Evil DM Stories

[Realms of Chaos]

Let's face it, everyone has moments when they feel they have encountered or become evil DMs. Whether they nerf your character, get overly creative, or have a bit too much fun telling you what you cannot do, some of these mortifying experiences can turn into terrific (and hilarious) stories.

Here's one from my DMing experience:
As a bit of background, a male player requested to be a female cleric. I knew that he was immature but I allowed him and warned him to act his age...
1 Week Later
Me: I'm sorry. I warned you this would happen. A girdle of gender changing pops from mid air, clamps onto you, and disintegrates.
Cleric: What? Aren't you going to give me a warning?
Me: I already did.
Cleric: Wha?! Can't I at least make a fortitude save?
Me: Why not?
Cleric: Yes. Natural 20.
Me: Congratulations. You succeed... for half effect.
Cleric: Wait, I'm a hermaphrodite?
Me: Not quite, after the girdle removed your gender, you resisted its attempt to give you a new one. You are now completely genderless.

[Foeofthelance]

Milk and cookies. As a reward. For rescuing a pet monkey named Bobo. At level 5!

'Bout says it all I think.

[Kel_Arath]

Haha, well I think my story involved the campaign where the only competent player was a rogue, and I kept throwing undead and constucts at them.

[Mr. Moogle]

I remember a camaign where the fighter (my snoty little brother, who insists an playing with my freinds and i) is a total metagamer, but he has godly rolls (who ever heard of 4 18's?) so he is able to singlehandedly beat any punishment i throw at him. one day they are looking for a key to the mysterious "shadow relm" and he sees a key lying on the ground. rushing twoards it he fails his spot check and runs headfirst into a gelatinous cube (which he actually escaped from. now he nolongr metagames and he has stocked up on spot

[Sergeantbrother]

I was in a game once where it was basically a dungeon crawl. We entered a room in the dungeon and saw a group of humanoid beings whose faces were partially pale white and partially pitch black. They were dressed in black and white and had hideous distorted face and large weapons. They ran us with their weapons when they seems to be mysterious stoped by an invisible wall. We took advantage of this and attacked, dispatching them easily.

After killing them we found some writing on the wall of the room that said "A mime is a terrible thing to waste" then the DM said that we had just killed a bunch of lawful good mimes and he penalized us a huge amount of experience.

Yeah, I should have smacked him around.

[Helgraf]

I have, I admit, inflicted some bad puns on my players over ... gads, nearly 20 years of GMing.

But thankfully, my players have never pushed me far enough to unleash my most disturbing entity on them.

Specialist Wizard: Disney magic.

Cue screams of horror here...

[Jade_Tarem]

I had a bunch of Maruts grab the over-the-top necromacer in one of my games after he hit a certain number of animated dead and drag him to mechanus to stand trial for crimes against death. The rest of the party laughed themselves sick, as this was just the most recent of his powergaming schemes and had been talking for ages about how cool it was going to be when he had his undead horde.

[Inyssius Tor]

... necromacer ... hit a certain number of animated dead...

heh heh.

Well, I played one game with an eight-year-old DM (I was eleven at the time); he flat-out refused to let me play anything that wasn't CR 20+, a monster, and dripping with templates. And he grabbed random monsters from optimization boards.

That was my first game ever. Ahh, the memories.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

I once pulled a Darth Vader on one of my players.

This necromancer (the PC), as most of us were, was at one point a small child. When he was only about the age of 8, his small farming community was invaded by an evil lich and his undead legion, and as this diabolical lich laughed as thie little boy's vilage burned down and he watched his own father get his head beaten in by mindless undead.

He ventured and sought out information and found out it was a lich that had done it, though he did not know what lich. He took his father's farming scythe and made it battle-ready and wanted to make it his prized weapon with which he could use against the lich that had wronged him so.

He became a dread necromancer, figuring a master of death is the one that may destroy one that is dead. He adventured, grew more powerful, attained wealth and magical prowess. One day he ran into a town with a lich as a lord over it. This lich did not let anything on, but sent them on a mission for more wealth. They accomplished the task, went on their way (actually dying and having their bodies and equipment recovered and resurrected in the abyss to face challenges given by demons) and at one point they met the lich again, after their encounter in the abyss he had found out said lich was actually the one that had killed his father.

They fought, one on one for a while until the lich paralyzed him and unsheathed his sword, pointing it at his throat. The necromancer blurted out "You monster, I seek vengeance against you for killing my village and killing my father!"

At which point the lich laughed very very evilly and amusedly and shouted out "Kill your father? No, don't be a FOOL! I did not kill your father! I AM your father!" and quickly coup de graced him with a sword up his neck and into his brain.

....I was planning that for ages. It made me smile.

[Viscount Einstrauss]

For the last dozen or so sessions straight, I've been leading the party to inadvertently fight a major god of good, and I did so because I realized that my players too often take bloodthirsty measures and I wanted to teach them a lesson. They DID start to fight him, but they took the first hint of a warning and backed down, somewhat to my surprise. So I fell back on the other horrible plan I had in mind- their actions over all these sessions has been leading to the ressurection of an evil world-destroying god, and now they're going to have to fight that.

Failing this clear attempt to screw them right the hell over, I've already planned out what happens if they succeed- he's warping space and time around him, and the players had to leave all of their magic gear several miles outside of his domain because the outwards wall has a continuous mages disjunction-like effect. They won't be getting them back, since destroying the god will transport them several months in the past. This will also cost them the small army they were putting together and all the riches they bullied promises for from the rest of the game world.

I think this deserves a villainous laugh. Mwahaha. Mwahahahaha. Bwahahahahahaha!

[Realms of Chaos]

Wow, this thread jumped literally overnight. Wasn't expecting that. Don't forget to share things that other DMs did to you. Venting is fun.

This happened the first time that my brother tried to DM. I played a Dread Necromancer with Corpse-tainted soul. I call it The Most Blatant Railroad Ever

DM: There is a doorway in front of you.
Me: Am I in a town?
DM: Yes.
Me: I walk away from the doorway.
DM: What? You aren't going to the door?
Me: No. I'm going to look through the rest of the town and then leave it, in the exact opposite direction from the door if possible.
DM: Which way do you move?
Me: to my left.
DM: The Ground collapses under you 10 feet.
Me: Okay, I'm going to cure myself via charnel touch.
DM: Ok.
I continue climbing up to get further only to have the ground collapse each time, meaning that I need to heal myself once more. Later...
Me: Wait a moment. I'm in a town with no people and collapsing floors?
DM: This wouldn't happen if you just entered the door.
Me: I don't want to.
DM: Mom, he's trying to annoy me.

It's funny cause its true.

[KoDT69]

Well as an evil DM myself, I try to make each night's adventure segment a punchline somehow. I also like to pit them against things like the Super Mario build, Hulking Hurlers, and other fun stuff. Here are some detailed examples.
1 - The PC's were in a village of short humans 4' tall max called Trids. The village was at the base of a huge mountain. Stone giants came down daily to kick the Trids as torture and amusement. The village cleric accompanied the PC's on a peace mission to get the giants to leave the Trid village alone. The punchline from the stone giant chief was "Silly rabbi, Trids are for kicks!"... You had to be there
2 - A pair of giants (same general mountainous area as above) one Fire Giant and one Storm Giant. They were dressed in red and green overalls respectively and had big black rubber boots. They charged into battle and lept into the sky, one arm up. The Storm Giant (Luigi, also weighing in at 12,000lbs. leaping 50-60 feet up) landed on the Monk who took like 780 damage. Mario missed the barbarian and was charged and ganged up on since he was smaller. The party barely managed a win there. It was awesome!
3 - I had one dungeon stocked full of Aurak Draconians with Improved Bull Rush, Dash, Shock Trooper, Power Attack, and Leap Attack. Not only did they do loads of damage, but literally exploded on death, making them real Shock Troopers!
4 - The ECL 12 party got pwned by a pair of 6th level goblin sorcerers and some 4th level goblin rogues with superior tactics and terraine advantage. God they were so mad, those Ray of Enfeeblement spells combined with Mirror Image and Expedious Retreat left the party wishing they had found a dragon instead!
5 - The back then ECL 6 party was almost killed with highly skilled bluffing 1st level rogues dressed as clerics of varying, but not real religions. They had peace signs, anarchy signs, and smiley faces as holy symbols, and used the bluff skill to make the PC's believe they were getting affected by spells (reference when Varsuuvius ran out of spells and just yelled "Sonic Blast" or whatever). It was so funny when they realized what was going on. I used the same rules as disbelieving an illusion.

[Hitchhiker]

Hehe. I love stories like these. Lets me know that I'm not alone.
Our group frequetly plays in a gaming/comics store, which is like a magnet to all kinds of tiny little munchkins who just can't wait to get their grubby little mitts on the new 'Superman' comic book they're not going to bother taking care of, or snagging a pack of Magic cards they're going to try to decipher for ten, twenty minutes, tops, and then stow them away in their room to never be found again.
Anyhoo, one day a regular to our group walks in with a little kid, his nephew, who desperately wants to jump into our already 12th-to-15th level campaign with a premade 1st level Elf Sorceror he grabbed out of the D&D Basic Game Box Set. We're skeptical, but as I'm DMing, and the little kid (Steven, twelve years old) really wants to play, I go ahead and let him in with the warning that he wouldn't be able to use the Sorceror. One of our player's characters recently bit the dust, and I had him in my nifty little DM's Folder™ for no adequately explained reason, so I tossed him to the kid (as this was a one-day affair) and told him to rename him so he could play for the day. A few of our Magic-Obsessed players were wandering the store, checking out the new expansions, so I called for a half-an-hour break so the rest of us could make our purchases and the kid could get acquainted with the character (a fifth level rogue, seventh level fighter).
Forty-five minutes later (as we all [minus Steven] gathered around to stare at the brand spanking new Colossal Red Dragon for ten minutes, and one of us couldn't put down one of the Complete series sourcebooks) we settled ourselves down at the gaming table. I asked Steven (who had been studying the sheet) if he could play the character now, for about an hour and a half. I had planned for a mostly roleplaying experience today, so I wasn't too worried about him messing up in combat. The kid said yes. I asked him the new name of the character, to find, to my dismay, he had christened him 'Nick Fury'.
Time-pressed, and really not wanting to inquire further, we went on.
The characters had been staying in a small town, built over a spring near the foot of a mountain, for several days, trading with the locals and hoping to build trust to the point where they would find information about the recent killings of several lizardfolk. Now, today, the characters split up to question some townsfolk, the party rogue (the one besides the previously dead, and now alive, character) heading to the Tavern with the wizard. The barbarian, not having helped much in the previous atttempts to gain information, stayed at the inn. Nick Fury went out with the recently created Paladin, to make small talk with the locals in the streets.
Steven just couldn't seem to grasp the concept that repsect was supposed to be used.
He immediately spotted a local (after asking, "I rolled a 16. Do I see anyone suspicous?") who looked a little out of the ordinairy. He had two face piercings, the most notable of which was a long, looping earing on one ear, and bead that seemed to be embedded in his chin. He told the paladin that the best course of action would be to play 'Good Cop Bad Cop', where the paladin would be the good and he the bad. The paladin asked him what 'Good Cop Bad Cop' was. After a quick explanation, the paladin asked why this was needed, as the person to be questioned wasn't a criminal. This made 'Nick' angry for some reason, and he asked, 'Are you with me or against me?' The paladin told him that that was needless, and that he just wanted to get the job done in a more practical way. Nick, (and Steven) outraged for no adequately explained reason, began to attack the paladin, with a poisoned shortsword.
Steven: "I sneak attack the paladin with the poisoned sword!"
Me: "That's, uh...sure...you can't sneak attack him."
Steven: "What are you talking about?"
Myself: "You're in plain sight."
Steven: "That doesn't have anything to do with it!"
I, thoroughly undecided on how to explain it to him: "Look, uh...you can't sneak attack him, end of story."
Steven: "Gah! Fine!"
The simple attack on the paladin was quickly stopped; it didn't pass through his armor class, and the paladin saw fit to disarm him with his whip. Steven, pouting over the turn of events, tried to 'round-house kick the traitor' as he described it. Ignoring the impossibility of the task, (he was wearing plate mail, for goodness sake!) I gave him a roll to make a successful kick.
I was sorry I had, immediately following.
Nat 20 and a 19 confirm; he managed to kick the paladin in the face with a boot. He made out like a bandit on the damage, too. The paladin took sufficient damage to the head to knock him out, and Steven begins laughing in the player's face. Not wanting to penalize him for doing it (he's twelve years old!) but wanting to subdue him, I had the locals begin to call for the guards: and the sound is sufficient (they were right near the Tavern) to bring out the wizard and rogue. Wizard, seeing the trouble Nick's causing, brings it to a near halt with a Magic Missile. Nick, hit, goes down to twenty-something points, and Stevey begins wailing about the damage, and how his character's about to die, and how we're not giving him a fair chance. The other players respond quickly about how it's really his own fault, and Me, Myself, and I, not really wanting to listen, begin rolling up some basic stats for two town guards.
In they come, and as the argument comes to a halt with neither side flinching, Nick skewers a guard with a well-aimed strike from the aforementioned shortsword. Idiocy ensues.
Right, so, I really don't remember the rest of the battle, and I'd rather not type out what I do remember. The kid became more and more angry, listened less and less to the rules, and killed several more guards, all the while evading the wizard and managing to bring the rogue down. This takes about an hour, and slowly, my DMing began to get more and more restrictive. I managed to make the rolls for the guards a little less pitiful, and tacked on some extra stats that weren't there before. Eventually, wearied and at 3, Nick (and Steven) just explodes. He begins ranting about some kind of injustice that's happening, while the Paladin's player was getting bored. Out of the great well of evilness most DMs seem to draw upon in the middle of their games, I pull out the Paladin's deity, who heals him sufficienly and brings him to his feet behind Nick. He manages to whip the guy around the neck, kick him on the ground, and start beating him over and over to 'teach him a lesson'. The gaming group actually started chanting 'Fifty lashes! Fifty lashes!' Steven's mother arrived around that time, and, with a cheery smile, took him off our hands.
It actually amazes me that Li'l Stevey had that great a capacity for ignorance, but, in the end, we decided the session hadn't happened and later played out an alternate one. Nick's character sheet was later burned at the stake in a sadistic ritual in my backyard.

[valadil]

I've done plenty of stuff, but this is the most recent.

One morning, the wizard's raven familiar refused to come with the party. He said he had met someone. Someone turned out to be Simone, another raven. And naturally, Simone was another familiar. Oh and of course the familiar belonged to the group's enemy. They figured this out though, so I didn't screw them over too badly for it. But it was fun and they hadn't dealt with that kind of thing before in any of their gaming.

[Ashdate]

This isn't entirely the DM's fault, but...

.. we were underground, our party of ~ 4th - 5th level characters, with the knowledge that there were trolls around waiting to kick our asses. I should point out that this was AD&D I suppose. Anyway, the six of us decide to hole outselves against a dead end, and use this magical rock we found which, when the command word is uttered, grows into a sort of home, with beds and everything. Some of the characters elict to sleep inside the home, the others decide to stay outside.

The DM asks us 'how many hours are you sleeping in it?' the reply is naturally '8' so we're fully rested.

DM: Ok. You're all dead.

Needless to say we were shocked a bit. He explained the house only would stay open like that for 8 hours, thus crushing us if we were still inside. Bam. Campaign over.

Now, the funny part (if you can call it that) is that it was discovered that the portable home thing only works once a day... and that was our second attempt at using it. No takebacks however on that day.

- Eddie

[Karellen]

Man, I seriously don't get that kind of thing. You go to sleep and bam, you're all dead? Not only is that major rules lawyering, and seriously, what's the point? That's got to be the lamest TPK ever. Seriously, what a disgrace. One day I might start to understand GMs who deliberately screw their own campaigns over by randomly killing all PCs in ways that don't even count as funny, but it's not this day.

[Sundog]

I was running a campaign that included the mage Magnus the Pretentious (self named, I should note). This was back in 3.0, and he was fond of flying around obliterating things with hasted double fireballs while invisible. The Paladin didn't understand why his Detect Evil never seemed to work around Magnus...

Anyway, one day the party goes up against an opposing Sorceror ad his minions. Magnus flies high, invisibly, and starts raining death from above. The Sorceror replies by casting Dispels, defending his bunch while waiting for the archers to pincushion Magnus.

Magnus runs out of Invisibility, so he goes to Mirror Image, and finally manages to nail the Sorceror, just after said Sorceror has manged to dispel his Flight. Which wouldn't be a problem, except that just after the Sorceror goes down the last archer knocks Magnus to -2 hp.

So, the Hobgoblin Fighter/Thief runs forward to catch Magnus. He activates his Boots of Speed to reach the location, and makes the DC 20 Dex check to actually catch the plummetting wizard.

Then I say "Roll for which image you caught."

[Jade_Tarem]

One time one of my players decided mid-fight to side with the BBEG (the party was of low enough level that they couldn't hope to beat him yet) rather than die (he figured that with the BBEG backing him he could gain enough XP to stay level with the party and work at cross purposes, maybe even to take away the BBEG position - pretty ambitious). The rest of the party responded by attacking him to put him out of action (he went to -5 or something) and leaving him behind. The BBEG awakened him by bringing him to 1 hp with repetitions of cure minor wounds.

Craghakdor Moltenfury (Colossal++ Red Dragon): "Ah, you're awake. Good."
Ranger: "So... I'm working for you now?"
Crag.: "Hm? Oh, no. No chance of that, I'm afraid."
Ranger: "What? So... why did you heal me?"
Crag.: "I just wanted to let you know how funny I think this is going to be." *Breathes Fire*

The ranger was completely vaporized.

[Maxymiuk]

Then I say "Roll for which image you caught."

Eeeebil! Love it.

Did he at least catch the right one?


Mine is from a game a few months ago. The party had been hired to take back the grains a bunch of goblins stole from a village. During their search t hey've found out that the goblins only stole the grain to feed themselves, since a dragon was overhunting the local animal populace. Through various discussions, arguments, tactical and diplomatic blunders, the group finally came up with a plan to make the dragon - Saldzar - the leader of the goblins... without telling the old chief - Hraask - about the arrangement first. Finally, things came to a head...

Saldzar: Tut, tut... poor you. Now are we going to have that fight... or should I just eat you? *licks his lips*
** Caedmon Thaal says nothing. **
** Hraask suddenly realizes what the dragon is saying and blanches. "Hraask can't fight dragon! Dragon not goblin!" **
Weaponsmaster: Hah! Goblin law not say chief must be goblin!
** Caedmon Thaal grins widely, and starts paying more attention to the shaman than to the weaponsmaster **
** Hraask turns to the shaman "That not true!" **
** Goblin Shaman looking extremely uncomfotable "Er... it... it true." **
Hraask: No! That... that not fair!
** Saldzar snickers. **
Saldzar: Oh, I suppose you're right. You'd hardly be a challenge. Tell you what, how about I name a champion to fight in my stead, hmm?
** Crowid Beestinger barely holds in the laughter. **
Hraask: Er... Champion? What that?)
** Kelsrod Duthertin blinks twice. Suddenly this seems slightly less funny. **
Saldzar: It means, you poor, uneducated creature, that I get someone else to fight with you, but should they win, I still get to be chieftain of the tribe.
Hraask: That... er... then... If so, Hraask name champion too!
** Saldzar hmms. **
Saldzar: Yes, yes, that does seem fair, doesn't it? I accept. Who will be your champion?
** Crowid Beestinger stops laughing. **
** Caedmon Thaal mutters "Coward" under his breath. **
** Hraask turns and points "Weaponsmaster Gjorn fight for me!" **
** Weaponsmaster does not look amused. **
Saldzar: Very well. Now, who should fight for me then... *looks over the party* I suppose I have my pick, don't I. *grins* Any volunteers?

[Mewtarthio]

I've done plenty of stuff, but this is the most recent.

One morning, the wizard's raven familiar refused to come with the party. He said he had met someone. Someone turned out to be Simone, another raven. And naturally, Simone was another familiar. Oh and of course the familiar belonged to the group's enemy. They figured this out though, so I didn't screw them over too badly for it. But it was fun and they hadn't dealt with that kind of thing before in any of their gaming.

A Raven named Simone? Who's the Disney Channel fan?

[SpiderBrigade]

"Simone! Simone! I paid for the cheese grater, Simone!"

[Phoenix Talion]

Right- anyone in my game is not allowed to read this, I know at least one of you hangs on the forums. Not this section, I beleive, but you're warned. You know the penalty for disobeying the DM.

Spoiler

Show

One of the PC's has a backstory involving the death of his significant other, and it's his fault, something that greatly lowers his mental stability. He's a very good roleplayer, doing the part without it getting in the way of the game. There aren't many other people I would let play a character who hears voices.

One of the BBEG's lieutenants is his "dead" ex. I can't wait for them to find this out, especially since the rest of the party thinks he's a heartless bastard.

Oh, and she blames him for her "death" too.

I also randomly ask for Spot and Listen checks when there's nothing to notice. Keeps them on their toes.

[lacesmcawesome]

Phoenix, you truly are a master of cruelty.

(but that is hilarious anyways)

[Helgraf]

Ahh yes, the semi-random spot/listen checks.

The occasional fake Will or Fortitude save called for.

The right mix of illusions and not-illusions.

I once had a dwarf player charge headlong down a corridor to prove it was an illusion.

Boots of S&S ... 4x run. 120 ft/round face first into a stone wall covered by illusion of empty space.

I assessed the poor blighter a goodly number of d6s of damage. As I recall he dropped to -9 on the spot.

[Bassetking]

"Simone! Simone! I paid for the cheese grater, Simone!"

Transmetro!

I have actually managed to pull off the "Chairleg of truth" in one of the games I participated in...

[Phoenix Talion]

Ahh yes, the semi-random spot/listen checks.

The occasional fake Will or Fortitude save called for.

The right mix of illusions and not-illusions.

I once had a dwarf player charge headlong down a corridor to prove it was an illusion.

Boots of S&S ... 4x run. 120 ft/round face first into a stone wall covered by illusion of empty space.

I assessed the poor blighter a goodly number of d6s of damage. As I recall he dropped to -9 on the spot.

*wince*

A just-happened one that I have to share- I have a wood elf NPC who they just captured. They just assumed that the barbarian only spoke one language and started translating, not realizing she does, in fact, speak common. So I decided that she'd take advantage of this and pretend not to.

So they're talking about "should we hand her over to the authorites" and making the odd racial slur about barbarians, and she's understanding every word.

I had intended this to be a friendly NPC...

[Irenicus]

Well personally, I think there are two types of Evil Dm's... the kind who are evil for the purpose of story advancement or some other highly valid reasons, and the kind who are evil simply because they're born bastards.

Of the first type:

The classic "You get captured. No, your twenty fortitude save doesn't work against the sleeping poison. Yes, it works on elves. Deal with it."

Of the second:

"Your lawful good paladin has finally achieved his lifelong quest of avenging his father's quest at the hands of Baron Nightfall. Oh, but what's this? It appears his Clone was standing behind you. With a very large sword. Get rolling that new character! Also, your entire family is killed in retribution. And you go to Hell for failing as a paladin."

[PnP Fan]

The first instance that comes to mind is a guy that has long since been un-invited from my gaming circles. Once day he was running a Werewolf game with his wife, me and his brother-in-law as players. The BiL took some advantage (read: ADVANTAGE) that allows him to get along better with spirits, with the potential down side that he might also attract some not so nice spirits. Well, the first session out, the BiL is trying to contact some spirits for information, and of course the first thing that happens to show up is a Bane spirit, which is bad news (for non-White Wolf folks, think of being a 1st level character and running into a 7 or 8 HD undead with level draining abilities). We nearly die, and wind up running away, because the DM decided to use something that is supposed to work to the player's advantage, into a disadvantage. He was constantly bullying his BiL in any game the two of them were involved in. It was kinda sad, really. One of many reasons he was asked to leave.

[SMDVogrin]

Well personally, I think there are two types of Evil Dm's... the kind who are evil for the purpose of story advancement or some other highly valid reasons, and the kind who are evil simply because they're born bastards.

Of the first type:

The classic "You get captured. No, your twenty fortitude save doesn't work against the sleeping poison. Yes, it works on elves. Deal with it."

Of the second:

"Your lawful good paladin has finally achieved his lifelong quest of avenging his father's quest at the hands of Baron Nightfall. Oh, but what's this? It appears his Clone was standing behind you. With a very large sword. Get rolling that new character! Also, your entire family is killed in retribution. And you go to Hell for failing as a paladin."

Well, personally, I'd classify the second type as an a-hole GM, not an Evil one (and the first as a railroader, not an evil GM).

There is a difference between inspiring thoughts of "Man, I wish we had someone else willing to DM, this guy's a real so-and-so" and "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you... Same time next week? I can't wait to continue this."

[Silkenfist]

"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you... Same time next week? I can't wait to continue this."

If I hear this (or something similar), I know I have done something extremely good. Make evil adventures and opponents that completely intend to hurt the players with every means possible...but if they find a solution (and even if it is one you don't like much) accept it with a shrug. You'll get them sooner or later. Just don't change rules at will, railroad them too much and change the situation ad hoc just because the group has it too easy.