History Main / KillerGamemaster

** It's also said that a good game of Paranoia results in deaths during the mission briefings. A really good game results in multiple deaths before the briefing.

* [[http://albruno3.com Al Bruno III]] of RPG.Net fame keeps a BinderOfShame in which he gives fictionalized accounts of his time with a [[DysfunctionJunction truly dysfunctional gaming group]]. The RPG.Net rant [[http://web.me.com/magwier/albruno3/rant3.html "A Night At the Inn, A Day At the Racists"]] features KillerGameMaster "Psycho Dave," whose style of running a game is described as follows:

* If it counts as literature, then the Lone Wolf series of gamebooks by Joe Dever absolutely counts as written by a KGM. The second volume is especially infamous as it can result in, among other things, an Unwinnable situation ebcause a key item was stolen from you and never recovered, and an instant death outcome because you didn't fetch a magical weapon (which ITSELF can become an instadeath situation because fetching it puts you against one of the strongest enemies in the book with no warning whatsoever). And that's just two of the many, many deaths you can experience in the average Lone Wolf book. The sheer amount of BAD ENDS in this series is staggering, and the enemies you meet in the later books cvan be absurd, to say the least (the Chaos-Master and the Ruel Giganites come to mind).

* In ''{{Homestuck}}'', Vriska Serket when playing FLARP (which is basically LiveActionRolePlay, but with players suffering real-life consequences). She makes monsters that are impossible to beat, and when Tavros refuses to make a move, she [[spoiler: mindcontrols him to jump off a cliff, causing his paralysis]].
** That's nothing. In her formal introduction we learn that she [[spoiler: ''actively'' tries to kill the other players in FLARP and '''feeds them to her lusus''']]. And in Eridan's intro, we find out that [[spoiler:She doesn't do those things in that order. Defeated players are captured and made to "Walk the plank" by being mind controlled like Tavros was. The plank being the cliff above her lusus's nest.]]

* [[http://albruno3.com Al Bruno III]] of RPG.Net fame keeps a BinderOfShame in which he gives fictionalized accounts of his time with a [[DysfunctionJunction truly dysfunctional gaming group]]. The RPG.Net rant [[http://albruno3.tripod.com/rant3.htm "A Night At the Inn, A Day At the Racists"]] features KillerGameMaster "Psycho Dave," whose style of running a game is described as follows:

-->'''Gabe:''' Lie to them. Rob them. Drive them mad. Concoct impossible scenarios whose only outcome is their death. And then, when their eyes glisten with shame and rage, drink their tears.

If there are {{Paladin}}s or other characters who depend on a certain alignment, this may also extend to making such characters "fall" for such small things that it effectively becomes impossible to actually stay a character of this type for very long. An example of this would be loss of Paladinhood for even the smallest non-combat interaction with an evil character, whose alignment is only revealed after you lose Paladin abilities, as the Paladin code forbids association with characters that you know are evil. Another common 'Killer DM' response to Paladins is to place them in a situation where the paladin [[SadisticChoice must commit an evil act or die/cause the end of the world]]. You can tell if this is the work of a 'killer' if the GameMaster actively torpedoes any attempt to TakeAThirdOption.

* Mewgle, in the Pokemon Fanfic, [[Main/ptitlelg7qjr6e Latias' Journey]]. [[spoiler:Much more so the second, third, and fourth times around]]. He also returns for [[FanFic/BraveNewWorld Brave New World]] as a ''literal'' GM, and ends up being banished by the "Holy Dice of St. Gygax".

** B.A. tries to craft elaborate adventures involving roleplay, diplomacy, and intrigue but the players immediately opt for Hack and Slash at the first opportunity. BA started out as a bit of a control freak, but the killer GM tendencies came later after Brian and Bob had trashed one too many of his adventures.

If there are Paladins or other characters who depend on a certain alignment, this may also extend to making such characters "fall" for such small things that it effectively becomes impossible to actually stay a character of this type for very long. An example of this would be loss of Paladinhood for even the smallest non-combat interaction with an evil character, whose alignment is only revealed after you lose Paladin abilities, as the Paladin code forbids association with characters that you know are evil. Another common 'Killer DM' response to Paladins is to place them in a situation where the paladin [[SadisticChoice must commit an evil act or die/cause the end of the world]]. You can tell if this is the work of a 'killer' if the GameMaster actively torpedoes any attempt to TakeAThirdOption.

* Also, John Goff. [[{{Deadlands}} ''Night Train'']] plays like a race to 0 HP.

* [[GaryGygax Gygaxian]] Dungeons such as ''TombOfHorrors'' often seem like this, due their reliance on TrialAndErrorGameplay.
** To be fair, Gygax created ''TombOfHorrors'' as a TakeThat to criticism his modules were ''too soft''.

* In {{Gurps}} there is a disadvantage called "cursed" which basically says the GM has to be a Killer game master to that PC.

* John Goff, who wrote portions of both Dungeons&Dragons and {{Deadlands}}. His most infamous creation is the original TombOfHorrors, but some adventures written for Deadlands are almost equally lethal.

[[caption-width:330:Never argue with the GM]]

*** To make matters worse, the person dealing with the blades had nothing at all to do with that other game; her character was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* The Role Playing Game Association's ''Living Greyhawk'' campaign was rumored to have a 25% death rate per table as one of its goals. Even if it wasn't true, their published modules reinforced this belief.

Any world in his hands will inevitably turn into a CrapsackWorld where [[EverythingTryingToKillYou every innocent-looking item]] will turn out to be a DeathTrap which kills the player without so much as a saving throw, every magic item they pick up [[PoisonMushroom will be cursed]] or [[ArtifactOfDoom even worse]], they can't trust ''any'' NPC (''especially'' the friendly ones), and their every deed will lead to [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption miserable failure]] or end up [[XanatosSucker helping the forces of Darkness (or Light, if your band of adventurers is a bunch of evil doers)]]. They won't be crushing orcs or goblins at level one, they'll be getting stomped by ancient red dragons and tarrasques. And frequently, they'll have to make Dexterity checks to avoid ''randomly tripping and falling down''.

Opposite to the MontyHaul GameMaster who heaps rewards by the truckful upon his players, the KillerGameMaster has set himself up as a hostile entity playing ''against'' them. To this guy, it hasn't been a good day until the players have been forced to roll up several new characters in a single session. In short, this GameMaster subscribes to the [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080212091754/http://atrocities.primaryerror.net/rpgcliches.html Amber Law]] of gaming; the game session is a zero-sum battle of wits between players and GM, and the GM holds all the cards.

The simplest and most brazen of these will simply [[RocksFallEveryoneDies collapse the dungeon on the players]] the moment they enter it. The more subtle have a habit of making life for the average PlayerCharacter a living hell where he will [[ButtMonkey perpetually]] [[ChewToy suck]]. Going OffTheRails is your only hope, and even then you should keep an eye out for [[RocksFallEveryoneDies falling rocks]]. If the players are competent enough [[MinMaxing minmaxers]] (or if the group sports a bona-fide {{Munchkin}}), this kind of DM may be necessary just to give them a challenge. Conversely, of course, these kinds of game masters can actually inspire MinMaxing in their players, as they feel they need to do so just to survive a given DM's game.

** That's nothing. In her formal introduction we learn that she [[spoiler: ''actively'' tries to kill the other players in FLARP and '''feeds them to her lusus''']].

** IIRC, Deedee was actually a MontyHaul GameMaster, but the players were so sick and tired of Dexter's KillerDM style that they didn't care.
*** Even so, more importantly, her story, while saccharine, ''made sense''. Dexter's meat grinder scenarios were almost [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment totally nonsequitur]].

* The DM in the JackChick tract [[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.ASP "Dark Dungeons"]] is evil to the point of [[DidNotDoTheResearch declaring a player character dead without doing any dice rolls]]. Oh, and getting the players into a satanic cult.

* In ''{{Homestuck}}'', Vriska Serket when playing FLARP. She makes monsters that are impossible to beat, and when Tavros refuses to make a move, she [[spoiler: mindcontrols him to jump off a cliff, causing his paralysis]].

* Dexter from ''DextersLaboratory'' did this in one episode, throwing badly unbalanced encounters at the party and changing dice rolls behind the screen all in an attempt to satisfy his ego. Then Dee Dee took over and was a more [[MontyHaul benevolent]] DM, and the players rejoiced. For instance, one of the random encounters she threw at the party turned out to be a piñata. As in, resembling a dragon, but full of candy.

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* Dexter from ''{{Dexters Laboratory}}'' did this in one episode, throwing badly unbalanced encounters at the party and changing dice rolls behind the screen all in an attempt to satisfy his ego. Then Dee Dee took over and was a more [[MontyHaul benevolent]] DM, and the players rejoiced. For instance, one of the random encounters she threw at the party turned out to be a piñata. As in, resembling a dragon, but full of candy.

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