The "bitch about your GM" thread

Me either.

But then again, the only campaign that I've run so far the point is to make the PC look as awesome as possible.

Pfft lame.

It's great to let P Cs be awesome, but I like games with a bit of challenge. Make them look awesome by having them face down super-awesome threats. Like Dragon Gods!

That's kind of what I did.

I'm reminded of the Knights of the Dinner Table, having to play under an eight-year-old.

• TIMMY: The ogre hits you for twenny points of damage!
• BOB: Hey! Wait! Where'd he come from? And you didn't roll!
• TIMMY: He hits you again for anudder twenny points!
• BOB: You can't do that!
• TIMMY: Can too! I'm the game master!

edited 13th Sep '12 7:01:32 PM by TriggerLoaded

Bah! My DM just cancelled tonight's session, along with the Wednesday session!

Is there a thread for bitching about Munchkins? If not, I'll just bitch about this guy here.

I thought the trope description was exaggeration. I thought.

Turns out it's all true, and I had the misfortune to play with one in my first game of D&D. He stole the best loot immediately (Even if it's not something his character would find valuable), he made an absurdly and illogically overpowered character, he argued with the DM about the most incredible minutae, he attempted to derail the campaign several times "just 'cause", he was be obsessed with getting the most experience for the party even after we said that we don't care, and he would kill everything on sight, which made my lawful good character his whipping boy. He doesn't even have a reason for being kill-crazy; he's supposed to be a merchant, not some chaotic evil asshole.

It's almost bizarre how much one player can ruin the game, and at least I was able to actually play. Our thief couldn't do jack because every single situation he tried to be useful in, Mr. Munchkin would come up with a "better idea" that did not involve Mr. Thief in any way.

It's really soured up my first roleplaying experience. :( I mean, our GM was a pretty decent guy, but I sometimes wished he would just say "No." Is there a good way to talk to a Munchkin player and ask him to stop being so overbearing

edited 7th Oct '12 11:04:00 PM by Scardoll

There is no point in talking to such glory-hogs on their own. You need to unite the group and make it clear that either he plays nice, or he won't be playing at all.

If I had been running that there would have been a mircometeor imbedded in his skull. That sort of shit can't be tolerated.

I always find the best way to deal with people who act like that in game is to have all the characters react as they should in-game. If the person's being greedy and stupid, have the characters react, especially if it's a new game and the characters don't know each other yet.

Combine that with the whole "the shop keeper you just tried to rob is actually a 7th war vet and that sword on display isn't for show" routine and you have decent low level munchkin robbery repellent.

Or as in one of the tips in one of the rule books in another setting and system: somebody pulling that crap often won't escape the eyes of the law for long. And if they munchkin to the point where they can take on the watch, eventually the army will be sent in and he will be taken out.

This is also why I like some sort of morality system inbuilt into games.

edited 12th Oct '12 6:12:34 AM by IraTheSquire

As a gamemaster I follow the Cyberpunk 2020 directive; if the characters are getting out of line, go ahead and waste 'em. Some players need to be reminded that the GM is God, and can invent whatever he needs...whereas they are bound by the Law of Experience Accretion.

As a player I follow the Quality by Popular Vote rule; if the gamemaster is getting out of line, vote with your foot. Whether that means walking away or kicking said GM in the gonads is open to situational interpretation.

edited 25th Oct '12 12:11:00 AM by drunkscriblerian

Or the aim of the said kick. It will be embarrassing to miss.

Hey, some G Ms need a kick to the balls (metaphorical or otherwise). But if you are going to try, make sure you are steely enough to deliver and deal with the consequences.

I was more thinking that the aim is so bad (or the target so small) that you miss the balls.

I play more plot based campaigns, that tend towards establishing long term character relations between P Cs and other P Cs and P Cs and NP Cs. Just wasting the P Cs with Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies kind of kills the campaign.

You also tend to run campaigns where the laws of the universe run on anime, and it's inconceivable that the characters might get killed by anything that isn't sufficiently impressive. This removes the obvious things like "your general psychosis coupled with your charming lack of subtlety has caused the Duke's army to grow rather irritated at you and heavily inclined to stick pointy things in your general direction."

You're confusing cause with effect. Or effect with cause. Or something like that, whatever.

I don't stop P Cs from dying horribly because it's anime-esque. I stop P Cs from dying horribly because persistent personalities are the core of the campaign.

That being said, I've never actually had a total party of complete idiots that decide to act in crazy ways that would get the P Cs killed under ordinary circumstances.

edited 25th Oct '12 8:30:34 PM by TheyCallMeTomu

Well, I talked with the guy I had a problem with, and he said he would cool it down. Thank God.

My party addresses the munchkin problem by having everyone be a munchkin. Really we only have problems when someone tries not being a munchkin.

There is one sort of munchkin I like, and it is the sort of munchkin I am when I'm in the mood: The one who justifies the character being overpowered in-character. rationalizing the most seemingly bizarre decisions with elaborate back stories or believable justifications.

Sounds like me.

And yeah, my DM basically insists everyone be power gamed to the maximum.

That's exactly what I do, too. Because plot holes and inconsistencies are best for hooks.

My game group has been known to get mad when players don't metagame constantly and generally act like a munchkin.

I'm not sure why everyone keeps acting like being a munchkin means you abandon the story to do so, but I suppose that's a pre-4E convention, when stupid multiclassing was the most likely means of generating bonus feats and crazy saves, whereas 4E limits your number of classes to (barring a certain paragon path or the bard being your base class) three.