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View Full Version : Gamer Tales Wait, that actually worked?!



Diachronos
2014-08-12, 02:56 AM
Have you ever been in a situation where you decide to try something so crazy that by all logic shouldn't work, but it turned out to be the best possible decision you could've made?

In one Pathfinder game, I was pretty much going 1v1 against a Stone Golem when retaking a town from the army of ogres controlling it. It was almost dead (DM ruled that the Alchemist's bombs work on them since they're not actually spells and therefore don't allow spell resistance)... when it charged me and knocked me on my ass with single-digit HP.
Here were the options as I saw them:

Drink a potion, provoke an attack of opportunity, die
Drink an extract to help me escape, provoke an attack of opportunity, die
Try to get up and run, provoke an attack of opportunity, die
Use my Ring of Elemental Command (Earth) to meld into the Stone Golem, and maybe survive.

I figured the ring wouldn't work due to it being a golem (magic immunity plus animated, so not something you could realistically meld into), so I ran over the other plans out loud. I asked if there was stone under me that I'd be able to meld into, and the DM told me that there was a stone statue right next to me. My response:
"I meld into the Stone Golem!"

It bought me a round to recover, and the Golem even started to attack itself to get at me. Popped out right before it attacked itself for lethal damage, and now I can honestly say that I made a Stone Golem kill itself.

Socksy
2014-08-12, 05:19 AM
I convinced a DM to let me summon a Potassium elemental into the sea to serve as a distraction while his NPC and I boarded a ship.
I also roflstomped a werewolf with a Silver elemental.

Grimtina
2014-08-12, 05:24 AM
Oh, fun with elementals. I created a honey elemental once to trap bees. I think by all means that should not have worked.

Velaryon
2014-08-12, 12:04 PM
My drunken master caught a bunch of bees (more than 50) with a butterfly net and kept them in a clay jar. Two days later he chucked the clay jar at the feet of an enemy wizard, who fled for his life from the swarm of angry bees and ended up dying from their stings when our own party's spellcaster cut off his retreat (it's a low level game so the enemy didn't have teleport. I don't know why he didn't have dimension door).

Granted, like half the bees had died of suffocation or starvation by the time I threw the jar, but there were still enough of them left to ruin that wizard's day.

braveheart
2014-08-12, 12:12 PM
my friend was playing a wizard when my monk got stuck inside a gelatinous cube, he had no combat spells prepared other than buff spells so he was looking through the list and found the range on summon mount. I crunched the numbers and showed the gm that it could be summoned high enough to deal damage to the gelatinous cube. the gm said that it would get a reflex save, but its a gelatinous cube so it failed. in the end we killed it by dropping horses on it

The Random NPC
2014-08-12, 06:21 PM
I've never had a situation like this in a game, but I did have one in real life. I was arguing with a friend about D&D 3.5, and to show how I was "more knowledgeable" then him I told him I had memorized every book. Needless to say he called my bluff, asking me what the 53 word of the 167 page of the PHB was. With absolute confidence, I replied with "the". Imagine my surprise, and his anger, when he looked it up and I was correct.:smallbiggrin:


my friend was playing a wizard when my monk got stuck inside a gelatinous cube, he had no combat spells prepared other than buff spells so he was looking through the list and found the range on summon mount. I crunched the numbers and showed the gm that it could be summoned high enough to deal damage to the gelatinous cube. the gm said that it would get a reflex save, but its a gelatinous cube so it failed. in the end we killed it by dropping horses on it

FYI, that shouldn't have worked because it's explicitly against the rules (summons need to be summoned on something that can support them).

Arbane
2014-08-12, 08:53 PM
I've never had a situation like this in a game, but I did have one in real life. I was arguing with a friend about D&D 3.5, and to show how I was "more knowledgeable" then him I told him I had memorized every book. Needless to say he called my bluff, asking me what the 53 word of the 167 page of the PHB was. With absolute confidence, I replied with "the". Imagine my surprise, and his anger, when he looked it up and I was correct.:smallbiggrin:

Did you know, or was it a lucky guess?

ORione
2014-08-12, 09:12 PM
Did you know, or was it a lucky guess?

If he knew, he wouldn't have been surprised.

The Random NPC
2014-08-12, 10:04 PM
It was a really lucky guess, and completely derailed the argument.

Raimun
2014-08-12, 10:13 PM
Don't know if this qualifies since I've done it a lot since then but at the first time I tried it, it was simply amazing, even if it was even then a calculated risk.

The classic situation: you are fighting some big, strong giant or something like that. The giant knocks you prone and you're low on hp to begin with. Now, one time this happened to me, everyone else at the gaming table noticed this and unanimously told me I'm screwed: either I take a potion and the giant gets a free attack or I stand up and the giant gets a free attack. It was also clear no one else could help me before the giant got it's turn. So, I decided to attack it. It was something that didn't occur to anyone else. It went something like this:
"I attack it."
...
"Yes, I can do it. It's -4 to hit but I can still do it. Here, read it out."
...
"Yeah, not ideal but I'm taking my chances."
...
"Hmm, look at that. A confirmed critical."

Turns out the crit did about just enough damage to finish the giant. Then I used my move action to calmly stand up.

Similar stuff has also happened with the Feat "Diehard". It's always pretty amazing when you're about to die but manage to kill your enemy before it happens. When it really is "do or die".

Erik Vale
2014-08-12, 10:32 PM
Heroes, not DnD. My character is a mage focusing on teleportation spells, one of which is a really short range spell that with my gear I can basically use forever, and is slightly faster than a horse. I can also transport 6.4 tons using my teleport spells.

*Reasons* And now we have to fight a 10000ish orcs.

The two bricks recently bought guantlets of strength, and can lift about 3 tons. One also has a ring of flight.

I donate my ring of flight [I bought it early and promptly never used it] to the other fighter, we get a big wooden board, and they hover it. I then get a bunch of archers, stand on the board, and begin teleporting around... I just made a medieval Low-Magi-Tech Fighter/Bomber, with more maneuverability than any fighter ever [but slow], and with the right arrows, more lethal than a bomber.


Of course, I then have to contend with magical walls of force. :smallsigh:

Kol Korran
2014-08-13, 07:42 AM
Soemthign that my players did, which quite surprised me. They were about 3rd level, a pirate campaign. Two of them were kidnapped by the Empire's fleet, and were supposed to be executed the next day. The other two manged to grab on a boat, and got washed on the shore of an island, controlled by the same fleet. Now the small fleet had about 200-300 soldiers on the island, most of them 3rd level, about 20% of them 5th level, and their commanders were at 8-10th level.

One of the washed out PCs: "We are in enemy territory, almost no equipment, two of our team are captured, and probably about to die, we don't know where they are, all our friends are captured, and the place is swarmign with sodliers. We should find a way out of this place, or hide, real good!"

The other PC: "No... We'll raise up a resistance, find where they are, break them out, and then we grab one of the empire ships, blow up some of the rest, and get out in a blaze of cannons! By dawn tomorrow!"

The first PC: "Are you insane!?"

It worked. :smalltongue: (And in no way was I making it easy for them. Brilliant planning, bloody daring, and some good tactics, diversions and lies...)

As the ship was in the clear (though about a third of the crew was dead) the "faithless" PC turned to the one with the plans. "My Captain!" and swore allegiance to him.

NickChaisson
2014-08-19, 09:27 PM
I was an illusionist in my friends high powered campaign based in his custom campaign setting. A couple of sessions earlier we encountered a high priest of some evil dragon god who summoned a very large black dragon with an incantation. I heard the incantation and promptly memorized it, thinking it would come in handy later.

The party was traveling through the territory of some orcish bandits. We were promptly jumped by all of them, including their leader. They give us the ultimatum of A) giving them all of our stuff and promptly leaving their territory or B) die. The party drew their weapons and got ready to charge when I walked to the front of the group and calmly explained that I was a high priest of the dragon god (I forget the name) and I proposed option c) they flee or die. They laughed, the party laughed and the DM laughed. Then I cast my highest level illusion spell to create a black dragon illusion and recited the incantation I memorized. The DM was impressed and said the orcs definitely think the dragon is real, they even immediately parted and let us walk through......until one of the PC's decided to kill their leader for no reason and got the orcs to attack. Yes, we did leave him to die as we ran.

Knaight
2014-08-19, 09:45 PM
The game: Fudge, steampunk meets cyberpunk.

The PCs are cruising along in their improvised stealth zepplin, which they painted a sort of sky like color. Three zepplins sent by the international pharmaceutical corporation they stole the first zepplin from try to apprehend them. Enter one of the most bizarre series of events I've seen in game, consisting entirely of bad plans carried by the dice. Functional shenanigans included:

Claiming to be the Royal Canadian Airforce, and that the people on the zepplins would be boarded if they didn't drop their weapons. Canada was a settled territory at this point, it had no royalty, and definitely had no airforce. Fortunately, some of the crew on the ships were dumb enough to toss their weapons, until someone on one of the ships pointed out the organization wasn't real.
Dropping a gramaphone playing Ride of the Valkyries overboard, and using the sound as a decoy for some manuevering.
Venting the hydrogen, latching onto another zepplin with harpoons fired while falling, and using the sudden tilt to throw some crew overboard. Then restocking hydrogen from the pressurized canisters aboard.
Jumping out of a zepplin using a large oilcloth as an improvised parachute, having lit it on fire from the inside.
Jumping after the falling officer holding an oilcloth, by running off one edge with a rope, getting it taut while sideways, then releasing after swinging down to get horizontal motion. With an actual parachute.

DigoDragon
2014-08-20, 08:28 AM
Game: GURPS 4e (Super Hero campaign in the Marvel universe)

Our semi-heroic team infiltrated a large office building with the goal of capturing the BBEG inside. Unfortunately we botched a bunch of rolls and got security to come down on us while the BBEG hurried to his private helicopter. My character was a bright blue unicorn, the Great and Powerful Trixie, pulled out of her dimension into the confusing human world. She was alone in the stairwell, trying to get to the roof before the villain escaped when two goons, armed with MP5s and riot grenades, stepped in her way. Trixie's 'armor' consisted of a blanket with the Aflac logo.

Long story.

The easy thing would be to run out of the stairwell into whatever floor she was on, possibly getting shot. The hard thing would be to run back down stairs (not conducive to quadrupeds) and definitely getting shot. Trixie took a third option and charged the two armed goons. She hit one with a bolt of electricity (the equivalent of sticking a fork into a 120v outlet) and the other one opened fire. Trixie managed to dodge out of the way of the burst, telekineticly pull the pin on one of his grenades, and then kick him down the stairs. The grenade went off in the goon's pants.

The first goon hit Trixie with the butt-end of the MP5 and attempted to shoot her point blank. Trixie ducked under the spray of bullets, pierced his leg with her horn, and then shoved him down the stairwell with a jet of air, breaking his arms. Trixie now stood victorious with two MP5s. And if there was anything worse that someone with a sub-machine gun, it's someone with two sub-machine guns and no knowledge of gun safety.

Jay R
2014-08-20, 10:04 AM
I'm not sure this qualifies as something that shouldn't have worked, but it worked a lot better than I expected. It is one of my high points in almost 40 years of gaming. The game was Flashing Blades, role-playing in the era of the musketeers, so there is no magic.

In a previous adventure, we had uncovered bills of lading for an army coming through Lorraine towards France. Our task was to stop or disrupt them before they reached France. The only tool we had other than being six French adventurers was the bills of lading. We were supplying their food. But they were going through towns. If we simply withheld the food, they’d buy locally.

The bills of lading implied an army of roughly 2,000 soldiers and camp followers and 500 horses, led by the General Don Miguel ----, whose last name is a moot point, as shown below. All winter, we had horses staked out to attract two wolf packs to the forest between Luneville and Drouville. We wanted numerous wolves used to feeding on horseflesh to greet the Spanish army.

The first delivery was at St. Die. We arranged that the food would arrive two days early, to allow spoilage. Then there was a heavy rain that delayed the troops. The wine was (very mildly) spiked with bad water. There were 20 pistoles baked into the bread. We spread a rumor that the rich soldiers have been throwing coins to the peasants. Vivienne and Jean-Louis began to join the army as camp followers, Vivienne concentrating her attentions on the officers. Jean-Louis started to become a common face, performing, spreading rumors, asking questions. "What's this I hear about a missing paywagon?"

The next day was Baccarat. 20 more pistoles and 2 Louis d'Or were baked in the bread. The wine was slghtly more spiked. Deliveries of the food arrived mid-morning the next day, further delaying the troops. Vivienne had two officers fighting a duel over her. We spread rumors about the paywagon, and bad blood between officers. (Jean-Louis gathered a crowd of soldiers at the dueling field.) We started a fire in town after the troops left. Some cavalry units left early, and so were not fed.

Near the town of Luneville, we burned a bridge and planted stakes. The cavalry units tried to cross first, and one horse was lamed. So they waited for the rest of the army to arrive to build the bridge. More unrest, more rumors, more bad food. We incited some guttersnipes to throw rocks across the river at them. The bridge was finished mid-morning the next day, so late the next night, a bedraggled, tired, dispirited army arrived at Drouville. The army was forced to detour through the wolf forest by a road block. We spread rumors in town that the army had been torching villages behind them. The food was strongly poisoned, and the rye bread was tainted with ergot. The army was not going to be in shape to deal with the situation.

Vivienne lured Don Miguel to her room at an inn, and murdered him in his sleep. We spread poisoned oats out in the woods. Then we torched the town, stampeding the horses. We started several fires on the upwind side of town. While cutting horses loose, Jean-Louis was spotted. He yelled, "Release the horses – don’t let them burn!" So he successfully talked the guards into helping him release all their hjorses into a forest with wolves that had been feeding on horseflesh all winter.

The Spanish lost supplies, horses, and lots of time trying to round up the horses that survived the night. Note that spooked horses aren't too bright, and that they were downwind of the flames. Many horses were lost (or eaten). Jean-Louis slipped into the General's headquarters. He fought and killed two sentries, leaving them in a pose indicating that they had slain each other. He then made off with the general's orders, dispatches, and 70 escudo (4200 L.!). In nearby towns the next day we spread rumors that the army was berserk, looting and burning. We spread rumors in the army that the general was seen running off with a courtesan. Henri went north and bought their next shipment of food (with their money), which we dumped in the river. After spreading a few more rumors in Nancy, the capital of Lorraine, we returned to Paris, where we delivered the orders and dispatches to Richelieu.

The army split up, some becoming bandits until captured by the Duke of Lorraine; some continuing on, ravaging the countryside as they went.

And that's how six PCs stopped an invading army of 2,000.

illyahr
2014-08-20, 10:50 AM
Werewolf game. I was playing a lazy wolf who specialized in hiding and scouting. Had a fetish (magical item) called a Blurstone that made him harder to spot. Had a merit that he could hide his scent and one that gave him a bonus to Stealth when he held still. Also had a Gift that boosted his Stealth and a Stealth specialization of Camouflage.

Had a merit that he could use Dexterity instead of Strength on attacks and a specialization with knives on his Arms skill and a specialization in Dirty Fighting in his Brawl skill. Also had a lucky knife that he had awakened the spirit of (he had a merit that made his aura like catnip to spirits) so it was stronger than normal knives.

We have a territory dispute with another pack so we decide to do a series of 1-on-1 fights and winner of the most fights wins the disputed territory. My character (who is extremely lazy and avoids work wherever possible) gets paired up against a primal werewolf (a melee-focused super-beastie). We are using the 7-roll 5-over rule (roll 1d10 plus modifiers, 7 is a success with an additional success for each 5 over 7).

So, I freeze up (had my gift active that hides my scent) and do my stealth. I roll so high that the tracker bugs that had latched on to me fall off because they lose track of me.

ST: Ok, she can't find you but the only offensive ability you have is a knife. What will you do?

Me: Wait until she gets closer, then stab her in the eye.

ST: I guess you can try. I'll say she doesn't get her defense since she can't find you at all.

Me: Ok specialization with the knife is +1, lucky knife gives me +2. Burn a Willpower for an additional +3. Would Dirty Fighting help me at all? I am going for a cheap shot.

ST: I'll allow it, but you get a -2 for calling your shot, remember.

*rolls 10*

ST: Ok, roll again since you got a 10.

*rolls 10*

ST: No way. OK, once more.

*rolls 9*

Me: So 29 +5 Dexterity, +3 weapon skill, +1 specialization, +2 for knife, -2 for called, +3 from willpower and +1 dirty fighting. What does she subtract due to defense?

ST: ...nothing, she couldn't find you.

Me: So... 42? That's, what, 8 successes?

ST: Well, you lunge perfectly at her eye and there is a loud squish as your knife cuts along the optic nerve and impales her brain before sliding out the other side of her head. Her jaw drops open as the life drains from her body and she drops to the ground, your knife pulling her brain out through her eye socket.

Me: I did offer her a chance at a coin flip. *high-fives all around*

ST: Congratulations. You have won Werewolf. Your Deed Name is now "Brain Tickler."

Our ST ended the game there and we are starting a Changeling game instead. :smallbiggrin:

GrayGriffin
2014-08-20, 11:59 AM
Just read this link. (http://tales-from-the-tabletop.tumblr.com/post/94706158926/bug-diplomacy)

DontEatRawHagis
2014-08-20, 02:29 PM
I'm not know for my plans. My plans tend to have glaring holes such as losing focus and forgetting about traps and cameras. Or I get really random.

However this one time we had to get stolen money back from a corrupt CEO.

The plans ranged from kidnapping him to hacking his bank account. To whih as the party hacker I said it wouldn't work because he would notice and call the bank saying he was hacked and get it all back.

Me: he likes poker let's setup a game and steal his money that way?

GM: he wants to bring a friend along.

Me: Who is he? *investgate check*

GM: Mafia made man.

Gunslinger: What would you suggest now?

Me: Instead of stealing their money we make it look like the game is a police sting helped by the CEO. Then we let the mafia take care of him. He'll be so worried he'll go to any caches of cash he has and empty his accounts. Then we swoop in and take it.

GM: O.O
Gunslinger: O.O
Snoop: When did you grow a brain?