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View Full Version : As a DM what have you pulled off that you thought would never work?



Pika...
2011-01-25, 12:32 PM
So...in my recent restart of my 3.5 campaign setting my PC's first encounter was two house cats. I figure to myself "Heh, level one commoners? This should be funny, but easy". Level 1 commoners my behind. The party of three is almost dropped. :smalleek:

I was both amused, and admittedly a little disturbed.



So, have any of my fellow DM's also tried things thinking it would not work/be effective, but ended up surprised? Please share your stories here if such.

Grogmir
2011-01-25, 12:53 PM
They survived against house cats? TWO OF THEM? Wow. Thats an Epic level challenge right there. :smallcool:

I don't really pull of cool things. As whatever I've planned just happens. I don't roll for it.

I've had bad things happen when I do roll though. I once had pirates attack, they had to make easy Athletics checks to jump over to the ship. I roll 2 ones, a two and a three. A four would have made it. Plop straight over the side and encounter over.

Pika...
2011-01-25, 12:58 PM
They survived against house cats? TWO OF THEM? Wow. Thats an Epic level challenge right there. :smallcool:

I don't really pull of cool things. As whatever I've planned just happens. I don't roll for it.

I've had bad things happen when I do roll though. I once had pirates attack, they had to make easy Athletics checks to jump over to the ship. I roll 2 ones, a two and a three. A four would have made it. Plop straight over the side and encounter over.

LoL. Can you say free ship?

Grogmir
2011-01-25, 01:09 PM
yeah - i learn't the next time. They used one fire power and the whole thing went up in flames! :biggrin:

Telok
2011-01-25, 03:29 PM
Running a Traveller game I once had an NPC by the name of Jim DeGriz swindle a bit over a million credits from the party. This was about two weeks after one of the party told me how he had been scammed in Eve Online. I just used a similar technique, requiring a security deposit on a lucrative cargo delivery contract.

Thorcrest
2011-01-25, 03:35 PM
Wow, I can't believe they fell for a scam... those are usually so Transparent! And you'd think the Guy playing Eve would have learned that EVERYONE wants to scam you! :smalltongue:

Sipex
2011-01-25, 03:43 PM
The PCs probably got down to hunting that guy down quick, eh?

Lapak
2011-01-25, 03:48 PM
It wasn't in an RPG proper, but in a play-by-post version of Mafia. (AKA Assassins, aka a whole lot of other things. The party game where some people are bad guys and get to eliminate 'good guys' once per round at night, and the whole group eliminates one player by voting once per round in the day.)

Anyway, I was running a forum-based game and told my players that the theme would be the Paranoia RPG. As such, the factions were 'Troubleshooters' vs. 'The Secret Society.' Because it was Paranoia, I gave each player a mutant power: to kill another player, to protect themselves, find out another player's alliance, have their vote secretly count double, and so on. I warned them up front that there were secret rules that might change the game as they discovered them by trial and error. And I started the game.

What I did not tell them was that instead of a Troubleshooter faction, they were all evenly split into different Secret Societies. All bad guys, no good guys. The carnage was spectacular, but it was always attributed to mutant powers or secret rules instead of rival societies. When it got down the last few players, they ended up wiping each other out COMPLETELY and left no survivors.

Not one player caught on to the secret until the game was over. I never imagined it would last that long, and the fact that it did (and that the players thought it was hilarious once they realized through post-game chatter) is one of the best moments I've had running games.

Czin
2011-01-25, 03:48 PM
Just sifting through my old Dm's notes on the campaign setting he was making before his death on April 13th 2010. He had multiple dead forests worth of papers, sketches, homebrew creatures, rules, classes, spells, feats, skills, plots, plot hooks, plot contingencies, NPCs, biographies, ingame books, maps, diagrams, the workings of a fictional language or three (he took the small scraps of draconic one gets from the draconimicon and made a fairly complete language), gods, entities, planes, religions, at least three seperate constitutions for fictional nations, and a whole gaggle of stuff. I knew it was joked among the table veterans that everytime Ol' Rokossovsky (even though he was only 24 when he died I still call him old) makes a new campaign setting that one could hear the forests of the world weep, but this was ridiculous. If he weren't such an organized neat freak my ADHD and Aspergers afflicted mid-teen self would have been crushed under the workload. I personally thought that I would never get the job done in time for the next campaign.

When I finally got everything together I got Zarkhav (I had to translate the name from the Cyrillic alphabet and get a name that would make phonetic sense in english, which was hard) which will be the campaign setting for many years to come.

Jay R
2011-01-25, 04:06 PM
I got a party of twelve 3rd-levels to run from 7 normal rats -- after killing the first 4. One of the three remaining rats successfully bit a character, so I had him make a saving throw. That saving throw scared them so bad that they fled in terror. (This same party killed a Blue Dragon later on in the same adventure.)

Kansaschaser
2011-01-25, 05:42 PM
The party was level 8.

1. Magical Portal opens near the characters and out plops a naked aged clone of one of the characters and a couple masterwork weapons.

2. They discover that the clone is not a clone, but a future version of the player character.

3. The character is unable to speak and seem to have some sort of illness.

4. The player characters keep the "copy" safe for the next year and a half of the game. They also keep the masterwork weapons that accompanied him.

5. Once they are epic level (around 24), they encounter a plague that threatens to destroy all magic permanently.

6. They find an artifact that allows someone to absorb a disease, but the user becomes infected with the disease themselves.

7. The players find a way to "time travel", but the time machine is protected by a Phane(time traveling monster in the Epic Level Handbook).

8. Since the Phane can only be killed by a weapon forged in the future, they kill the phane using the weapons that came with the "copy".

9. The "original" character then uses the artifact to "absorb" this plague that is destroying all magic. He become mute and feeble. The "copy" then stands up and is perfectly fine. The now healthy "copy" then takes all of the equipment off his now feeble "original" and puts them on.

10. The crafter creates a few masterwork weapons, activates the time machine, and then pushes the now feeble "original" and the masterwork weapons into the time portal.

It was the bigest time loop I've ever seen pulled off and that campaign lasted for over 2 years. I was thrilled and the players were awestruck when they realized what they had accomplished. :smallbiggrin:

Ragitsu
2011-01-25, 05:47 PM
10. The crafter creates a few masterwork weapons, activates the time machine, and then pushes the now feeble "original" and the masterwork weapons into the time portal.

That is SUPER creepy.

valadil
2011-01-25, 05:49 PM
This (http://gm.sagotsky.com/?p=75). Long story short, I gave one of the PCs a Tyler Durden and nobody picked up on it until the end of the game.

Kansaschaser
2011-01-25, 05:55 PM
That is SUPER creepy.

I didn't force the players to do this either. They figured it out by themselves. They effectively "time locked" the plague in a time loop.

Volos
2011-01-25, 06:01 PM
I was able to get my all Chaotic mostly Neutral party of 15th level adventurers to sumbit to a 6th level paladin. They were riding into this port city on a smuggler's boat they "found". This same boat had recently dropped of a huge shipment of illegal drugs to this very port city before they "found" it. So when they came into port it was little to no suprise that the captian of the guard, my 6th level paladin, recognized the boat and was more than ready to attempt to arrest those aboard. Due to the terrible wealth cap on the town the captian of the guard was... well, the only guard. So he rides out on a tiny dingy and calls out to the PCs. It takes several rounds of listen checks for anyone to realize he is there. Once they do, they look over the edge while whispering amoungst themselves as to what to do. He goes on about how they need to come in, be arrested, and then be questioned. He never says why. The whole crew was so surprised by this, that they stop manning the boat. It just so happens that I timed everything correctly (on accident) that when he commands them to stop their ship, it stops. My party automatically assumes he must be a powerful caster and decide to turn themselves in, reliquishing everything but the clothes on their back. As it turns out, he got to interogate them for hours on the ship while the crew waits in the harbor. I told them OOCly afterwards his class and level and they were pissed! But eventually it just became an inside joke. To this day no one can say the words "6th level paladin" without starting a giggle fest. Each time an athority figure attempts to detain or question the party, my players as if he's a "6P". If I nod, or even am perceived to nod, they fall in line and do as the figurehead says. :smallbiggrin:

Zanatos777
2011-01-25, 06:02 PM
The party was level 8.

1. Magical Portal opens near the characters and out plops a naked aged clone of one of the characters and a couple masterwork weapons.

2. They discover that the clone is not a clone, but a future version of the player character.

3. The character is unable to speak and seem to have some sort of illness.

4. The player characters keep the "copy" safe for the next year and a half of the game. They also keep the masterwork weapons that accompanied him.

5. Once they are epic level (around 24), they encounter a plague that threatens to destroy all magic permanently.

6. They find an artifact that allows someone to absorb a disease, but the user becomes infected with the disease themselves.

7. The players find a way to "time travel", but the time machine is protected by a Phane(time traveling monster in the Epic Level Handbook).

8. Since the Phane can only be killed by a weapon forged in the future, they kill the phane using the weapons that came with the "copy".

9. The "original" character then uses the artifact to "absorb" this plague that is destroying all magic. He become mute and feeble. The "copy" then stands up and is perfectly fine. The now healthy "copy" then takes all of the equipment off his now feeble "original" and puts them on.

10. The crafter creates a few masterwork weapons, activates the time machine, and then pushes the now feeble "original" and the masterwork weapons into the time portal.

It was the bigest time loop I've ever seen pulled off and that campaign lasted for over 2 years. I was thrilled and the players were awestruck when they realized what they had accomplished. :smallbiggrin:

That is one of the most awesome plots I've very seen. Mostly that they were clever enough to go along with it. Most of the players I've had would have tried to find a way to circumvent the time loop.

Dreadn4ught
2011-01-25, 06:27 PM
I was able to get my all Chaotic mostly Neutral party of 15th level adventurers to sumbit to a 6th level paladin.

When I read this first sentence, I suddenly thought of OOtS, when Miko the Paladin captures 6 mid to high level PCs.

I don't have many stories of my own, as I am not a great DM and so far my campaigns have not gotten past 2nd level.:smallannoyed:

Pika...
2011-01-25, 06:36 PM
When I read this first sentence, I suddenly thought of OOtS, when Miko the Paladin captures 6 mid to high level PCs.

I don't have many stories of my own, as I am not a great DM and so far my campaigns have not gotten past 2nd level.:smallannoyed:

You'll get there, dood. :smallwink:

Mulletmanalive
2011-01-25, 06:53 PM
On one occasion, i managed to give one of my players a plague of nightmares via setting up a frustrating, maze with occasional mild hazards and leaving them to it.

As nothing in the maze had HD more than half those of the two high levels in the group [everyone else was playing a level 4 standin character, cutscene style].

Oddly enough, the story that's most impressive to me is actually the fact that i've successfully pulled off a chase sequence [second attempt; the Pathfinder Chase rules needed some tweaking] that was enjoyable, fraught and had the players champing at the bit to carry on...

Half-orc Bard
2011-01-25, 07:10 PM
I made one of the scitzofrenic Halflings personalities (the hippie) have her imagination make real things, like a magic unicorn that flies on rainbows takeing her to her purple glass castle. God that was a fun day

Mikeavelli
2011-01-25, 07:38 PM
- The party is infiltrating a wizard's summer home, it's on an island in the middle of a river. The river runs through a large city, but the Wizard in question owns the island, and likes his privacy.

- The Summer home is filled with automations and such, intro encounters, but nothing seriously challenging, it hides a trap door that leads down beneath the home.

- Just inside the trap door area, there's a mechanical trap the rogue easily finds, it's rigged to crush whoever triggers it under tons of rock. They do not investigate further.

- Party goes through the Dungeon, creating quite a ruckus and letting the wizard know they're coming.

- As the party approaches his inner sanctum, he gathers all his stuff into a bag of holding, teleports back to the beginning of the dungeon, and triggers the trap on the way out.

- tons of rock come down over the only exit. Also allows water from the river to flood the entire dungeon.

- Also, sharks.

The party did manage to get out of that one, but they took long enough to actually start drowning.

Kansaschaser
2011-01-25, 08:12 PM
That is one of the most awesome plots I've very seen. Mostly that they were clever enough to go along with it. Most of the players I've had would have tried to find a way to circumvent the time loop.

I didn't inform the players of the importance of the "copy" from the future or the weapons, but they kept the weapons and they didn't kill the "copy" like I thought they would. They kept it all from level 8 up to level 24 when they finished the time loop.

This is what shocked me.

Vangor
2011-01-25, 08:27 PM
Quite recently, my players were forced to use a ferry to cross a swift moving river. The ferry became stuck in the midst of travel (chain and crank system), with the party wondering what was occurring. On the second instance (the party had been divided due to availability of ferry tokens), the beguiler decided to investigate by leaping into the water with rope tied around her waist. Due to being a beguiler without swim or strength and the speed of the water, a couple of the guardsmen taking the ferry were asked to haul her back on upon a tug.

The beguiler tugged, and the rope snapped. She tried to swim, gradually being taken down and away into the black waters. On board, the archivist watched as the guardsmen successfully dragged a now unconscious beguiler via the rope line onto the ferry, again.

The party was thoroughly confused despite seeing darting, vague shapes in the water and forests, having disturbing nightmares causing a few to become fatigued, and the calm of the others on the ferry despite the mechanical failure/apparent threat. Somehow, they blame the water.

Elfin
2011-01-25, 08:31 PM
Running a Traveller game I once had an NPC by the name of Jim DeGriz [snip]

You thought you could pull a Stainless Steel Rat reference over on us, did you?

Gauntlet
2011-01-25, 08:49 PM
The group I used to DM for was at one point, exploring a region of jungle with a couple ruins in. They were about level 4 at the time.

After a while of wandering, the come across a small building, which they believe was once an outbuilding for slaves or servants. They take a look on the first floor (the entrance was raised) and head down to the ground inside. I roll a hidden spot check for them all, and of course we get a couple of 4s and a 3 or something. They think they see something moving next to the hole in whe wall (which is the only source of light). Wandering through the plants and bushes, a couple of them get cut by bramble type plants. Of course, now they've seen movement and taken a point of damage, so they go straight into combat mode. When they draw their weapons and ready spells, I have them roll initiative (and another set of miserably bad spot checks) to stop them from being tipped off. They end up trying to burn out the stealthy 'attacker' and almost lost a couple party members when the first floor supports give way. after smashing the building and escaping with their lives, they've managed to use up the entire session. They asked how much XP they were getting for the encounter- at which point I mentioned that actually, there wasn't anything there. Two failed spot checks and a bramble, and they nearly manage to beat themselves into submission.

Aemoh87
2011-01-25, 08:51 PM
After reading the thread now I know why I like DM's more than players... and for us Dm's we know there is a difference.

Aemoh87
2011-01-25, 08:52 PM
I mean come on the only reason us DM's play characters is to show the players whats up/because the players are driving us towards madness.

Heliomance
2011-01-26, 02:02 AM
an NPC by the name of Jim DeGriz

I approve.

Ferreon
2011-01-26, 09:55 AM
I agree with the above poster, though I would like to question whether any of the party have actually read any stainless steel rat books.

TheEmerged
2011-01-26, 03:06 PM
Playing under Alternity in a sci-fi campaign. The space sector the party is exploring is essentially filled with the traditional fantasy races (four types of elves, 3 types of dwarf, and so forth). One of the campaign metaplots is determining how this happened. One of the others is finding the "missing" races the others know are probably out there somewhere.

The PC's have come to a planet they suspect is home of the former Wild Elves. The world's foliage is almost psychedlic, with even the grass coming in the seven traditional shades of the rainbow. The party is confused as to why sometimes the elves are attacking them on site and others talking to them normally. The party comes to suspect the elves have developed a complex caste system but can't seem to sort out the details...

...when one of the elves lets them in on the fact that there are traitors amongst the Wild Elves. Somehow an aliens race called the Kohms were mutating some of the Elves, and they were forming secretive cults and using their evil powers to try & overthrow the OverFriend that was leading the elves according to the sacred texts they'd found.

That's when one of the players facepalmed so hard I think they heard it two counties away. "You didn't."

/insert evil DM grin

I didThe 'sacred text' is of course the Paranoia rulebook.

===========================

Another one, this one a superheroic campaign under HERO rules. Normally, it is rare in HERO for combat to last more than 2 turns (of 12 segments each, and under normal circumstances a superheroic character is going to act every other segment) and the norm is right around a single turn.

One of the players and I were joking about a challenge of creating a single "boss" villain without a real attack power and only average defenses (and stun/body scores) but otherwise unlimited points and see just how long combat could last. I started with a single trick, and built from there.

The result was Annoying Man! I am under threat of death to never do this or anything resembling this again :smalleek:

"Hey he disappeared and reappeared several hexes away! He can teleport!"

"Wait, my attack just went through him. Can he go desolid too?"

"No, I just got punched and nobody is in melee range. He went invisibile! That must be an illusion!"

"Wait, the *illusion* just punched me!"

"Wait, there are dozens of him now... and more than one of them has hit us! What's going on?"

"Wait a minute, half of those duplicates are not there according to my radar sense! The real one is invisible to sight and is over... wait, my attack went through him?"

Believe me, it gets worse from there. For several real-world hours. We stopped playing with the turn number well into the teens

==================================

One last one, this one during 4D&D. Standard encounter that gets to the final 'boss' who manages to get off his summoning ritual. A massive blast of smoke appears and when it settles... "You see a cute little white rabbit, rubbing its nose with its paws."

Naturally, the older membeers of the gaming group screamed in mock horror. The younger ones didn't get it. Their dads promised to have them watch Holy Grail before the next session.

Psychonix
2011-01-27, 03:58 PM
Running a Traveller game I once had an NPC by the name of Jim DeGriz
I'll be disappointed if you didn't give him a wife called angelina.