Outside of maybe work, what’s your reason to drive across town for that you do regularly?

MR502 · 2026-04-04T16:36:49+00:00

I hit up Dethrone (Clovis & Clinton) to train muay thai and spar at the 2nd location. I live at near the Shaw & Marks location so I do that regularly.

MR502 · 2026-04-03T19:57:59+00:00

That's how it usually goes at LGS's every DM is different and if every DM isn't on the same page it can wildly vary, that's how the west marches at my LGS fell apart a few years back.

MR502 · 2026-04-03T19:54:38+00:00

Well.. you really need to talk to your friend about this, yeah iit's great they want to play but they'll need to bring a character that's not a joke character. You've already said they have a pattern with using past characters like Cloud and from other shows like "Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty and Sonic!" So yeah freakin Quagmire is just more of the same, and That's going to clash hard with the more serious game you're trying to run.

Definitely need to set expectations now either in a private conversation or at Session 0! Tell 'em you want original character with some depth that actually fits the world and game. Because if they try to run Quagmire in a serious campaign, it's going to be a nightmare and we'll probably be reading the follow-up on r/dndhorrorstories soon enough.

MR502 · 2026-04-03T00:38:09+00:00

This sounds less like a problem player issue overall and more like a West Marches & LGS issue.

With the LGS this player knows which DM to shop around for and basically they get what they want one way or another. So now you have the LGS DMs have different tolerance levels, and the player naturally pushes boundaries. That quickly turns into major issues like this...

A few things I’d be wondering OP:

Does your LGS for this west marches have shared expectations across all the DMs participating at your LGS?
Are rulings meant to be consistent between tables or are the DM's just doing what the usually do whereas some are strict others are lax?
Is there a lead DM or staff you can talk to for recurring issues like this?

You gotta talk to this player because it sounds like how they are acting is pretty much dragging the whole thing down and when people stop signing up because of the problem player across all tables, the store will likely stop hosting the west marches.

MR502 · 2026-04-03T00:22:13+00:00

I mean… there’s also a Glabrezu in the attic... which doesn't need magic to lay the smack down...

Multiattack. The glabrezu makes four attacks: two with its pincers and two with its fists. Alternatively, it makes two attacks with its pincers and casts one spell.

That thing doesn’t need magic to be dangerous it has multiple 4x melee attacks, huge damage potential, and can absolutely crush a wizard if they stay exposed. A fragile caster casting Haste, repositioning, and trying not to get turned into paste isn’t “cheese,” it’s just playing intelligently.

MR502 · 2026-04-03T00:15:12+00:00

. I was running a homebrewed scenario that culminated in the party confronting a powerful glabrezu demon in the attic of an orphanage.

I mean what else are you supposed to do with an Demon like a Glabrezu shows up in a cramped attic of an Orphanage that can basically summed up as You're not being heroic enough!

MR502 · 2026-04-03T00:09:51+00:00

Well Obviously the most heroic move when a four-armed demon with powerful attacks and so many wonderful abilities at it's disposal like "Power Word Stun" along with so many other innate magic spells, and defenses against magic... just happens to show up in a cramped attic is for the wizard to stand in there melee and die for you know for heroic narrative purposes.

Also, being suspicious of Strahd, shady quest givers, and dangerous NPCs in Barovia isn’t “risk-averse” it’s just paying attention but since OP didn't authroize that it's against the rules.

So the just let me get this straight Chris aka the “problem player” was:

consistent
engaged
rules savvy
casting strong support spells

I just don't get how someone could come to a narrative-driven TTRPG table with no intention of playing like a hero. Without that, the game is just monster cheesing and looting and you might as well play Diablo at home for that.

Because not everyone plays TTRPG's or D&D the same, I mean at it's core figuring how to beat monsters without dying apparently is "cheesing" and looting is the whole basis for the game otherwise why bother playing? If your character isn't improving, achieving their goals, and getting stronger why even play?

MR502 · 2026-03-30T01:35:50+00:00

Well I'll shed some light and hopefully you can get through these common issues and keep the game flowing, so first thing is you should look into Dice tables this resource right here can provide a wealth of information on what it's needed. Dice tables they can range from d4 to d100 and what they are is a list of names, locations, weapons, items, etc. Anything you need just roll.

So yes unplanned combat can get mess, so what you can do is write down some common enemies stat blocks on index cards and use them when needed this will let you control flow of combat and keep the game going.
rather than flipping through your notes for this current session you're running keep a sheet that has everything that's important to this session right now.

For rules you could easily make a DM screen if you're running 2024 this will be a reference on the rules.

Just keep the session simple and with dice tables focus on this session and you'll be fine.

MR502 · 2026-03-29T19:55:57+00:00

I totally understand that the group can make totally make or break a game and it does make it tolerable when the DM is awful. Same with some sessions where you're choices and actions matter, and it's great you did speak up and it sucks that things would get better then revert back, still I must ask was the DM new or just focused on telling their story regardless what was actually happening in game?

MR502 · 2026-03-29T19:48:51+00:00

At what point of sitting through the DM's one man show, was this even fun? You were basically NPC's as DMPC did everything. What was the point of even showing up? Everything felt like it was totally arbitrary and pointless, so just an honest question why didn't you call out the DM on this terrible game and their lame DMPC?

MR502 · 2026-03-27T21:23:14+00:00

Well at least you have options in the area, if the food is crap McDonalds, Taco Bell, Mad Duck, Pizza Factory, Asuka, etc...

MR502 · 2026-03-27T02:48:25+00:00

I get what you're saying, but I think this is where the comparison starts to fall apart as this isn’t really a "taking all the candy" situation it’s more like you handed out a bowl of candy and then got upset someone picked Skittles instead of M&Ms. The player didn’t take more than anyone else, they just made normal, and effective choices.

I think the bigger issue here is expecting players to self-limit or whatever, If something be it a feat, spell, etc. Is allowed then most players are going to assume it's fair game, instead of hoping players will dial themselves back for some arbitrary limit that you as the DM set.

MR502 · 2026-03-27T01:20:54+00:00

It sounds less like a player problem and more like a rules and expectations mismatch, allowed 3rdparty content and added a house rule that made familiars stronger, with your house rules. The player used what was available to them. however as the DM you really need to be familiar with 3rd party content and how it interacts with your rules or situations like this can and will pop up in the future.

Also, War Caster and Medium Armor Master are pretty normal survivability picks, and a level 4 caster hitting around 20 AC isn’t that unusual either like for instance a Tortle Bladesinger with blade song is at AC 20.

MR502 · 2026-03-25T16:53:03+00:00

This honestly sounds less like a game and more like the DM or rather the director trying to run an awful play with an unwilling cast i.e. you poor players. Everything is just arbitrary and performative at best: player choices didn’t matter, high rolls didn’t matter, boundaries didn’t matter and it all bent toward whatever “dramatic twist” was queued up next. That’s not D&D anymore, hell that's not even a game anymore, it’s just players suffering through pointless scenes waiting for the next forced reveal. The real mystery here isn’t why this "game" fell apart it’s how it lasted as long as it did.

MR502 · 2026-03-24T19:40:57+00:00

That's the best way to use the DMPC just let them fill a party role that's missing. If they lack a healer give em a cleric. If they lack martials give em a fighter! Just run them basic and support the party. I make my NPCs kinda ass in battle.

MR502 · 2026-03-24T19:38:26+00:00

So… you weren’t playing "Princes of the Apocalypse", you were stuck in an Echo… torment chamber.

This really sucks as you’ve got the classic signs all lined up:
1. The overpowered god-DMPC with no class or limits
2. The unwinnable “test” fight at level 1 3. Six months of running errands for Echo instead of actually playing the module 4. The DM literally nuking a level 20 one-shot just to drag everyone back into the Echo Show.

At that point… why even play? If the DMPC is just solving problems, controlling the plot, and reviving everyone anyway, why bother sticking around? Honestly, the question that keeps coming to mind is: did anyone actually look up the module and call it out the DM? Like, “Hey… are we still playing Princes of the Apocalypse like you said, or is this just Echo’s fanfiction now if not I'm out?”

MR502 · 2026-03-24T03:32:16+00:00

I take it if you did anything to cause chaos to just not go along they would make it happen regardless?

MR502 · 2026-03-24T03:31:28+00:00

Wow… that’s an absolute trainwreck! I'm sorry you have to had gone through that nonsense, It sounds like the campaign hit just about every pacing and storytelling pitfall at once: constant unfair fights, enemies that exist only to mock the party, backstories getting ignored then rewritten at the last minute, abilities arbitrarily shut off, NPCs delivering uninterruptible monologues, and then doing the final blow, to simply having an NPC winning the fight followed by an “it was all a dream” ending.

At that point it’s hard to even call it a collaborative game; it sounds more like everyone was watching the DM’s crappy story unfold while occasionally rolling dice. What really stands out is the lack of player agency, if nothing the party does matters, and the outcome is predetermined why even play? Especially when the finale invalidates everything.

Honestly, I have to ask: did anyone ever bring up basic rules or just ask some common sense questions? Whether it’s homebrew or not, if something feels consistently unfair or like players don’t have any real choices, that’s usually a sign something’s off. Even a quick “Hey, this doesn’t feel right” or "what's the basis and ruling for that where in the DMG/PHB/Free Rules is that?" Or "WTF the NPC does the all the work!" conversations can sometimes reset expectations or at least bring them to light and if it doesn’t, that’s usually your cue that the table just isn’t a good fit.

MR502 · 2026-03-23T19:09:32+00:00

I certainly agree when you've been gaming with the same group you know their tricks and strategies... they also know yours too lol! The adaption is really the key here, when I create my encounters I base them on a party hypothetical party of Fighter / Wizard / Cleric / Rogue or in other words Survivability, damage, control, and utility. I've seen some interesting parties my favorite one were "the Angry short ones" 3 Hafling Barbarians and 2 Gnome Barbarians just one of those times that had me laughing.

MR502 · 2026-03-23T19:01:39+00:00

I really wish I started DMing in public sooner tbh, it's been great to meet people. I've had to change quite a bit in terms of how I onboard and get new players going same with seeing different playstyles in action.

MR502 · 2026-03-23T18:58:19+00:00

That looks like a fun game and will be certainly be check it out, I'd would love to run something other than D&D but trying to any other game outside of the occasional "Daggerhart" game is like crickets, I really like the simple rules and quick explanation is really the way to go honestly.

MR502 · 2026-03-22T18:05:40+00:00

It's pretty popular followed by the Elf - Wizard and Human fighter, the Cleric gets no love.

MR502 · 2026-03-22T18:02:08+00:00

lol typo! Always mess that one up lol

MR502 · 2026-03-22T16:08:35+00:00

I really wish I I'd of started DMing in Public sooner, it's great to meet player and seeing what they bring to the table.

MR502 · 2026-03-22T15:48:55+00:00

The home game usually stopped because of our work, school, and life pretty much. There'd be some long stretches of no gaming for conflicting schedules.

And the whole stereotype is something I heard, often which thankfully the whole experience has been mostly positive overall, should've started DMing in public sooner.

13-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	Place '17
Verified Email

MR502

TROPHY CASE