitables, one for each party member, and had them roll religion/arcana to reveal to them just how screwed they were.
LMAO that is insane. I don't have the stats for inevitables on hand but I seem to recall them being pretty insane. One for each character like even if they're level 20 I bet that would be like you're dead. How did your players do against them?
@@theDMLair I pretty much tailored the encounter so that each type of Inevitable made sense for that party member. My players were level 20 and had very strong gear plus an artifact, however one of them had a criminal background (hence why the Inevitables were even there). As for how they did, well 3 out of the 5 of them were unconscious (with one of the survivors being a Mystic from unearthed arcana back when level 8 was where you became chronologically immortal) before the one player that failed the religion/arcana check (ironically the one with the criminal background, however he was not the Mystic, for clarity's sake) thought to pull out a letter sanctioning their actions there as well as a pardon sealed by a local king, which was just barely enough to send them back to Primus. I told them after that session that had he gone down first they'd all be dead, so all in all the same lesson was learned that day, "never taunt the DM".
Edit: the Mystic and the ex-criminal both survived with single digit hp and no psi points or spell slots respectively.
Hey at least I survived. With two Survivor that means they can get the rest of them back from the dead. A level 20 no big deal. 😂
Im in a Pathfinder campaign that is very much so aligned with this, takes place on Eberron and oh boy, its uh... its something. For those who don’t know the world setting 95% of Eberron will never go above level 3. Exceptions to figureheads and royalty. There is also only one level 20 being and it is a living tree (not a Treant but a literal Awakened Tree) druid. The closest in line to them is a level 5 cleric that is treated as a level 16 cleric while in a very specific spot.
I was told my encounters were "too easy" because the fights didn't have "lots of big monsters". I play all my NPC's "properly" to their intelligence, cunning, nature and experience. Apex predators don't pack up generally. There's never more than one warlord in a raiding party etc. Things run when scared or outmatched but they sometimes come back with help or stalk the party and wait for them to fall asleep. One particularly horrifying encounter saw a Boneclaw hunt the party for days, pouncing on them every few hours when it reassembled itself. The party could beat it, but after a while they realized they couldn't make it STAY dead and their resources began to run out without long rests possible to recover them.....
You clever bastard
Son: rides bike off ramp in street and biffs it
Me, speaking to crying son: remember son, "Danger and Death facilitate Fun."
hahaha
Lol
I am a fairly new DM out of necessity. I've been seeking a decent D&D group for a bit around where I am and found nothing, and my friends aren't hosting any games. I've found it's hard to decide what is too much and what isn't enough.
My latest campaign has a bit of a plot involving a pretty harsh disease. In short if a player gets this disease it screws up their con. It's a low chance to be infected and it can happen, though I am nice enough to allow a visit to a church to offer a cure. Anyway, my players seem to enjoy themselves but there are times I feel a bit bored as a dm. They keep stomping all my monsters, or they always seem fully rested to go again for another fight once one is over. I'd love to have a good campaign that feels a bit like Darkest Dungeon. I want them to be challenged, pushed to a brink, but in a situation that can be survived even if it's harsh but also leave them feeling more of a need to prepare and rest before jumping strait for another dungeon.
Perhaps I have allowed the players to abuse the long rest system too often? I'll think on it. I'll use your bit of a guidance to help me grow as a gm in how to treat my players.
Shi Musume my recommendation would just start increasing the difficulty of your encounters in a couple of ways. 1. Use more difficult monster, yeah I know it’s obvious but it works well. 2. Add more monsters or even minions if there is a boss. This makes action economy more favored to the BBGs. 3. Play your monsters smarter. By this I mean play them strategically. Look up the monsters you plan on using and find out what their intelligence is and whether or not that have a language or are able to convey information to others of their kind. This information will tell you if they will work together, know that it is most important to kill the healer, etc... I would also recommend looking at background of the monsters you plan on using so you can understand what their demeanor would be, whether they would flee if all of their allies were killed, would they show mercy, etc...
That’s my advice at least. I’m a relatively new dm myself, might end up having to pick up the game shop I go to game due to dm possibly moving.
Awesome! Glad you like the content. Feel free to join us over on Discord, too. There should be a link in the description.
Add danger of ambushes to long rests. Roll a D12, on 11 throw a decent encounter at them in the middle of the rest before they get their stats back and on a 12, muhahaha, give them a much harder encounter. Keeps my players from resting after every fight.
You can use this method as a hook as well. Have a dragon or some great creature pluck a pc up in the middle of a rest and carry them off into the night, leaving the other pics to mount a rescue while the solo pc can attempt escape
I tend to give my players an encounter that is a bit harder than what I think is fair, since if they're clever they'll all survive it, and since all players are devious and crafty, they tend to surprise me with their inventiveness. You can also pit them against enemies with player character classes, mixed party types, ect, if you need to give them more of a challenge, start thinking like a PC, though try to have your NPCs avoid TPK spells unless they're a boss, and usually let the party know they have such spells ahead of time, so that they have a chance to prepare.
I saw all the fantasy books on the left side of the screen and wondered, "does he have the wheel of time" then you switched sides and went, "ah, there they are." Good advice, and thank you.
Oh yeah! Love Wheel of Time. 😁
Waiting for HBO to make the mini series now... Lol
@@theDMLair Amazon is working on it, think they released the names of the first episodes recently.
Holy crap!! That's awesome!!! I even have Amazon Prime so hopefully I'll be able to watch them with that?
@@theDMLair yes its for amazon prime
*DOES HAPPY DANCE*
The party I'm in ended up ignoring an important clue the DM set and kinda accidentally set free a Froghemoth... we were level 3.
We managed to win thanks to a lot of shenanigans and plans, but one or two more turns and it would have gone real bad real fast.
"Don't be afraid to change things up in modules..."
I don't even use modules, seriously. Most of my games are straight up 100% invented by me.
I used to think that people who use modules were lazy. I was half-right. It takes more work to make a module play really well than it does to make your own game from scratch. Modules are little more than over-priced story-hooks. It gives you a starting point, and then you have to build the characters, the world, and everything else yourself, because apparently WotC can't be bothered to do what is actually required to make a good game.
As for those who just take a module and run with it with no adjustment... their loss, I suppose. It feels like the difference between Monopoly and Monopoly Junior. If you want the best D&D experience, you can have it with or without modules... you just have to put in the work to make the world come to life, and apparently WotC don't do that for you...
Yeah totally dude. I'm transitioning to running modules almost completely with my groups but that doesn't mean that it doesn't take a lot of work. It does take less time because I'm not creating the adventures myself there a lot of good ideas in the modules. But it still takes work and I still have to put creativity and thought into my games to make them fun and interesting. And my players is still go off on tangents that aren't in the modules that requires me to make things up on the Fly sometimes. But I like that because then it just gets me and I left my creativity. So most of the time I can run the module and then every so often I create my own little Adventure. Which is fun. But I don't view module play as lazy by the dungeon master although if you want to be lazy modules could facilitate that desire. But as you say your game would suffer as a result.
the DM Lair eh... my point was that the adventures that the modules supply are lacking.
They include characters but the motives and logistics are vastly underwhelming for a DM to actually run a game. At a bare minimum, every NPC who could talk to the players must have a reason for talking to the players, a finite set of information which they know, and a personality. Some NPC’s have a personality, but most don’t and none have great motives for why they are talking with the party and not law enforcement.
As for combat, you need motivations for the enemy to be in combat and a plan for diplomacy and a plan for leaving combat... only one option is ever given in the modules for 90% of encounters.
Fixing everything wrong with the modules takes more work than making it from scratch, because when you make it from scratch, the details fall out of high level design without any major concern for plot holes. When you’re working with a half-baked design you have to cross check everything for plot holes which fall out of the design when you try to scrutinize it.
"Punish one - educate hundreds!"
(Mao Tse Tung)
Mr. Tung was a wise man.
Xorn Xenophon not saying the quote is wrong. Just be careful quoting such an infamous person as Mao, who has been considered to be responsible for 20-45 million deaths during his reign.
I repeat, I am not against agreeing with horrible people when what they say is true or could be applicable to what you’re talking about. I hate the “Hitler drank water argument”.
#@@enderhassasin8007:
I never said that Mao was a nice guy; but he got something right by saying that exemplary punishment is an effective way of teaching people how to behave.
Xorn Xenophon agreed
I only have a couple hard rules that I set for any game I'm running.
1. I play the role of everyone else in the world, the NPCs will react to you, your attitude and anything else. Both positive and negative.
2. I am not here to make sure you stay alive. If you do something that will get you killed, I'll try to give you a way out of it; but if you don't take...you die.
3. Running is always an option. (mostly true in Call of Cthuhlu)
Consequences are the best part of DnD. First, the chaotic decision. Next, the failed roll. Lastly, the laughter and screams.
while i largely agree this advice is good it depend on the game and players, for some people that power trip can last for months without boredom, in the campaign i run my pc can revive from most encounters with the only downside being incapacitated for about a week , while this mostly because of the campaign background i have also upped the difficulty because of this. Most major fights kill 2 or 3 of the 7 players because of this difficulty spike, and when a real death does happen at higher levels it will be far more impactfull. Though with my players BS luck i dont know if ill pull one off XD
Add a few important feats/ magic items to NPC s, especially to reoccurring villans/ bosses . Sparing use of tactics like : theft/ pickpocket/robbery /Geas on PC's will help restore ' percieved' power balance issues.
Me: sees "Don't Taunt The DM" in the thumbnail
My Mind: "ah shit, did they summon a kuthulu monster like last time?"
That would have been even better right? lol
Bump up the difficulty a little by replacing 3x CR 3 monsters with 2x CR 15...
Brutal.
This was the video that introduced me to this channel, and it quickly became one of my favorites. Subscribed.
Funny enough, UA-cam recommended this to me after watching Beyond Memeverso's episode 18... maybe the DM watched this.
Dayo malo.
The 1 PC is reincarnated as a rat 🐀 , and the PC who taunted you is reincarnated as a ant 🐜 so a 12 level rat and ant is in the party now. PS good topic to talk about and good work 👍
Great suggestions! There should be an alternate reincarnation table to roll on, with all very unpleasant results. 😂
Exactly 😂
I'm sure someone somewhere has made this already too. Just need to find it and use it against them. 😈
Luke if i may ask are there gonna be a dnd live stream this Friday, and is it the same time as usual?
Yes, live stream this Friday at 8 pm Eastern. It'll be a Q&A one.
My DM has been playing D&D for over 20 years. Me - less than 2 months.
He has a rule - "Show me, and I'll allow it."
He lacks the books outside of the Core 3 for D&D E5 (which is what we are playing) Me, I'd like to get the extra books, so that the Non-Core races (outside of Human, Halfling, Half-Orc, Half-Elf, Gnome, Elf, Dwarf, Tieffling, and Dragonborn) can be used. (Hope to get them either around Christmas or buy them with Tax Refund in March.)
Me - I get an idea to make a Warlock who is a Priest for a Holy Church (acolyte background). Him - points out that Warlocks get their power from a patron, and that said patron's tend to be jealous , so the only way my guy could have that sort of thing, is be in a cult. Me - Borrow "Xanathar's Guide to Everything" through the library, and see the Celestial Warlock on page 54. I then show it to him. Him - laughs at the possibility of having a Unicorn for a patron. Others - Laugh at idea of Unicorn Warriors. Me - Keeps on grinning. Him - Reads about Healing Light at Level 1, and how it all works. Him - face just freezes. Him - "That's just broken. That invalidates the purpose of having a Paladin." Me - Just a grinning.
Him - Playing a Halfling Paladin that's always killing Evil creatures. Me - talks about the Outhbreaker. Him - says it's not a playable class. Me - points out that it's in the DM book, and that it can be playable. Him - looks it up, and agrees that I'm correct. (That being said, we're not in an Evil campaign, and it seems he has a rule against both Good and Evil Characters being in the same party, mainly due to PvP fights in the past.)
Got a Ranger (New Newbie). Me - what's the guy's Favorite Landscape? Ranger - Um, Forest? DM - Check Player Handbook. Says that we can't get lost - has Ranger roll a d20 - and you now know of the various animals in the area. Me - Still grinning.
Me - wondering what he'll be like when I do bring in the other books. Him - (probably) I need to start reading up on these guys before he makes me look like a newbie.
Damn. It’s awesome that you decided to prove your player wrong. :)
None of my players would ever dare to utter such words to me. They know I won't hesitate to hurl the party across the different planes and straight into the pits of the nine hells and back again.
Daring the DM to kill a player is a great way to end up on Tiamat's brunch menu.
Yeah this players always saying stuff like that but it's in a joking way and we all take it good in a good-natured way. I thought it was funny when he was taunting me. It didn't change how I did anything in the game. I would never intentionally kill characters because it's not like that. It just so happened that it happened. And it was appropriately timed. LOL
@DialatedPupils Ehh, not so much. I tend to start my players at higher levels, so overall a bit of planer chaos would be unlikely to kill them. Difficult definitely, but probably not lethal.
A hellscape map is always handy. Almost as much as a city map.
This this is what I'm talking what I'm about! Bravo! Bravo!
Thanks dude! What parts did you like the most? This is a little different than my standard fare so I'm curious what stood out.
"He's not trying to kill us, he's trying to make us heroes". Liam O'Brian to Orion Accaba
This is why I adjust/homebrew most of my monsters now. Zombies with regen that have to die to a head shot/crit, Wights that control hordes of undead and have them swarm the PC casters, Ettercaps with spitting venom or who hang from ceilings and have a minor sneak attack(2D6), and adding caster monsters with Counterspell that know when to run and when to fight. Fear is an essential part of the adventuring life, it makes the victories that much sweeter.
My favourite trick is to have NPCs with the party that they have developed close connections to (for example, their wife and mother-in-law, a best friend, their students etc) that intelligent enemies can notice and exploit. Even if I can't find a way to deal with the party, I can still hurt the party on an emotional and tactical level by placing those mechanical and emotional hooks at risk (and occasionally killing them).
That's a really cool idea. It's like emotional Leverage. 😈
@@theDMLair unless the party are a group of murder hobos
So true...
@@theDMLair Just go after what they care about; start having their assignments come from Thieves Guilds and Assassins Guilds (who else would want to work with people with such tarnished reputations?). After a few hefty contract penalties for killing non-targets and drawing too much public attention, they should start to see the major downsides of just killing their way through every quest.
Say it again for the murderhobos in the back!!
DON'T TAUNT THE DUNGEON MASTER!
How was that? 😁
One of my players taunted me...
I made a giant scorpion based on the prehistoric sea scorpions with a clubbed tail and it’s tail straightened out and it had the ability to speak to the players using psychic powers, they ended up in a Roman style colosseum and fought with it, they had got really destroyed by it, they then fell down into a cavern and ended up in the underdark... basically almost killed them and then dropped them into the underdark, they ended up surviving the entire thing somehow and got back out to the surface in an empire of lizard folk like people who had a more human like behavior so they were just treated as a human treats another human, they got back home and defeated the ultimate lich boss because I used a common threat.
I was trying to kill them to be honest, but I wasn’t trying to end the campaign, because that’s just rude, and I failed to kill any of them because they got lucky.
My rule is keep to the story so if I make a world I keep that worlds rules as top priority, so one rule is when an attack will instantly kill a player who has more than 1 health it will bring them down to 1 health and stun them, if they are hit again after that they make 3 death saves and so my world is fairly forgiving.
My first time playing d&d was 2 weeks ago. I was new so I joined two people who where already playing. One person, like Me, had a hot headed character. The other person had a teifling barbarian and he would always tell the DM "I have so much health, I'll never die. I could beat a tarasque!" 1 hour later, we encountered something after walking out of a ruin. A tarrasque..
Terrorizing a town... The guy actully tried fighting it, but almost instantly died. After that me and the other hot headed character just booked it away. I don't remember much of what happend after, but I know the teifling was pissed
I made an encounter to specifically kill one of my PCs. However, this was due to him wanting to make a new character and something we talked about, out of game.
If your PC's actually care about each other and your players are invested in playing these people, this could be harsh. Another option might be for that character to retire, just not feeling the adventure life anymore. Along comes new PC, even before the old one leaves, and the old one now feels like their spot is covered and their friends will survive without them. Off into the sunset, perhaps to return someday if things don't work out with the new character.
@@VoltisArt On the other hand, a PC death could be incredibly effective at creating table drama and introducting a new BBEG or making an old nemesis feel truly terrifying. If the person in question agrees to the death, it makes it even better in a way. I hope they didn't tell the other players this was going down before it actually happened, just for the sake of inter PC drama.
"Since high school" doesn't really give a scope of your experience as a DM unless we know your age brother...and to this old guy, you look relatively young lol. I enjoyed hearing about this particular D&D experience though!
Since 1995. 😁
I really appreciate the lightning switch and likely unintentional (Or intentional) use of psychology with them!
Red to convey aggression and danger, blue for the creativity and so on.
DM: "Do you REALLY want to do that?" players: "sure!" DM: OK roll death saves please. hehehehe!
I don't get players who dare you to kill them either. It should be so very obvious to them that I could practically dump 20 murderous red dragons on them or a few tarasques, etc that they shouldn't even consider they could survive in a straight fight. But that is also why a DM should know moderation.
Agreed!
The DM can't really do that I hope you realize, not while being a DM.
@@orionweiss5418 Is this a challenge ?
@@ravenknight4876 As a player you do stupid things and the consequences are character death, and maybe being asked to step away from the table. As a DM, the consequences is the end of the game because no one does, or should respect you
@@orionweiss5418 No shit sherlock. Are you now going to show me how I can't drop 20 dragons on anyone whenever I feel like it on a technical level, or are you going to continue this meaningless appeal to a morality I myself already hold, but which is irrelevant to the point I'm making ?
I totally agree with that rule, I got rid of the Roc in Curse of Strahd and replaced it with a gloamwing and a rider to fit the gothic theme of Barovia better
My current group learned this lesson. While most of us knew full well that death was a thing (our DM, being the most experienced player by far, made a note of this to us all early on), nobody had really come too close to dying yet. Not permanent death, at least. That's when our warlock decided to split from the group. We tried to stop it from happening, but when the giant elevator started going down and he said "Nah, I'll take the stairs", we all knew what would happen. Of course, it wasn't necessarily written in stone yet. He had options, like waiting for the elevator to come back up for him, or using one of a few magical means of communication to keep in contact with us, or trying to avoid combat. Well, he did none of these things, made no decision to flee when his solo misadventure started to go poorly, and he died. We talked about trying to recover his body to possibly bring him back in a yet-to-be-determined fashion, but then we were kind of forced away by a very big army that we had kind of pissed off. Ultimately, this was the best plan, as we would find out much later on that he was beyond saving, as his soul had been absorbed into a lich's phylactery following his death.
I was running curse of strahd recently and one of my characters was at 5 hit points and was about to surrender. But in his own words he said: "before I surrender I'm gonna do a backflip" he did it for no reason whatsoever he just did. I had him role acrobatics. He got a natural 1. So I ruled that he landed on his neck, so rather than 1d4 damage, I did 1d4+1. I rolled a 4 and he was knocked to zero. On his first death save, he got another nat 1. He had 1 fail to go. He then made one success as our healer was coming to heal. He had to make one more save and he failed. So he died. They were only 6th level and the only healer was a paladin who didn't have 3rd level spells yet, so they were unable to resurrect him. I decided that the paladin would be blessed by his god to be able to resurrect. So I know he died because he did something stupid, but sometimes I think it isn't fair. Did I do the right thing?
There's no right answer to things like this. There's only the answer that's right for your game and your players. On the one hand, dying in that fashion would be quite memorable and likely hilarious a few weeks later. On the other hand, it's not the most satisfying way to die.
You're running Curse of Sthrad of all things... that module is made for punishing bad deacisions isnt it?
Personally when I was a PC I felt an empty connection with my character when he was revived by the DM. I felt it couldve been better if he died, especially if it was a foolish mistake
Agreed, gato. I've only ever ONCE DM revived a player's PC in all the time I've been playing. Usually best left undone.
Again I understand what your saying, I just didn't think it would be fun for anyone if he had to make a new character because he failed a backflip. If it was pretty much anything else I would've left it alone. I don't like to interfere as a DM unless absolutely necessary. And this felt like the right time.
Zach, I get it. This could be one of the rare instances I would intervene myself. I'm just saying that normally I don't. And at any rate, YOU and only you are the master of your table. Anything that comes out of my mouth is just one man's opinion.
How about a serious talk on pacing the games level? Challenge is good for a game, but an over all merciless curve stomping out of nowhere before the game has barely begun can really turn a player off the game.
There is something to be said for actually getting to enjoy a character before their inevitable demise.
Yes there is fun in creating a new character, but where is the fun of agonizing over a really good character concept if they die on the day of debut because the DM decided that what a lvl2 really REALLY needs to see is a beholder and an army of bugbears?
My party knows me as a relatively chill guy. But the moment I am behind the screen? They see me as a fickle God. They know not to taunt me, but also understand that I reward cleverness.
2:39 additional comment about DM Tip #1 changing stuff in a module can also help if a player might have downloaded and read through the module (it is the internet age after all), though in that case in can be especially fun to save a modification of the module for when said player has gotten a bit complacent, but start with a very small change to make them doubt their memory but not so large a change that they are immediately altered that the train is on a different track.
Like how devious you are ! Slip in small changes,then, Wham! Fully customized boss encounter- see if they squeal about ' challenging encounters/ cheating by dm!'
If. You don't wanna kill'em you can remove a limb, with all the penalties that would incurr, including on the party. Movement, for example
Yes you could. I feel that's akin to death or possibly worse. In a game with a heavy focus on combat, losing a limb is such an impedimemt that rerolling a new character would be preferable to playing a maimed character for many players. Some players might enjoy the RP aspect of it for sure though.
@@theDMLair... um... BUT in D&D there's always MAGIC... so severed limbs can be remade, replaced, even enchanted into something new and more awesome than the PC started with!
Sure... for the immediate (short term) future, there's a lot of tears and pain and struggling or even flopping around on the ground while the rest of the party watches in mix of horror and hilarity... BUT over the very slightly longer haul... there's always a nearby "mad doc" and a Tinker-gnome with an Enchanter side-kick shouldn't be TOO much to look for.
Lop 'em off and have fun with the results... if anyone's TOO sensitive, replace whatever limbs they lose with TENTACLES! ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 There's even a necromancer class in 3e who intentionally replaces one of his limbs with a prosthetic AND another class (Grafter?) who replaces a limb with an "upgrade".
@@urdaanglospey6666... well, you could arguably chalk it up to my days of "RPG-Bouncing" while I was fiddling with ShadowRun, I picked up the book "Shadow Tech" about a fairly wide variety of upgrades, bioware, wet-ware, and so forth, some of which could be magically enhanced in some theory... (normally, in ShadowRun, cybernetics diminish your "humanity" score and thus your "magic pool"...)
AND with Gurps, I often "hybrid" from different settings and systems to suit whatever new situation I want.
SO coming from 2e AD&D, myself, I just got used to the whole idea... lop a limb off, or lose something... find a cleric or necromancer of requisite ability, and enough funds "for that"... adds to character in the end. ;o)
Ah, I remember the last time someone taunted the DM. Coincidentally, I also remember a time when they were a barbarian and not a pixie lol
Lol well done! 😂
My group, we are currently doing this Pathfinder Pirate Module. So far only one character death, though it has come close a few times. The player took his character's death well. He rolled up a new one. And we captured a few vessels and we came up with a backup plan. Two of the characters are taking two of the ships and have "gone off pillaging and spreading the infamy of our crew". So now two characters are being rolled up for the next session. If their is a TPK situation, we won't have to stop doing the module
Yup! Consequences are a big part of making it real! I like to put a situation that is lose/lose for the characters in every campaign. It does highlight that their choices are important. These major choices don't have to mean that they are going to die, which I know is not what the video was suggesting (to head off comments suggesting that), but it does make their choices more important in a way. They are choosing which of their objectives and sense of morality they are have as a group. This is a game where you'd have to be very patient with metagame discussions, so heads up about that. But, they have been some of my players favorite games. Sorry, this is not directly on topic for the video.
Usually it takes 24 hours to destroy a soul. Why did they wait that long?
@@chillchatsbee8017 I know. My point is that usually it takes 24 hours after a soul is sucked out to destroy it.
@@joshuaarnett762 The party has to escape the dungeon to go get help. That takes time. It was said that the players didn't have the resources to cast or buy the spells necessary. They may not be particularly close to where any help might be. (I'm not familiar with the module.) I can see a day being a very short amount of time to get this problem solved.
@@VoltisArt they were just outside the room if I understand him correctly
yeah almost killed 3 PCs with 4 Apes, not realy many mistakes on the player side (appart from 1 PC not joining the battle for the first half) and me rolling realy well - 2 crits and not 1 roll below 15 + modifiers.
2 of them went to 0 HP, but it worked out in the end, and htey learned to not splitt the party while in a hostile djungle
Never split the party is a mantra for a reason...
I actually have a DM technique that’s very simple yet effective. Any time a player is being crass you can, A: smack them with some incredibly random but not too detrimental happening or B: The blue bolt. Have a swirling of clouds around their head with blue electricity coursing through it. If they keep up with their shenanigans it strikes and deals a good chunk of damage. If they stop the lightning cloud is calmed and disappears.
Only just started playing about 2 years with some friends from work. They’ve been playing for a long time, I believe like 7/8 years. Not once have they had a PC death.
Then comes along lil ole me with my first character. We started from scratch and at level 9 we fought an Anti-Paladin in a tavern. Upon taking his body to a dungeon for examination one member of our party approached us with the body of a Babu that tormented us between levels 4-6.
We had to fight both of them again later in the day and my Paladin happened to draw the attention of the very displeased and now very much alive Anti-Paladin in order to save another PC.
The moment when he died felt very....surreal and I wasn’t quite so sure how to wrap my head around it. My DM may have been a bit graceful and reminded the PC my character had saved about an item he obtained for his patron, he’s a warlock. Needless to say the whole experience was exhilarating and created an amazing character building moment.
I always taunt my dungeon master. Though my Dungeon Master also knows that I am perfectly okay with my character dying, so long as he makes it a good story.
The player who taunted me is much the same. He just wants something interesting to happen as a result. 😁
I had an interesting character some time back who was somewhat the opposite. TN mage in a rather indecisive party...low level, to boot, so he was far from immune to damage. He didn't care for their chatter and often winded up walking off while they bickered, leading to side adventures and chuckles between myself and the DM. After a few times he was basically the defacto leader (without saying a word) just by being able to pick a door or path, which I sometimes did with a coin or die toss.
"..I think we should...O crap, where's Stellon?"
"I think he went that way."
"Dammit. Let's go."
I live by this at my games “ anger not the DM, for you are crunchy....and go well with Doritos” yeah... I’ll challenge any and all monsters or players but never the DM lol
That's awesome dude I love that you go well with Doritos. I'm going to use that quote with my players the next time they they challenge me or what not.
You'd think that it would be common sense NOT to piss off your GM...but then again some kids only learn why not to play with matches when their fingers get burned, lol
Yeah that's true. But the fact that a couple of them died had nothing to do with the one player taunting me in all honesty. It was just a happy coincidence you could say. 😂
Yeah, I once sent a hord of devils after a group of 5 lvl 14s, well they dealt with them pretty easily because I made my PCs OP honestly. But that wasnt the issue, the Pit Fiend that was the boss of the devils was. They ran, but not fast enough before the creature summoned a devil to cut them off. Cornered they were about to fight when the warlock runs up to it and talks to it. She put so much thought into what she said to it and rolled persuasion... nat 20. Fuckin convinced a pit fiend that they could make it a arch devil... I was so fucking proud.
High risk high reward... Permanent death... Always a tough and enjoyable point!
I like the idea if a soul has been devoured or destroyed that the creature that comes back is undead & as a result not going to be a PC anymore unless you are playing "one of those games".
Yeah it's an interesting feature for sure. That was something that was written into that creature stop block like out of the book. I usually wouldn't do that sort of thing just because it seems like a a screw job from the dungeon master. But it's literally with that creature does so there you go. I imagine for super hard monsters it makes sense for that sort of thing as well.
@@theDMLair If it's in the stat block and the players complain about, you could just show them
pfff. weak. Only 2x deadly. Im currently playing tomb of annihilation and we regularly encounter 2-3x deadly encounters. Its fun, super challenging and can be quite deadly if you misstep
I've lots of great things about ToA. 😁 what else do you like about it?
@@theDMLair Oh i love the campaign so far. Although we are only a couple of sessions in. Our first combat was against a gladiator, cr 5 ;P was almost 4x deadly, we were lucky we survived, had some close to max damage rolls. I do love how the campaign doesn't pull any punches and really makes you feel like the entire place is out to get you. Its a very welcoming change from the other campaigns i've been a part of where its usually a bit more lax on the danger part.
We had our first character death to a swarm of terrorfolk last session, almost tpked if it hadn't been for my barbarians heroic tanking and a super lucky healing potion pickup. in terms of 5e, it might be my favorite campaign i've run so far. enough for me to buy it to run with other people.
I've learned something from this (ha, it's even applicable in my Call of Cthulhu games); I'll be a better DM if my concern is growing my players and their experience making choices. That's pretty neat, thanks DM Lair!
You're very welcome!
There is also the issue of just chance. I was in a campaign where I had a Paladin fall to a sleep spell which caused him to collapse. The rest of the group was taking a beating so they cast a wall of ice in a curve around them. Because of the property of the spell it caused the ice to form over the Paladin's head. The vampire bats that we were battling against cut open the helmet and started eating their way threw. So the rest left, later we encountered the dead knight as a dread knight which was headless since the vampiric bats ate through his head. It was a great campaign.
Yeah dude that sounds like fun. What a way to die.😂
Definitely you have to let the player characters die when it happens.... Sometimes the party gets wiped and the bad guy wins. It's just the start of your next campaign.
My DM is my sister and before our game has even started she said that if I tick her off enough she’ll send an army of dragons to kill me
A little late for a response but I actually had a situation that was almost exactly the opposite of what this video covered.
I was doing a homebrew game where my players, level 1 at the time, were going up against a band of 6 goblins. There was a river in the middle of the room with two bridges on either end and poison water running through it. Well, due to lucky rolls on my end and horrible rolls on the player's side that 4 of the 7 players had fallen into the river, 1 of the players had been stabbed in the back with a claymore (on accident due to critical fails), one of the players was unconscious, and the last was riddled with arrows. Now the river was both poisoned and quite fast so they not only had trouble getting out but also took quite a bit of damage from it.
At this point, I didn't want my players to die because it was our first campaign so I started to push rolls in their favor. Suddenly attacks started to suspiciously be higher than they should have been, a weapon did a little more damage than normal, our sorcerer got a bit of 'divine luck' and more. It was their first battle in the campaign and their second event (having just completed a trap room) and I was sure that, while it was going to be a little uphill, they wouldn't have had that much trouble. We ended up keeping going with the adventure and eventually had a band of 11 players so it was quite fun.
TL:DR My band of adventurers nearly died to each other near a poison river while the goblins they were 'fighting' just sort of watched them.
Looking back they really did roll an astoundingly bad set of numbers. I kept rolling high 18-20 for the monsters and they kept rolling low 1-5. If I hadn't started messing with the numbers they would have been dead to 6 goblins. And yes, we had an 11 person game and man was it hectic.
I am proud to say that I had a rather similar experience in my first campaign as a DM where I helped one of my players build character (hehe) and established myself as a DM with the rocks to kill a PC. I tend to determine what is behind the next few corners of the campaign and then completely relinquish control. I want my players to survive, but written notes are never unwritten for any reason.
So I have this player who is a bit of an edgelord and likes to be a lone wolf. You know the guy. He was playing his first assassin at the time. The party has just parted ways with what I can only describe as a nomadic colony of world of warcraft goblins. They're in a cave, and I've set up an encounter with a Balhanoth. It was level-appropriate for the party. THE PARTY. The party then decides to teleport over the short distance that separated them from the nearby town, but the lone wolf... The lone wolf decides to walk back. For my campaign setting, I have stated that magic and the human soul are, at their core, the same thing: mana. And that is what a Balhanoth eats. So when our assassin decided to not immediately try to outrun this eldritch abomination of a grappler, his fate was already sealed. Let's just say he's been a lot more careful with his characters since then.
The "cheifjun" thing killed this video for me less then two minutes in. I can't handle it after the last video.
I mean Cheif Chins are made for killing and that's just what they're gonna do.
@@theDMLair well played sir.
Thought you'd like that. I blame my bad pronunciation on my parents fwiw... Lol
@@theDMLair no worries, you make good content, I just didn't like this specific detail in this video.
It's all good. Glad you're enjoying the videos. 😁
This would never happen in my game (the taunting). I have a reputation for a "high mortality rate". I think that's a bit of an exaggeration but at least everyone knows death is absolutely on the table! I don't intentionally kill characters but, if the characters make bad choices, I don't save them from said choices either. (I do try to save them from bad die rolls though!)
I likewise don't save players from bad choices. I sometimes save them from myself though. :D
I agree with your sentiments Tim. I recently ran a one off in the homebrew world of my campaign and while one player made a stupid attempt at persuading the boss at the end ("we're not your enemies" whilst they effectively intruded on her castle) and suffered accordingly, and I had fully intended for this to be a difficult fight, I did not intend for two of them to be immediately 1 hit KO'd by the first attack. So I discreetly reduced the first round 9th level spell from doing close to 200 damage down to something like 100. The two players survived but were knocked unconscious and the cleric had their hands full. They made it out ok though. (Level 14 party invading the castle of a lone exalted level ice queen).
I'm actually in a game where I fell because I didn't think I needed to notify anybody my HP was below half. And I got critically hit by one enemy and hit normally by another and fell one point shy of instant death. Needless to say, I have a whole new appreciation for not only my character but my DM as well. He wasn't afraid to punish me for not communicating with my allies. He wasn't trying to kill me, but he wasn't going to save me either.
My current campaign includes my son and my roommates’ daughter, both in sixth grade now, along with three adult players (roommates and a co-worker.)
I have never held back on them because they’re kids. When one decided to fly above the city walls during a siege- spellcaster, obvious target.
She went down in a hail of arrows and my son, the cleric, healed her. He plays a cleric of Apollo, and is more about the shortbow and guiding bolt than the healing, but he realized what was needed and probably saved almost all the party from death during that siege.
They both are learning their actions have consequences, and I find it a good way to apply some life lessons through D&D.
Dadding ahoy 😂
At least let them use true resurrection, it’s the same level as wish
Kartana
The kicker is the wording of the spell. From the spell True Resurrection:
“If the creature''s soul is free and willing, the creature is restored to life with all its hit points.”
If their souls were consumed, the souls are not free and therefore unable to return.
Of course it’s up to the DM of the table to decide, but if I were the DM, True Resurrection wouldn’t be enough.
Do not taunt the GM, do not feed the GM. You will regret it.
I beg to differ... The players that bring me food and beer subconsciously get a tiny bit more DM grace. 😁🍔🍺
@@theDMLair "Don't feed the GM" is not about food...it is about those lines like "Don't worry! It's not like he is gonna have a Death Knight here!" Or " What's next? An evil Elvis?"
Dude seriously, you're making me hungry....
I love how he has the mini of Tiamat behind him in this specific episode talking about killing the PCs
I had a really fun encounter with a DM who was inspired by FFXIV. Basically, it was two boss monsters: one caster humanoid and one floating, AoE-spewing, giant head thing. They weren’t especially interesting, but the area we fought them on was a rectangular platform with a huge set of weighing scales on it with a narrow bridge leading off it.
If we stayed on the narrow bridge, we’d be sitting ducks for the head’s AoE.
If we stayed on the platform, we’d risk falling off because the weighing scales would magically make the platform tilt. When it tilted, we’d all be moved 40ft towards the lower edge. Not such a big deal, unless you’re unconscious.
My character happened to fall unconscious and ended up sliding to the very edge of the platform. Had the platform tilted one more time, she would have fallen off and fallen at least 100ft, almost definitely to her death. Our paladin could have saved her, but instead she went in for another attack on the boss. The boss Monster was thankfully only one hit away from death, so we were alright. Had she missed, however, that would have been curtains for my PC.
That’s one way to do challenge: let your PCs see the risks of certain actions and let them weigh them up. Then, whatever happens, it will be their choice.
I can't stop staring at your exaggerated mouth movements.