The other players and I had played together for a couple of years before meeting that DM. We let him DM a campaign during the Plague Year because he was the only one of us computer-savvy enough to effectively run an online game. He was really good with computers, average with plot and story, and terrible on punctuality and reliability. But during the quarantine, beggars could not be choosers. Those other players and I are still playing together in person every week and I haven't had any contact with that DM since.
I started DMing a campaign of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frost Maiden.
At level 2, the party were expected to withstand attacks from an creature that was striking twice per round doing 3d12+6 damage (admittedly, for the first two rounds it wasn't able to attack).
At level 6, they were expected to rush from one place to another, and try to keep up with a dragon doing massive amounts of damage - and which could easily have killed the party - but the rules of the campaign don't allow you to travel fast enough to do it. There was an entire chapter for this!
We gave up on the campaign, since NO published campaign should EVER require the amount of work that this campaign would require in order to get it to work.
Basically, our group has decided NEVER to run another WOTC published campaign ever again!
Ehhh, I wouldn't turn your back on Curse of Strahd.....just.....start at lvl 3 maybe and avoid Death House completely or you will run into the same frustrations you had with Rime.
So we were playing online during the pandemic. I played an aasimar cleric who grew up very sheltered in a remote religious commune. He was male but had the serene androgyny of someone who just stepped out of a painting by Sandro Botticelli. I made it very clear from Day One that he was asexual, he knew nothing of sexuality, and had no interest in it whatsoever. He was also quite overwhelmed by his new surroundings and didn't much like violence. He didn't even carry a weapon. He was a support character who did buffs and heals.
Well, we had cleared out a few vampires from a haunted mansion and in the fight my cleric got hit by something that knocked his Intelligence down from a 9 to a 5. The fight also got a bit desperate and my cleric had to kill someone for the first time ever. So we get back to town and there's a huge wedding celebration going on in town. Keep in mind my character is dealing with PTSD and a massive traumatic brain injury that happened literally hours ago. So he's minding his own business amid the celebration crowd, trying to process his trauma. So the DM mentions that an attractive tiefling woman approaches my character and invites him for a walk in the woods. The DM joked about wondering if a half-devil and a half-celestial would create a human baby or some devil-celestial hybrid. I explain (out of character, as myself) to the DM that not only is my character not interested, but he currently has the mental capacity of a wounded golden retriever. So he says the woman takes my character's hand, leads him into the nearby forest, and begins seducing him. I explain again - out of character - as myself - to the DM that my character not only does not react and absolutely does not reciprocate in any way, but he also probably doesn't even understand what's happening. The DM brushed all that aside with a jovial, "Naw, you enjoyed it."
I seriously considered just logging off forever right there. But I don't just play D&D for fun. I play D&D as an outlet for stuff. And that game was the only game I had during that Year of the Plague. Every week after that I considered whether or not to log in and play. I kept going only because I loved playing with the other players and I knew we (the players) would be playing a new campaign (without that DM) once the lockdowns ended. And we did. Once we were all vaccinated those players and I started a new in-person game at a table with paper character sheets and snacks. I loved that character. He's still my favorite character that I have ever played - even if my DM did date-**** him that one time.
Played a middle-aged human wizard named Eddie. Eddie was an overweight, balding, greasy, smelly, beer-guzzling good timer who happened to discover his magical ability in his early 40s. His wife, with whom he ran an inn and tavern, accompanied him on his adventures. She carried a broom and tried to defend him with it. He carried two water skins, but one always had beer. Eddie would readily 'drink to that', whatever 'that' happened to be at the moment. He was super fun to play.
The bad part is this. The party entered the keep of a vampire. His main hall had a banquet laid out with pretty much any food you could want. Eddie quickly helped himself to steak, potatoes, and beer. Thing is, the food was all enchanted. Over the next few weeks, Eddie slowly lost weight, gained muscle, lost his beer belly, lost his smell, grew his hair back- just became a totally different character. Kinda lost the fun of playing him after that.
In the words of the great philosopher, Unicorse, "Aaaannnnd why should I care??"
Best quote from a book ever: "If you love with your eyes, death is forever. If you love with your heart, there is no such thing as parting."- Jonah Cook, Ascendant, Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller. Highly recommend
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The other players and I had played together for a couple of years before meeting that DM. We let him DM a campaign during the Plague Year because he was the only one of us computer-savvy enough to effectively run an online game. He was really good with computers, average with plot and story, and terrible on punctuality and reliability. But during the quarantine, beggars could not be choosers. Those other players and I are still playing together in person every week and I haven't had any contact with that DM since.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Ehhh, I wouldn't turn your back on Curse of Strahd.....just.....start at lvl 3 maybe and avoid Death House completely or you will run into the same frustrations you had with Rime.
Flipping yikes....
Played a middle-aged human wizard named Eddie. Eddie was an overweight, balding, greasy, smelly, beer-guzzling good timer who happened to discover his magical ability in his early 40s. His wife, with whom he ran an inn and tavern, accompanied him on his adventures. She carried a broom and tried to defend him with it. He carried two water skins, but one always had beer. Eddie would readily 'drink to that', whatever 'that' happened to be at the moment. He was super fun to play.
The bad part is this. The party entered the keep of a vampire. His main hall had a banquet laid out with pretty much any food you could want. Eddie quickly helped himself to steak, potatoes, and beer. Thing is, the food was all enchanted. Over the next few weeks, Eddie slowly lost weight, gained muscle, lost his beer belly, lost his smell, grew his hair back- just became a totally different character. Kinda lost the fun of playing him after that.
I miss Eddie.
No it doesn't
In the words of the great philosopher, Unicorse, "Aaaannnnd why should I care??"
Best quote from a book ever: "If you love with your eyes, death is forever. If you love with your heart, there is no such thing as parting."- Jonah Cook, Ascendant, Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller. Highly recommend