"Screw you guys; I'm going home!" [Worst Gaming Experiences of your life]

[Tanuki Tales]

The title pretty much sums up the point of this thread: I give unto thee, oh Playgrounders, a repository for your tales of misery and woe concerning the worst gaming experiences of your lives. Be it that you were a player, a GM/DM/Storyteller/Narrator/etc or just an observer of the festivities, what was/were the most uncomfortable/terrible/head banging/soul killing campaigns that you found yourselves unfortunately party to, even for a brief length of time*?


I'd love to kick us off, but even when laboring under the yoke of the worst DM I dealt with (during high school and the guy took out his relationship impotency issues on the group), the game was salvageable because everyone else was pretty much awesome. So anything that could have turned my experience into one of the stories to follow was quashed under camaraderie amongst my fellow players.


* My pity and heart go to those who either couldn't escape or were so sucked into the terribleness of their game that, like the troopers they are, they had to see it to the bitter end.

[nedz]

We had a session break up because of a fist fight once, triggered by some pointless PvP, but we were about 12.

Otherwise:
Having all of my setting notes stolen from a friends car just before a 3 day session. The game went on, though we did lose 1 day.

[Yora]

I was gone one session in the Pathfinder group I was a player in, and that day the GM decided that the party would go to the Tomb of Horrors. Everone died of course, but the GM reset everything and they tried again. The next game I was back with the group and when play resumed in one of the rooms near the entrance, everyone decided that they really don't want to be in that place at all and the smartest thing would be to just leave. Screw your dungeon. we're going home...

I don't remembe quite why, but the result was that everyone wanted to make new 1st level characters. The big upcoming storyline the GM had promised for 8 levels never materialized. I don't know to this day what the whole point was of the king sending us into the wastelands beyond the border to look for monster strongholds.
The GM was the only actual case I've ever known of someone being GM purely because he enjoys laughing at the players when they ran into bad things they couldnt have possibly avoided. Though two of my good friends where in the group and two of the other three players were allright, I took that opportunity to not make a character for the new campaign.

screw you guys I'm going home...

[Arbane]

I'm happy to say none of my Bad Gaming Stories even come close to some of these. However, I am required by law to post a link to Trekkin's epic tale of GM idiocy, player stubbornness, terrible fanfic, and katana-based electrochemistry.

Also, AB3's BINDER OF SHAME: some truly awe-inspiringly terrible game stories that I choose to believe are grossly exaggerated for comic effect, as the alternative is too horrible to contemplate.

[Pex]

It was a 3.0 game. The game with 1d4 + 1 ability score buffs that last 1 hour per level. The spellcasters chose the stereotypical route of buffing everyone with those spells. They liked it. They wanted it. I joined the group as a rogue archer. There was a wizard, sorcerer, cleric, cleric/war priest, and another rogue. The wizard and the clerics did the buffing. There were two fighter NPCs with the party. I think they were officially Cohorts, but I don't know for certain. My character also had followers without Leadership as part of campaign story.

Every game day was the same. The spellcasters buffed themselves, they buffed each other, they buffed the fighters, they buffed the sorcerer, they buffed the rogue. Some of them empowered. "What do you need? What do you want? Do you have Bull Strength already?" etc. By my third session I felt the tiniest bit annoyed they never buffed me. Didn't even ask if I wanted anything.

One game session I asked, "May I have a Cat's Grace?"
"You'll have to wait. We need to buff everyone else first."
Other rogue gets a Cat's Grace.
When they were done I asked, "May I have a Cat's Grace?"
"Sorry, we're out of spells."
Next game day, same session, I remained quiet. No buffs for me, again.

Next game session after everyone buffs before the game starts, I made sure they were done, I asked, "May I have a Cat's Grace?"
"No, don't be greedy."

During the week I email the DM about the situation. He agrees it's a problem, but it's really up to the players.

Next game session we engage in an adventure far from civilization. All of the bad guys are undead that explode when destroyed. They all have magic DR. I have no magic arrows. Session ends. During the week I post on our message board: "It would be a good idea for the cleric to cast Greater Magic Weapon on my arrows. I can then help destroy the undead from afar and no one needs to get hurt when they explode."
"How dare you DEMAND a spell! Who do you think you are telling us how to play our characters? Go buy your own damn +1 arrows!"

Next game session everyone buffs again. "Fine, here's your Greater Magic Weapon." "Next time buy your own arrows."

That was my last session.

[Segev]

Did you ever ask them WHY they were refusing to buff your character, alone of the others? I'm wondering if they were truly that clueless, or if they were aware of the oddity of their behavior. And, if the latter, what caused it.

[Silus]

Oooooh boy, here we go.

Spoiler: Lvl 20 Psion Rogue, aka "The She B****"

Show

So it was, like, my first campaign ever as a player. I was playing a Half-Machine Human Ranger, level 6. The rest of the party consisted of a Dwarven Fighter, a Ghost Adept (The DM didn't allow "proper" magic classes), a (I kid you not) Prinny...something, and...some kind of rogue.

So I'll spare you the long winded story, but here's the gist of it.

1) The Prinny, a homebrew race made by the DM, COULD. NOT. DIE. It was a racial feature. The Prinny literally could not die, only be beaten unconscious.
2) The DM had a thing about caster classes, allowing the PCs to only run Adepts while not keeping the same restrictions for the NPCs.
3) While a semi-serious game at first, things started to go down hill when, I kid you not, the DM brought in Captain Hook and Tinkerbell.
4) Apparently an Elf Psion Rogue can see +180ft into inky blackness and shoot down a flying ship with expert precision.
5) Having the lvl 20 Psion/Rogue DMPC attack the party and mop the floor with us (Keep in mind, low magic, low wealth, low optimization game and the DM apparently knew Psions and rogues backwards and forwards)
6) Giving us a "fighting chance" by getting "Help" from Pazuzu in the form of a Spelljammer ship my character could pilot. Then later screwing us over by saying "On the ship you got onto wasn't the one you could pilot, that one was further down.

I literally wanted to strangle the life from this guy. He ended up being that one guy in the group that nobody really liked, but we kept around because we needed the numbers and didn't want to bother looking for another player.

Spoiler: Cursed magic sword

Show

This one I actually brought to the forums here for help on.

Ok, so Palladium game, first time playing, I'd not been informed on how combat works (How SDC and HP are two different things for example and how poison bypasses SDC).

So right out the gate, my character goes off hunting and encounters this two-legged scorpion thing. The DM hands control of the monster over to another player so he could deal with something. The monster attacks my character, hits her, and hits her with poison. Bam, 12 of my 25 HP shaved off right there. Well I liked this character, so I say "Screw this I'm outta here". So I turn to run. Turns out this thing is about as fast as I am. The DM gives me a 1/100 chance that a deity will save my butt. Amazingly I make that and I escape, but now owe a favor (Of unequal weight) to a vengeful, childish god of war. Yay. Even months after the game I'm still pissed at the DM and the player for not informing me beforehand about how combat, poison and SDC/HP work before throwing me in the deep end.

Cut to a session or two later. We're in the'ol hive of scum and villainy and my character is approached by an NPC bearing a sword. He offers my character the sword, and I as a player get super wary. So I accept the sword, careful not to touch it, because up until now I was only aware of curses that transfer via touch or by wielding. Turns out this one transfers by simply accepting the sword for nothing. What's the curse you may ask? All you clothing and armor (WHICH COSTS A HELL OF A LOT IN PALLADIUM) rots away to rags by the end of the week, as does any newly acquired gear. So I hastily try to find a way to get rid of the sword to undo the curse. I opt to get jumped by the city guard and give them the sword. The DM however says that by my saying "Please take the sword just don't hurt me" with the intent of the "just don't hurt me" to sell the whole "I'm giving you my sword" thing counts as "asking for something".

Well it didn't matter because the Mind Mage apparently had implanted the memory of me giving away the sword as a false memory so the party could sell the sword and leave me cursed. What's worse, everyone in the party was in on it but me.

Such rage have I never felt before. Like legitimate "I'm one poorly timed joke/jab away from committing actual literal violence against these guys". Since then I feel that I've made it clear that I don't like being manipulated at all, and that any hint of screwing over or manipulating will result in me just withdrawing from the session (Usually by putting in headphones with music turned up while playing some emulators on my computer and giving violent death glares at the offending parties).

[tsotate]

I'm happy to say none of my Bad Gaming Stories even come close to some of these. However, I am required by law to post a link to Trekkin's epic tale of GM idiocy, player stubbornness, terrible fanfic, and katana-based electrochemistry.

I'm only up to page 5 of that thread, but it's already one of the most epic trainwrecks I've ever heard described.

[Tanuki Tales]

I'm only up to page 5 of that thread, but it's already one of the most epic trainwrecks I've ever heard described.

That's Chief Circle and the Ao-Sue for you.

[Synar]

I've got one question over the sue files. Are the DMs described here and at the website the same (I guess both are circleChief and the answer is yes)? Is it the same game? The same players? Is it from the point of view of the same player? And in which order do you read the files anyway? I'm just so confused.

[nedz]

It was a 3.0 game. The game with 1d4 + 1 ability score buffs that last 1 hour per level. The spellcasters chose the stereotypical route of buffing everyone with those spells. They liked it. They wanted it. I joined the group as a rogue archer. There was a wizard, sorcerer, cleric, cleric/war priest, and another rogue. The wizard and the clerics did the buffing. There were two fighter NPCs with the party. I think they were officially Cohorts, but I don't know for certain. My character also had followers without Leadership as part of campaign story.

Every game day was the same. The spellcasters buffed themselves, they buffed each other, they buffed the fighters, they buffed the sorcerer, they buffed the rogue. Some of them empowered. "What do you need? What do you want? Do you have Bull Strength already?" etc. By my third session I felt the tiniest bit annoyed they never buffed me. Didn't even ask if I wanted anything.

One game session I asked, "May I have a Cat's Grace?"
"You'll have to wait. We need to buff everyone else first."
Other rogue gets a Cat's Grace.
When they were done I asked, "May I have a Cat's Grace?"
"Sorry, we're out of spells."
Next game day, same session, I remained quiet. No buffs for me, again.

Next game session after everyone buffs before the game starts, I made sure they were done, I asked, "May I have a Cat's Grace?"
"No, don't be greedy."

During the week I email the DM about the situation. He agrees it's a problem, but it's really up to the players.

Next game session we engage in an adventure far from civilization. All of the bad guys are undead that explode when destroyed. They all have magic DR. I have no magic arrows. Session ends. During the week I post on our message board: "It would be a good idea for the cleric to cast Greater Magic Weapon on my arrows. I can then help destroy the undead from afar and no one needs to get hurt when they explode."
"How dare you DEMAND a spell! Who do you think you are telling us how to play our characters? Go buy your own damn +1 arrows!"

Next game session everyone buffs again. "Fine, here's your Greater Magic Weapon." "Next time buy your own arrows."

That was my last session.

It sounds like you were the outsider in a tightly knit clique. Not much you could do about it I suspect.

[DigoDragon]

Last year in a D&D campaign. We were a team of three (Ranger, Fighter, Wizard) trying to figure out how to sneak into this prison so that we could spring free one of their war prisoners (a prince, held by the enemy nation at war with the nation that hired us to rescue him). I (the wizard) listed the spells I prepared that would help sneak us in, but I needed ideas on getting past two archers on the battlements. The Ranger had one idea about sneak attacks and the Fighter thought about a disguise to sneak in.

The Ranger and Fighter ended up arguing over the better plan and it escalated into a shouting match that spilled over to OOC issues. I tried to diffuse the argument by diplomatically laying out the merits of each plan and which one I'd be better suited to assist on and then I turned to the GM for help on calming things down. The GM got up and walked away, throwing me under the bus to handle the argument myself.

That group never played another session together since...

[janusmaxwell]

So I'm in a Pathfinder game where the DM has created a custom setting. No dragons, most of the world has been subjugated by Orc empires, and the context of our characters is that we're all humans living 2nd class lives who get involved with this grand "Resistance movement" to overthrow the tyrannical Orcs.

Related note...ever been so angry at somebody it feels like you'll start bleeding from the eyes?

Anyway, I was the wizard of the group and it was my first time playing a wizard. From the standpoint of only ever playing videogame wizards. So yeah the group and I quickly realized I had f---ed up and chosen most of my spells from evocation so I could be a huge damage dealer, while being from the "Universalist class". I was quickly shown my error and told to take a wide-variety of other spells that weren't based on burninating things.

That was me and my f-up...but then there was the ranger...jesus god in heaven there go my eyes again. He played a "Chaotic Neutral" Ranger. His character stuff was that he and his dad were hunters allowed to go outside the city in exchange for some of whatever game they caught given to the Orcs standing guard. The DM tells the Ranger in our second session that his dad had been killed and eaten by a wild critter.

From the player's standpoint he decided to play that his Ranger had snapped...from everyone else's standpoint, he played his Ranger like a retarded f---ing evil Deadpool...which the DM thought was hilarious. (NOBODY else did...)

The player decided to 'ranger' and make some arrows out of the bones of his characters dead father. The DM allowed it and said they were 1d4-1 and he only had 6 of them.

Ranger's character and my character knew each other but this relationship quickly became a combative one due partially to my initial screw-up with wizarding but mostly cause...

The DM decided it would be funny to roleplay as the voice of the Ranger's dead father, as a voice in his head that would berate him, tell him not to trust anyone, and to kill a certain member of the group because "He's always hated you!" (GUESS ****ING WHO!?)

At one point in the campaign, we are sent by the resistance to meet the resident "Gandalf" for assistance. A fairly important plot NPC and a wizard that my character can FINALLY learn some useful spells from (Orc held city means mages that aren't Orcs get killed on sight, makes learning magic harder) and he asks a few favors from us.

The first favor involves...something about getting a crystal with a demon trapped inside it and bringing it to him. And in any encounter when the Ranger shouted "I DO (X)!" while everyone else is conversing OOC about what to do about (X) the DM would allow it, because the Rangers Chaotic Retard was amusing to him. So when we find the Crystal with the demon that was CR 18 or higher (Level 6 characters) and the Ranger grabs it before we can decide if it's trapped, The demon forces HIM to make a will-save or smash the crystal, which would've freed it. (And killed all of us like nothing)

I almost wish he had failed that will save just for the "Sweet release of death" from that campaign...but no, he makes it and role plays that the insanity inducing voice of his father was stronger and telling him to not believe the demons lies of power and wealth if the Ranger would release him and let him "MAIMKILLBURN".

First quest for Gandalf done. Second quest? Taking a Deck of Many Things and destroying it in a certain location/dungeon that is on another continent, hell and gone from the location/area we had been exploring up to that point.

Getting there is no problem as the wizard just warps us to where we need to go, mostly. The problem is that this Deck was given to the freaking Ranger who kept goddamn USING it and making the F-ing grapple checks, sleight of hand checks, and awareness checks to keep the rest of us from taking it away from the idiot, as well as making it clear that the 'Tard insanity meant he would PK anyone who took it away from him.

Over the course of traveling to the place to destroy the deck, the Ranger ended up with:
1) Summoning 6 giant ants
2) Summoning about 15 peasants, who his insanity meant "IDGAF" and "YOLO"
3) He got a Several wish spells, one of which was used to undo a colossal party fight/**** up by way of time warp shenanigans, and the other one was used in the very last session when literally everybody (Except the DM) had gotten sick of his BS and tried to split the party by scattering, and he wished for all of us to be together again so we still had to listen/deal with him.
4) He became a werebear
5) He gender-swapped
6) He skin became poisonous.
and (7)...the part that made me realize just how far this campaign had fallen, was a decision between a random person in the world dying, or losing his most prized possession.

The random person? The DM decided it would be the wizard who 'ported us to this new continent. The prized possession? The remaining 3 dad-bone arrows. The Rangers choice: "Screw the Wizard, he was a ****! These are my Dad!"

and remember, this DM thought the Ranger's insanity was "Funny" which is why he allowed the NPC Gandalf to be killed, and allowed all those draws from the Many Things deck because every time there was a conversation or the rest of the party was distracted/not paying attention he'd go "I draw a card!" despite everyone in character and out (Besided DM) telling him it wasn't funny anymore and ****ing stop it.

Deck gone, we're on a strange land. And in/out of campaign we've ALL pretty much said "This is a wash" plus the Ranger has made the full alignment shift to Chaotic evil.

Hence we happen upon a tribal fishing village, and before anyone can say a single word, the Ranger says "I START SHOOTING AT THE VILLAGERS!" sending them screaming for the hills.

It didn't last long after that, but the kicker was end which was just a DnD nut-punch to me personally.

I realize now that the DM and the Ranger were using the game and characters and such to bully me. Hence all the bull**** about the "Rangers Insanity" making him snap at my wizard character all the time and call 'him' an idiot (Using IC conversation as an excuse to insult me to my face...****head mother****er)

Anyway the last meeting ended in a PC Fight, with my wizard being sick of dealing with this colossal douche and evil prick and Fireballing the ranger while he's standing on a dock. Dock explodes and Ranger is thrown into the water.

Ranger, with DM helping him, rises out of the water in wearbear form and shoots me with an arrow. All on one turn. Level 6 Ranger versus level 6 wizard, it freaking hurt. Another note in any campaign I play is that my dice HATE me...even more than I hated the ranger. Hence why my starting salvo of a fireball and my follow-up next turn with a lightning bolt didn't even drop him below half-health.

His next turn, he get's many-shot or something like that and fills me full of quarrels like Boromir. I hit the ground dying and he puts one more in me for good measure. He didn't shoot that one from point blank though. He was still in the water while my characters body was up by the houses about 200 feet away and failed the wisdom/knowledge roll to see if I was actually dead yet...and decided to shoot me anyway to "Make sure".

The arrows he used on me, besides 1 or 2 regular? They were his remaining "Dad-bone" arrows and he felt it appropriate since "Dad always hated him". This included the last arrow he shot into my prone, dying body. At this point the DM asks about the arrows and chimes in.

"As you loose the last arrow you feel the weight of your dads voice lift from your mind. Your madness is broken and the crushing weight of your crimes falls on you!"

I don't even get a chance to be pissed right the F--- off about the dad arrows being the "source" of the Rangers madness and it making his choice to kill the very important NPC wizard over the 'precious' arrows even more of a colossal F you. The Rangers PC goes "I don't think so, I mean he did attack me..."

At that point he start's negotiating with the DM regarding his supposedly now cured madness. He was so eager to "roleplay" as long as he could act like a paint chip-eating inbred ----stain, but now that he has to start roleplaying somebody who killed a supposedly childhood friend due to madness and has to feel bad about it, he starts wheedling and saying "Well he started the fight so I was just protecting myself"

God the memories alone I'm so angry I can barely see straight. That's it for now, I just need to calm down or something...

[Synar]

So I'm in a Pathfinder game where the DM has created a custom setting. No dragons, most of the world has been subjugated by Orc empires, and the context of our characters is that we're all humans living 2nd class lives who get involved with this grand "Resistance movement" to overthrow the tyrannical Orcs.

Related note...every been so angry at somebody it feels like you'll start bleeding from the eyes?

Anyway, I was the wizard of the group and it was my first time playing a wizard. From the standpoint of only ever playing videogame wizards. So yeah the group and I quickly realized I had f---ed up and chosen most of my spells from evocation so I could be a huge damage dealer, while being from the "Universalist class". I was quickly shown my error and told to take a wide-variety of other spells that weren't based on burninating things.

That was me and my f-up...but then there was the ranger...jesus god in heaven there go my eyes again. He played a "Chaotic Neutral" Ranger. His character stuff was that he and his dad were hunters allowed to go outside the city in exchange for some of whatever game they caught given to the Orcs standing guard. The DM tells the Ranger in our second session that his dad had been killed and eaten by a wild critter.

From the player's standpoint he decided to play that his Ranger had snapped...from everyone else's standpoint, he played his Ranger like a retarding f---ing evil Deadpool...which the DM thought was hilarious. (NOBODY else did...)

The player decided to 'ranger' and make some arrows out of the bones of his characters dead father. The DM allowed it and said they were 1d4-1 and he only had 6 of them.

Ranger's character and my character knew each other but this relationship quickly became a combative one due partially to my initial screw-up with wizarding but mostly cause...

The DM decided it would be funny to roleplay as the voice of the Ranger's dead father, as a voice in his head that would berate him, tell him not to trust anyone, and to kill a member of the group because "He's always hated you!" (GUESS ****ING WHO!?)

at one point in the campaign, we are sent by the resistance to meet the resident "Gandalf" for assistance. A fairly important plot PC and a wizard that my character can FINALLY learn some useful spells from (Orc held city means mages that aren't Orcs get killed on sight, makes learning magic harder) and he asks a few favors from us.

The first favor involves...something about getting a crystal with a demon trapped inside it and bringing it to him. And in any encounter when the Ranger shouted "I DO (X)!" while everyone else is conversing OOC about what to do about (X) the DM would allow it, because the Rangers Chaotic Retard was amusing to him. So when we find the Crystal with the demon that was CR 18 or higher (Level 6 characters) and the Ranger grabs it before we can decide if it's trapped, The demon forces HIM to make a will-save or smash the crystal, which would've freed it.

I almost wish he had failed that will save just for the "Sweet release of death" from that campaign...but no, he makes it and roll plays that the insanity inducing voice of his father was stronger and telling him to not believe the demons lies of power and wealth if the Ranger would release him and let him "MAIMKILLBURN".

first quest for Gandalf done. Second quest? Taking a Deck of Many Things and destroying it in a certain location/dungeon that is on another continent, hell and gone from the location/area we had been exploring up to that point.

Getting there is no problem as the wizard just warps us to where we need to go, mostly. The problem is that this Deck was given to the freaking Ranger who kept goddamn USING it and making the F-ing grapple checks to keep the rest of us from taking it away from the idiot, as well as making it clear that the 'Tard insanity meant he would PK anyone who took it away from him.

Over the course of traveling to the place to destroy the deck, the Ranger ended up with:
1) Summoning 6 giant ants
2) Summoning about 15 peasants, who his insanity meant "IDGAF" and "YOLO"
3) He got a Wish spell
4) He became a werebear
5) He gender-swapped
6) He skin became poisonous.
and (7)...the part that made me realize just how far this campaign had fallen, was a decision between a random person in the world dying, or losing his most prized possession.

The random person? The wizard who 'ported us to this new continent. The prized possession? The remaining 3 dad-bone arrows. The Rangers choice: "Screw the Wizard, he was a ****! These are my Dad!"

and remember, this DM thought the Ranger's insanity was "Funny" which is why he allowed the NPC Gandalf to be killed, and allowed all those draws from the Many Things deck because everytime there was a conversation or the rest of the party was distracted/not paying attention he'd go "I draw a card!" despite everyone in character and out (Besided DM) telling him it wasn't funny anymore and ****ing stop it.

Deck gone, we're on a strange land. And in/out of campaign we've ALL pretty much said "This is a wash" plus the Ranger has made the full alignment shift to Chaotic evil.

Hence we happen upon a tribal fishing village, and before anyone can say a single word, the Ranger says "I START SHOOTING AT THE VILLAGERS!" sending them screaming for the hills.

It didn't last long after that, but the kicker was end which was just a DnD nut-punch to me personally.

I realize now that the DM and the Ranger were using the game and characters and such to bully me. Hence all the bull**** about the "Rangers Insanity" making him snap at my wizard character all the time and call 'him' and idiot (When he was actually insulting me...****er)

Anyway the last meeting ended in a PC Fight, with my wizard being sick of dealing with this colossal douche and evil prick and Fireballing the ranger while he's standing on a dock. Dock explodes and Ranger is thrown into the water.

Ranger, with DM helping him, rises out of the water in wearbear form and shoots me with an arrow. Level 6 Ranger versus level 6 wizard, it freaking hurt. Another note in any campaign I play is that my dice HATE me...even more than I hated the ranger. Hence why my fireball starting round, and my follow-up with a lightning bolt didn't even drop him below half-health.

His next turn, he get's many-shot or something like that and fills me full of quarrels like Boromir. I hit the ground dying and he puts one more in me for good measure.

The arrows he used on me, besides 1 or 2 regular? They were his remaining "Dad-bone" arrows and he felt it appropriate since "Dad always hated him". This included the last arrow he shot into my prone, dying body. At this point the DM asks about the arrows and chimes in.

"As you loose the last arrow you feel the weight of your dads voice lift from your mind. Your madness is broken and the crushing weight of your crimes falls on you!"

I don't even get a chance to be pissed right the F--- off about the dad arrows being the "source" of the Rangers madness and it making his choice to kill the very important NPC wizard over the 'precious' arrows even more of a colossal F you. The Rangers PC goes "I don't think so, I mean he did attack me..."

At that point he start's negotiating with the DM regarding his supposedly now cured madness. He was so eager to "roleplay" as long as he could act like a paint chip-eating inbred ----stain, but now that he has to start roleplaying somebody who killed a supposedly childhood friend due to madness and has to feel bad about it, he starts wheedling and saying "Well he started the fight so I was just protecting myself"

God the memories alone I'm so angry I can barely see straight. That's it for now, I just need to calm down or something...

At least now you know these boards, the next time you play a wizard, you will easily defeat any mad ranger.

[The_Werebear]

Sadly, the worst session of DnD I ever played was my first. It was at summer camp, (where I will admit, the I was the new, overly earnest kid that does not fit in very well). I managed to join with the DnD group, and everyone dutifully rolled up new characters. I played a gnome illusionist. In our first encounter, the monsters ignored my illusions and the rest of the party to beat me unconscious. I was revived with only a few hit points, then beaten unconscious again. The rest of the party, by the way, was taking great pleasure in this. Then, in the next room, the magic fountain we drank from blessed everyone else, and cursed me.

At this point, I let out some anger and said "well, can I play something else because this isn't working." The DM got this evil smile and started working with the other players to figure out the worst thing to turn me into. He actually paused the session for the night, and spent the next two days coming up with ideas with the other players. When we started again, I was informed that I had been transformed into a "Dire Rhea" and would have powerful kick and claw attacks, but would...explosively soil myself on a nat 1 or 20.

That was pretty ugly. I stuck with it, and eventually they knocked it off enough to just kill me and bind my soul to the party's necromancer as an Allip (magically compelled to drown myself). That, however, worked out better, as I was pretty much invulnerable to further issues from anyone but the Necromancer, to whom I was too valuable an asset to abuse.

Glad I stuck with DnD though. I have many more good memories than drek like that.

[thematgreen]

I encountered a DM who forgot he shouldn't be trying to screw over and kill the party constantly, and that plot armor and "fudging" dice to keep his prized BBEG alive was not fun for anyone but him. He delighted in DM Rule 0 TPK Shenanigans.

I'll go into detail if anyone wants it

[lytokk]

I encountered a DM who forgot he shouldn't be trying to screw over and kill the party constantly, and that plot armor and "fudging" dice to keep his prized BBEG alive was not fun for anyone but him. He delighted in DM Rule 0 TPK Shenanigans.

I'll go into detail if anyone wants it

I think thats the point of this thread actually.

[Fumble Jack]

A recent one for me.

Spoiler: Just bad experience

Show

A friend of mine, whom is a player in my current 3.5 D&D game happened to have his house alone for the day and offered to host for the days session. We all accepted and one of the players was already there. We have played at his house before, which was why we agreed. Another player whom doesn't game with us as often due to distance but is always a welcome member to our group, because he dives right into a character whether support or main and we all have a good time when he comes to play, informed he'd like to join us and would roll up a temp cleric for a support role since he wouldn't be able to make it to every session.

Time comes we all arrive at my friend's place and find another friend there we'll call him F, it was his neighbor so it wasn't too surprising, except that I thought he would be at work at the time. I had not invited F to play in the game prior. I had my reasons, he can be disruptive at times as a player and it also made my gf (plays the rogue in our group) a bit uncomfortable as they had a bit of a falling out on their friendship the year before.

On the only suitable table we have for gaming at my friend's house(plays wizard in group), there is also the setup for a hookah on the table. It seems that's what Wizard, F and our other player(monk) were doing in addition to mariokart waiting for us to show up. One of the players was our ride (duskblade). So we go to get the game set up and started. I had an npc, a bard whom I was going to have left out of the session, since our temp cleric was going to cover back up healing and support. Again F is disruptive, and starts smoking the hookah and invites Monk, Wizard, Temp Cleric and Duskblade to join in. Temp cleric refuses and wants to focus on the game, so do I. Unfortunately due to how the hookah was set up, my gf and I keep getting smoke blown in our faces. Granted they do realize this and try to adjust it or blow it away from us not to much avail. My gf had to switch seats to be away from the smoke. Only F continued with the Hookah for awhile, then became disruptive showing me things on his phone.

Now as it was not my home, I would not be in the right to just ask him to leave, more so since F had been there prior to our arrival. F had never met Temp Cleric prior to this day and his chihuahua syndrome, semi napoleon complex I guess, started showing up. He pulled out his pistol to show people, left it visible in front of everyone and then put it back where he had it. The only way to get F to stop being disruptive was to allow him to play the bard I had as a temp, so that I wouldn't be guilted by F into being a hypocrite for letting Temp cleric play and to just get on with the session and get the day over with.

The sad thing is, the behavior unnerved Temp Cleric and he has yet to show up to another session, though it may be as much part due to the time it takes for him to come up and hang with us as well as what occurred.

For those of you who would ask, yes it was loaded and he did have a license to carry it.

[Arbane]

I've got one question over the sue files. Are the DMs described here and at the website the same (I guess both are circleChief and the answer is yes)? Is it the same game? The same players? Is it from the point of view of the same player? And in which order do you read the files anyway? I'm just so confused.

Yeah, same game. The difference is that the thread here is Trekkin reporting on the trains as they wrecked, and IRolledAZero is the forensic analysis once the smoke cleared.

[Hexenarethi]

Ugh... the worst gaming experience I've ever had... and this is serious, was just last night. In the campaign before, I got a SWEET new magical staff! In the current adventure, I rolled a natural 20!!! A sphere of fire spell activated, killing two kobolds and seriously burning others.


Now here comes the bad part. We got a cleric on our team, and my character wanted to know if there were still spells left in there. The answer was, "Yes." Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!! But... my DM asked, sort of taking control of the cleric, "Have you used a spell on this to take a life?"

Yes. Apparently, it had belonged to an epic-level sorcerer who had been betrayed by his apprentice. With his dying breath, the sorcerer cursed the staff.

Now, in 4 years, my character will become an undead. Yippee, Yippee, Yippee.

[hymer]

Ugh... the worst gaming experience I've ever had... and this is serious, was just last night. [Stuff]

Don't be ridiculous, you're going to have a lot worse experiences than this.
Seriously, though, sounds like you should be searching for a way to break that curse. After all, you've got four years to work with. I shouldn't wonder if the DM plans an adventure around that.

[tsotate]

Seriously, though, sounds like you should be searching for a way to break that curse.

Break the curse? What's the downside of becoming undead for a caster?

Sure, there are better paths to immortality, but this one's free.

[SamaelOfChaos]

When I tried to show what DnD is all about to my little bro (he was still a little kid back then), my lovely group decided, after the quest ended, to poison his character, kill him and then describe in detail what they do to his corpse and his animal companion (he was trying to play a druid). Let's just say it didn't end well and it's one of those things I regret leading to, so to speak

[hymer]

@ tsotate: Point taken. But it sounds like Hexenarethi doesn't want the PC to become undead. Could also be that s/he would lose the character at that point, if it becomes an evil undead NPC villain.

[Marlowe]

Had a strange experience on the PbP boards here a couple of years back. Hardly the worst experience ever, but one that I still wonder about.

Campaign starting conditions (DnD 3.5) were meant to be 32-point buy, level one start, and very limited starting cash. The PCs were all supposed to be people of quality, rendered impoverished by social unheaval. Fine. If all we start with is a weapon and some leathers, we'll manage.

Except that when the players were selected, there was one character selected who stood out. He had much better stats than 32 points (and no sign of him have rolled for them), had much more equipment than we was supposed to, had an almost offensively bishonen character portrait (long white hair, intense eyes, thick, pouty lips, cleft chin...you know. It was bordering on exploitative of men), had a character "background" that started with the phrase "[Character] looks like a maiden's wet dream" and went on from there, and was some homebrew character class that had d10 hit dice, full BAB, "Spellcasting" (that's all it said. "Spellcasting" No mention of spell list, progression, or per-day) and darkvision.

The character sheet was this googledocs mash-up that took forever to load and was a pain to read.

Some of the other players commented about the...oddness and were positively snarled down by the player concerned. We got a brief note from the DM about him having "OKed the Class" and some sort of explanation from the player that he'd "had problems with mythweavers" and hence the strange character sheet; but no explanation for the stats or extra gear.

Campaign starts and we get our mission while attending the opera. We get a basic bust-up-some-bad people job, some poison, a "device" (bomb? We never found out) and a map of their place, including a secret tunnel into the basement. Some of us start planning over the map and a couple of others declare they'll be going out to gather information on the enemy, and will rejoin the party at a set location at a set time later that night. Then this guy makes his first post.

His character starts SHOUTING (in a highly conspicuous opera box while the opera's still going on) at those going out to stay here, and described himself physically preventing them from leaving. Including grabbing their characters by the collar and dragging them back. I was really expecting the DM to tell him to cool it, but the DMs seemed inclined to let him have his way. As far as this player was concerned we were going to do it his way (which was essentially to disguise the female characters as serving wenches and have them poison the bad guys food while the men sneak through the tunnel to deliver the "device". We knew nothing about whether or not this place we were supposed to be busting even had servants. None of the female PCs had any real disguise skills; and we'd have been splitting the party with the unknown device in the middle ) and he was very aggressive about it.

I made the mistake of trying to joke with him OOC by suggesting that he was doing a very good job of destroying the white-haired pretty-boy archetype by playing him as a suicidal lout (he was manhandling a sneak-attack Thug Fighter!) with no social skills; and it turned out he was serious. And just as aggressive OOC.

Those that were planning to leave left anyway, while this guy ranted to the DM about the need to move on because nobody was co-operating.

Well, aside from some Gather information checks, the campaign died there. My character was the only one to make the meet-up up as planned. It seemed nobody wanted to post anymore. With all the sudden hostility in and out of character, I wasn't surprised.

So your basic "That Guy destroys a session" story. Except, of course, it's PbP so several weeks were wasted instead of one evening. Not the worst story here, but still quite unpleasant, very atypical for this board's PbP community, and I still wonder why the DM let this guy into the group at all with such an abberant character.

[Tanngrisnir]

snip

This made me seriously wonder whether or not the DM was also the offending character using a second account, utilising the game as a way to force people to watch him play out his fantasy story. Sort of like a secret, terrible DMPC.

[Marlowe]

This made me seriously wonder whether or not the DM was also the offending character using a second account, utilising the game as a way to force people to watch him play out his fantasy story. Sort of like a secret, terrible DMPC.

Possible. The guy seemed awfully sure of his "plan". Like he knew details that we didn't. Or then again, he might just have been exactly as stupid as he sounded.

My own theory is that they were buddies in RL and the DM let him in as a favour. If so, I've got to feel a little sorry for the DM, because he murdered his own campaign by doing so.

Not as sorry as I feel for myself and the other players.

[Sith_Happens]

Spoiler: Long Story

Show

So here I am at the eighteenth session of what had been to that point a great campaign with a fun group and a good-but-not-stellar DM. My Wizard/War Weaver (BUFFS FOR THE BUFF GOD! BFC FOR THE BFC THRONE!) had just had enough downtime to scribe a ton of new spells that I was looking forward to using, the plot was building up to the climax, everything seemed to be going well.

Cue game start. The party needs to get to an ancient temple/dungeon and, depending on whether the BBEG beat us there, either secure it against his entry or undo whatever Evil Plot things he did to the place. Since time was of the essence, I explain to the party that I could create enough Phantom Steeds to get us there in one day instead of five, though due to it being a large party this would take most of my upper-level spell slots. No problem though, because once we're there I can map the place out with a buffed-up Arcane Eye, then we'd rest for the night and enter the temple in the morning with our prepared casters (which, counting the two Rangers, was most of the party) that much more prepared for what's to come. The party agrees that this is a good plan, which is pleasantly surprising because myself and the Cleric's player were normally the only ones not inclined to rush headlong into everything, which was a major reason why we'd ended up barely scraping through the previous temple.

Now, I blame myself for this next part for forgetting the First Law of RPG Travel: You always arrive exactly when the DM wants you to. Specifically, we get to the temple just in time to see the BBEG walk in. Crap. So suddenly we're rushing headlong into the place as usual, but this time with me already down half of my 4th level spells and all but one of my 3rd-levels. Because these things always get worse, what does the BBEG sick on us in the first room before proceeding deeper into the building? A Greater Earth Elemental, the one thing the party was least built to handle (our best damage-dealers being either precision damage users, dual-wielders, or both). Naturally, the ensuing fight consumes most of what combat-useful spells I did have.

So here I am at the beginning of a dungeon and already with almost no spells left. Naturally, I decide that we'd all be better off if I stayed behind. At which point the DM tells me I'll need to separate myself from the table. Knowing that that's not at all an unusual thing for a group to do, I comply. Of course, due to OOC boredom I eventually change my mind and send my familiar to check on the party, then run and catch up with them upon being told that they hadn't left behind any still-functioning obstacles. I figure if nothing else, I still have a Dimension Door I could use to get us the hell out of dodge if necessary.

After a more or less unremarkable trek through the rest of the dungeon, we reach a Solar sentry guarding the teleport mechanism into the last room, where we'd find whatever it was we ultimately needed to deal with. Before engaging said mechanism for us, the Solar requires each of our characters to state what we'd be willing to sacrifice to see our quest succeed (which, if something it could physically take then and there, it would) and what our ultimate goal in life was. Come my turn and, due to playing an altruistic Lawful Good Wizard who would want to give up something meaningful but values things only in direct proportion to his practical need for them, I can't think of a sacrifice. When it becomes clear I have a bad case of role-player's block the DM has the Solar express some very mild disappointment at my character's lack of sacrifice and move on to the "life goals" question. At which point I get to expound upon my character's desire to use magic to make the world a better place, but the emotional damage from being put on the spot and failing to deliver had already been done.

Once everyone finishes their turn at Deep RPing^TM, the next step is obviously for the Solar to teleport us into the last room as promised... Just in time to catch the BBEG on his way out. Noticing our sudden arrival and it not being our first encounter with him, he stops to do the evil gloating thing... Partway through which the DM asks me to make a Fortitude save. Seeing as the BBEG is still much higher level than us at this point in the campaign and I'm playing a Wizard, I naturally fail. At which point the DM describes, without anyone having rolled initiative at any point, the BBEG launching a ghostly chain at my character which impales him, annihilates his body, and pulls his soul back into the BBEG's gauntlet hookshot-style, trapping it there.

Needless to say, I'm both startled and extremely miffed at this sudden development, and politely ask the DM to stay for a bit after the session ended so I could speak with him. When I ask him what's up with the thinly-veiled Rocks Fall, he explains that he wanted to up both the drama and the BBEG's threat level by having him kill someone off, and my character was the natural choice due to having shown himself the biggest threat to the BBEG of any party member during our first encounter with him (which was supposed to be a "the BBEG roughs you up and leaves you nearly dead" fight but instead ended with him teleporting away to lick his wounds after I overestimated his defenses and assumed he could handle being shown just how crazy Polymorph + War Weaver can be).

By the end of that conversation and its follow-ups over Facebook the DM admits that he'd made a huge mistake, but insists for continuity's sake that I still make a new character. Halfway through doing so I realize that I'm just not feeling it anymore, explain the circumstances to the group in the most polite way I can, and excuse myself from the campaign.

TL;DR: My involvement in a long and otherwise high-quality campaign comes to a sudden end when I end up spending the better part of a session being less than useless, get Stuffed in the Fridge at the end, and find myself lacking the will to reroll in the hope that it was just a fluke (which, according to the other players who stayed to the campaign's end, it was).

[Marlowe]

TL;DR: My involvement in a long and otherwise high-quality campaign comes to a sudden end when I end up spending the better part of a session being less than useless, get Stuffed in the Fridge at the end, and find myself lacking the will to reroll in the hope that it was just a fluke (which, according to the other players who stayed to the campaign's end, it was).

It always makes it worse when it was going great...right up to the point where it suddenly wasn't.

[KuReshtin]

I have had a few bad ones, including the Serenity RPG game that basically never happened, since one of the players (let's call him Cage) decided to start arguing that some of the skills described in the rules were 'illogical' during character gen, and pretty much wasted an entire session with that even if I as the GM told him to give it a rest and move on.

His main issue was that he didn't think that the Dodge skill would be an appropriate skill to use to prevent getting hit in a gun fight. He claimed that you couldn't use that skill to dodge a bullet. He then refused to accept that the dodge roll when trying to not get hit in a gun fight wasn't the act of actually dodging the bullet, but merely moving your body out of the way as you see someone pointing a gun at you and hoping that your sudden movement will be enough to make you not be in the spot your foe is aiming at when he pulls the trigger.
This explanation did not compute at all in his mind.

During the first actual playing session we had with that group, Cage and another guy (the captain of the ship) decided to take the ship and leave the rest of the group since they didn't agree with how a job they'd accepted panned out. Since they ran into a bit of difficulty in completing the job, these two guys decided to **** off and leave the others to be taken prisoner by the law on the planet they were at.

After that session, we didn't play Serenity anymore.

Also, Cage also rage-quit the group after a session where the rest of the group actually had a lot of fun.

Spoiler: Cage rage-quit story, spoilered for length.

Show

Cage seemed to hate my character in a GURPS game that we played with the same group of players a while later, because we had all been told to think up our characters out of session and each of us had had separate meetings and discussions with the GM on what the characters would be. This meant that we didn't have the normal setup of one healer, one magic caster, one fighter and so on, but each player had a chance to play what they wanted without pressures from the group expectation. My character presented himself as a traveling story teller (he would have been a bard if he could hold a tune, but alas...) but he was also on a personal mission to find and kill the band of bandits that had killed his 'parents'.
Because my character was presented as a story teller/bard, that image got set in Cage's head and when my character then turned into a pretty proficient knife wielder who was good at killing people, that didn't sit right with him, and his character started trying to pry more and more information out of my character as to how I was so good at that stuff. When I decided that it was something that I wanted to keep to myself, he did everything he could at every turn of the game to try to 'expose me for the liar I was'.
This came to a head during one session when the group had been trapped in a magical tower that had time/space portal doors that sent you to a different time in the tower each time you opened a new door.
Another of the group members (Beorn) and myself managed to get out of the tower and decided to grab a ladder to look into the only window the ladder could reach to. The kitchen window. I climbed up as my compatriot held the ladder, which was a bit rickety, steady from below.
As I looked in through the window into the kitchen where I and Beorn had just come from, we saw a young woman tending what looked like dinner cooking on the stove. There was also a cat in the kitchen, just sitting around.
Then, the woman picked up the cat and started walking out of the kitchen, and at that point, the cat looked at my character, locked eyes and then the cat's eyes started glowing deep red.
This was a bit unsettling to my character, and the GM had me roll a Cool check, which I utterly failed. I decided that it would be funny if my character would be so startled by the events that he'd take a step back as a reflex, not realising he was standing on a ladder.
Obviously, this caused him to fall down the ladder heading right for Beorn, who got to roll a Reflex save to try to get out the way. Unfortunately for him, he failed that roll as well, so he ended up breaking my fall resulting in my character busting his knee while Beorn dislocated a shoulder.

Everyone in the room had a good laugh about how events turned out, including Beorn's player and myself.

Later, when the group had managed to somehow get back together again, the other characters asked what was wrong with Beorn and myself, since we were injured. My character obviously didn't want to admit that he'd fallen off a ladder, so he started weaving a story of how the two of them had heroically fought a big demon-cat, as big, or even bigger, than a tiger. (Actual scan of the story I wrote down to be able to tell it to the group)

Since Cage had been in the room as a player when our ladder incident happened, but his character hadn't, he immediately decided that his character in game didn't think the story was plausible, so he would go out to where I had described the fight with the demon-cat taking place to find evidence that there hadn't been a fight there, so he could prove me a liar, even if my story was backed up by Beorn.

Cage then got pissed off since the GM told him that his character had to roll a Sense Motive roll to determine if his character believed the story or not, and when he failed that roll and the GM told him that his character believed the story, he got sullen and a session later, he quit the group.