Worst group you ever gamed with?

[AppleSaurus]

So, I started playing 5e around two years ago just some one shots mostly with reacurring characters. My original group disbanded because of personal reasons, and until recently I haven't been comfortable running a game myself. So I joined up with some friends at a UI I attend and it was a reverbial hell. It got to the point where it made me not want to play at all.

Firstly, before I joined I was casually dating the DM, it wasn't official, and now that I think about it, it wasn't even serious. He learned I liked tabletop games and invited me to his table. So I made a monk with a haunted one background. Problems didn't start until the first session I joined.

There's around six players who have made character sheets though about three players played at a time. In the group of six there was about 4 that couldn't give less of a **** about anything. Always forgetting their character sheets, fudging dice rolls, on their cellphones during games or just being obnoxious in general. The maturity level was below what it should have been for grown ass adults who were considerably older than me. There was a couple that literally all they did was **** in game and complain out of game.

Then there was the *******s of the group. Out of character they were *****, in character they were absolute idiots. One character found a way to kill himself nearly every single time we sat down and played, and bitched and tried to force the other players including myself to pay to revive him. He constantly made dumb decisions that got the other party members into trouble, didn't care that he was pretty much wasting time with his bull****tery. But he wasn't the worst *******. No it was reserved for the other monk in the group. If you didn't do what he wanted to do you were an idiot. He never listened to what everybody else wanted and instead went barreling in to fight ****.

But the biggest problem with the group was the DM, sadly. The entire plot line centered around his DMPC regaining God hood. Basically our characters' only purpose was to serve his character and help him become a god again. The DM constantly complained about my character being "too op", even though I built her the way he wanted. I couldn't loot anything because he was afraid the other players would view that as "favoritism", so at level ten my character had literally no gold to her name, barely any extra equipment, but was still called "OP". Finally after around three months of playing she could afford to get some magical boots. He rolled for what type of boots and it turned out to be the boots of swiftness. He told me after I paid for them that they were way too overpowered for my character and made me give them to another player. Any time I ever got to loot something cool he always made a situation where another player needed something and I had to sac my own **** to get them it. The biggest kicker came from when my character getting pregnant and dating another pc, now because it wasn't his Mary Sue character he purposefully through my character into an unrealistic fight, even when I beat the **** outta them without losing that much health he made me lose the child.

I left after he told me the baby died. Didn't come back for a few weeks, and when I did come back he said that my character was now in a relationship with his dmpc and pregnant with his child..... and this is why there aren't that many female tabletop players.

So what is your horror story? What's the worst group you ever participated in?

[Hrugner]

Worst was a group of long time friends, all of whom I'd played with before. I'd been running a game for about 4 players, and added 6 more to include the rest of my old gaming group. The group was just too big for me as a DM to keep everyone engaged, the difference in player interests too broad to ensure everyone was there for the same reason, and the range of mechanical fluency too broad to ensure that encounters balanced for the party could challenge everyone without killing most of them. This was Pathfinder, so mechanical fluency mattered in a way it doesn't in 5e. It went alright, but ended up being more of a party and hang out than a real game.

A close contender was a Rifts game I was invited to through a friend. With no player guidance from the DM, he and I showed up with near invincible support characters to a game where everyone was playing basic book characters. We offered to reroll right there, but the DM wanted to stick to his initial ruling that the characters were okay. It went poorly, and we ended a months old game after our first session of joining.

The problems involved in sexual roleplaying at the table, and couples at the table are fairly common. I'd put up some rules to avoid both.

[NecroDancer]

The worst group was when I played a game all by myself.

It ended in a TPK caused by PvP

I learned that I'm both a sore loser and a bad winner.

[tkuremento]

A game where I'm not the first to say something and it is assumed the party wants to just stick as a party all the time. Town being attack, get into fight, win, go towards center to see what is going on, and we see peasants fleeing in back alleys. I want to check it out but because someone else said we carry on it starts to move on without my investigating the back alleys. I disliked that very much, and that kind of thing continued to happen throughout. The second worst was more or less one person who wasn't as familiar with D&D and was saying stuff like "I aim my attack at its neck" or "heart" and was expecting to one shot stuff but of course you roll attack and damage so....yea really quickly they became boulder fodder.

[Typhon]

Worst game was back in 97-00, in the 2nd ed days. I played a homebrew Dhampir that was ok'd by the DM. Problem was I set up the race as straight 2nd and he mandated all players had to use the Skills and Powers: Players Option. Being stalwart, stubborn, and naive, I stuck it out. Come to find out down the road, My race was fairly balanced and worked well, but did need a nerf to tone down a specific racial feature at most. It also became apparent though, that the DM was more playing out his power fantasy than helping to tell a story of the PCs. During the course of the game, we discovered that his DMPC had been split into 9 different characters (each an alignment as an aspect) and was trying to merge himself back together, his character had created a spell called Power Word: Burn that caused anything (literally anything with no limit or save) to start burning, traveled back in time to steal a copy of the Nether Scrolls which were never expanded upon by any of our magic users for our benefit, and when a new character joined late in game she basically was given god hood in service to his DMPC ordained campaign quest.

My character, trying to do something more outside of the later game plot, eventually was minimized and reduced to a cardboard cutout. I did try to have a different character take his place, talking to the DM, but was told that too much hinged on finishing with the original characters. Tried to do something cool and useful by forging some artifacts for the characters by collecting rare and distinct components after we were into the epic levels, but was dismissed and tossed aside. All in all, I know I very easily could have been the Mary Sue character, but I wanted to be a benefit to the group and see it through for everyone else. I feel that the DM of that game basically railroaded us had a plan for HIS character and everyone that played nicely with his story was rewarded. My character was basically given the Khan treatment at the end and dumped in a demiplane with another like myself and that was that. Everyone else became avatars for gods or proxies.

This one game taught me many things that a game shouldn't be and that a DM shouldn't do.

[Bahamut7]

But the biggest problem with the group was the DM, sadly. The entire plot line centered around his DMPC regaining God hood. Basically our characters' only purpose was to serve his character and help him become a god again. The DM constantly complained about my character being "too op", even though I built her the way he wanted. I couldn't loot anything because he was afraid the other players would view that as "favoritism", so at level ten my character had literally no gold to her name, barely any extra equipment, but was still called "OP". Finally after around three months of playing she could afford to get some magical boots. He rolled for what type of boots and it turned out to be the boots of swiftness. He told me after I paid for them that they were way too overpowered for my character and made me give them to another player. Any time I ever got to loot something cool he always made a situation where another player needed something and I had to sac my own **** to get them it. The biggest kicker came from when my character getting pregnant and dating another pc, now because it wasn't his Mary Sue character he purposefully through my character into an unrealistic fight, even when I beat the **** outta them without losing that much health he made me lose the child.

I left after he told me the baby died. Didn't come back for a few weeks, and when I did come back he said that my character was now in a relationship with his dmpc and pregnant with his child..... and this is why there aren't that many female tabletop players.

The biggest red flag there was definitely when the plot was centered around his PC. DMPCs are only there to support a group that lacks cohesiveness. As for the gear issue...this is why I try to play a character that is self-dependent as possible. After the pregnant aspect, I would have quit even if I was a different player.

[Typhon]

The biggest red flag there was definitely when the plot was centered around his PC. DMPCs are only there to support a group that lacks cohesiveness. As for the gear issue...this is why I try to play a character that is self-dependent as possible. After the pregnant aspect, I would have quit even if I was a different player.

That is how I prefer my characters act as well. I tried to write my character into doing other things so I could specifically have a role that didn't get bound into his DMPC quest. Towards the end I didn't really care and was only curious how the end game played out for closure. If I was ever offered a game by that DM again I would be very suspect and it has made me leery of there ever being a DMPC.

[Bahamut7]

That is how I prefer my characters act as well. I tried to write my character into doing other things so I could specifically have a role that didn't get bound into his DMPC quest. Towards the end I didn't really care and was only curious how the end game played out for closure. If I was ever offered a game by that DM again I would be very suspect and it has made me leery of there ever being a DMPC.

Completely agree. My one DM tends to throw in a DMPC consistently, but I have never felt that his characters have ever taken from the party's action or spotlights.

[Typhon]

Completely agree. My one DM tends to throw in a DMPC consistently, but I have never felt that his characters have ever taken from the party's action or spotlights.

If his DMPC is being used to help and assist as the story/party needs that is great. That should be the way one is used. The party is the center of the story, the DMPC is simply an NPC with lots of direct involvement.

[Pex]

3.0 game. 3.5 already existed, but the group was playing the original 3.0 rules. This means Ye Olde 1d4 + 1 ability score buff spells that last 1 hour per caster level. I joined the group playing a rogue. Everyone else was either a wizard or cleric with one other rogue. There were NPC fighters. My rogue was also an Order of the Bow Initiate Prestige Class. With DM permission it was actually the 3.5 version because it was easier to build. The DM felt the party needed an archer and another rogue. Since I never played a rogue or archer before, I agreed. I wanted to give it a try.

Every game day was the same. The spellcasters would buff themselves, each other, the NPC fighters, and the other rogue with Bull Strength, Cat's Grace, Bear's Endurance, etc. Some spells were empowered. There were a couple of others not of those types, but it's been a long while I don't remember. They never casted any on my character. They never asked if I wanted one. This went on for several game sessions.

One day I asked, "Hey, may I have a Cat's Grace?" "Sorry, we have to buff our fighters first." After they finished there were none left for me.

Next game session, "Hey may I have a Cat's Grace?" "Don't be in such a rush. We told you we need to take care of our fighters first." After they finished there were none left for me.

Next game session. I purposely waited until after they were finished buffing themselves, each other, and the NPCs. "Hey, may I have a Cat's Grace." "No, we have none left."

Next game session we're in for a long haul dungeon crawl that has lots of undead. They've been enchanted such that they explode when killed and also have magic DR. Since my arrows are not magical they won't hurt them. The other rogue has a magic weapon and gets Bull's Strength. Since they are undead I can't sneak attack them. When it comes to combat, I'm useless. At home on the group's webpage I offer the suggestion "Hey, it would be great idea for one of the clerics to cast Greater Magic Weapon on my arrows. This way I can harm the undead, contribute to the combat, and hopefully kill a few from a distance so no one gets hurts when they explode." The response: "How dare you demand we cast a spell on you.? Who do you think you are? Buy your own damned magic arrows!"

When I went to the next game one of the clerics said "Fine, here's your Greater Magic Weapon! Stop whining." Of course it happened to be the last day we were in that dungeon finishing it within a real world hour. In the next adventure I went to scout ahead while the party made camp. An NPC came to the camp and talked to the party. They left camp and went with him. They were gone when my character came back. I didn't know where they were. Finally the other rogue came back to get me apologizing profusely. One of the clerics told me to get over it.

I quit the game soon after. It was then I vowed never again would I let Jerk Players control my fun. I have absolutely no tolerance for them. I've finally was able to learn no game is better than a bad game.

[ProphetSword]

The worst group was when I played a game all by myself.

It ended in a TPK caused by PvP

I learned that I'm both a sore loser and a bad winner.

I'm not sure if you had the worst DM ever or the worst player ever.

[Draco4472]

I tend to have good luck on this front, dealing with a lot of decent people and groups.

There was one player however that was a bit difficult when Storm King's Thunder, who tried to do a lot of dumb things with his character, such as burn down a church, rob said church, refuse to step into the church until the DM said there was a chest in the church to those of us that went in said church. Then play with the severed heads of goblins.

When my character's morals conflicted with his PC's, he out of game told me to "cut the ****" and stop.

Thankfully that was for only one session, haven't had any problems with the guy since, so I'm assuming he had a rough weak or something.

[Naanomi]

Worst party... 2e; one guy had a Fighter that had 18 in almost every stat, player was this really loud obnoxious guy from the FLGS, but the rest of the party (wizard, Bard, cleric) were reasonable folks I knew so I was fine. They *really* wanted me to play a Druid for some reason, but I chose to play a rogue instead.

When we started playing it was clear things were not right. Every fight strategy was to buff the heck out of the fighter and stand back while he played the game like a one player video game... when I tried to do anything but find traps or open doors (like scout or fight), they told me to stand back and not to waste the healing resources, they weren't even happy I was 'drawing attention to the casters' by throwing daggers into the mix... the worst part was how cooperative everyone was with watching this one man ego show.

I tried to talk to people about it after session #2 and they told me they were a 'well oiled party' and if I had played a Druid to best contribute it would be fine. I walked out when they told me I just wanted to be the center of attention because I was a girl, and I couldn't handle the teamwork 'without drama'

[Bahamut7]

Worst party... 2e; one guy had a Fighter that had 18 in almost every stat, player was this really loud obnoxious guy from the FLGS, but the rest of the party (wizard, Bard, cleric) were reasonable folks I knew so I was fine. They *really* wanted me to play a Druid for some reason, but I chose to play a rogue instead.

When we started playing it was clear things were not right. Every fight strategy was to buff the heck out of the fighter and stand back while he played the game like a one player video game... when I tried to do anything but find traps or open doors (like scout or fight), they told me to stand back and not to waste the healing resources, they weren't even happy I was 'drawing attention to the casters' by throwing daggers into the mix... the worst part was how cooperative everyone was with watching this one man ego show.

I tried to talk to people about it after session #2 and they told me they were a 'well oiled party' and if I had played a Druid to best contribute it would be fine. I walked out when they told me I just wanted to be the center of attention because I was a girl, and I couldn't handle the teamwork 'without drama'

Smart move to walk away...odd that a DM would allow that.

[Naanomi]

Smart move to walk away...odd that a DM would allow that.
He (the DM) seemed 'in on it' too... the whole thing was strange

[Waterdeep Merch]

I tried to run a game with a dozen different players relatively early into my career as a DM. Back then I didn't always ban pvp, and that group alone had maybe three complete trolls that would instigate some rather terrible events. Their rap sheet includes multiple instances of party in-fighting, the total destruction of three towns via fire and/or plague, the deaths of an entire endangered sapient species, and finally the absolute annihilation of the multiverse through manipulating several different pantheons into essentially fighting ragnarok over about five square miles of unclaimed ethereal plane.

That game still continued for two sessions past the aforementioned total destruction of the multiverse before the trolling finally caused the party to agree to quit and play in two separate games from then on.

[NecroDancer]

I'm not sure if you had the worst DM ever or the worst player ever.

Why not both?

[Ogre Mage]

2E group in 1998. Players were insistent on playing PCs with huge character flaws like "goes berserk when triggered" and the trigger changed on a daily basis. They confused this with roleplaying. They were also a$$h*les who would make bald-faced insults when they didn't like how you were playing like "Are you just stupid?" "You need to get a f**king clue" etc. There was also occasional out of game banter about politics, mainly how horrible and evil Bill Clinton was. One third of the campaign was spent arguing with the DM. I literally got up and walked out in the middle of a session and did not come back. The DM resigned soon after.

Second although not as bad was the Mutants and Masterminds group in 2006. I was the only nonwhite player at the table and one of the other PCs had a tendency to keep making racist comments in character like "those people should go back where they came from." Since the M&M setting was contemporary America, there was no fantasy setting to disguise what was going on here. I started to get a veiled Aryan Nation vibe about the player. The others, all white, did not seem to notice. He was never actually rude to me out of character but looking back his behavior strikes me as what is known as "microaggressions."

[Hrugner]

Worst party... 2e; one guy had a Fighter that had 18 in almost every stat, player was this really loud obnoxious guy from the FLGS, but the rest of the party (wizard, Bard, cleric) were reasonable folks I knew so I was fine. They *really* wanted me to play a Druid for some reason, but I chose to play a rogue instead.

When we started playing it was clear things were not right. Every fight strategy was to buff the heck out of the fighter and stand back while he played the game like a one player video game... when I tried to do anything but find traps or open doors (like scout or fight), they told me to stand back and not to waste the healing resources, they weren't even happy I was 'drawing attention to the casters' by throwing daggers into the mix... the worst part was how cooperative everyone was with watching this one man ego show.

I tried to talk to people about it after session #2 and they told me they were a 'well oiled party' and if I had played a Druid to best contribute it would be fine. I walked out when they told me I just wanted to be the center of attention because I was a girl, and I couldn't handle the teamwork 'without drama'

That is an extremely weird group. I can't say I've ever heard of anything like that outside of old school mmos.

[Typhon]

Worst party... 2e; one guy had a Fighter that had 18 in almost every stat, player was this really loud obnoxious guy from the FLGS, but the rest of the party (wizard, Bard, cleric) were reasonable folks I knew so I was fine. They *really* wanted me to play a Druid for some reason, but I chose to play a rogue instead.

When we started playing it was clear things were not right. Every fight strategy was to buff the heck out of the fighter and stand back while he played the game like a one player video game... when I tried to do anything but find traps or open doors (like scout or fight), they told me to stand back and not to waste the healing resources, they weren't even happy I was 'drawing attention to the casters' by throwing daggers into the mix... the worst part was how cooperative everyone was with watching this one man ego show.

I tried to talk to people about it after session #2 and they told me they were a 'well oiled party' and if I had played a Druid to best contribute it would be fine. I walked out when they told me I just wanted to be the center of attention because I was a girl, and I couldn't handle the teamwork 'without drama'

And this is why there aren't more women in RPGs. Stupid neckbearded jack-in-apes. They give those of us with beards who game and just want to have fun a bad name. As another playgrounder mentioned, that is a really weird playstyle I have only heard of in MMOs.

[Naanomi]

And this is why there aren't more women in RPGs. Stupid neckbearded jack-in-apes. They give those of us with beards who game and just want to have fun a bad name. As another playgrounder mentioned, that is a really weird playstyle I have only heard of in MMOs.
This was pre-MMO days mostly (does UA count?) but yeah it does harken to that mentality. It's like they had found a way to 'win' playing modules and didn't want people rocking the boat with roleplaying or fun

[pwykersotz]

Played with a guy I met through work. The party was entirely co-workers, mostly temp employees who I hadn't met and then my good friend K.M.

The cast list
DM: K.R.
My friend: K.M.
New Player (guy): E.J.
New Player (girl): D.S.
Me: Your friendly neighborhood Pwykersotz

K.R. was younger, enthusiastic, and liked LARPing. He was a bit annoying and needy, but it was because he didn't have many friends, and I took it in stride. K.M. invited me to to the game, he was the one who told K.R. about me, and the DM was happy to have a more experienced player along since everyone else was very new.

The group assembled for the first (3.5/Pathfinder) game and we rolled characters. I don't remember what we all made anymore, except for one person. D.S., the only girl of the group who was very quiet and fairly friendly, and she rolled a Druid. Don't worry, it's not a sexism horror story, but she is the linchpin.

We go on a quest to some icy caves to track down some goblin uprisings. Immediately I start getting warning bells. K.R. liked to prompt rolls for everything (including walking over rough terrain), and he had excessive crit fumble rules. Still, I've played under GM's like that before and had fun, so I rolled with it. The real first problem was when D.S., who was trying to learn the game, was trying to figure out how to roll.

E.J. was very energetic and enthusiastic, and caught on to the rules very quickly. So in an attempt to not disrupt the game, he was giving pointers to D.S. when she asked questions he had figured out. Apparently he hit a sore spot though, as when he was explaining to her when to roll to hit something, K.R. stopped mid-description to the rest of us and raised his voice quite loudly. He demanded that E.J. not EVER tell someone how to roll, that he was the DM and he would call for rolls when they were needed.

E.J. was a little taken aback, but he rolled with it pretty well. He apologized and smiled, and the DM cooled off. K.M and I were pretty horrified though. We let it slide because the affected people seemed okay, but it got our hackles up. We came from a very friendly table where rules clarifications were always welcomed, and this was dramatically off our normal style.

Finally, we get into our first real fight. A couple skeletons in the frozen tundra. The fight goes poorly right off the bat, partly due to the fumble rules, but mostly because we just hadn't gelled as a team yet. D.S. hit a few things with her quarterstaff, before I asked her if she had any spells which she thought would be useful.

Her eyes lit up. "I get spells?!" I facepalmed inwardly. She had shown up first, and had her character already drafted when we arrived. I assumed K.R. had gone over this with her. Apparently he had neglected telling her about her magic for whatever reason.

We asked permission, and K.R. let us pause to have her choose her spells. E.J. was excited to help, so we let him, and soon she had a spell list she was super excited about. We resumed game and she immediately said "I cast summon swarm (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonSwarm.htm)!"

Now, for those of you who know 3.5 or clicked the SRD link, it's a pretty simple spell. Not for K.R. though. He nodded and said "Roll me a d20." Okay, weird, maybe there was a weird environmental effect or something. She rolled. As you might guess, she got a natural 1. K.R. frowned, leaned back, and then leaned forward again.

"You summon Lolth."

The confusion which gave way to frustration and then apathy (as we explained who Lolth was) of the very nice D.S. who just wanted to cast a Druid spell was the worst part. K.R. was a clumsy DM with bad rules and bad intuition, but that matters less than people think. We had still been having a decent time. But what followed was just too much. It broke her of any illusion that this was anything other than an arbitrary power trip on K.R.'s part.

The rest went predictably. We wiped horribly and the game ended in quite a sudden fashion. We made our polite goodbyes, and I swore never to have him as a GM again. Still, some good came out of it. I hear D.S. is doing well and has tried a couple other tables with better success, and E.J. became one of my regular gamers and we're all having a great time. I lost touch with K.R. and he lost the temp job shortly thereafter, so I don't know how he's doing.

[Sigreid]

Worst party... 2e; one guy had a Fighter that had 18 in almost every stat, player was this really loud obnoxious guy from the FLGS, but the rest of the party (wizard, Bard, cleric) were reasonable folks I knew so I was fine. They *really* wanted me to play a Druid for some reason, but I chose to play a rogue instead.

When we started playing it was clear things were not right. Every fight strategy was to buff the heck out of the fighter and stand back while he played the game like a one player video game... when I tried to do anything but find traps or open doors (like scout or fight), they told me to stand back and not to waste the healing resources, they weren't even happy I was 'drawing attention to the casters' by throwing daggers into the mix... the worst part was how cooperative everyone was with watching this one man ego show.

I tried to talk to people about it after session #2 and they told me they were a 'well oiled party' and if I had played a Druid to best contribute it would be fine. I walked out when they told me I just wanted to be the center of attention because I was a girl, and I couldn't handle the teamwork 'without drama'

This is strange to me because it's hard to get women in a game and I personally think they bring a lot to the table.

[Arial Black]

*snigger*"You summon Lolth!"*hahhhhh hah hah hah*

Player: I walk across the grass.
DM: It counts as difficult terrain.
Player: Does it?
DM: Yes. It's rough grass.
Player: Er...okay. I walk over the grass, about half as far as I thought I would...
DM: Roll a Dex save.
Player: What? Why?
DM: To see if you fall over, of course!
Player: *rolls* Natural 1.
DM: ........*rolls*.........You summon Lolth.
Players: .............Ahhhhh haha hah hah hah! LOL for Lolth! We all start running over the rough(!) grass for an hour and see how many gods we can accidentally summon!

[Arkhios]

My experience is from 3.5 game actually (and I honestly think this discussion would fit snugly in the Roleplaying main forum, not just in 5th edition)...

I joined this group in the middle of their adventures, and from the very first session I could see our playstyles were at a crash course. One of the players had written his character sheet with unreadable gibberish which only vaguely looked like writing, and yet he claimed he could do a plethora of things. I know because at one point he got a work-related phonecall (I think) and someone had to take over his turns. Well, I thought I could make his attack rolls and such but oh boy, it was impossible. Immediately had me wondering if the guy himself could read this gibberish and if he was just making things up from the fly.

Other guy kept yammering on and on and on, session after session, how one of their previous characters had decapitated Demogorgon. Same story all over again.

One player just couldn't co-operate at all, just had this insatiable need to piss into his comrades' cereals by either dominating everyone around him or trying to make everyone his thralls (DM had already forbidden him from making a thrallherd - wise decision I'd say). Basically his whole agenda seemed to be that he could solo every encounter, and kept speaking over everyone - even the DM.

The other two were kind of co-operative, but mostly with each other, as I recall their characters were kind of like brothers or something.

Needless to say I couldn't handle this chaos for long.

[Fishyninja]

Luckily I haven't had a bad group yet but I am no going to keep an eye out for the signals after reading these.

[Sigreid]

Luckily I haven't had a bad group yet but I am no going to keep an eye out for the signals after reading these.

Keep in mind that one person's nightmare group is another person's dream group.

[Hrugner]

Players: .............Ahhhhh haha hah hah hah! LOL for Lolth! We all start running over the rough(!) grass for an hour and see how many gods we can accidentally summon!

I don't think I've ever played with a group that wouldn't respond this way. You either run across the surprisingly jagged grass to test its power, or in order to summon enough gods that you aren't the main focus of the first one.

[Finback]

I don't think I've ever played with a group that wouldn't respond this way. You either run across the surprisingly jagged grass to test its power, or in order to summon enough gods that you aren't the main focus of the first one.

This is literally how I test new systems in my workplace. Oh, new library system? PLACE ALL THE BOOKS ON IT. Oh, new ID card system? I WAS BORN IN -DATE. Running around attempting to confuse the first god by adding more gods is entirely a logical process to me.

[Dudu]

So, I started playing 5e around two years ago (...)

*JUSTIFIED RANT*

(...) So what is your horror story? What's the worst group you ever participated in?

OP, (in Original Poster, not the "OP" you got called so oftenly), my condolences. How did you even cope with all that crap? Did anyone in the table even cared about others enjoyment? Man, that was ridiculous. I feel lucky now that me and my friends have a much healthier tabletop experience.

Anyway, I never had a "worst group". There were some mild uncooperative party members, at most. Amusing how many players ignore one of the biggest draws in DnD, which is teamplay.

I wonder, though, if your problem didn't preceed the table. If you manage, try to hang out with nicer people, sometimes it's a personality problem. I had one DM who had a very difficult personality, and was an overall unpleasent guy. The outcome was that the game ended up being unpleasent, and everyone left. Whoever doesn't care wether or not others are having fun shouldn't have fun thenselves.

[KorvinStarmast]

Worst group you ever gamed with?

The group that I left after two sessions. (Didn't like the vibe at the table ... DM was a friend, but a couple of the players were people I had no desire to spend time with)

Bad TTRPG is (IMO) worse than no TTRPG.

There is other stuff to do with one's free time, like reading, writing, working out, fixing the car, cleaning the house, painting the house, helping a neighbor with a project ...

[raygun goth]

3.5 game.

Ridiculous house rules:
Level limits on PC races (elven wizards can never get higher than level 12, fighters can't break level 7, etc) "you need level limits because otherwise all elves would be gods"
Skills atrophy through disuse
"Wizards not being able to cast cure light wounds is only implied, so I've implemented some house rules to prevent bards from scribing scrolls and giving them to wizards"
Start at level-0 (not terrible in and of itself, I've done this before, but his rules were: con mod for hit points, no class features, skill points equal to your Int mod, no race traits, one feat; that's right, your half-orc had to earn your ability to see in the dark, or he would, if this guy had allowed half-orcs >_>)
You need to pass a Reflex save to make an attack of opportunity.
Psions can't wear helms.
You can only learn the setting's special magic if you roll 100 during character creation on a d% - and it exists outside of class features. What follows after that is a chart series that would make Rolemaster cry itself to sleep for the rest of its life.
Skill point costs are based on your ability score in the skill's ability.
"Leveling is unrealistic and breaks the 4th wall" followed immediately by "you can't gain a level in rogue unless you go find a thief's guild and a rogue higher level than you"
Spells take 10 minutes per level to prepare, which means once you break a certain level of wizard, cleric, or druid it starts to eat up hours of your day
constant referring to arcane spells as "archaic spells"
each spell slot is on a 24-hour clock, make note of the time of day you cast that slot
wizards can spend two slots to cast any spell they know of a level equal to or lower than the lowest slot spent
roll for initiative every round, weapons apply penalties or bonuses to initiative
"my skill system that I made for AD&D is much better and much more robust than the one in the books so we're going to use that one"
"high human" is a race, they're tall, white, and blonde, with int, str, and cha bonuses
"low human" is a race, they're from the mysterious southern jungle continent with int and cha penalties but a larger str and dex bonus, plus a 40 foot speed, plus wis bonus, oh and they all speak druidic naturally
"I don't like it when RPGs treat characters like game pieces"
exponential xp table where it took 11 million xp to get to level 20; unless you wanted to multiclass, then it turned into a geometric nightmare
spell components you own written down on one index card each, to cast a spell, hand the GM the proper components; you can research a material-less version of the spell but it's always at least 2 levels higher
you need to take two feats to become proficient in bows

first encounter? (level 0, mind you)
Invisible enemy spellcaster drops a transmute rock to mud on our campsite while we're asleep, sends in three silent, invisible devourers
"Should have had somebody keep watch."

At some point we got trapped underground in a Nautiloid/illithid spaceship.

I offered to run a game. He was just as insufferable a player.

I left the game, but when I came back three real-world years later because a friend was still attending and he needed a pickup, they were still stuck in that exact same room in that same nautiloid, same characters, level 4. I also found out that the GM spent a good chunk of his time before and after game for those three years complaining about my character and making fun of my GM style.

[Randomthom]

Reading these stories I realise I've been quite fortunate in my gaming groups.

No real horror stories as such but I've had to DM a very awkward group in the past.

All of us are RL friends but I find DM'ing for them a nightmare because of the variance of player expectations. Most of our play-time was with 4E and Coretex, not 5E but the issues aren't really system-specific.

There is D, he just wants to have fun but seems rather put out when his wizard is crap at punching things or when is druid can't shapeshift into the tarrasque at level 1. In his mind it should be allowed because it would be cool. "I want to punch it with magic"
There is R, he just wants to subvert my plans and will deliberately metagame to avoid following even the slightest railroading, even when I carefully plan the hook to appeal to his character. He is actually sometimes a very good roleplayer though, especially when playing evil Rogues. Has a tendency towards PvP. "So, the valley runs north/south? I'll climb west"
There is B, he ALWAYS plays some sort of mercenary who is basically just a murderhobo. He will attack anything put in front of him (and then be surprised when it kills him back). Plays the alignment, not the character. "Can I kill it"
Lastly (and worst imo) there is S, he just wants to "win" (and will fudge his dice rolls when he thinks nobody is looking). "I crit and do max damage again!"

[KorvinStarmast]

All of us are RL friends but I find DM'ing for them a nightmare because of the variance of player expectations. Most of our play-time was with 4E and Coretex, not 5E but the issues aren't really system-specific.

Has any of them offered to DM a game?

[gfishfunk]

Completely agree. My one DM tends to throw in a DMPC consistently, but I have never felt that his characters have ever taken from the party's action or spotlights.

I love adding in DMPCs, but they are more like super-toned down NPCs with a few more hit points. I give the PCs an alternative bonus action that can be collectively used once per round to call to the DMPC - 'heal me!' or something like that.

Really just useful when not everyone is present or when the party wants more information on some in-game lore. DMPCs should be handled so lightly that the party occasionally needs reminding that they are there.


I walked out when they told me I just wanted to be the center of attention because I was a girl, and I couldn't handle the teamwork 'without drama'

This is strange to me because it's hard to get women in a game and I personally think they bring a lot to the table.

Absolutely. I have one lady in my game at the moment (my wife does not enjoy the game enough to play for more than 45 minutes at a time, otherwise I would conscript her more often). She brings a lot of fun and interesting approaches.

[gfishfunk]

*snigger*"You summon Lolth!"*hahhhhh hah hah hah*

Player: I walk across the grass.
DM: It counts as difficult terrain.
Player: Does it?
DM: Yes. It's rough grass.
Player: Er...okay. I walk over the grass, about half as far as I thought I would...
DM: Roll a Dex save.
Player: What? Why?
DM: To see if you fall over, of course!
Player: *rolls* Natural 1.
DM: ........*rolls*.........You summon Lolth.
Players: .............Ahhhhh haha hah hah hah! LOL for Lolth! We all start running over the rough(!) grass for an hour and see how many gods we can accidentally summon!

Write 20 letters to various nobles, indicating that they owe their entire fortune to you.

Statistically, 1 out of 20 will decided to dedicate themselves to hunting you down and killing you.

But, Statistically, 1 out of 20 will declare you their heir and give you their entire fortune.

Seems reasonable.

[gfishfunk]

I have also had not-the-worst time with games...but...

When I first started RPGs at age 14-ish, I was the one that bought the book and tried to play Middle Earth Role-Playing. It was not an easy game to self-teach.

Every time I got folks together to play, we would start in an inn (of course) and the players would just start bar fights.

We never got out of the bar. Never. They always looked for the hobbit in the corner to beat up. And then (unwisely) I would have the hobbit transform into a horrible beast. It was a running gag and we never progressed. No one was frustrated, everyone had a laugh, but I couldn't get a game off the ground.

My current group (as a player) has some slight issues: there are three of us that regularly DM and are fairly active and thoughtful players. There are three more of us that are quiet and rarely engage. They sit back, watch, and contribute during combat but rarely outside of combat. Its fine -- really -- but I would like to engage them more. If they are having fun, then there is no real problem.

[Randomthom]

Has any of them offered to DM a game?

Two of them have tried, one of those was a painful experience for all involved.

[furby076]

Anyone have a story where they (you) thought the group were jerks, but upon retrospect, you realize the group was fine....you were the jerk?

In HS we had a relatively stable group. We did some immature things, but played well until we graduated and went to college.

First year of college i joined a game, but it was weird. Dm insisted the room be pitch black. Kind of hard to read your sheet.

After that, i have been in 3 groups (3 years, 9 years, and now a group for 6 months....i knew the dm in hs).

So no horror stories like you guys got. My biggest pet peeve is pvp or doing similar stuff (stealing from each other)

[GPS]

Anyone have a story where they (you) thought the group were jerks, but upon retrospect, you realize the group was fine....you were the jerk?

In HS we had a relatively stable group. We did some immature things, but played well until we graduated and went to college.

First year of college i joined a game, but it was weird. Dm insisted the room be pitch black. Kind of hard to read your sheet.

After that, i have been in 3 groups (3 years, 9 years, and now a group for 6 months....i knew the dm in hs).

So no horror stories like you guys got. My biggest pet peeve is pvp or doing similar stuff (stealing from each other)
Oh my god, Mazes and Monsters was real all this time!

[Âmesang]

After tonight's game I almost want to say my current group. Now, out-of-game they're all great guys, but…


❖ ❖ ❖

Alright, a bit of backstory. I'm currently playing as the dark elf, Variolus of House Baenre (https://www.schadenfreudestudios.com/dnd/5e%20pc%20variolus%20baenre.pdf), a chaotic evil paladin (oathbreaker)/rogue (assassin) multiclass whom I made the daughter of Zal'therra of the Army of the Black Spider, a cousin to Triel and Quenthel Baenre but otherwise a minor character in the War of the Spider Queen series (I believe she only appears in one book and basically "exit stage lefts" her way out in the end). So, the intent was to give her a tangible connection to the First House of Menzoberranzan without being that important in the grand scheme of things—I don't mean to sound insulting, but the closest comparison I can think of is being the equivalent to the offspring of a cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry of the British royal family… someone your average person isn't likely to know, but they still have a connection.

…anyway, I had created her when our group played through Storm King's Thunder, drawing heavily from the plot of Against the Giants—that House Baenre had become aware of the giant sightings and sent Varilous out to forge an alliance with them, thus using their might to help subdue their surface enemies; and she did. She even managed to stay with King Hekaton for a time as a liason/ambassador/&c. and learn Jotunuvar (the Storm Giant dialect of the Giant tongue—I'm a big fan of minor, even inconsequential detail just to add flavor to a character).

So everything went well in the end and now we're in a bit of a replay of Princes of the Apocalypse (I think?). I hadn't played it with the group the first time around, but our general plot was to travel back to Menzoberranzan to forge a truce between them, the Dwarves of Gracklstugh, and a thri-kreen city connected to a player's previous character. After months of playing (once a week, typically) we finally make our way there; by the way, they didn't tell me until we started this adventure that Menzoberanzan had been trashed in that first play-through—would have been handy to know beforehand! Then again, it seems Demogorgon had just appeared and drove most of the populace mad, anyway, so I suppose it's a moot point.

Now, I try not to have the mindset of murderhobo-ing everything around me because "they're just NPCs!" One thing I love about D&D is the ability to tell a story and make a character that matters (and that matters because of the effort you put in, not just from DM Fiat™), so I try to take the game somewhat seriously… as such, I kept repeatedly telling the players to at least leave the talking to me to make events within the city limits go over relatively smoothly… and that if we meet the Matron Mother DON'T ATTACK HER!! SHE WILL KICK OUR ASSES!! Granted, I don't know what stats Quenthel has, so I'm just assuming she's "epic level." From what I have read she's basically absorbed the psyche of her mother, Yvonnel, so by all rights she should be a total bad ass, and it's that fear that at least kept me in check.

So guess what the party did? *sigh*

To be fair, they didn't attack her immediately… they just insulted her. A lot. "Hey, pointy ears!" calls out the human rogue. "I think he's trying to mate with you!", says the thri-kreen monk/barbarian (get it?, 'cause he's got kind of an alien perception and doesn't understand the other races so that means he gets to be zany!). Quenthel, rightfully irritated, throws some sort of burning wind against the human… and 'cause we're all high level, his avoids it via evasion. "What, did you purposely miss him?" …and on …and on …and on.

At some point it breaks out into a fight. "She does have stats? That means we can kill her! Come on, let's flank her!"

Guess what? She kicks our asses. Just like I warned them.

Now, to not break party dynamic I did join in on the fight, making some excuse that Quenthel allowed Menzoberranzan to nearly fall twice under her watch (once with their previous play through, and again with Demogorgon right there), so I suppose I could see it as her losing favor with Lolth… and it's not that I wouldn't want to overthrow her, casting out the line of Yvonnel and taking control of House Baenre myself…… but I really, really wasn't looking forward to a direct conflict because, deep down, I knew we'd lose; and we did.

By some miracle the party managed to flee… leaving me behind, actually, though the thri-kreen did use his "super jump" to rescue me while I attempted to prostrate before the Matron Mother and sue for mercy (which, in drow society, is probably worse than continuing the attack) ……so it's safe to say that Variolus has been banished from House Baenre now and forever, with all of my previous effort for influence and power going completely to waste (just because I couldn't bring myself to go against the party).


❖ ❖ ❖

As I said, they're great guys normally, but I think they treat everything a bit too jokey with an "it's just a game" mentality, and I don't mean to take things super-seriously… but at the same time I play the game under the mindset that actions have consequences and that I'm not entitled to win just because I'm a player… so if I want to win I'll have to be clever, cunning, ruthless, know what my character can (and can't) do, and work together with the team…… and not assume everything will end up fine just because "it's a game." I suppose it comes with having a creative background (having been drawing and writing for the better part of my life) and that if I'm going to put a lot of effort into something I want it to mean something—to have my character mean more than just numbers on paper.

[Klassik]

Worst group I've been a part of was some work buddies that would meet up bi-weekly for 3.5E. We would take turns hosting and one night the host decided he would drink (heavily) and allowed his personal life to interfere with "in-game" group choices. A fight broke out and each of use were threatened, since we had all been friends for years we decided not to hold anything against the guy but vowed that he was out of the group.

[Themrys]

And this is why there aren't more women in RPGs. Stupid neckbearded jack-in-apes. They give those of us with beards who game and just want to have fun a bad name. As another playgrounder mentioned, that is a really weird playstyle I have only heard of in MMOs.

It is a very weird playstyle and sexist insults are ****, but there's other reasons why there are not more women in RPGs. Such as this:


I had a DM tell me that my character and that of the only other player present had turned into members of a species where the females are much weaker than the males (there is stat equality in that game, except for that species), my character had lost her magic abilities, and was still female, and oh, married to the character the other player in the group (male) was forced to play.

The group was fine, but that DM was a misogynist, and I only suspected several months after starting to play with the group, but still explained it away until he pulled that **** move.

This DM did other **** things, I think I opened a thread on here about the thing he did which made me first suspect that he was a sexist jerk, but that last one made me leave the group.

[Typhon]

It is a very weird playstyle and sexist insults are ****, but there's other reasons why there are not more women in RPGs. Such as this:


I had a DM tell me that my character and that of the only other player present had turned into members of a species where the females are much weaker than the males (there is stat equality in that game, except for that species), my character had lost her magic abilities, and was still female, and oh, married to the character the other player in the group (male) was forced to play.

The group was fine, but that DM was a misogynist, and I only suspected several months after starting to play with the group, but still explained it away until he pulled that **** move.

This DM did other **** things, I think I opened a thread on here about the thing he did which made me first suspect that he was a sexist jerk, but that last one made me leave the group.

I am honestly stupified by this on levels I never dreamed of. Just WTF.

[solidork]

I guess my high school group? It's possible I was the worst person, because I would inevitably fall asleep about 75% of the way through the session. It's sort of funny now, but it must have been pretty annoying.

[pwykersotz]

I am honestly stupified by this on levels I never dreamed of. Just WTF.

See, the sexism is horrifying, but what immediately raised my hackles is that the DM imposed a race change and a marriage and revoked a core aspect of character class, all without player approval and (assumedly) without reasonable in-game justification. I mean, sure, you CAN do those things as DM, but it's incredibly bad form. I don't like that level of heavy-handedness.

[Typhon]

See, the sexism is horrifying, but what immediately raised my hackles is that the DM imposed a race change and a marriage and revoked a core aspect of character class, all without player approval and (assumedly) without reasonable in-game justification. I mean, sure, you CAN do those things as DM, but it's incredibly bad form. I don't like that level of heavy-handedness.

There is sexism in gaming and then there is just being a complete misogynistic douche. Forced magical race/specie changes happen, reincarnation/polymorph is shifting specie type. The forced marriage and complete removal of abilities from a character, with no consultation is a monstrosity of violations.

[Themrys]

See, the sexism is horrifying, but what immediately raised my hackles is that the DM imposed a race change and a marriage and revoked a core aspect of character class, all without player approval and (assumedly) without reasonable in-game justification. I mean, sure, you CAN do those things as DM, but it's incredibly bad form. I don't like that level of heavy-handedness.

Yes, those things were horrible, too, but I think it was his sexism that made him do this in the first place. I had told him I did not want any sexism anywhere in the game, and he had slowly been chipping away at my boundaries the whole time.

One could be very generous and assume he tried for a "See, orcs are just people like everyone else" message, which failed horribly because orcs in that setting are so horribly misogynist that the male orcs treat female orcs as livestock.
He could have gotten me to go along with this **** by turning my character into a male orc (since he was going for this whole "you are a completely different person with different memories" thing), since as a female orc my range of action was zero (though he heavy-handedly implied I should just manipulate the males because that's what we evil wimmenzfolk do in real life, amiright?); so I think the main intention of the whole thing to show me that patriarchy is really, really, really great and I just misunderstand it.

Yeah, right.

[pwykersotz]

Yes, those things were horrible, too, but I think it was his sexism that made him do this in the first place. I had told him I did not want any sexism anywhere in the game, and he had slowly been chipping away at my boundaries the whole time.

One could be very generous and assume he tried for a "See, orcs are just people like everyone else" message, which failed horribly because orcs in that setting are so horribly misogynist that the male orcs treat female orcs as livestock.
He could have gotten me to go along with this **** by turning my character into a male orc (since he was going for this whole "you are a completely different person with different memories" thing), since as a female orc my range of action was zero (though he heavy-handedly implied I should just manipulate the males because that's what we evil wimmenzfolk do in real life, amiright?); so I think the main intention of the whole thing to show me that patriarchy is really, really, really great and I just misunderstand it.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, that's just bad all around. I guess the reason I called out the other things first is that I know a lot of people with distasteful opinions, but things don't get uncomfortable as long as they present them in a non-awful way. I didn't meant to imply the sexism wasn't the source of the problem or the worst of it, just that it's a lot less of a problem for the players when the GM doesn't twist reality around the distasteful opinion.

[Typhon]

Yes, those things were horrible, too, but I think it was his sexism that made him do this in the first place. I had told him I did not want any sexism anywhere in the game, and he had slowly been chipping away at my boundaries the whole time.

One could be very generous and assume he tried for a "See, orcs are just people like everyone else" message, which failed horribly because orcs in that setting are so horribly misogynist that the male orcs treat female orcs as livestock.
He could have gotten me to go along with this **** by turning my character into a male orc (since he was going for this whole "you are a completely different person with different memories" thing), since as a female orc my range of action was zero (though he heavy-handedly implied I should just manipulate the males because that's what we evil wimmenzfolk do in real life, amiright?); so I think the main intention of the whole thing to show me that patriarchy is really, really, really great and I just misunderstand it.

Yeah, right.

Every -archy is a pile of garbage waiting to burn. Not even touching that. The way that guy took that game would have led me to have a personal hand in the karma doing damage to many parts of his life after that. Playing a race as sexist is one thing, orcs are heavily patriarchial in the material and both the drow and githyanki are specifically called out for their staunch matriarchies. But stripping a player of abilities, stats, race and literally forcing them to work only from a very skewed world view they specifically detest for obvious reasons is just f***ed up. I hope he had major life troubles not long after.

[gfishfunk]

<snip > evil wimmenzfolk <snip >

I'm off to make a new faction in-game.

But in all seriousness: I'm not more angry at the striping down of abilities and stuff, rather I think that is a symptom of the misogyny. Where do these gaming groups even exist? I have never seen anyone treated so poorly in any gaming group that I have ever been a part of. Its astounding to me.

[Typhon]

I'm off to make a new faction in-game.

But in all seriousness: I'm not more angry at the striping down of abilities and stuff, rather I think that is a symptom of the misogyny. Where do these gaming groups even exist? I have never seen anyone treated so poorly in any gaming group that I have ever been a part of. Its astounding to me.

Don't focus on how lucky you have been. Just focus on what some of the lessons are that you can learn from the misfortune of others.

[War_lord]

But in all seriousness: I'm not more angry at the striping down of abilities and stuff, rather I think that is a symptom of the misogyny. Where do these gaming groups even exist? I have never seen anyone treated so poorly in any gaming group that I have ever been a part of. Its astounding to me.

Reports of this kind of thing are pretty frequent, particularly when the DM in question is a grognard from the olden days of the early 2000's (I mean that sarcastically) when being any kind "Geek" or "Nerd" meant that you were on the lowest rung of the social totem pole. I feel very fortunate to live in an era when D&D is becoming "cool" again.

Guys had/have bad experiences of interactions with women, they blame the whole gender for the negative experiences they've had, then they take that out on a women who joins the group by trying to "get even", and that's where the horror stories come from.

As a super socially awkward Asperger's guy with a pile of bad social experiences, I understand the mindset even though I've gotten myself away from it, I hope.

[Dudewithknives]

In a group of 5 people including myself.

I was playing a Warlock, Fey Patron and Tome.
Half-Elf Drow Variant.

Before we ever hit level 3, every other person in the group had bought a drift globe do dissipate any time I cast darkness.

Now mind you they all bought drift globes BEFORE I was even able to cast the spell darkness.

I asked them and the DM why exactly every person in the group, which every person also had darkvision too, went out and spent their first 500 gold on an item specifically to screw over my one nifty mechanic.

I will quote the GM and the Players.

Players: "We know you have been wanting to play a Warlock for about a year and we just think it is funny to piss you off."

GM: "Also you are the only person who cares about short rests, so I am just not going to do them, don't like it, play a class that doesn't suck."

That was from a gaming group I have played with for 18 years.

Not only that but this was after everyone else in the group was too lazy and stoned to actually make their own characters and I made them all.

[War_lord]

...So were they Jerks for the past 18 years or was this a recent development?

[Dudewithknives]

They took everything pretty serious for the first 10 years or so but then a few new people drifted in who got them all started smoking again and now all they do is get high and goof off.

I am the only one that took it serious anymore so they thought it was hilarious to piss off the only person putting effort into it.

[gfishfunk]

Reports of this kind of thing are pretty frequent, particularly when the DM in question is a grognard from the olden days of the early 2000's (I mean that sarcastically) when being any kind "Geek" or "Nerd" meant that you were on the lowest rung of the social totem pole. I feel very fortunate to live in an era when D&D is becoming "cool" again.

Guys had/have bad experiences of interactions with women, they blame the whole gender for the negative experiences they've had, then they take that out on a women who joins the group by trying to "get even", and that's where the horror stories come from.

As a super socially awkward Asperger's guy with a pile of bad social experiences, I understand the mindset even though I've gotten myself away from it, I hope.

All of the old-school geeks that I have hung out with were always overjoyed and super eager to please whenever anyone new joined the game from the outside - women, younger players, whatever. Not hostile and demeaning. Even the socially awkward guys were awkwardly trying to make others enjoy and get into the hobby.

All of this just makes me want to run stellar games and make sure everyone is taken care of.


They took everything pretty serious for the first 10 years or so but then a few new people drifted in who got them all started smoking again and now all they do is get high and goof off.

I am the only one that took it serious anymore so they thought it was hilarious to piss off the only person putting effort into it.

Sounds like time for a new group, or time for a new hobby when hanging with these guys. They can be friends and jerks, totally compatible, but it sounds like its raining on your fun specifically.

[War_lord]

They took everything pretty serious for the first 10 years or so but then a few new people drifted in who got them all started smoking again and now all they do is get high and goof off.

I am the only one that took it serious anymore so they thought it was hilarious to piss off the only person putting effort into it.

Yeah, I've been there. It wasn't drug related, but there was a definite vibe of "this is just our excuse to goof off, you're in the way". It's quitting time at that point.

I'd get on their case for being jerks, but if they were fine for 10 years it's probably more the combination of groupthink and... chemical assistance making them act so inconsiderate.

[Razade]

3.5 game.

Ridiculous house rules:
Level limits on PC races (elven wizards can never get higher than level 12, fighters can't break level 7, etc) "you need level limits because otherwise all elves would be gods"
Skills atrophy through disuse
"Wizards not being able to cast cure light wounds is only implied, so I've implemented some house rules to prevent bards from scribing scrolls and giving them to wizards"
Start at level-0 (not terrible in and of itself, I've done this before, but his rules were: con mod for hit points, no class features, skill points equal to your Int mod, no race traits, one feat; that's right, your half-orc had to earn your ability to see in the dark, or he would, if this guy had allowed half-orcs >_>)
You need to pass a Reflex save to make an attack of opportunity.
Psions can't wear helms.
You can only learn the setting's special magic if you roll 100 during character creation on a d% - and it exists outside of class features. What follows after that is a chart series that would make Rolemaster cry itself to sleep for the rest of its life.
Skill point costs are based on your ability score in the skill's ability.
"Leveling is unrealistic and breaks the 4th wall" followed immediately by "you can't gain a level in rogue unless you go find a thief's guild and a rogue higher level than you"
Spells take 10 minutes per level to prepare, which means once you break a certain level of wizard, cleric, or druid it starts to eat up hours of your day
constant referring to arcane spells as "archaic spells"
each spell slot is on a 24-hour clock, make note of the time of day you cast that slot
wizards can spend two slots to cast any spell they know of a level equal to or lower than the lowest slot spent
roll for initiative every round, weapons apply penalties or bonuses to initiative
"my skill system that I made for AD&D is much better and much more robust than the one in the books so we're going to use that one"
"high human" is a race, they're tall, white, and blonde, with int, str, and cha bonuses
"low human" is a race, they're from the mysterious southern jungle continent with int and cha penalties but a larger str and dex bonus, plus a 40 foot speed, plus wis bonus, oh and they all speak druidic naturally
"I don't like it when RPGs treat characters like game pieces"
exponential xp table where it took 11 million xp to get to level 20; unless you wanted to multiclass, then it turned into a geometric nightmare
spell components you own written down on one index card each, to cast a spell, hand the GM the proper components; you can research a material-less version of the spell but it's always at least 2 levels higher
you need to take two feats to become proficient in bows

A lot of these sound like trying to put AD&D rules into 3.5. Poorly. The rest are just wank.

[Sariel Vailo]

I couldn't paladin I had to exclusively heal. They had no other healers. It was bad that I couldn't combat. It was worse that our bard was genji. I became mercy the paladin of vengeance.

[Sigreid]

Anyone have a story where they (you) thought the group were jerks, but upon retrospect, you realize the group was fine....you were the jerk?

In HS we had a relatively stable group. We did some immature things, but played well until we graduated and went to college.

First year of college i joined a game, but it was weird. Dm insisted the room be pitch black. Kind of hard to read your sheet.

After that, i have been in 3 groups (3 years, 9 years, and now a group for 6 months....i knew the dm in hs).

So no horror stories like you guys got. My biggest pet peeve is pvp or doing similar stuff (stealing from each other)

Well, my last rogue was constantly pick pocketing the party. But he always gave back what he took immediately. They were his friends, he didn't want to deprive them of their stuff, he was just practicing.

[Themrys]

I'm off to make a new faction in-game.

But in all seriousness: I'm not more angry at the striping down of abilities and stuff, rather I think that is a symptom of the misogyny. Where do these gaming groups even exist? I have never seen anyone treated so poorly in any gaming group that I have ever been a part of. Its astounding to me.

I must have had exceptionally bad luck, then.

The striping down of abilities and stuff would have been okay if he had compensated us with a cool plot; I'm not a powergamer. It was just that he took everything I had previously told him I did not want to have in the game, (misogyny, sexual violence) and put it in a game where I was one of two players present, while additionally taking away my character's powers, probably due to quite correctly predicting that my character's normal reaction would have been to just kill the orcs.

It was 100% a symptom of misogyny. It was also bad DMing, but I do not think he'd have gone and put the exact things a male player told him he can't stand into a game with only one other player present. (Imagine you tell the DM that you have arachnophobia and also feel that you are oppressed as a male-bodied person in the society you live in, and she says: "Ok, female player character is a drow noble now, and your character is her slave, still male, but not a wizard anymore. Have fun!")

[Honest Tiefling]

Every -archy is a pile of garbage waiting to burn. Not even touching that.

Eh. As a DM, I feel that if there is an patriarchy or matriarchy of any sort, the opposite is fair game. So if there's a patriarchy in one part of the world, there's going to be a matriarchy in the other part of the world that sees talking to male diplomats as a terrible insult and will INSIST on speaking to a female PC...Especially if that PC happens to be played by someone in need of a bit of time in the spotlight.

Then again, I also find it hilarious to swap gender roles and see players struggle with them. Hrm. I shall have to find a way to make a race where the males carry the young to term now...Maybe some merfolk?

I don't think a patri- or matri- archy is going to be a bad thing in a setting, necessarily. Just that both are going to trigger most player's evil sense, so they probably shouldn't be the goodest kingdom out there. If you can have a world with other evil things, I think you can have sexism without going overboard or forcing it onto female characters. I also make sure that in any sexist society in my campaigns that is more then Whack-A-Monster there's a backdoor for female adventurers who usually get respect near or equal to their male fellows. And the idea that just because the society STARTS that way doesn't mean a high level party can't go around changing things for goodness' sake.

And FFS, get player permission first, always.

[Typhon]

Eh. As a DM, I feel that if there is an patriarchy or matriarchy of any sort, the opposite is fair game. So if there's a patriarchy in one part of the world, there's going to be a matriarchy in the other part of the world that sees talking to male diplomats as a terrible insult and will INSIST on speaking to a female PC...Especially if that PC happens to be played by someone in need of a bit of time in the spotlight.

Then again, I also find it hilarious to swap gender roles and see players struggle with them. Hrm. I shall have to find a way to make a race where the males carry the young to term now...Maybe some merfolk?

I don't think a patri- or matri- archy is going to be a bad thing in a setting, necessarily. Just that both are going to trigger most player's evil sense, so they probably shouldn't be the goodest kingdom out there. If you can have a world with other evil things, I think you can have sexism without going overboard or forcing it onto female characters. I also make sure that in any sexist society in my campaigns that is more then Whack-A-Monster there's a backdoor for female adventurers who usually get respect near or equal to their male fellows. And the idea that just because the society STARTS that way doesn't mean a high level party can't go around changing things for goodness' sake.

And FFS, get player permission first, always.

Agreed, everyone should have the spotlight at some point, and in good as well as bad ways.

Aquatic Centaurs! The men carry and care for the young, just like sea horses. That might be a little trite, but I could be fun for someone to play.

Don't forget the other -archies. Mon-, Olig-, etc., etc. They make great back drops for fantasy games, but I prefer a good democratic republic. Now if I could just find one that still exists.

And now back to our worst groups ever gamed with.

[Sigreid]

Eh. As a DM, I feel that if there is an patriarchy or matriarchy of any sort, the opposite is fair game. So if there's a patriarchy in one part of the world, there's going to be a matriarchy in the other part of the world that sees talking to male diplomats as a terrible insult and will INSIST on speaking to a female PC...Especially if that PC happens to be played by someone in need of a bit of time in the spotlight.

Then again, I also find it hilarious to swap gender roles and see players struggle with them. Hrm. I shall have to find a way to make a race where the males carry the young to term now...Maybe some merfolk?

I don't think a patri- or matri- archy is going to be a bad thing in a setting, necessarily. Just that both are going to trigger most player's evil sense, so they probably shouldn't be the goodest kingdom out there. If you can have a world with other evil things, I think you can have sexism without going overboard or forcing it onto female characters. I also make sure that in any sexist society in my campaigns that is more then Whack-A-Monster there's a backdoor for female adventurers who usually get respect near or equal to their male fellows. And the idea that just because the society STARTS that way doesn't mean a high level party can't go around changing things for goodness' sake.

And FFS, get player permission first, always.

I had a Cultural Anthropology teacher once explain to us that she spent a lot of time in Japan where the gender roles were very strong. Because she had a "man's" job they essentially just decided she was a man for all intents and purposes and included her in all of their manly man activities, including getting her a geisha when they went out drinking.

[Honest Tiefling]

I had a Cultural Anthropology teacher once explain to us that she spent a lot of time in Japan where the gender roles were very strong. Because she had a "man's" job they essentially just decided she was a man for all intents and purposes and included her in all of their manly man activities, including getting her a geisha when they went out drinking.

Hey, nothing wrong with adding a bit of third gender stuff into campaign worlds. Preferably by consent mind you, and when I said a backdoor for female adventurers, I don't mean cross dressing or being something other then female. That's just not the same for most, and newer roleplayers don't always feel comfortable playing another gender.

Through one person I did play with online had the same handle as a guy on a neo-nazi website, and it made his RP that contradicted the setting (FR, so sexism and racism in certain arenas was pretty odd) make a whole lot more sense. I was playing a brown female at the time, so...

[Sigreid]

Hey, nothing wrong with adding a bit of third gender stuff into campaign worlds. Preferably by consent mind you, and when I said a backdoor for female adventurers, I don't mean cross dressing or being something other then female. That's just not the same for most, and newer roleplayers don't always feel comfortable playing another gender.

Through one person I did play with online had the same handle as a guy on a neo-nazi website, and it made his RP that contradicted the setting (FR, so sexism and racism in certain arenas was pretty odd) make a whole lot more sense. I was playing a brown female at the time, so...

Oh, she didn't dress like a man or anything. It's just that since she wasn't Japanese, to accommodate her behavior and job withing their culture they assigned her the male gender role. It had nothing to do with sex as she described it, it was all about what the culture expected of her and afforded her. She got the geisha because it would have been rude for her not to have a personal hostess as well, not that they thought or cared about whether that was what she was into.