Questions tagged [problem-gm]
For questions about situations in which the game master, for whatever reason, contributes to the difficulty of play. Sometimes you just don't get along with your GM. Many questions about problematic Game Masters can be answered just by making sure everyone is playing the same game on the same page. If that doesn't address your question, ask away! (See also: the [problem-players] tag.)
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How to deal with a DM who controls us with powerful NPCs?
I'm currently in a campaign run by a friend, and so far, I'm having a great time. However, he does do one thing that has been irritating to me, he makes all of the important allied NPCs far more ...
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How can I help my GM make the gameplay they provide more interesting?
My girlfriend and I are in a game my friend started a while ago. (We're playing D&D 5e.) It is his first game, but we all DM other games at the same time. I feel I have done a lot of research ...
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What do I do if my DM wants revenge for when I was the DM? [closed]
I ran my first D&D campaign last year for 8 players (too many I know, but they really wanted to play). One player was super excited and made a detailed character and background. Long story short, ...
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3
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D&D 5e PC Problem (Closed) [closed]
One of my PCs created a character that is a farmer, has the soldier background, and is a fighter. His back story is that his parents died and his been looking for their killer every since. The ...
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My DM is my roommate and not a good DM... help?
My roommate is currently running a Final Fantasy X campaign, and my fiancée and I are both in it, along with his wife and two other friends. So far, this DM has:
Railroaded both my and my fiancée's ...
- 541
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My GM has created a Mary Sue NPC. What can I do to persuade the GM to make her less powerful?
My GM has created a Mary-Sue-type NPC. She is a demigod with thousands of years of experience, and was once an enemy, but is now an ally of the party, though really of only a few favourite players. ...
- 323
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9
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Our DM is trying to kill us [duplicate]
So I posted a similar question previously (How can I suggest the DM stop trying to kill us?) which was just about general gameplay; the outcome of which was that is just how the die rolls, which is ...
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Whose job is it to make the game interesting?
My Dungeon Master has made his own story and he asked how it was. I criticized him about his story only being interesting for one character (that has a massive amount of backstory and was made with ...
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2
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Is my DM being too severe? [closed]
I want to know if my GM is being too harsh on us, as this is our first adventure, so none of us are sure.
My party just became level 9. I feel that as a party, our AC is low all around. For example, ...
- 63
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How to handle a boring campaign (as a player)
I've been tabletop-ing with a longtime group of friends (Shadowrun, but it doesn't really matter). I've been having fun, I suppose, but we are five sessions in and there is still no semblance of a ...
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Character not developing with DM's story [duplicate]
I haven't RPed much, only 2-3 games; most of them are never completed due to events happening and the RP can't be continued.
In the current game I have made a Chaotic Neutral character, whose main ...
- 63
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Can the DM forbid my character from using certain weapons because he "doesn't like them"?
My friends and I have recently become interested in playing D&D and one of my friends has chosen to play the DM for us because he has the most knowledge of the game. He's been helping each of us ...
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The GM disagrees that Black Lotus Extract should require two saves
I am an alchemist level 10, and I used Malignant Poison on my Black Lotus Extract so it has DC 24 and takes two consecutive saves to end.
When I affected an enemy with it, my GM succeeded the 1st ...
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How do I deal with a DM who restricts my character options?
This is my third campaign with a DM. He enforces these rules:
Only races from PHB 1 are permitted
Only classes from PHB 1 are permitted at 1st level
Cross-Classing is not permitted until 6th level
...
- 419
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4
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What is the origin of the concept of punishing players in-game as a GM?
I have observed GM punishing players by punishing their PCs, often through intentionally implausible, humiliating, and sometimes fatal events. Where and when does this GMing technique originate, and ...
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How do I deal with aggressive/disrespectful criticism?
This problem hit me as both a Storyteller and as player. I joined a "Survival Horror" game of Vampire: the Masquerade; a minor encounter spiraled out of control in the second session. The GM gave us a ...
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How to deal with a DM that doesn't listen to or cooperate with his co-DMs?
We are a group of five who rotates DMing with each quest. We have one DM who only does what he wants when he's DM, with no regard for other players, other DMs, or the rules, which forces the next DM ...
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11
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How can I suggest the DM stop trying to kill us?
We have been playing a game for a while now, and while the game itself is quite enjoyable, the only problem is that the DM seems to be aiming to kill us. Sort of.
For example, there have been three ...
- 23.1k
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1
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3k
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How to deal with DM favoritism? [duplicate]
I've been playing a 4e dungeons and dragons campaign for a while now, and it's the first campaign I've ever played in. The DM seems to keep pampering one player in particular. He usually only gives ...
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What to do with a mean Dungeon Master? [closed]
Myself and a few other people are in a Pathfinder group where our original DM was wanting to play. So he gave the DM duties to one of the players. That player turned out to be a controlling, mean DM ...
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A fellow player is uncooperative with the group and gets GM favoritism. How do I handle this?
I actually have two situations but they are interconnected. Our group is currently playing a Dresden game. The GM and one of the players are married. Along with that, he is a new member to the group. ...
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How can I get my players to do extra “homework”?
I've noticed a problem with my PC's lacking rich backgrounds, or players lacking knowledge of the mechanics of their own characters. This has lead to me giving the players "homework", which I have ...
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How can I politely handle a GM who doesn't appear to 'get' how Dungeon World works?
My gaming group recently decided that our next game was going to be Dungeon World, GMed by my flatmate who I will refer to as Bob.
Bob has played a one-shot of DW with myself as GM in the past and ...
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1
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1
answer
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Being Descriptive [duplicate]
I realise the title is somewhat ironic.
I have started playing a new game, it is exciting, well-paced, suspenseful; everything an rpg-er like me could ask for.
The issue is the description of, well, ...
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37
votes
10
answers
7k
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Should I leave this group or recover it?
Long Version
I got a friend into Pathfinder less than a year ago. She had lots of fun. She had so much fun she decided to become a DM/GM. I was very excited about it.
Her grasp of the rules is ...
- 1,407
68
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13
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14k
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As a GM, how can I stop killing my games?
Probably the worst issue I have as a Game Master is that I think of a game, I write a campaign plot for it -- End, Beginning and Middle, get hyped, hype my players, and after 2 months I get bored with ...
- 7,615
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4
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3k
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How to deal with an overly-specific GM
So we started a new game tonight, and only an hour in I was bored out of my brain. The GM kept ranting about where each of our characters were from, the heritage of the area, etc. It could be argued ...
- 23.1k
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What can I do when the GM dislikes my choices in play?
I am new to D&D. I just recently started a game where we are using 3.5 books for character creation, but the world is completely homebrew and the rules are heavily house-ruled. Pretty much the DM ...
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My party doesn't want to get rid of an unbalanced house rule
I've posted about this house rule before wherein my DM decided that upon levelling up we would add our Constitution modifier to the hitpoints gained.
This was due to our first session where we ...
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How do you deal with a DM who says "no" to everything?
I am in a campaign with several players who also DM, on a rotating schedule.
One DM in particular has a control issue, in my opinion. He tends to say "no" to just about any action the PC wants to ...
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How do we tell our new GM that we don't like some elements of his campaign?
Our current GM is quite new to GMing, and has stumbled into a few pitfalls. To give a few examples, he killed my character (by accident) and brought him back via deus ex. He locked the party in a ...
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12
answers
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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 ...
- 2,397
39
votes
9
answers
8k
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DM taking away XP from players as a form of punishment
So I got a group of friends in high school and were all nerds but with no way to play together. Not all of us had a computer or console. We found someone who claims to have a lot of experience as a DM,...
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2
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How do you get a DM to stop targeting you? [closed]
My group previously had our latest session over the weekend. It was the first one in this campaign so we changed up the roles a bit. I usually DM and I wanted to be PC for a while so we switched it ...
- 1,447
151
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14
answers
33k
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Betrayed by my GM; how can I respond?
I was introduced to D&D three months ago and really delved into the world. I had so much fun creating my character and tried very hard to roleplay him differently from myself.
I did my very best ...
- 1,383
6
votes
3
answers
4k
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Tips for dealing with intentionaly aggressive player? [closed]
Well, I don't know whose responsibility is, but I'll tell you the whole problem.
I only have one player, and we've been playing for a while together; I live in a country where role playing is very ...
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votes
5
answers
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How can I as GM handle situations where players bicker about tactics?
I'm current running 13th Age, and there are two players who are quite tactical. The issue is both of them thinks differently and one is pushy, and the other is stubborn. Every now and then the both of ...
- 7,047
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6
answers
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Abuse: Is it fair if it's in-game?
I play a half-orc barbarian, while everyone else in our group is dwarven or elven. So in a town heavily-populated by dwarves, my character received a fair share of abuse, which is to be expected.
...
- 733
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5
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My DM's ruled that all spells cast in armor are subject to Arcane Spell Failure. Can you change his mind?
My Fighter wants to multiclass into Bard, and continue wearing heavy armor; I'd just avoid spells with somatic components, since only spells with somatic Components worry about an armor's Arcane Spell ...
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Is there a limit to Rule 0?
Rule Zero: All other rules can be changed by the GM.
I appreciate that there is a massive amount of work that goes into being a GM and the last thing that any GM wants or deserves is to have his ...
- 1,235
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How should I respond to a DM who unfairly plays the "rules-lawyer" card?
My question: How would you, as an experienced role-player, deal with this situation?
I was recently invited to join a 4e startup goup. I've RP'd a fair bit in my day, but not in decades, and never D&...
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3
answers
6k
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How to handle a 'power-GM'?
My rpg group is generally very good about 'playing well with others' and most of us lean towards story-gaming more than anything else. We have one member, though, who tends to be a pretty prototypical ...
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190
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10
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How does a player correct a GM mistake without being a rules lawyer or pushover?
You are playing in a game. The GM says that you need to roll a given roll. The rules clearly state something different.
I realize one solution is to go along to get along, then tell the GM after the ...
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