Staying Invested in a Campaign You Aren't Enjoying

[Grimmnist]

My DM has been trying out a new style for a 2-3 month campaign that we are about halfway through, we were captives of the Drow trying to escape the underdark so we have very limited equipment and have to rely on scavenging for resources, crafting and other similar challenges all while evading capture. It's a cool campaign idea, I like the narrative, I like my character backstory, but I get really frustrated with crafting and survival systems in any game. I play D&D for the roleplaying first and foremost, and I like the combat too because it gives stakes to the roleplaying, what I don't like are logistics, I am not naturally gifted at it. The other players in this group tend to be pretty indecisive so I feel like I have to have a big role in group planning, normally it's fine since I can get through the parts I like less and then go do some good old fashioned ill-advised Bard-main Performance checks, but in this case there is no Social pillar it's only the parts of the game I struggle with.

I want this campaign to be a success, I know this is a style the dm likes more than me, and that the other players were really excited for this campaign option. I am a DM myself and I know the feeling of players not being invested or telling me they aren't having fun, it feels terrible and I don't want to ever be one of those players. I am having a hard time, instead of laughing off bad rolls as part of the game I can feel myself getting very tilted. I am a level 4 fighter and I have 13 AC from Hide Armor it makes me feel pretty powerless when I'm spending most fights getting yo-yo'd from round 2 on. (The good news is I think the other players are having fun since I'm taking most of the hits for them.)

Mostly I am posting to vent, maybe that will help me better understand my emotions and move forward. If anyone has any advice for how to find pieces of a campaign to grasp onto and enjoy I would be very grateful.

[Dork_Forge]

Maybe think about changing your character up so that you don't feel so done down by the equipment shortages? Switching your Fighter over to Dex so that you're less reliant, or switching your style to Defense. Level 4 is a tough time to tank regardless of equipment since you're so low on hp and mostly dependent on the swing of the D10 for your Second Wind.

[Unoriginal]

Maybe you could find a small caravane, convoy or isolated travelers, ambush them, and steal their equipment and ressources?

Even one drow's armor would be of tremendous help to you.

Maybe think about changing your character up so that you don't feel so done down by the equipment shortages? Switching your Fighter over to Dex so that you're less reliant, or switching your style to Defense.

Switching to DEX would make them more reliant on finesse weapons.

Level 4 is a tough time to tank regardless of equipment since you're so low on hp and mostly dependent on the swing of the D10 for your Second Wind.

Mmmmh, what is your subclass, OP?

[da newt]

Perhaps you could enjoy it more if you could focus less on succeeding / winning. I too can get frustrated when it seems like no matter what I do, it doesn't seem to help improve the situation.

Try assuming your PC is going to die, and that's OK - then get busy trying to die heroically or see what sort of ridiculous shenanigans you can get up to. Make a full body suit out of the next monster you kill - try to disguise yourself as whatever it was. Try to get captured - they'll take you to their home. Seek chaos, take risks, embrace the suck. Try to change your mindset.

Build a backup PC that you'd be excited to play if/when your PC gets snuffed.

Also, gently let the DM know you find the survival aspect interesting but you'd also like to have a little more combat, social, and find a little gear every once in a while too.

Or you could ask the DM if you can swap to Barbarian - they are less 'stuff' dependent w/ resistance and unarmored defense.

[Chronic]

Honestly, if you don't like it you don't like it, nothing wrong about it. You did your part, you tried. Now either you power through hoping it end quickly, or you have a talk with the DM.

[Catullus64]

I empathize with the feeling of understanding what another DM is going for and wanting to like it.

The approaches that I've found bring some level of help:

Use your character's own frustrations as a vent for your own. Being stuck in the Underdark with minimal resources would tick anybody off, so be as grimly sarcastic or comically exasperated as you want, and it shouldn't be too off-theme. Just make sure the complaints are strongly tied to your character's voice and mannerisms, so it doesn't seem like you're complaining all the time.

Try to pivot the game towards being more roleplay-centric. Whenever your party makes camp, or is having long and uneventful periods of travel, strike up long in-character conversations with the other PCs about home, family, past adventures. Have your characters sing songs and play games around the campfire, or play practical jokes on one another. Talk about what you want to want to do when you get out of the Underdark, in the hopes that it gives your DM ideas. If there is little of the Social pillar on the DM's part, then start thinking about party politics and how you can make story out of that.

For the logistics bit, I would recommend a clear division of labor. We had a campaign that got really bogged down in the management of our own mercenary company, and we found that the best solution was to have each party member manage a specific mechanic or set of mechanics. So have one PC in charge of managing food & water, one in charge of crafting tools & weapons, one responsible for maintaining light and fuel, etc. It makes for far less time spent arguing about how to manage different things, and questioning what goes on whose character sheet.

I hope these advices prove helpful. I'm rooting for you to find your share of the fun that the other PCs are having.

[Sigreid]

Tell your DM you're missing the social pillar. It's the Underdark! There are entire civilizations down there that you can encounter pieces of and trade some of what you have or some of your time and effort for an edge in the over all objective.

[Grimmnist]

Mmmmh, what is your subclass, OP?

I am playing Rune Knight, I am a variant human so something that gives Darkvision seemed essential. The high strength/athletics has actually been super useful in exploration, everyone else is dex so we really need at least one person who can carry heavy things.

Use your character's own frustrations as a vent for your own. Being stuck in the Underdark with minimal resources would tick anybody off, so be as grimly sarcastic or comically exasperated as you want, and it shouldn't be too off-theme. Just make sure the complaints are strongly tied to your character's voice and mannerisms, so it doesn't seem like you're complaining all the time.

That honestly fits the character really well, I'm doing a Glasgow accent (the one accent I can actually do thanks to studying abroad). Scots love being grim and sarcastic so that works great. This ties in with what a couple people said about focusing more on in-party roleplay, I think that is probably my best path going forward.

I'll also see about trying to split up labor, I tend to get a little obsessive trying to solve every problem at once so that would offload some stress.

[JNAProductions]

Talk to the DM and other players.

Explain politely and respectfully why you're not having a good time. See if you can all figure out a good solution so everyone enjoys the game.

If worst comes to worst, and nothing can be done to make you enjoy the game, let them know that you appreciate the effort, but will not be continuing in this game.

I've had similar situations-there was a game where I wasn't enjoying myself. I talked to the DMs, and we figured out that it was just kinda a style mismatch. So, I left the game. No bad blood, no hard feelings, and they continued the campaign for a while with their other players. Sometimes, it happens-it ain't the best, but you'll live.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck with this game and all future ones too! :)

[Dork_Forge]

M
Switching to DEX would make them more reliant on finesse weapons.

You mean the availability? There's enough finesse weapons that it shouldn't be a problem, the easiest thing to grab you'd think would be a dagger and it's Finesse.

If you mean reliant in terms of limiting playstyle/options then that's a trade off for adapting to the campaign I think

[Grimmnist]

You mean the availability? There's enough finesse weapons that it shouldn't be a problem, the easiest thing to grab you'd think would be a dagger and it's Finesse.

If you mean reliant in terms of limiting playstyle/options then that's a trade off for adapting to the campaign I think

For the record you are right on that, we have had a ton of finesse weapons after the initial escape sequence, slings are really easy to make too. Strength was good for when we didn't have any weapons as well as for out of combat utility.

[Unoriginal]

All Rune Knights are proficient with smith's tools. I would ask the DM if you could get a chance to forge yourself a better armor and/or a shield using what you have. It probably won't be pretty-looking but it doesn't need to.

I would also speak with the DM about your concerns and how you'd like it if there was more social stuff. If you're playing Out of the Abyss, or simply something similar, there is a lot that could be done with that.

Furthermore, there is nothing shameful about not enjoying oneself and telling so to others. Just have to be a good sport about it and reasonable when talking about it.

[MaxWilson]

I am a level 4 fighter and I have 13 AC from Hide Armor it makes me feel pretty powerless when I'm spending most fights getting yo-yo'd from round 2 on. (The good news is I think the other players are having fun since I'm taking most of the hits for them.)

I know it's not your main point, but try switching up your tactics a bit. Dodge sometimes, use DMG Disarm against enemies with weapons (or just use the PHB Improvised Actions option to declare an attempt to grab the enemy's weapon), push enemies prone and then step away (they'll have Disadvantage on their opportunity attack and lose too much movement standing up to reach you on their turn without Dashing, and meanwhile others will have advantage against them in melee and won't take opportunity attacks because you already used up the enemy reaction), grapple someone and then Dodge while others kill them, or drag them over to a cliff and shove them off... etc.

Attacking every round is boring and it sounds like you're not having fun being a punching bag. Try not being the punching bag sometimes.

[Unoriginal]

Additional question: did you select the Fire Giant rune, by any chance?

[Grimmnist]

Additional question: did you select the Fire Giant rune, by any chance?

I live by a simple rule, see a Smite, pick a Smite. I have leatherworkers tools as well as so I made the hide armor I currently have, there just aren't good resources or facilities for making real armor, best I've been able to do is a -1 Breastplate which I gave to a higher damage party member.

@MaxWilson
You're preaching to the choir on that one, I am playing a grapple build. I've found grappling a little less impactful than the community consensus, I think because my DM rarely runs just 1 or 2 enemies pure damage is even more relevant than usual. I am spending most of my actions trying to buy time for people who do more damage than me I just keep getting Nova'd down way too fast to feel like I'm doing anything.

[MaxWilson]

I live by a simple rule, see a Smite, pick a Smite. I have leatherworkers tools as well as so I made the hide armor I currently have, there just aren't good resources or facilities for making real armor, best I've been able to do is a -1 Breastplate which I gave to a higher damage party member.

@MaxWilson
You're preaching to the choir on that one, I am playing a grapple build. I've found grappling a little less impactful than the community consensus, I think because my DM rarely runs just 1 or 2 enemies pure damage is even more relevant than usual. I am spending most of my actions trying to buy time for people who do more damage than me I just keep getting Nova'd down way too fast to feel like I'm doing anything.

Oh, yeah, against mobs (many more monsters than PCs) those suggestions of mine aren't appropriate, except Disarm. If there's only three or four monsters and one of them is clearly more powerful than the others, grapple + Dodge might still be a good idea normally, but with only AC 13 probably not.

Can you give examples of a few recent combats? Maybe the hive mind can suggest overlooked options.

Failing that, ouch, hope you find some chain mail soon.

[Grimmnist]

Can you give examples of a few recent combats? Maybe the hive mind can suggest overlooked options.

Good call, 6 player party, comp is Fighter(me), Pali, Ranger, Thundersmith Artificer (homebrew version), Warlord (homebrew), Bard. Thundersmith and Pali have real weapons, dex warlord has real armor but bad con.

The last 3 that I can remember clearly have been: ~5 Quaggoths (got my face shredded); 2 Basilisks(easy); [hit level 4 before this fight] ~5 giant spiders, 1 ice spider queen, 1 even-gianter spider and 1 spider swarm all on difficult terrain spider webs (real bad time, do not recommend, rated 0 Bags of Popcorn out of a possible 5 Bags of Popcorn).

I think the hive mind has already helped me quite a bit, as I said I'm good at micro bad at macro so having folks tell me how to approach logistical problems has helped. It also helped when people pointed out it is in-character for my PC to be unhappy with how things are going, my character is a blacksmith so it is actually roleplaying for me to be frustrated with this shoddy equipment.

[Keravath]

It seems to me that you have a melee heavy party assuming that the Artificier, Paladin and Warlord are all melee. In addition, at this point, unless you have found a bow, the Ranger is probably also melee. As a result, I don't see why your character would be shredded more than anyone else. (Even a dex paladin is likely in the thick of melee if the only ranged weapons you have are slings).

A couple more comments on build and playstyle that might not help.

1) I don't know how much you knew before the campaign started but choosing a heavy armor class that has a low dex and is heavily dependent on equipment makes life much tougher in a scenario where you start with no equipment.
2) I've never found grappling to be of that much use except in niche situations. Some folks may rave about it but honestly it has never really worked out when I have seen it in practice.

As for what you can do ...

1) I assume you already have the Stone rune as one of the two you get at level 3? 120' darkvision is indispensable for an Underdark campaign. As far as your second rune goes, I would be tempted by the Cloud rune. If you have a half-decent charisma then advantage on deception checks in the Underdark when encountering creatures or bypassing check points could be very useful. In addition, when you or a creature you can see within 30' is hit you can redirect the attack onto another creature within 30'. This would be very useful at redirecting a crit from you or a team mate onto an opponent within 30'. The fire rune has potential for taking down one opponent if they fail their saves and gives everyone advantage attacking that one target but the crit transfer and advantage on charisma deception checks might play into the kind of role playing things you like to do.

2) You mention your AC is only 13. However, improvising a shield that would provide an adequate +2 AC should be relatively easy. You are proficient with both smith's tools and leatherworking tools ... folks in the Underdark need to sit on something so tables and chairs may not be that scarce - so make yourself a shield and bump your AC.

3) Everyone should be doing roughly comparable damage at your level so I don't see why you would be so far below everyone else unless they all have Xbow expert (but they likely don't have a hand X-bow or bolts) or pole arm master since the odds of finding a staff are decent. Other than that, everyone's attack is likely somewhere between d4+stat and d8+stat but functional d8 weapons like a long sword or rapier aren't likely that common and the difference between d4 and d8 is only 2 points of damage on average.

4) As mentioned, I also don't understand why you would be "taking all the hits for them" - most of them appear to be melee classes - even a dex paladin so if everyone else is standing back using slings while you take all the damage - there is something more wrong with the setup than just whether you enjoy it or not. In a cooperative party, the rest of the party who is capable of being in melee and spreading around the damage is going to feel an obligation to be in there fighting. Unless your 13 AC is the pinnacle of armor at the moment ... and even then everyone should still be jumping into the fight.

Anyway, limited resource games are always toughest near the beginning. If you can capture a drow or two, you can probably strip their equipment and as a smith/leatherworker you can probably modify it to fit. Also, as the party advances in experience, you will likely find opponents and sources of gear. In addition, the Underdark isn't empty. There are settlements and colonies of drow, duergar, deep gnomes and others .. if might be able to bluff your way into such a settlement (a gnomish one would be safest if you can find one) and perhaps acquire a few more pieces of gear.

However, if your joy in the game comes from playing an optimized character with all the best gear to support their every move - then the character you picked doesn't fit that playstyle in a resource limited game since they are dependent of expensive and difficult to find armor and possibly weapons.

If this is the case, you can either keep playing and wait for the character to gradually grow into their potential as they acquire more gear (which will happen) or you can ask the DM if you can change your character or bring in a different one that would work better in a low resource game since you aren't having fun with the character you have. (e.g. Pact of the blade warlocks work exceptionally well in low resource games since they can create their own weapons). Sorcerers can work well because they have a lot of cantrips and you can probably pick ones without material components. A monk is also an ideal low resource game character since they don't actually rely on either weapons or armor.

[Grimmnist]

@Keravath
First of all thank you for all the suggestions, I am planning on changing up my tactics a bit and what you're saying lines up with my rough gameplan. Only Pali and me are melee, Artificer is a gunsmith.

However, if your joy in the game comes from playing an optimized character with all the best gear to support their every move - then the character you picked doesn't fit that playstyle in a resource limited game since they are dependent of expensive and difficult to find armor and possibly weapons.

I usually play intentionally un-optimized characters, I find it interesting to roleplay a character with mechanical weakness that lets you bring more to the table in fringe areas of the game. I guess that means I optimize holisticly not just for combat, I usually have a lot of utility and skills, I am very involved in the social pillar and I take detailed notes for the group. The issue isn't that without my shiny toys I'm bad at combat, the issue is that all the usual ways in which I add value to the party are de-emphasized. I have crafting tools, but we don't have enough raw materials for those to be very useful, so as a fighter all I'm left with is... fighting.

[Keravath]

@Keravath
First of all thank you for all the suggestions, I am planning on changing up my tactics a bit and what you're saying lines up with my rough gameplan. Only Pali and me are melee, Artificer is a gunsmith.



I usually play intentionally un-optimized characters, I find it interesting to roleplay a character with mechanical weakness that lets you bring more to the table in fringe areas of the game. I guess that means I optimize holisticly not just for combat, I usually have a lot of utility and skills, I am very involved in the social pillar and I take detailed notes for the group. The issue isn't that without my shiny toys I'm bad at combat, the issue is that all the usual ways in which I add value to the party are de-emphasized. I have crafting tools, but we don't have enough raw materials for those to be very useful, so as a fighter all I'm left with is... fighting.

This is where your role playing along with tertiary stats and skills come in. For example, almost every character I ever play, even ones with 8 charisma, are likely to proficient with the persuasion skill. This is because I know that as a player I like to talk and role play and I want to have at least a minimum chance of success at being convincing from a mechanical perspective. Although charisma may not be that high for your character, it may be worthwhile being proficient with some of the social skills so that you do feel like you can contribute to the social pillar without being too much of a detriment to the group. (It isn't the same as a bard with 20 charisma and expertise in persuasion but being proficient will let you feel like you can contribute more even as a fighter when these situations come up).

In addition, this is where the cloud rune could be useful giving you advantage on deception checks which could be essential for social interactions in the Underdark.

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From an optimization perspective, you could pick up the Pole Arm Master feat at 4th level. A staff has to be the easiest weapon to improvise and works fine one handed with a shield and the pole arm master bonus action attack. If the thought of a staff used one handed is less than palatable then strap a dagger on the end of the stick, call it a spear, and use it the same way. A smith/leatherworker should be easily capable of fashioning a very effective spear. This will also give you three attacks at level 5.

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Anyway, from the sounds of your recent comments, the bigger issue might be that you are having trouble finding how to contribute with a fighter class character outside of fighting. This can be a bit of a challenge but I would suggest choosing your skills to support how you like to play and the character you have in mind. If you (as a player) like to talk then playing a taciturn fighter who doesn't say much will be a real challenge and not much fun since the character requires a playstyle that you (as a player) may not really care for. A possible solution to this could be the prodigy feat or the other feat option that provides additional skills and expertise. Choose the skill/expertise to fill something that you want the character to be good at that will give the character another way to consistently and regularly contribute to the game outside of fighting (social skills are often a go to choice in such a case if you like to talk/role play and interact).

[Unoriginal]

Anyway, from the sounds of your recent comments, the bigger issue might be that you are having trouble finding how to contribute with a fighter class character outside of fighting.

No, the problem as OP has presented it is that they're in a situation where most outside-fighting-things they have taken for their character -social, metal smithing, and leather working- is mostly reduced to "you can't do that here" because so far the DM only has had them encounter non-sapient beasts and cave monsters, leaving them with only leather working.

OP's Fighter can do things outside of fighting, they just are not given any opportunity yet.