Help dealing with a DM

[shiram]

Hey guys im hoping to tap into the wealth of gaming knowledge and experience you all have.

Here is my situation, we are playing a game of Star Wars Saga, 3 players and one DM. The players are me, one of my friend, and the DM's roommate.
We completed the 6th game into his campaign last night. I'm playing a Sith, but thats hidden from my co-adventurers. One of them is a scoundrel pilot, the other a force using gladiator.

Anyways my issue is that none of us seem to know what we are supposed to do in this campaign. We are on a planet in the Hoth system "looking for artifacts". Now as i'm under cover working for a Sith i'm kinda leading the whole party, I'm the one with the money/ship/ressources/contacts but i don't know where to go, what to do or what to look for.

I feel like im supposed to drive the story somehow, but i dont know how, and it makes for boring adventures where we cant get into our characters and roleplay because nothing happens so we cant really "bound" over the adventures we're having.

Me and my friend even asked during a session if there was some information we missed or forgot or anything to make things progress and we we're told that its normal and to carry on.

I also told the DM if he needed to give me information he could send me emails, or talk to me in another room, but that yielded nothing.

I didnt mind being in the dark at the start, but 6 sessions in and basically still clueless is there something i can do to improve things?? Is there something i'm missing?

[Marvel-dude]

Well it seems like it is one of those GMs that use the "let the players decide on the adventure.. and I will play it"

Okay so your GM lets you stay on Hoth, searching for artifacts.. Then by all means.. Search for artifacts.
Bug your GM when he asks "what artifact are you looking for?" then you reply something like "I am searching for the legendary saber crystal from Marka Ragnos' lightsaber. A incredibly powerful crystal that will allow me to control the force in a incredible way" or something similar insane.
Either your DM decides that you have gotten too much "leash" or he goes with it and then you pretty much have the entire campaign to do whatever you want to.
I suggest taking over some primitive planet and train the FORCE/ENGERG-RESISTANCE inhabitants as warriors and take over the universe :\

(I don't know if this was helpful at all. If all else fails then say that you would like a campaign where the GM has a general idea on what there is supposed to happen)

PS: Sorry for bad grammar and spelling errors :\

[Earthwalker]

Do you know what artifacts you are looking for ?

Have you any force powers that will help you locate them ?

If not start asking around trying to make contacts to get information on where to go next.

[jiriku]

Dude. You're a sith. Accumulate power. Wine, dine, blackmail, and murder your way into control of the local government. Find some organization to cast as a villain so you can justify militarizing the planet and placing those forces under your control. Muscle your way into local trade and stockpile vast resources, then use those resources to build or buy the most heavily armed starships you can get. And through it all, trick your knuckle-headed, do-gooder friends into helping you, making them think it's "all for the common good" or some such garbage.

[shiram]

Well we are in a station that is quite huge, we searched 2 floors out of more than twenty. We picked up books, armor, crowns, jewels. We have no clue what we are looking for, i'm guessing its Force related.

I've been "sensing force" "sense surroudning" and all that good stuff for all i can, but the DM says the place and most of the planet stinks of dark side, so i can't distinguish any particular thing.

The planet is mostly bare, the only living thing we encountered spoke no language we know and they attack on sight. I'm thinking they may be sith, but i cant blow my cover in front of my team-mates.

I'm thinking i might take the high road as Marvel dude suggests... if nothing picks up next time we play, i'll take everyone to Nar Shadda or something and we'll just go on a drunken rampage or something...

edit : Jiriku : i am accumulating power, im growing in level and i gained the trust of the 2 guys, there is no government on the planet, its mostly bare as i said. We only found the one station, and we're exploring it. I'm all doing this to be in the good grace of my Sith master as well.

[hamishspence]

What kind of Sith? Lost Tribe, or Rule of Two Sith?

Also- what era

The Lost Tribe are more numerous- and have sent spies out into the galaxy. They are somewhat "saner" than the Rule of Two sith in some ways.

[Marvel-dude]

Yes.. join the dark side >:D
Corrupt your friends...

On a more serious note: wait until they are asleep and then "reach out" with the Force. try to make a mental link with one of those evil beings.
You should be able to understand each other through the force and then you can ask them what they are guarding or if they are guarding anything at all

[jiriku]

Who sent you to find these force artifacts? Do you have the option of going back to them and saying "so...what exactly do these artifacts look like?"

Also, what sort of station have you got here? Can it viably be turned into a secret base of some sort? It's nice to have a secret base. Kind of a requirement for a sith, too.

[shiram]

I'm working for Darth Maladi in the Legacy era.
I was sent to gain the trust of the 2 other guys, and we're hunting artifacts, as requested from Darth Maladi.
I can reach her via telepathy, but as of now it's a one way street as im only sending info to her, and not getting any back. Can't go back to her, as that would blow my cover.
The base is kinda like some of those Rakatan factory i think? There is some machinery there but our skill monkey can only open doors or use the elevator, nothing else seems to really be working.
It's huge, and mostly empty, i guess i could make a base or fort there, but i dont see why i would do it, or what worth it would have for me.

[potatocubed]

The way I see it, you've got two options:

1. You can talk to the GM OOC and say "I honestly have no idea what I'm looking for. Throw me a bone?"

2. You can say IC "Welp guys, no artefacts here. Let's go to Nar Shaddaa and get blitzed!" And then do that, and see what sort of adventures result.

[Choco]

Maybe this particular DM got stuck with a group before that considered everything down to an NPC requesting the PC's aid to be railroading. If you can't find it in you to drive the plot, tell him you would LIKE some direction, it may even make his day.

[Mr.Smashy]

These are not the artifacts you are looking for.

I would just start doing crazy things. I love a game that is player driven, but you at least have to have an idea of whats going on. I would just stay in the cantina and ask around for information until he advances the story somewhat.

[shiram]

I'll take it upon me to either kinda stall the game or push it into new territory i guess.
I already asked the DM, and i got nothing, as i said before, i asked if he wanted to talk to me out of game, or send me emails with info, and got nothing.

[Choco]

Naw, don't ask him, tell him flat out to give you a concrete quest :smalltongue:

Or just take the reins and do what you want. Go take over the local crime syndicate and have a blast.

[valadil]

Players need momentum before they can steer a game. Tell your GM you need a nudge in the right direction to get the game rolling.

[DabblerWizard]

The last time I DMed for a group of players, about half of them hadn't been exposed to D&D before, so I decided to ease them into the story on multiple levels.

Early on they seemed unsure of what they were "allowed" to do in the game, and I helped with that by specifically spelling out some of their options. That's only an acceptable practice with new players, I think. You don't want them to depend on your input, nor should they feel that only the options you provide are the valid ones.

Eventually they felt empowered, believing falsely correctly that I would go along with the decisions that they made, helped them to feel that they could make a genuine impact on the story.


In terms of the OP, if I were a player in your story, I would be asking questions of the DM.

"I roll a skill check for [insert type here], do I learn anything interesting about [something in the environment]?"

"Could you be more specific about what we were told about this mission?"

"Do we have a time limit on when we're supposed to finish the job?"


I wonder if you and the other players are bored or frustrated with the current pace / lackluster story. If you are, I would mention that to the DM.

[Megaduck]

I'm working for Darth Maladi in the Legacy era.
I was sent to gain the trust of the 2 other guys, and we're hunting artifacts, as requested from Darth Maladi.
I can reach her via telepathy, but as of now it's a one way street as im only sending info to her, and not getting any back. Can't go back to her, as that would blow my cover.
The base is kinda like some of those Rakatan factory i think? There is some machinery there but our skill monkey can only open doors or use the elevator, nothing else seems to really be working.
It's huge, and mostly empty, i guess i could make a base or fort there, but i dont see why i would do it, or what worth it would have for me.

Well, take over the factory and start fixing it up to use as the base for your drug smuggling empire that will eventually take out the hutts. Oh, and the cover should be a hunting lodge to hunt Wampas or whatever those toothy things on Hoth were. You could also get into asteroid mining with an entertainment side with prizes for whoever can pilot the asteroid field the fastest.

Really, if you feel you're DM is giving you insufficient or poorly thought out objectives start making up your own. It can be a whole lot of fun.

[Ruinix]

1- F*** up his game. how? start a big slaughter in any place. use mind control to force someone to start the fight.

2- get some treasure hunter at nar shadaa to get the stuffs XD or at least buy info to them. but first get out of that planet NOW, isn't funy going in circles over and over.

3- talk to ur DM occ and ask if he have anything planed ? and if he has, then ask for a bone. if he CAN'T run the game and is really ruin ur experience get another DM or 1 of u guys take his place.