DM's At Conventions

[Arillius]

Just a little while ago I was reading about an awful DM at a convention, and I thought it would be interesting to hear if anyone else had such a bad experience. I know I did.

I'm at GenCon, biggest convention I have ever gone to, and I end up waiting for an hour to get to a table, but then they have me go make a character, since I was supposed to be able to that first. I was hoping to try out 4e for th efirst time to see if I wanted to join my friends campaign, he was with me on line. I finish making the character and the table is now full. So they shove us off to a table limited to premades. Not regular premades either but the underpowered 2 power premades meant for 5 minute games. The DM sits down and tells us we are all going to die. Not in a funny way, not in a joking manner, but in all seriousness that none of us would survive. I took it as a challenge at first, until she started us off in mid battle and one of us was killed before his turn ever came up.

We barely, I say barely, made it through that fight without anymore deaths and proceed through the dungeon. It was by now that one of the other players said it was some bad words and left. The others agreed but had paid for this and were to stubborn to leave. My friend (the one who got killed at the beginning) I suspected only stayed because I was still alive. Well it didn't last long. We get into the fight with 3 players left and we're surrounded. Maybe 7 enemies, no minions. Or whatever they're called where on hit kills them. We know this because the DM told us. I tried to martyr myself with a spell of threads or something that let me pull all the enemies a few spaces. Most were right next to an extremely fast moving river. (The dm clarified this saying if any of us fall in not to bother with swim rolls) Now earlier in the fight one of us had been pushed down hole (he survived) and did not get a saving throw even though it caused him damage. However the enemies we fought all got saving throws. Not only that, but I saw her roll a 2 on the boss and said they all made their's. I was killed pretty quickly being surrounded and all. I left and only barely restrained myself from telling the DM off.

Anyone else with a DM at a convention story?

[dsmiles]

I left and only barely restrained myself from telling the DM off.

Being a long-time DnD player, I probably wouldn't have shown that much restraint. I understand that convention games are all one-shots, but they should still be fun. People like that irritate the hell out of me.

[LansXero]

Being a long-time DnD player, I probably wouldn't have shown that much restraint. I understand that convention games are all one-shots, but they should still be fun. People like that irritate the hell out of me.

Really? I dont think I could get through the sheer confussion fast enough to be irritated. I mean, who hosts a game to have a miserable time¿? how does that even make sense?

[Arillius]

From what I understand they up the difficulty high enough to wipe parties in minutes. That way they can enjoy they're free pass.

[dsmiles]

From what I understand they up the difficulty high enough to wipe parties in minutes. That way they can enjoy they're free pass.

Being at a convention is all about playing RPGs. DMing is still playing. These types are just using that excuse to flex their "God Complex," and be a complete ---. The only reason they're not like that all the time, is they don't want to alienate their regular groups, and not have a weekly game.

[Pink]

From what I understand they up the difficulty high enough to wipe parties in minutes. That way they can enjoy they're free pass.

...Well, I can't speak for all games, but I know that one of the games they run 24/7 is Tower of Gygax, which is certainly meant to kill off entire parties in gygaxian fashion.

That being said, last time at gencon, the only playing I did was at a pick-up game through fear the boot's con line, and it was a blast.

I also don't know how much of a free pass people get for hosting games. I should look into it. I imagine it depends largely on the event. The only thing that gives you a free pass that I know of is volunteering some 30+ hours with truedungeon. They'll pay for hotel and meals and stuff as well as a gencon pass i think.

[Volos]

I heard horror stories from a friend of mine who went to a Con some time back. The DM not only killed the entire party, but did so using rules that no one was aware exsisted. Let's just say that many Catgirls died that day.

[Swordguy]

I can't rip on GenCon GMs too badly as a *group*, as I've been GMing BattleTech games (along with demoing Leviathans for Catalyst) for a three years now.

However, there's a certain individual that sticks out in my mind.

Specifically, an L5R GM who was running a game both my wife and a good friend was scheduled for. (For the record, I do not know if he was affiliated with AEG or not). She came back up to the BattleTech room in tears, with my friend following along behind. Evidently, she had given her tickets over to the GM, who proceeded to ignore both her and my friend for the first half-hour of the block (giving them characters, butt not reacting to anything they said or did). The guy basically just sat there and BS'd with his friends. Eventually, when she tried to butt in to the game and ask why she was deliberately being ignored whenever she spoke, and he told her firmly that "the only thing your mouth should be doing at my table is sucking my ****."

My friend had called over a few buddies, and they jumped on me just as the story ended and held me down in the hallway for a while until I calmed down (knowing what I was going to do before I did it). Fortunately, I know - well, knew - some people at GenCon through my family associations with TSR. I was very specifically told that he'll never be back to GenCon.

Unfortunately, it was my wife's first con, gamer though she is, and she's been very reticent about returning.

EDIT:

I also don't know how much of a free pass people get for hosting games. I should look into it. I imagine it depends largely on the event. The only thing that gives you a free pass that I know of is volunteering some 30+ hours with truedungeon. They'll pay for hotel and meals and stuff as well as a gencon pass i think.

Working a certain number of hours gets you a free entry pass into the con (it used to be just the dealer's room...but a few years back they started not allowing people into the building away from the ticket counters whatsoever if you didn't have a badge). Working a few more hours gets you about $100 toward your hotel room (if you do Origins, the con picks up your hotel tab in its entirety). Whether you get swag or not depends on the company you're working for; CGL gives us $60-ish in swag once we hit 24 hours worked. Nobody, to my knowledge, provides meal tickets unless you volunteer for GenCon itself. The food costs are a HUGE portion of their revenue, and they're loathe to give that up.

[LansXero]

Unfortunately, it was my wife's first con, gamer though she is, and she's been very reticent about returning.

How dreadful.

We dont get any of that fancy convention stuff around these parts, except very rarely; I honestly cant understand how these individuals' minds work. If I were given the chance to play a game I enjoy and tell a story with people coming from all over, I guess Id faint out of excitement. Why would anyone rush out what could be an amazing experience and a great chance to meet new wonderful people and ruin it for those attending, just like that? Its like throwing dirt on your birthday cake :S

[Gamer Girl]

I game a lot at my local Gamer Stop...and see this sort of thing all too often. The Gamer Stop lets DMs(like myself) just sit down and run a cold game for a bunch of walk in players. So basically, you get a random group of strangers for a one shot game.

Now, a great many DM see a 'one shot game' as an excuse to kill all the characters. As the characters in a one shot 'don't matter'. They are not campaign characters that someone took time to make and care about...the one shot characters will be thrown out even if they live through the adventure.

And a lot of DMs are very wimpy when it comes to running a campaign. They will flat out say 'no character will every die in my campaign, as that would not be fun or fair to a player'. So their game is a lot like a rated G cartoon, where the monsters will just 'capture' the bad guys or where the bad guys don't even try.(A great example from the good guys side is the old X-men cartoon...the bad guys will attack...and Wolverine will pop out his claws and say 'lets get them, I want to cut them up'...he will then leap at the bad guys retract his claws and just punch them in the face)

So when wimpy DMs get a free pass to kill characters, they take it.

I also see a lot of bad copycat DMs. When I do a 'one-shot' I will often do an extreme one. They are quite popular. For example: "As you are all sitting at the tavern a gate opens up and you fall into the Abyss''. The point of the game is simple: to escape from the Abyss and return home. This works out great for a couple hour one shot game. The trick is not to over whelm the characters though. just as they are in the Abyss you don't need to have 100 HD demons on every rock and such. I've gotten rave reviews form such games.

Other DMs see this and want to get such praise too. But it's a tricky balance. An extreme game can get out of control fast...and happens way too often.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

I never understood the appeal of 'cold run' games. The game theorist in me would talk about asymmetric information (specifically adverse selection) and go through the jargon, but I think I can explain it in plain English:

The problem with DMs (and to a lesser extent players) having in 'con' or 'cold run' situations is two-fold. The simple, static problem is that you can't accurately gauge whether a gaming store has good DMs with one 'cold run' session. If you go to someone's house game and the DM is great, you have a very good reason to believe that game is great in general. If you go to a 'cold run' game, and the DM of the day is great, you still have to fear the awful DM the next day.

The dynamic (and more interesting) problem is that DMs know this. In a house game, if the DM starts arbitrarily killing PCs and bad-mouthing players, all of his players will leave, and he'll probably get a bad rep and have a hard time attracting new players. If that same DM hosts a 'cold run' session, the players who he just alienated were going to leave him anyway, and the next days' players have a good chance of not knowing any better.

[aboyd]

I also don't know how much of a free pass people get for hosting games. I should look into it. I imagine it depends largely on the event.

I'm running 2 games at DunDraCon in February. I got a free pass. Not free room & board, though.

They address the problem neatly, though. They don't state that you have to run "a game" to get a free pass. Instead they say that you must provide "12 hours" of gaming to get a free pass. So you can't volunteer to run a game, kill everyone off in 5 minutes, and go enjoy your free pass. Instead, you really have to run something for all those hours.