"My game?? Buddy, this is your game, I'm just the narrator."
this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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Pretty much how I DM.
Bosses have prep time. Glyph of warding can be cast on a page in a book, with trigger conditions specified by the caster. E.g. when a good-aligned creature with ≥8 int comes within 10ft of it.
Explosive runes are 5d8 damage (dex save for half) per glyph.
Nothing says it can't be cast on more than one page.
A 50 page book with a glyph on every page means 100 dex saves for 5d8 each. Evasion is nice but you'll fail a save eventually.
Your "friendly" neighborhood lich has had time to prepare dozens of these. That tempting library full of magical books might just be a TPK.
As a "consolation prize" at least the player gets to roll 100 d20s at once! Multiple times if they survive the first book.
That just sounds annoying and exhausting. You should probably take care to remember that the point of a DM is making sure everyone has fun- the point is NOT 'winning' against your players.
Yeah, imagine that DM leads you to the BBEG lair and you try sneaking through the library and suddenly they say "ok so 1,200 explosive glyphs just went off, roll 1,200d20 to see how many you save for half damage, and then roll 3,600d8 for damage."
They stacked 1.2k explosive glyphs?
It depends a lot on the type of game that dude is running.
It's certainly not the type I'd be running, but I can see the appeal to some, to run a tough campaign with lots of dice and close calls/dead characters.
But it really needs to be aligned that all people in the party like that.
For example, I did run a few games of Dread, and it's really fun precisely because the characters can die quite easily and in very dramatic ways.
But of course, if you prefer to build and develop your characters over a long time, then this is not the style of game that fits you.
(Though I'd really recommend giving Dread a try. It's amazing for thrilling, immersive one-off sessions)
Oh, I'd only do that if the players are similarly powergaming. If they're not it's unfair, if they are the base game balance becomes koring. The challenge should scale to the party!
As a player if I managed to survive the first book, I think I'd immediately go for another. I mean what are the odds he did it to every book? I must know for science
what an exhausting exchange
It's like a teeter totter with rockets on each side
I love that mental image!
Yeah, I feel like I've been in a campaign with both of them and would rather not do it again
This is such a weird exchange, ignoring that it absolutely didn't happen
As a DM, you're playing with your players. You and them are creating a shared story, a shared experience, together. If a player is playing in a way that hurts the shared experience, you should talk to them. Perhaps about how they can fulfil their power fantasy without removing tension from combat.
You can consider one player souring the experience for everyone else as "breaking the rules". You don't address this by "breaking the rules" yourself.
As a good DM, you absolutely can and should be tweaking your encounters so that they're a good fit, but this ain't it. This devolves into you vs power gamer and the rest of the group will be alienated or bored as a result.
Set expectations! Make sure you're all playing the same kind of game.
The debt must be paid.
Off, mixed feelings here.
On the one hand, it shows how antagonistic DMing is silly. The DM can just make stuff up, and the reason we're all playing is to have a good time. If you want a competitive game that's (at least ostensibly) balanced, you can play one of those instead, like a board game or a war game.
On the other hand... modern D&D is built around ostensibly balanced set piece encounters, usually combat, usually intended to tax but not kill the characters. So the fact that it absolutely sucks at being a balanced game is an absolute nightmare to DM (assuming you want the game to be fair & fun).
When Bethesda is DMing, hot off Oblivion.