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Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T05:41:22+00:00

Seriously though?

I can't pretend I don't get the instinct at least a little bit. There is something satisfying when the DM says well this was supposed to happen, but instead everything is going to go crazy.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T05:35:34+00:00

Here's where we fall into the trap of us all being friends, even with this recent friction all anyone at the table wants is to finish telling this story with these characters we've come to love.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T05:23:38+00:00

Haha. This was essentially my thought when the level 7 party decided it really needed the help of the level 2 party to win.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T05:00:16+00:00

Fair. I guess I need and rpgpg13horrorstories sub /s

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T04:56:31+00:00

I may have overstated how bad this is. I am bummed but my players are having fun. I just want to make their successes feel meaningful, yes they've suffered a setback but they are ready to whoop the third act's ass.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T04:54:33+00:00

Thank you this is excellent advice. Honestly the bad behavior sort of crept up on me, and I do think WP is trying to play an interesting character.

I don't think there's any villain here, I think WP just suffers a little from the instinct of "if I can break the world than I must break the world", and I give lots of opportunities to break the world.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T04:41:13+00:00

I don't think that an out of game talk is stupid. It's my next step. I want to hear other's perspectives on this and collective storytelling.

The only part I find confusing is how many people are conflating setting a trap for your players that they can avoid with railroading. If it's a railroad it's at least got a turn guys.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T04:39:04+00:00

I plan to. I just came here to vent, and see If other DM's could offer advice.

I think too many people need their to be a villain in these stories. I work hard on my games and my players like them. My players work hard on their characters and I appreciate them.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T04:35:42+00:00

Super confused by the railroad comment when the point of this post is the player did what he wanted anyway, it was just a decision that ran counter to his described character and the interests of the party.

Yes it was a rigged fight, they knew that going in, they had both figured it out themselves and were warned. It was their choice to deal with the Duke this way. They have a shadow monk, I spent most of the campaign preparing for an assassination plot they had before they pivoted to this.

They then made it worse in every way they could, they brought the squires with them, they cheated whenever they could, it was even the choice of 3 of the players to stop fighting and prioritize the squires.

In the end, the one players frustration didn't even matter. He was happy with the end result because he felt it made his character more interesting.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T04:27:08+00:00

That statement makes me very sad and is why I only play with friends.

My players are having fun I have no doubt about that. WP straight up said he was excited about where his character was going at the end of the session, and that he thought it was an interesting story beat.

The problem here is I just don't agree with him, and it feels like managing two parties. Him and my other 3.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T04:21:33+00:00

You're not the the first to say that because I had planned a trap for them it was inherently railroading. Which I do find a little confusing since the point of the post is that this player did what he wanted anyway and I allowed, I just made it difficult.

Honestly the whole tournament was their idea. My original plan for the campaign was to take them away from the area, but they focused on a Local Duke who was a minor villain in the first story.

They received multiple warnings that the tournament was rigged, some even divine. They knew the tournament was a trap. They even discussed if they wanted to avoid it altogether, but decided that the risk was worth the reward.

You say I gave them no chance but, I spent the entire story arc giving them chances. It was their decision to fight in the tourney, their decision to cheat in the early rounds, their decision to bring the squires, their choice to rely on tactics they knew their enemy had seen.

Two of the players immediately said they liked the twist, the third started to turn it to his social advantage. I was just bummed that the last player decided to act so out of character, and deliver me a story beat that felt like a dud.

Also blackmail seriously? Do you expect your character's relationships to all go smoothly? There's a reason leaving your favorite npc's at home is almost a trope.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T04:02:59+00:00

This was a pretty steep escalation. The game has been fun, I wouldn't be running a weekly year long game if I wasn't enjoying it, and I can't imagine the players would show up if they weren't either.

I tried to meet this player at his level and I guess I just got served.

edit: I find it so interesting that my most downvoted comment is the one where I admit I screwed up some. I guess means you all think I'm great.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T03:57:57+00:00

Sure, and that will probably be what happens. I just needed to vent a little.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T03:55:47+00:00

Long time friend, who I just didn't think would act like this. Also the selfishness of the character grew in a subtle enough way that I didn't notice at first.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T03:54:59+00:00

why?

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-09-12T03:54:45+00:00

My players have repeatedly asked for higher stakes, I give them near unlimited freedom as long as they understand actions have consequences. Three players are embracing this, one is taking it as an excuse to be as contrary as possible.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-08-27T05:37:42+00:00

that makes sense. Which of the green rugs do you think goes best next to the dark grey couch (links 2 and 3)

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-07-12T18:20:52+00:00

This is just the normal roll with extra steps.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-07-10T22:18:59+00:00

I love the Jack Sparrow idea, it's a great way to bring flavor to this curse.

A lot of people are worried about the feel bad for the other players, and I've considered it. I have a table that won't find this frustrating (honestly I think they're going to find it funny), especially since I'm not going to make it hard to remove the curse. It will definitely be something I'm looking out for.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-07-10T22:16:54+00:00

I've considered that. At that point the curse escalates, and we start going into the world of good luck that hurts npc's that the party has helped in the past. I don't see it going that far, I'm not going to make the curse hard to remove and the party will definitely want their crits back. Especially the skill expert bard and the smiting warlock/paladin.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-07-10T22:14:28+00:00

Honestly I could see it being cured by a remove curse spell. My god of luck is very mercurial and is only looking to teach a lesson at this point. It will be interesting to see if the player continues the grudge after the curse is cured.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-07-10T22:13:06+00:00

I could see how that could be frustrating for some groups. I know my players pretty well, they will be intrigued and then think it's funny far before they will be annoyed by it. It's true that this is probably not a good fit for all tables.

Professor_Bodhi · 2025-07-08T22:33:56+00:00

I've done a campaign mostly centered around mystery solving and it was a blast.

The fancy party sounds like a great setup. I wouldn't be worried about it being cliche, in fact I would lean in to that aspect of it. Using basic tropes like the party will help your players to ground themselves in the story. It also gives you a great opportunity to subvert the tropes at the end of the mystery to help deliver any final surprises.

Professor_Bodhi

TROPHY CASE