DMing stories

[Othesemo]

This thread is made to be a compilation of all of the entertaining stories from gaming sessions of the past. I'll start-

At one point, my party ran afoul with a platoon of bearded devils. The devils won initiative, so I figured that they'd each try to call for reinforcements. They all attempted to summon 2d10 Lemures. Now, of the 12 bearded devils, 11 succeeded in summoning the lemures. And when I rolled 22d10, the lowest number I got was a 4. In total, 143 lemures were summoned in the first round- they completely surrounded the entire party, as well as the bearded devils.

It was then that the rogue (with a +18 to UMD) discovered the incomparable joy of having a wand of fireball.

Your turn...

[Worira]

It was then that the lemures discovered the incomparable joy of being immune to fire.

[gbprime]

It was then that the lemures discovered the incomparable joy of being immune to fire.

That sounds more like a FAIL story. :smallwink: So I'll tell one in the same spirit.

Party rogue has been scoping out a heavily guarded warehouse. Keeps botching hide rolls. Now the night guards can't see too well, but they swear someone is skulking about. So they bring in 4 dogs. She fails another hide roll, the dogs spot her and start barking like crazy. Watchmen let them go and the chase is on.

For the next 8 combat rounds, she tried everything to evade those dogs, but she got cornered in a tree. The night watchmen caught up several rounds later and hauled her off to jail. Naturally, they confiscated all her equipment...

Including the Carpet of Flying she had rolled up on her back. :smallsigh:

[Silva Stormrage]

OOhh I can do fail stories :smallbiggrin:

While DMing a campaign a half fey monk was sent ahead of the party to open the gates of an enemy encampment secretly so that the rest of the party could get in. The monk entered the watch tower with the gate switch to find one sleeping caster guard. He decides he wants to try out his dc 14 dc charm person because he wanted a minion (They were level 8 with + 2 level adjustments). He casts it and the guard wakes up after passing his save. The monk rolls a one on initiative and the caster goes first. Uses a scroll of summon monster 5 and grapples the monk. Monk fails his grapple check and spends the next turn trying to get free. This continues for about 3 rounds as the guard kept summoning more and more monsters. Eventually after losing half his health the monk gets gets annoyed and flees.

The kicker? The guard had 22 hp. Enough for the monk to one shot WITHOUT a coup de grace.

[missmvicious]

Ok...

My first attempt as a DM. I wasn't really ready for the job, but our current DM was really slacking and everyone was getting frustrated with him, so I figured I'd take a stab at it... I mean, you learn more by trying than by crying.

A friend of mine helped me develop the framework for a conspiracy campaign and guided me along with the rules:

Back story:
Two isolated "kingdoms" (roughly Hamlet-sized) have been caught up in their own nasty war for the last 500 years. The heroes job, infiltrate enemy territory, eliminate their extremely magical power source (the key to most of their defensive power, and a large reason why the war began in the first place) and return as heros so their hometown could finally invade and become the victors. The idea is that once they got close enough to the enemy power center, they would learn that the enemies they were fighting weren't so bad. It's not necessarily Luke and Obi-wan vs. the Death Star so much as possibly two greedy, power-hungry cities clawing at a power source neither one of them were worthy of possessing, or is it? So on so forth... I don't want to dig too deep into the subplots, but the story had layers. I promise.

Aaaaannnnyway...

I didn't want to allow them to just use Teleport or Dimension Door to get into the walls because I figure after 500 years of war, somebody thought to put up a ward against stuff like that. So to get in, they had to do it the old fashioned way... guile, strength, and courage. As their commanding officer NPC, I gave them three possible routes into the city (all fairly contrived, but it was my first campaign): 1. Underwater tunnels and up through the sewers; 2. Over the city wall when the guards aren't looking; 3. Through the front gate with some epic Disguise, Bluff and Diplomacy checks.

One girl piped in with, "How about we just dig our way in?"

My response, "... *pause*... *stammer, stammer... Uh, you can't do that.*

I hadn't thought of that, and I'd never seen any rules for "digging." I panicked and gave a knee jerk reaction, but the strategy (albeit tedious) was actually pretty smart. She was considering the town's defenses, looking at it past and discovering a route that no one had ever tried before. I wanted to reward this kind of in-game thinking, so I adjourned the session, repealed my judgment on digging and requested a week to write up some fair and practical rules for tunneling into the city. My Co-DM friend and I poured over books and online resources until we found a way to make digging both exciting and dangerous to play while still making it seem reasonable and possible.

She was actually a brilliant PC. She always caught crap from the other players who favored "hulk smash" tactics to her Druidic "not every NPC is a blood-fountain full of XP" mentality. In the end, the PCs lost the campaign, but to be honest, if they would've listened to her more, they probably would've gotten through that alive. She ended up quitting the campaign out of frustration with the other PCs, but I still consider it a great DM experience, because she accidentally taught me more about running a campaign than anything I had gleaned from those manuals before. I still rework and polish that first campaign. We're actually re-playing it (with some of the original players and a couple of noobs) as my exit campaign from 3.5. After this, all future campaigns that I host will be in 4e.

But if I may be so bold... DM's shouldn't get much credit for great campaign memories. The players should. A terrible DM can be saved by great players, and great DMs can be brought to their knees by terrible players. Some of my best story lines have been torn asunder by players who won't work as a team, meta-game strategize, or work out unplayable broken characters because it "fits with their back story."

[Othesemo]

It was then that the lemures discovered the incomparable joy of being immune to fire.

In this case, it didn't matter. They purchased the wand from a Shugenja, and I ruled that if they wanted to, they could get it with the Wu Jen's energy substitution ability (the particular Shugenja having chosen metal for her elemental mastery). They figured that they'd rather deal with DR, which usually isn't terribly high, than the more common trait of being resistant or immune to fire.

EDIT: Sorry, I meant to say Shugenja, not Wu Jen.

[Okizruin]

In this case, it didn't matter. They purchased the wand from a Wu Jen, and I ruled that if they wanted to, they could get it with the Wu Jen's energy substitution ability (the particular Wu Jen having chosen metal for her elemental mastery). They figured that they'd rather deal with DR, which usually isn't terribly high, than the more common trait of being resistant or immune to fire.

Um, I checked Complete Arcane, I don't see any mention of an 'energy substitution' ability.

[Othesemo]

Um, I checked Complete Arcane, I don't see any mention of an 'energy substitution' ability.

Sorry 'bout that. I meant to say Shugenja, not Wu Jen (It's hard to keep track of all of the oriental classes). I've edited the post.

[Kol Korran]

Ok...

But if I may be so bold... DM's shouldn't get much credit for great campaign memories. The players should. A terrible DM can be saved by great players, and great DMs can be brought to their knees by terrible players. Some of my best story lines have been torn asunder by players who won't work as a team, meta-game strategize, or work out unplayable broken characters because it "fits with their back story."

i can relate to your story and conclusion (if i only half accept it)- the best moments of the campaign i'm running (i also returned to DMing after long years of not playing. a totally new experience with more maturity) were when the players have done something unexpected, or done some interesting roleplaying, or reacted in interesting inspiring/ humerous/ dramatic ways to either planned or unplanned events.

but the DM should get some credit, as many times great players do not really save a campaign from a lousy DM. it's a team effort, and that is what it's all about- you build a situation for the playes to react and initiate their own plans to. without them, what good is a DM?

but any plan of them needs a DM to work it out and make it fun, memorable, and allow it in the first place, and the players often react better and produce better gaming experience if the situation the DM presented gives enough "juice" to work with. without the DM- what are the players?

it's a bit like improvised acting- each player or Dm controls some of thepieces that interact together. it is that interaction that makes it all worth while.

just my thoughts. :smallsmile:

[missmvicious]

it's a bit like improvised acting- each player or Dm controls some of thepieces that interact together. it is that interaction that makes it all worth while.

just my thoughts. :smallsmile:

Good point. I agree. :)

The hard part is getting everyone to fill their role. That's why the first house rule I ever created was to deal with conflict resolution between players and DMs, because I knew I was going to suck as a DM at first, and I wanted a way to resolve any mistakes I made with the team at the appropriate time and place. Having the PH shoved in my face because I made someone roll a Search check instead of a Spot check is not how I want to spend 15 minutes of the encounter or skill challenge.

But wrangling a bad player is a breeze compared to wrangling a bad DM. I wonder how other people deal with it? Thoughts from the Playground?

[Chained Birds]

I've got an amusing tale.

In my first 3.5 game, my GM was very harsh against stupid PCs and unintelligent answers to standard problems. But mainly, he liked putting unbelievable adversities against me and the other PCs. Here is one of the more comical situations that had occured.
I was playing a Half-Elf Druid (about lvl 3 by then) and the others were a Human Fighter, Elf Ranger, and I believe a Cleric (been a while). Our group was tasked by the lord of a town we aided in a previous session to ask for munitions and supplies from a neighboring lord on an island. We set out with some of the supplies granted by the villagers and encountered the closest port. We soon realized that the port was a den for rogues of varying degrees of power, and found that the most viable aquatic transport was that of a friendly Pirate Ship.
After paying the "safety" fees along with boating fees, we set off on our way to the ominously dark island in the distance (We had to pay for the Fighter who was stripped of all his equipment/gold/clothing when he didn't realize how dangerous this place was and casually walked to the local tavern and back). Upon arriving, I get some information about where the lord (learned it was Duke) was located before suffering a negative level from the villager's friendly ray of death. We approuch a large mansion and find the Duke and relay the message from our Lord. He allows us to stay the night while he thinks it over, and we do a bit of exploring before going to bed.
The Fighter finds a portal and jumps through it. My snake companion tracks the Fighter's scent and we all jump into the portal after him.
We arrive in a barren area of darkness and find a single humanoid who calls himself Loki and forces us to draw from a deck of cards. The Ranger is awarded gems, the Cleric? seems fine (He would learn the solution to a problem later), the Fighter gets a lvl 4 Fighter buddy, and I had to fight a Dread Wraith or be destroyed forever. Needless to say, I die pretty fast and the only people to survive the ordeal afterwards are the Cleric? and Fighter due to the Cleric? learning the way out through the power of the cards.

The best part: I make a new Druid character and join the group when they report back to the Lord. A new PC (Experienced player who we followed because me and my friends were just noobs at the time) arrives and leads us back to the same dam island saying, "We need to confirm that the supplies will get here." We all end up back with Loki. I reluctantly draw a card. I then fight a Dread Wraith or be destroyed forever. I died...

[Vorpalbob]

DECK OF MANY THINGS SILLINESS

I've never really been a fan of the deck. It's an interesting item, but its randomness means that there is really no place to put it where it wouldn't have the potential to break the game. I suppose one could limit the available cards, but that would just defeat the purpose of the deck.

[hisnamehere]

And back to our regular broadcast...

Arriving back in Stormreach from their latest (and first) adventure, the PCs sought out an inn for the night. Running afoul of the inn's local toughs, they found themselves confronted by a party (4) of bruisers all one level higher than themselves. Rather than take their beating and ousting in stride, the PCs decide to fight. The half-giant (LA +0 variant) sorcerer/druid dodges the leader's raging swing and leaps upon the table, turns, scores a maxed dmg critical, and takes the poor half-orc's head off in one gruesome swing. Stunned, the rest of the bruisers quickly surrender, and the party is now the NEW local toughs of the establishment.
Not so amazing, but...
Feeding off the PCs actions, I decide to have the local lord, whose toughs the PCs just bested, arrest the party. Coincidentally, the half-giant is away from the party, so only the shifter scout and the drow cleric are present when the militia brings the party to the lord's office.
Wanting to best the PCs, I play the lord arrogant and demanding. He goes so far as to call the one-armed drow cleric, "broken one." Incensed, she initiates combat from the far side of the lord's desk.
Initiative is rolled, and the lord sees the drow's attack coming. Taking initiative, he uses his modified ring of the ram (stat-ed in my head on the fly, as I didn't think I'd need full stats for the lord 4 levels higher than the PCs) to take a giant-strength punch at his desk, sending it spinning toward the drow. However, she dodges. The shifter starts bullying her way toward the door, guarded by the captain of the lord's militia (on the fly, 2 levels higher than the PCs).
Second round. The lord takes another giant-strength punch at the drow, and misses. The drow (new to the game) says she wants to cut the lord's hand off, both as vengeance for the "broken one" comment, and to overcome the ring's magic. I tell her it's not really in the rules. She says that she wants to do it anyway, as his hand is probably resting near or on his desk (a suitable chopping block). I tell her she's going to need a max-damage confirmed critical against a modified AC due to the small and specific area of attack. She goes for it. One natural 20, one confirmed critical, and 2 max-damage dice later, she slices through the lord's wrist and snags the hand with her move action.
A darkness spell-like ability, a surprisingly easy-to-hit captain of the militia, and a jump through a 2nd-story window later and the two women are on the lam, one lord's hand the richer.

I still haven't gotten them back for that....

[Othesemo]

A darkness spell-like ability, a surprisingly easy-to-hit captain of the militia, and a jump through a 2nd-story window later and the two women are on the lam, one lord's hand the richer.

I still haven't gotten them back for that....

Lqtm. That is the most amazing story that I've ever heard.

Keep 'em coming.

[The Dark Fiddler]

I'm too sleep to go into great detail at the moment, but once when I was DMing, my player, who had gone off to hunt, was brought to negatives by monkeys.

Actually, the campaign "ended" with him getting downed while he was all alone. If we ever go back to that campaign, I wonder what I'll do with him.

[Okizruin]

Sorry 'bout that. I meant to say Shugenja, not Wu Jen (It's hard to keep track of all of the oriental classes). I've edited the post.

Once again, you've made a mistake. Shugenja can't pick Metal for their element.

[Hazard_Pay]

This isn't so much a 'what a DM pulled on us' so much as a 'what we pulled on the DM' kind of story.

The DM is a decent fellow but somewhat prone to excessive dramatic moods. (Dramatic in the classic sense of the word, not the overused 'attention whore' sense.) Also he is intently focused on his world, which is richly detailed and deep.

While playing a land based game consisting of a mostly LE party of 'Dark Elves' (Drow without special abilities or level adjustment) He threw some pirates at us.
We had apparently stumbled across their hideout, an old abandoned house on a cliff overlooking a cove. After a chase which led down into a cave and out onto the beach the remaining pirates tried to escape in their dinghy to head out to their ship in the cove.
We boarded their dinghy , killed them, and at that point my friend playing a monk decides we should head out to the ship. With some difficulty we end up capturing the vessel.

This was the beginning of our armada. We petitioned the Emperor for 'Letters of Marque' (Legalized Piracy) and decided we would acquire more ships to increase our power base. Once we headed down that path we decided the first vessel would become My cleric's. As such we renamed the craft the 'Black Sabbath' (Clearly we called it that to reference the fact that I was an evil cleric..... >.> <.< )

The second vessel, a large and fearsome war galley we gave to the monk and named it the 'Iron Maiden' (because .. um.. it's big and scary... and uh... all ships are 'shes' right?)

The third vessel we gave to our sorcerer who also dabbled in alchemical poisons, thusly we named it the "Poison" (um.. cuz she liked poisons..)

We also acquired an enemy country's prison ship, which was given to our ninja and named the "Warrant"


6 months of this... on and on, and never once did the DM see our pattern.
Eventually our Rogue returned from his hiatus, and upon the instant of being told of our exploits ruined the gag by saying "Is there a reason all our ships are named after cheesy hair-metal bands?"

The look on the DM's face was priceless. He's always thought of himself as being quite crafty, as such the tradition at his table has always been if you can pull something over on him it was worth xp. We did quite well that day :D

In the car rides home away from his ears, we'd make jokes about our conscripted navy personnel being concerned that they'd get stuck on the 'Winger'

[Othesemo]

Once again, you've made a mistake. Shugenja can't pick Metal for their element.

House ruling. On the rare occasion that I allow such an exotic class, I'll typically make several changes for flavor as well as to make it fit in better with the rest of the campaign. Wu Jens were previously introduced into the campaign, and I allowed in shugenjas to be divine alternatives to them. I typically will not allow an oriental class using the western elements, or anything like that.

But all of that nonwithstanding, this has little to do with the actual thread. Within the context of the game, it worked, and brings conclusion to the funny story.

[Dictum Mortuum]

We started in Sharn after a big collapse and their main job was to help rescue any survivors. Every player had his own agenda. Everyone wanted either to use or to retreive an ancient eldritch device (and one of the few remaining after they were banned almost a decade ago) called 'forges', which were used to create a robot-like sentient race, the warforged. The collapse provided a good opportunity for my players to search under the rumble for it.

A mini-story arc later, an apprentice of the well-known cannith artificer asks them to find his master, who might have more information about the forge's location. All they find is his powerful ring, whose bearer can control warforged around him. After emerging from the depths of the city and getting some rest, the warforged that were buried under the rumble awoken by the ring and were drawn to it. At the same time the Phiarlan elves (the main rival organisation) attacked with a flying ship whatever was left by the city. Chaos ensued, as all parties were fighting each other.

It was at this point that one of my players found out a fraction of what the ring could do and used it to move towards the docked flying ship, using the warforged as protection. The same player is of house Thuranni, the rival of house Phiarlan and with the rest of the party managed to get control of the ship. I warned them that they lacked the necessary manpower to correctly operate the ship, but then their eyes flashed: what if the could use warforged as their crew?

It was so fun for them and I couldn't let them down, so I let them do it, steal the ship and live a pirate's life In the ship they found a unique piece of cargo: a little elven girl that had a weird tattoo over her bellybutton, which still acts as a macguffin :P

[Duskranger]

The last session I DM'ed had a fun part in it. I never thought Formian Workers could be so tough.

Anyway the party I DM for consists out of 4 lvl 1 characters:
A HAlf-Elf Rogue
A Human Druid (with a riding dog AC)
A Human Cleric (of Pelor)
Gnome Sorceror

All players are relatively new and playing for the first time (this was the 4th session).

It was night and they slept outside, it was the first time I planned to do a night attack, guessing the way they would work is the same as I do normally in our party. The rogue was on guard and after making a listen check hears something. Instead of waking up the others he grabs his weapon (after I asked is that really your action??) and readies himself to strike.

4 Formian Workers came out of the bush, rolled pretty good for initiative, rogue misses his readied action, let's put it this way, the workers did put the rogue at -1 in 2 attacks. No problem though they took the rogue with them.

The next morning the party wakes up and kick the sorceror since he was asleep and they thought he would be on guard, then notice the rogue was gone. To make a long story short, they track the trail (druid's riding dog does that at least) and find out he was dragged into a cave, for the cave is a (little bit downgraded) Formian Warrior (no SR, no hive mind), within 4 rounds the formian warrior is no more, and they move into the cave, there they find the 4 formian workers and 6 cocons (1 Barbarian lvl 1, 1 Cleric lvl 1, their rogue, 3 Commoners). They initiate combat it takes a long time and everyone starts bleeding except the formians (rolls were pretty bad at the player side) but after some hints from me the sorceror (who was out of spells) decides to cut the rogue free. Coming there he says I stab the rogue (which was at 0 hp after the night) and he cuts the rogue after one of the first succesfull attackrolls back to -2, next round he cuts the rogue free, which falls limp on the floor.

So yes I can be a bastard, on the other hand, with a bit more tactical insight this could all be evaded and 2 NPC's could be made friendly. The player of the sorc did look a bit shocked when I told him he did attack the rogue and stabbed him though:smallbiggrin:

[Kol Korran]

The fight that changed my campaign- "Bring it on!"
An example of what PCs might get to... the party of 4 were level 6. they were in Xen'dric, in a ruing of the giant civilization, inhabited mostly by low level half giants. the city was under siege by a combined fore of Yuan Ti, Drow and undead all led by s mysterious and powerful Bone knight known as The Keeper (loosely themed after an Eberron deity)

thanks to a sort of Psichic defense system, the invading forces had to bring down psichic barriers over bridges, and made slow defense. but even that, and the party's efforts meant the siege was slowly defeated.

day 3 or 4 to the siege: "oh hell! it's him!"

the party as a reserve force are alerted one of the bridges is under attack. they hurry there, only to find out most of the defending forces are wiped out, and the Keeper is there! one of the psichic barriers (out of 3) is already down!

(i did mention they were level 6 right? he was level 12, with some buffs on. i expected a short fight, and then the party retreats. they faced him before, and ran away quickly. this was a reminder of his power, establish is awesome sauce, for later on. he was after all, supposed to be a major recurring villain.)

the battle starts, and 2 split energy enervation rays (had a domain) and some debuffing spells, and some of the party have 1-3 negative levels, threat debuffed a bit. the wizard and cleric try to affect the Keeper, but his Spell resistance spell blocked the attempts. the fighting types target the skeletal minions (unaffected by the barriers) that try and destroy the thingy that keeps the barriers up. so far, not looking great.

cue in evil laugh "you have no face what you're facing!" and all that jazz.

"Still here? ok, buffing up!"
Skeletons down, but the party didn't retreat... they wanted to spar a bit more. ok, The Keeper was going to turn himself to mean melee machine- divine power, righteous might and so on. as he did, the Cleric started peppering silence zones around him (scrolls), he tried to find a spot to cast, till he found and one dispel later the zones were gone. meanwhile the party tried to take down his Karrnathi skeleton archers and buff a bit them selves.

Keeper finished buffing, now large size and intimidating. the party's half giant psiwar was also extended and large (effectively huge)

"Bring it on!"
The Keeper simply charged through the barriers (they caused him little damage, he could take that) and locked sword with the half giant. his attacks hit the psiwar glass cannon and the sneaky flanking duskblade while they barely hit him- great defensive magic items and spells made his AC high, very high, and the damned Spell resistance meant very few things could hit him.

the cleric was going to heal bot duty, while the wizard remembered a scroll of dispel magic, and brought down some of the Keeper's defenses, which made him easier to hit, but still not enough.

"if i stay there will be trouble, if i stay there it will be double!" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZk_HnE-cdU)
there was a moment there, where each side was beaten badly, but neither claimed defeated. then the party asked "wait? are we fighting this all on our own?! where are the rest?" they had a point, so i told them they receive a telepathic message from the center (won't go into that) that "reinforcements are coming...".

this sentence has become since the butting joke and slogan for keeping up fighting! "two young and heavily wounded stone giants are on their way. that is all we can muster right now" stone giants might sound impressive, but the young ones are... young, and not good fighters. regardless- "we stay! we're finishing him!" the party decided to go all out- all spells, all scrolls, all potions. they were not retreating of the Bridge!

however, the Keeper had reinforcements coming, a bunch of Yuan Ti

tactical retreat
the battle raged on, more hit swapping a massive crit from the stone giant however (with his huge two handed sword, and massive strength) hurt the Keeper bad, he retreated to behind the barriers, wanting to heal. another dispel magic brought down the spell resistance, and between healing and the like, the two sides launched spells after each other. a fire storm brought the half giant down bleeding, but the cleric saved him. again some buffing (though not as extensive as before) and the Keeper was about 1/2- 2/3 hp after healing. the party were at far less.. another silence scrolls made the keeper move to the side of the bridge (30 ft wide, giants bridge)

i thought "it was a cool fight. soon it will end and they will run, the keeper still has a few scrolls to put on the party, and soon the Yuan ti arrive which are better archers than the skeletons. they can't go through the barriers thankfully..."

betting with all the hand and "When push comes to shove!"
the party figured out the same thing, so they decided to go for it. they spoke telepathically to the center "bring down the barriers!"
" but that mean we'll be defenseless!"
"we said- bring. them. down!"
one round later, the barriers blink out, and a mad half giants charges the Keeper, trying to push him off the bridge! this was the first time in this campaign (or the previous) that any of them tried any kind of battle maneuver) i was surprised, but the Keeper held. thinking quickly, he downs a potion of fly.

"I can't run from this! it will ruin this guy's whole Big Bad shtick!" I think. :smallannoyed: so he flies over the bridge to start swapping hits with the wounded psiwar. too bad i'll have to kill him. oh well ,they had it coming (and id did try my best till this point)

final moments

the party all (except from the wizard, including the two badly wounded ineffective stone giants) rushes after the half giant. (the wizards takes down the Yuan Ti) however, they wouldn't stand up to him in a straight fight (and they had no more dispel spells).

only who's talking about a straight fight? "grab him!" says the duskblade, and the half giant finally, in the first time in the campaign actually uses his extension power (making him bigger) and powerful build (again- bigger) to something more than just keeping a big sword. one grapple later, and the Keeper is squirming, trying to get away.

I never planned for that! :smalleek: :smalltongue:

the group started pummeling it, while it tried to get off. at this point even i realized things were bad for my guy. finally the Keeper got away (due to lucky rolls) and tried to fly away. but huge size means quite a reach.

another crit, massive one, and the keeper was dead!! body and severed head floating in mid air :smallamused:

After math
there was great rejoicin at the table, it was a LOOOOONG fight (over 25 rounds!) but one of the greatest moments of our campaign. they were level 6, he was level 12 (though cast as level 10)

it turned the adventure upside down (the invasion was supposed to succeed, with the PCs tricked by a diversion, not arriving to the main battle on time) and the villains were supposed to get a key element in their plan.

was i sorry they messed up my plans? hell no! it was an awesome moment, which they bloody earned! and it challenged me to think of adjustments to the plan, which made the campaign BETTER! :smallwink:
------------------------------------------------------

if you want to read more, you can check my log (but as this post- it is quite wordy and long) the battle was on session 11.

hope you enjoyed!

[Othesemo]

Awesome story. It's fun when that sort of thing happens, though it happening too often can be pretty annoying. I've got a short little story 'bout the beauty of PC spontaneousness.

So, I wasn't actually DMing this campaign. My brother was DMing for me, and I had four characters. He tended to use the other characters as NPCs, which I controlled in combat, which made the game much funner.

Anyways, we were in a town, whose name I forget. After speaking out against the establishment, we were nearly killed. One of the PCs, who hadn't yet been introduced, saved our lives. As repayment, he asked that we help him explore a large building called 'The Omen," which was a closed off to the public and heavily guarded. Now, he was a multiclass rogue/psion, so he suggested that we infiltrate the church, and gain access that way. This was, arguably, a pretty good plan.

However, my DM failed to account for something. My character was CG, and very impatient. He voted that we take the more direct route of sneaking into the building. My DM, at this, starting subtly hinting that the omen was quite well guarded, and that we couldn't sneak in the conventional way. Unperturbed, I set about preparing.

What ultimately happened, after two sessions of planning and the like, was this: having purchased a plant which caused the eater to go into a mad, blood lust driven rage, we spiked several haunches of raw meat with it. We then broke into the city guard's dog kennel, in which some two hundred trained attack dogs were kept, and threw in the meat.

In the ensuing chaos, we slipped into the omen, killed the only two guards who were left behind, and searched through the whole building unimpeded (as several hundred dogs were raining death upon the civilians).

To his credit, the DM kept with it very well. We only played for a few more sessions, but they all turned out great and weren't contrived at all. He later revealed to me that I had inadvertently ruined his plans for the rest of the campaign.

[Rentaromon]

this was the second adventure with my party, we are still getting the rules down perfect for pathfinder.

the story starts with a large magic exports city being plagued by goblins, the stupid and annoying but not evil variety of goblin. the idea was for the party to find out why the goblins have moved from their nearby mountains to the city and solve the problem possibly without any bloodshed.

threw a series of random events the story is about to end with a large 3 way battle:

4 of the 3 players (nicknamed the expendables) joined the bad guys who forced the goblins into the city and are held up in a goblin fort they stole and just found a big powerful artifact(everyone wants this). but they are under siege by.....

the city guards who have teamed up with the goblin chief, led by a hero the city hired after the PCs went evil, the hero is lvl 7 and the party is lvl 3. And....

A CR 7 demon leading a army of undead and 3 of the PCs(nicknamed the other idiots), 2 of which sold their souls to him without even taking a second to consider it. The last pc is with them cuz he is a demon worshiper but has his own agenda.


no dam idea how this will end, their is a chance no PC will survive, and only a small chance even 2 will, most likely just 1.

[Elboxo]

I'm no DM, but the my first session ever, my friend; a kobold dread necromancer, rolled three 20s on the first enemy we saw, a rat. House-rules make triple 20's an instant kill. Needless to say the dread necromancer ripped a hole in space-time with his dagger and threw the rat into it, from the dagger.

[Yahzi]

My players met a dwarf by the side of the road... and he convinced them to put on blindfolds and follow him into the "secret dwarf lair" nearby.

One of my players was shaking his head in disbelief while the others gobbled up the dwarf's lies. But in true role-playing fashion, he went along with the group. :smallcool:

Of course the lair turned out to belong to a Beholder and several giant spiders. But my players got the last joke: they won the fight!