Critter
2012-08-24, 07:35 AM
Hi! Long time reader/lurker, first time poster :smallbiggrin:
The last few sessions of my pen and paper group (core 3.5) have been rather rough. It's a biweekly group, and the problems started a couple months ago (about 3-4 sessions).
Backstory:
We were investigating a potential crazed, murderous cult of a mad God (homebrew setting and pantheon), which seems fairly normal for a group of adventurers to do. The party was all 4th level (group of 6) consisting of two Wizards, a Cleric, a Ranger/Sorc, a Paladin, and myself, a Halfling Rogue going Assassin at 6th level (DM ruled Assassins can be Neutral) and in fact, I was the only Neutral person in the party. Also, I was one of three Lawful characters in the group.
So, we investigate this slaughterhouse and get ambushed by a number of Ogres with Barbarian levels. We lost a character in that fight (the Rang/Sorc). We decide to leave before fully investigating as that used up every resource we had as a party. On the way out, we get ambushed again resulting in a second character death (one of the Wizards). Also, the Paladin and Cleric were captured and hinted that they'd likely be sacrificed.
During the 2nd ambush, the surviving Wizard popped Invis, and I stayed hidden (as several fogs had been dropped) and once I realized how screwed we were, I bailed. So did the Invis'd Wizard. I ran straight to the temple the Cleric and Paladin were staying at and enlisted help. We almost lost the second Wizard that fight, as he got thrown into a vat of Green Slime and kept failing his Climb checks out of the vat (it was 10ft deep, 8ft of which was Slime). He left the fight with about 2 Con left.
We save the day, but the Cleric and Paladin's stuff had been taken so we had to equip them again. The two players who lost character brought in a Fighter and a Fighter/Rogue. We ended up taking about a week game time to formulate a plan. Apparently the two leaders of this cult escaped. I was Gathering Information to find anything I could, while the party was trying to use any Divination spells they could to find a lead. All came up empty.
Anyway, the only lead we had was a stretch, and one I was convinced was a Red Herring. So, we go there. It was an island about 5 miles out with a small settlement of about 80 people. Also, the survivors leveled up to 5, so we were a party of four 5th levels, and two 4th levels.
Long story short, the two players that lost characters go into instant douche bag mode, almost making me, as a player, ask them to leave the party and create functional characters. Unfortunately, we didn't have time as the Fight/Rogue got caught sneaking around somewhere and made it a point to be a bitch to the DM and the NPCs, and the second player ended up smacking the Constable with a Halberd (aiming to do subdual damage) to free her. Of course, a fight breaks out and everyone is arrested. Except me. I saw the train wreck ahead of time and hid in the trees.
Now, I'm on a strange island, 5 miles from my party as they got taken to the mainland to meet the judge. The only lead we had was an orphanage in an abandoned keep on the island. So, naturally, as the one player with an ability to advance the plot (and annoyed, as I watched the party brawl with legitimate authority as far as I knew) I decide that, since I couldn't get off the island safely, I'd investigate.
I get in alright, get the layout, and try to leave. On the way out, the DM pulls me aside and informs me I get hit for 32 points of damage. I have the option of leaping out of a 4 story window with 2 hit points left, or potion (I did) and try to see who my attacker was. Well, I got Held and captured.
Anyway, the final session was the rest of the party getting back to the island and noticing I'm not around. The Wizard used a message spell before they left (and before I was captured), so we had communicated some so they knew I was around.
Long story short, they get in the orphanage and get in a fight with this mean Cleric that inflicted me for 32 points of damage. The Wizard almost died to a Slay Living (rolled a 20 on his save and barely made it, according to the DM) and the Cleric died in one hit to the Death domain special ability. The party (again, three 5th levels, two 4th levels at this point) kill the Cleric, but got ambushed by the six helpers immediately after and not given a chance to potion or anything as it was literally the same round the Cleric died. The Paladin died to a Smite Good as one of the helpers were a Paladin of Slaughter or something.
-----
Me being grumpy:
So, party wipe. New campaign, new characters. I was extremely pissed about being captured. The DM straight up told me I was stupid because "you don't split the party" and that I was stupid for going in the keep alone. I informed him that it wasn't my fault any of the stupidity happened (he was actually genuinely mad and frustrated at the two problem players). He told me to bring a 2nd character and have him ready for that final session.
I refused. I told him I would absolutely refuse to lose a character I immensely enjoyed playing due to party stupidity and it wasn't fair to punish me for that as well. My character was interesting, fun, and with the inclusion of Dragon Marks from Eberron (I took Shadow), gave a lot of flavor as the DM and I did a lot of make me a part of this House (which would lead to me becoming eligible for an Assassin at 6th).
After that session, a couple of players and I approached the DM about just resetting the whole ordeal. Or, at least, us playing those characters again. The DM said no. Thankfully, in the meantime one of the problem players has stepped out of the group and a new guy is coming in. That player has been a constant irritation for a number of people, so at most, the stupid awful party wipe was a blessing in disguise, I guess.
So, a couple of days after the party wipe, the first emails go out about the new party. As it stands, the new party for tomorrow's game is: Barbarian, Barbarian, Bard, Rogue, Ranger/Rogue(maybe Ranger/Fighter, I forget). I was the last to respond, so I feel I should probably take a Divine class. So, I call the DM to discuss with him and he goes on an extremely long, serious, somewhat passive aggressive lecture about how I should play what I want and not feel obligated to do anything.
I don't see how creating, or desiring to create, a fairly balanced party is a bad thing and I bit my lip and didn't get snarky about needing some optimization if the DM is throwing ****ty encounters constantly at us.
-----
So, game time is tomorrow at 3:30pm. All I know is I'm creating a Cleric. I've got zero motivation to create an interesting character. I've always played Wizards and Rogues, so this is new for me, being a Divine caster of any sort. Been doing bits of reading to "get in the mood" and figure a generic battle Cleric (again, Core stuff only) should be easy enough, and useful. But, I still can't get past that basic conception phase. No real inspiration, or drive, and I really am struggling to create even a basic character without first having some sort of character concept I'd like to aim for.
Granted, every D&D player has lost characters. That comes with the territory. For some reason, losing this character to party stupidity and a jerk DM pretty much stunned me.
I don't care. I'm finding that to be a problem. I'm not the only one either. The players who also lost characters they liked are basically in the same boat. I really don't see the next few sessions being all that fun. I'm also concerned that bringing a new guy in under these circumstances may send really, really bad signs.
So yeah, any tips or advice here? In case anyone cares, I'm about to turn 28 and I am, by far, the youngest person at the gaming table. This isn't a young, inexperienced gaming group by any means.
The last few sessions of my pen and paper group (core 3.5) have been rather rough. It's a biweekly group, and the problems started a couple months ago (about 3-4 sessions).
Backstory:
We were investigating a potential crazed, murderous cult of a mad God (homebrew setting and pantheon), which seems fairly normal for a group of adventurers to do. The party was all 4th level (group of 6) consisting of two Wizards, a Cleric, a Ranger/Sorc, a Paladin, and myself, a Halfling Rogue going Assassin at 6th level (DM ruled Assassins can be Neutral) and in fact, I was the only Neutral person in the party. Also, I was one of three Lawful characters in the group.
So, we investigate this slaughterhouse and get ambushed by a number of Ogres with Barbarian levels. We lost a character in that fight (the Rang/Sorc). We decide to leave before fully investigating as that used up every resource we had as a party. On the way out, we get ambushed again resulting in a second character death (one of the Wizards). Also, the Paladin and Cleric were captured and hinted that they'd likely be sacrificed.
During the 2nd ambush, the surviving Wizard popped Invis, and I stayed hidden (as several fogs had been dropped) and once I realized how screwed we were, I bailed. So did the Invis'd Wizard. I ran straight to the temple the Cleric and Paladin were staying at and enlisted help. We almost lost the second Wizard that fight, as he got thrown into a vat of Green Slime and kept failing his Climb checks out of the vat (it was 10ft deep, 8ft of which was Slime). He left the fight with about 2 Con left.
We save the day, but the Cleric and Paladin's stuff had been taken so we had to equip them again. The two players who lost character brought in a Fighter and a Fighter/Rogue. We ended up taking about a week game time to formulate a plan. Apparently the two leaders of this cult escaped. I was Gathering Information to find anything I could, while the party was trying to use any Divination spells they could to find a lead. All came up empty.
Anyway, the only lead we had was a stretch, and one I was convinced was a Red Herring. So, we go there. It was an island about 5 miles out with a small settlement of about 80 people. Also, the survivors leveled up to 5, so we were a party of four 5th levels, and two 4th levels.
Long story short, the two players that lost characters go into instant douche bag mode, almost making me, as a player, ask them to leave the party and create functional characters. Unfortunately, we didn't have time as the Fight/Rogue got caught sneaking around somewhere and made it a point to be a bitch to the DM and the NPCs, and the second player ended up smacking the Constable with a Halberd (aiming to do subdual damage) to free her. Of course, a fight breaks out and everyone is arrested. Except me. I saw the train wreck ahead of time and hid in the trees.
Now, I'm on a strange island, 5 miles from my party as they got taken to the mainland to meet the judge. The only lead we had was an orphanage in an abandoned keep on the island. So, naturally, as the one player with an ability to advance the plot (and annoyed, as I watched the party brawl with legitimate authority as far as I knew) I decide that, since I couldn't get off the island safely, I'd investigate.
I get in alright, get the layout, and try to leave. On the way out, the DM pulls me aside and informs me I get hit for 32 points of damage. I have the option of leaping out of a 4 story window with 2 hit points left, or potion (I did) and try to see who my attacker was. Well, I got Held and captured.
Anyway, the final session was the rest of the party getting back to the island and noticing I'm not around. The Wizard used a message spell before they left (and before I was captured), so we had communicated some so they knew I was around.
Long story short, they get in the orphanage and get in a fight with this mean Cleric that inflicted me for 32 points of damage. The Wizard almost died to a Slay Living (rolled a 20 on his save and barely made it, according to the DM) and the Cleric died in one hit to the Death domain special ability. The party (again, three 5th levels, two 4th levels at this point) kill the Cleric, but got ambushed by the six helpers immediately after and not given a chance to potion or anything as it was literally the same round the Cleric died. The Paladin died to a Smite Good as one of the helpers were a Paladin of Slaughter or something.
-----
Me being grumpy:
So, party wipe. New campaign, new characters. I was extremely pissed about being captured. The DM straight up told me I was stupid because "you don't split the party" and that I was stupid for going in the keep alone. I informed him that it wasn't my fault any of the stupidity happened (he was actually genuinely mad and frustrated at the two problem players). He told me to bring a 2nd character and have him ready for that final session.
I refused. I told him I would absolutely refuse to lose a character I immensely enjoyed playing due to party stupidity and it wasn't fair to punish me for that as well. My character was interesting, fun, and with the inclusion of Dragon Marks from Eberron (I took Shadow), gave a lot of flavor as the DM and I did a lot of make me a part of this House (which would lead to me becoming eligible for an Assassin at 6th).
After that session, a couple of players and I approached the DM about just resetting the whole ordeal. Or, at least, us playing those characters again. The DM said no. Thankfully, in the meantime one of the problem players has stepped out of the group and a new guy is coming in. That player has been a constant irritation for a number of people, so at most, the stupid awful party wipe was a blessing in disguise, I guess.
So, a couple of days after the party wipe, the first emails go out about the new party. As it stands, the new party for tomorrow's game is: Barbarian, Barbarian, Bard, Rogue, Ranger/Rogue(maybe Ranger/Fighter, I forget). I was the last to respond, so I feel I should probably take a Divine class. So, I call the DM to discuss with him and he goes on an extremely long, serious, somewhat passive aggressive lecture about how I should play what I want and not feel obligated to do anything.
I don't see how creating, or desiring to create, a fairly balanced party is a bad thing and I bit my lip and didn't get snarky about needing some optimization if the DM is throwing ****ty encounters constantly at us.
-----
So, game time is tomorrow at 3:30pm. All I know is I'm creating a Cleric. I've got zero motivation to create an interesting character. I've always played Wizards and Rogues, so this is new for me, being a Divine caster of any sort. Been doing bits of reading to "get in the mood" and figure a generic battle Cleric (again, Core stuff only) should be easy enough, and useful. But, I still can't get past that basic conception phase. No real inspiration, or drive, and I really am struggling to create even a basic character without first having some sort of character concept I'd like to aim for.
Granted, every D&D player has lost characters. That comes with the territory. For some reason, losing this character to party stupidity and a jerk DM pretty much stunned me.
I don't care. I'm finding that to be a problem. I'm not the only one either. The players who also lost characters they liked are basically in the same boat. I really don't see the next few sessions being all that fun. I'm also concerned that bringing a new guy in under these circumstances may send really, really bad signs.
So yeah, any tips or advice here? In case anyone cares, I'm about to turn 28 and I am, by far, the youngest person at the gaming table. This isn't a young, inexperienced gaming group by any means.