Linked Questions
83 questions linked to/from How do I get my PCs to not be a bunch of murderous cretins?
92
votes
5
answers
60k
views
What exactly is a "murder hobo"?
I've been here reading Q&A for some month now, and I already saw some concerning murder-hobos (or sometimes called murderous cretins).
As I'm French, I tried to directly translate it, but it gave ...
- 3,640
90
votes
12
answers
24k
views
Did I overstep my power as DM?
While playing a game with a previous group, in the middle of a combat, I had an enemy caster hidden from general combat, but still casting different spells like heal and other non-damage spells to ...
- 2,337
76
votes
15
answers
19k
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How can I prevent players from using Persuasion or Deception to weasel their way out of a murder?
Background
My players accepted a quest to basically be drug mules, delivering illicit goods to a faraway town. While alone with the NPC giving the assignment, they decided to kill him and take the ...
- 871
69
votes
13
answers
6k
views
How to communicate to the players that an encounter can be solved also through diplomacy?
When you play D&D, you are not supposed to chat with the enemy during encounters. The system is made for fighting. However, in some circumstances, it would be nice to make the players conscious ...
- 10.8k
68
votes
13
answers
18k
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How can I impose consequences when PCs commit severe crimes?
For context, this is my first adventure as a DM. The PCs are level 2.
About 40 minutes into the first session, while investigating the rumours about a ghost ship, the group meets with Aleyd Burrows, ...
- 1,237
66
votes
12
answers
10k
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How can I show-not-tell my players that they are The Bad Guys?
My players have an interesting habit of changing their behavior on a dime. Between objectives, they'll be trying to fix problems at small towns they pass through and helping the locals, but once they ...
- 1,067
59
votes
14
answers
7k
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How can I get players to realize that their enemies aren't evil?
For an upcoming game, I'm planning on making one of the early hooks a standard-seeming "tribe of monstrous humanoids (in this case, lizardfolk, if that makes a difference) is bothering us, go deal ...
- 1,099
58
votes
17
answers
14k
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Dealing with "fearless" players
I have some "badass" players in my group who do not fear death, 4 out of 6 to be precise, which causes problems for the rest players as they feel they are always getting dragged into trouble, trying ...
- 1,131
58
votes
7
answers
16k
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My players went from 100% murderous cretins to 100% nonviolent diplomats; how can I achieve a middle ground?
Related: How do I get my PCs to not be a bunch of murderous cretins?
History
The same group of players and I have played D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder for over one and a half decades combined. We are ...
- 2,045
57
votes
7
answers
6k
views
What makes a character/creature/power/ability/etc. over-powered?
In generic terms, what makes something, regardless of what game it's being used in, over powered?
I hear the term a lot, and while I can recognize it when I see it in-play (often due to someone ...
- 8,139
56
votes
11
answers
6k
views
How do I deal with PCs who use kidnap and torture as an investigative technique? [closed]
I'm running a game in a modern setting with emphasis on the paranormal (Conspiracy X). The player characters are part of a secret government organization and are tasked with investigating & ...
- 874
55
votes
9
answers
43k
views
What are the essential features of a successful evil campaign?
Until this point, I have demanded that my players not build characters with evil alignments, as I am familiar with how to design campaigns and adventures around "good" or "redemption" themes. However,...
- 3,822
54
votes
6
answers
12k
views
How do I make interrogations interesting?
Throughout my gaming career, one type of interaction has consistently failed to engage me: interrogations.
All of the interrogations that I have seen in roleplaying games follow this formula:
...
- 4,881
48
votes
6
answers
11k
views
Can massive damage knock out rather than causing instant death?
Suppose, as happened last night, a character intends to subdue rather than kill an opponent. She made a melee attack, hit, declared her intent to knock out. The damage roll was enough to reduce the ...
- 98.7k
46
votes
9
answers
26k
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How do I run a successful and engaging campaign without combat?
I'm thinking of starting my own campaign with a few of my friends with me as DM, primarily because I wasn't extremely impressed with the campaign my friend was DMing. When I started thinking about the ...
- 5,536