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  #16  
Old Mar 30th, 2021, 10:17 PM
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Let’s see...

Back in 2005, we were playing a campaign with a DM who was an alcoholic. He would get drunk during sessions and become belligerent. He tended to become emotionally abusive toward players to the point that people would get up and leave. One time he chased a car down the road in his socks begging the player to come back. But most of the times he would become incoherent. During one session, our characters were exploring a desert temple full of cultists. While in one of the rooms, we triggered a trap that caused the hallway outside the room to become filled with venomous snakes. My necromancer commanded his zombies to cram themselves into the doorway, as a sort of meat wall, to prevent the snakes from slithering into the room with us. But drunken DM decided that these snakes were not only intelligent enough to pursue us but could also chew their way through the zombies to get to us. We tried to explain that snakes are incapable of chewing. They swallow their food whole for a reason. But rationalizing with a drunk person can be impossible. The snakes chewed holes through the zombies and began to pour into the room. Roll initiative. Drunken DM kept changing the initiative of the snakes. “The snakes go on nish 20.” Next round they would go on 25. Then 17. 12. 28. Et cetera. Sometimes each snake would attack several times per round. It was a mess.
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  #17  
Old Jun 23rd, 2021, 11:36 AM
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Let's see.

We kicked a forum-recruited player out of our tabletop game mid-session because he was the cheatiest dice cheater that has ever cheated at dice. Seriously, people, don't do that. But that's not the worst.

I was actually DMing for this one. This time, we had a husband-and-wife team of forum recruits for our tabletop game. They seemed friendly and game-knowledgeable, and I was optimistic. They had interesting characters, and seemed motivated to play. First combat, the guy's character gets dropped (but not actually killed, mind you!) by a critical hit. They both immediately start packing up, and I ask what's going on. He launches into this tirade about how I obviously don't understand the CR system or how to design appropriate encounters or ... something something about the GM/player covenant, and if I was any good at this, I shouldn't have let things like that happen. They storm off in a huff. As they say: Bye, Felicia. Last time we bothered with forum recruitment of RL tabletop players, and the beginning of the end of our physical game sessions. But still not the worst.

Way back in my college days. Wraith: the Oblivion game with players assigned to also play the Shadows of the characters of the player to the left. For the unfamiliar, Wraiths were the White Wolf take on the standard "ghost because you died with unresolved issues" trope, but the Shadow was sort of a splinter personality, created as its own mini-character, that acted as an occasional whispering voice. Specifically, a whispering voice that wanted the Wraith to fail and succumb to oblivion. An optional storytelling system presented in the book encouraged you to let other players give a literal voice to each others' Shadows. Wraith is an extremely philosophically interesting idea that was a truly miserable actual play experience, especially if you did THAT. Double especially if one of the other players at the table was actually struggling with RL mental issues, and -- unknown to the rest of us -- had written her character's Shadow based on her own traumas. This is why I believe in yellow card / red card systems for gaming, even if you don't think anyone will need them. So, yeah. I was in a game where one player triggered a total emotional breakdown in another player at the gaming table, and where we didn't even immediately realize that was legitimate distress and not just a really well-acted character response. That's my worst experience in gaming.
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  #18  
Old Jun 24th, 2021, 03:40 PM
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Oof. GMs acting out a bias (or outright misogyny) or a god complex is particularly terrifying. Couples RPing together and accidentally airing out their marital conflicts is absolutely fascinating though.

Instead of a Worst Experience, I’ll share an early Awkwardest Experience:

It was my first offline, real life gaming group. I was 17, introduced to a group of friend’s friends ranging from 20 to 40+, so the age thing wasn’t any issue so much as framing my lack of knowing what to expect/how to react. They’re all mid-campaign and mid-mission, so I spent the first while mostly just listening. The adventurers were tasked with gathering some special ancient treant wood, and after an encounter in the forest with some resident baddies, the team distributed their spoils. There was a moment of quiet.

In what I think was my first time initiating conversation at the table - as either a PC or a player - I had my character say enthusiastically, “So… let’s go gather this lumber!” I even swung my arm in a very Super Mario arm pump sort of chipperness.

The Resident Young Guy of the group - the youngest before my guest appearance - apparently thought that was too forward for someone new to their table, and got legitimately mad. He scoffed irl and had his PC immediately cast Silence on me. So I ended up just sitting quietly for the rest of the session. (For which my friend and the GM later apologized for and said that’s just how that player was.)

And the GM had their players perform actual gestures and semantics per spell, which they could make up. A really clever idea to keep the players in-character. Except RYG’s Silence spell semantics was him sticking a finger in his mouth and popping it out of his cheek with a loud audible POP. I swear he leaned forward as he did it to finger-mouth-pop at me.

So a very narrowed-gaze, somehow-aggressive finger-mouth-popping after my cheerful, sole in-game-speak was the last thing I heard and saw before I quietly faded out of my first in-person gaming session.
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  #19  
Old Jan 25th, 2022, 06:24 AM
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Ok I was a Drow fighter using katanas. Dual wield in end 1e. A male lv 3. As was all the others. We had just killed a bunch of goblins lead by a shaman and a wizard. They had left 3 magic belts of orc strength in the trash pile. I already had a demon slayer +3 katana and a master work +3 one. My armor had a+1. As the dm had handed out a few high powered magic items( in the form of a deck of many things) I felt magic belts in the trash were bad.

One player used a detect magic scroll on them to discover the ability of ogre strength. But didn't know they were cursed. The other party members said they would use them I said no. So the dm said if one player wears one all 3 were forced into them. After the others put theirs on. The dm said that the belts of ogre strength were also cursed to turn all who wear them in to human tavern winches with ogre strength. As a human with no adventuring skills you lose all racial abilities and skills you had you are now lv 3 women who can't do nothing. but serve drinks and slap real hard. Your weapons are useless as you don't know how to use them. And not even a god can remove the belts you are forever a tavern winch. my ch threw it's self on its sword I ripped up the ch and never played with that dm again.
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  #20  
Old Jan 25th, 2022, 06:17 PM
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Yeah, if a GM was super capricious, sexist, and transphobic like that, I wouldn't play with them again, either. Yikes.
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  #21  
Old Feb 6th, 2022, 09:10 AM
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created a ch with a flaw. evidently your not supposed to actually do as if flaws exist. cause one pc fist was rude then threatened to kill my pc. And when my pc said something back I was suddenly the bad guy.... And on top of that the dm keeps saying a ch with that flaw shouldn't play in any games. And then has The npcs threaten to kill my pc. Then says he has to give a reason to stay after being told if he speaks he dies. And yes that's here! and the flaw is fear based not something that harms anyone but the pc it's self. So basically I'm being told no role play and it's ok if players and npcs want to PvP my pc but if he defends him self it's bad!!!! I guess the rp of rpgx has no meaning here.
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  #22  
Old Feb 6th, 2022, 03:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackDragon0 View Post
created a ch with a flaw. evidently your not supposed to actually do as if flaws exist. cause one pc fist was rude then threatened to kill my pc. And when my pc said something back I was suddenly the bad guy.... And on top of that the dm keeps saying a ch with that flaw shouldn't play in any games. And then has The npcs threaten to kill my pc. Then says he has to give a reason to stay after being told if he speaks he dies. And yes that's here! and the flaw is fear based not something that harms anyone but the pc it's self. So basically I'm being told no role play and it's ok if players and npcs want to PvP my pc but if he defends him self it's bad!!!! I guess the rp of rpgx has no meaning here.
hard to tell from this, but it sounds like perhaps there's a lot of role playing going on... One PC being rude.... Role Playing. Not necessarily getting along with everyone in the party? Could be Role playing. Your PC says something back, Role Playing. NPC's interacting with the group? Role Playing. Playing out flaws with (imaginary world) results? Sounds like it could be role playing.

I'd have to know more details to judge, of course. But nothing here screams "no RP meaning" yet.
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  #23  
Old Feb 6th, 2022, 09:06 PM
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The fact that the ch is basically either going to be kicked out for rp. or killed for rp. says no rp
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  #24  
Old Feb 6th, 2022, 09:19 PM
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So, other people, while roleplaying, are going to role play with your character, who is role playing, and kick them out or kill them, for role playing.

But there's no role playing going on. Got it. I guess I don't know enough to understand.
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  #25  
Old Feb 22nd, 2022, 12:40 PM
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My worst gaming experience was i'll say about 20 or so years ago. I was playing a D&D Game, 2nd edition. I was playing a Nimbrul Wizard from the Forgotten Realms. They are Specialist Wizards in te eIllusion school who do not have an opposite school of magic. but they have some nasty side effects like they are only a d3 hp etc.

well i was role playing using my illusion spell on a treant, can't recall why any more. but the group of players i was with all started meta gaming, with the exception of my buddy and his girlfriend who both stayed in character. They all turned upon me to drop the illusion even tho none of them knew i cast it nor that i could cast illusions as characters. Worst experience i ever had
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  #26  
Old Apr 7th, 2022, 05:33 PM
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The DM who's best friend plays the DM's favorite character and you are just a 3rd wheel in the game.
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  #27  
Old May 5th, 2022, 04:27 AM
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Not to long ago I was in a game there was a split in the group as the archer went one way while the rest went another. And as soon as the archer was told what was going on their way. the rest of the group decided pic to discuss plans of action based on that info even though said. archer wasn't back with the info. And all rp was to hold. until they pre planned everyone's action. So of course I rp'ed tinting the bad guys and forcing a immediate fight. In which I purposely separated my pc from the others. And forced his death. Cause that ain't role playing. I don't know what you call it but not rp.


Of course there is another game where my ch had 1 hp left asked for a party heal potion that suddenly no one had. ( we had 2 no one claimed to be carrying) Of course this was 2 post after I asked then there was a chat about how it would be a waste to use one on my ch ( a conversation I wasn't part of nor knew about till later But it was the dm and a player). Of course I was told I had no right to be mad about this and that my at that point 3 ignored post and stolen actions didn't. count any way . So I decided I'd kill the ch and instead was band from the game. Yes I had quite a few bad games. So not putting much in lately. Losing interest in playing. But that's just me.
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  #28  
Old May 5th, 2022, 07:39 PM
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In college I tried to run a group of friends through the 5e Curse of Strahd remake. It was a complete, unqualified disaster. A good chunk of it was almost certainly due to my own inexperience managing player expectations, but it didn't help that CoS is a pretty mercilessly brooding and rp-heavy setting (not to mention very easy to sequence break) and the group wasn't really clicking with it. Half the party showed up to the table with characters that the resident Powergamer had made for them, and one of them was completely checked out from the gameplay part of the game and had the Powergamer basically run her character for her whenever combat broke out.

The only part of the game she seemed to enjoy were the roleplaying sections, but even then she was one of those players who equate staying in character with doing the most off-the-wall chaotic stunts just to see what happened. She was quick to get the party into trouble and make things more complicated, and as a result the rest of the players started to approach problems by figuring out how best to play around her. She didn't like that. Before one of the last sessions of the campaign she pulled me aside and asked me to do something about the fact that she felt like the other players were making fun of her by assuming she would play badly. Most of their complaints were valid, but she really didn't take criticism well and expected me to make it go away.

She was far from the only problem player in the group; by the time it was all over the campaign had pretty much dissolved into a weird asymmetrical chess game became me and the Powergamer, and the whole thing got way to adversarial to be fun. Thankfully finals were starting up and we all got too busy and bored and the whole thing dissolved. Far from the worst horror story I've seen on this thread, but boy it was uncomfortable.
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  #29  
Old May 16th, 2022, 12:32 AM
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I took a couple stabs at answering recruitment flyers at my FLGS. Not much good came of that experiment. But easily the worst was a Pathfinder table. Had emailed with them some. GM wanted me to bring a character sheet to my first session. No problem.

Pretty sure one thing we didn't talk about was gender. Bet it doesn't take being in this thread for you all to know this isn't gonna end well...

I don't even remember what I rolled up. It wasn't a healer or support character. I wanna say it was some class that turned out to be meh but was new and exciting then. Kineticist? Whatever, not the point. I get there. There's a long, quiet silence from all four white guys at the table. I hand the DM my sheet. He looks at it like it's a rat with three heads, shows it to a couple of his minions. They whisper a bunch. I eyeroll, cause I'm expecting some mansplaining about optimization or something.

"Um, wouldn't you be happier playing a dedicated healer. Because you're, um, you know..." A vague gesture at where my eyes weren't.

I didn't even ask for the sheet back. "Nah, bro, I'm good." Walked directly out. No regrets. The real irony is that I do play a lot of support builds, but didn't that time. Glad for it too, or it might have taken me another 10 minutes to realize they weren't worth my time!
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Last edited by Optional Reality; May 16th, 2022 at 12:33 AM.
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