Anything that you find funny, annoying, or traumatic, share it here! I’d love to hear it.
For starters, I’m running a caveman campaign. And the wizard keeps trying to fly on her staff. She’s not high enough level to do so. She jumped straight into a river of crocodiles. At level one.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
Traumatic... A charismatic player who convinced me to let her play a Malefactor in the first campaign I ever ran, during which she proved to have Main Character Syndrome and an overt Player-vs-DM mentality. She spoiled the game for everyone, trivializing every encounter by Exhaustion-ing every boss to death from a safe distance, and gaslighting me on game rules that she said were official, that turned out not to be. Ever since, anyone who reminds me of that player immediately puts me on edge.
I thankfully have not had anyone do that-then again, I’ve only played with my siblings and a few close friends.
In the first session of a pirate themed campaign, one of the two rogues stole the tavern proprietor’s pegleg…immediately after my brother, who was playing a talking monkey pirate, seduced her.
she was a dwarf.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
I’m running the Acq-Inc Orrery of the Wanderer adventure. The first chapter ends in the Shrine of Destruction, which is made up of two parts really, an altar dedicated to That-Which-Endures, and a large magical hammer attached to a mobile arm which is used to destroy magic items placed on the altar. The altar also happens to be protected by spirits faithful to That-Which-Endures who possess anyone that touches the alter. The hammer has enough reach to hit anyone in the room and will try to destroy anything it deems a threat to the Shrine.
As this hammer is wailing on the party, the Paladin decides “Hey, that hammer is attached to this altar by its arm, maybe if I destroy the altar it’ll quit working!” So he attacks the altar with the +1 Longsword he found a few rooms back.
His attack roll is successful, but since this is an altar of destruction, specifically used to destroy magic items I decide to give the sword a savings throw, it was successful, so yay, the sword didn’t blow up… but I also decided that since anyone who touches the altar gets possessed, there’s a slight chance (literally 1%) the magical sword gets possessed. So I ask the player, “You want high, or low?” He has zero clue as to what I’m planning because this whole idea popped into my head when he decided to hit the alter of destruction with a magic item… He says, “High.” So I throw my percentile dice and roll a 100. Then I cursed rather colorfully and had to create “Gheist”, a sentient +1 Longsword, for the 1st level Paladin. 🤦♂️
on the first session of a campaign we had just gotten started they started in a tavern a man walks up to the group and one of the players out of the blue punches the man ensuing in a bar fight su big that the roof came down in flames in the first 10 minutes of the campaign
I had planned a huge epic battle with an adult green dragon for my players. It was guarding this tower, which was a key location in the campaign. I knew they would fight it because they had killed basically any creature that they saw previously. However, to my surprise, they tried to stealth. Nat 20 from the rogue. At first, it worked really well, but then the ranger said something in-game which attracted the dragon's attention. So, Plan A (Stealth) failed. They then decided to befriend it. Keep in mind that this is a gruff and aggressive adult green dragon. It all came tumbling down when the druid gave this amazing speech about how they needed to enter the tower, and then got something like a 22 in Animal Handling. It ended with the druid becoming best friends with the dragon and then riding on its back to the final destination.
That's just one of the many incidents of shenanigans that my players have caused. Obviously, to me, it's hilarious, but they all think that their chaos is what I intended. One time the rogue broke into a menagerie and started placing illusions down from a Deck of Illusions. The menagerie's manager thought that the illusions were real monsters, and called the police. The rogue got fined. Meanwhile, the rest of the party tried smuggling all the animals from the menagerie. I no longer include menageries and pet stores in my campaigns.
Separately, it's not really shenanigans, but my players sometimes rack their brains off trying to find the solution to a red herring, thinking it's a major plot point. This once occurred with a regular statue. Just a statue. Everybody was so disappointed when an 18 on Investigation revealed that it was just an ordinary statue.
one time, I was DMing a short campaign with my siblings set on modern-day Earth. The players were searching for clues to an ancient treasure, and were investigating an ancient island to find the first clue. However, this island was inhabited by cannibal’s, which they ended up getting captured by.
Anyway, they woke up, tied up in the cannibal village while the tribe prepared for the feast. My brother rolled a nat 20on persuasion to get the guard to take him on a tour of the village. He got the guard to show him the treasure hut, then when they were inside, knocked out the guard, recovers his equipment-part of which was a grenade launcher and about 10 rounds which I’d mistakenly given to him. - he then stuffed his backpack with treasure, blew up the main building-all of the buildings were grass huts so the beeline began burning down. Meanwhile, the other characters escaped their bindings, joined him, stuffed their backpacks with treasure (including a live fish), and escaped, bringing my brothers unconscious guard with them. My brother then woke the guard, convinced him that he’d saved him from the goes that killed his entire tribe of 150 cannibals, and then got him to join the party. They named him Unga-Bunga-Wunga-Duck.
I never should have let him have that grenade launcher.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
Gave one of my players the diary of their Uncle, who had descended into madness at the time they were born and summoned demons to fight off giants, causing their home and their family name to fall to ruin. They did so by sacrificing the characters father.
The response I got was "I don't know how to respond to this as a player, let alone as my character."
So that was awesome!
Shenanigans, they killed a giant and stole his landship, christening it "The Dairylea Dunker". They sent a Pressure Weird to the Astral Sea. they teleported a dragon into an automated slaughterhouse to be attacked by Iron Golems. And then they brought a Caravan on a 5-day journey and just abandoned them at the entrance to the dragons lair because they got engrossed in exploring and chasing down some giants!
One of them freed Loki from a prison than double crossed a mob boss another unleash a kraken on a civilization. Another got the party sent to Stigya. One of the pcs said were all chaotic good we just make really poor life decisions . This group is by far the most fun I ever had as a dm.
Anything that you find funny, annoying, or traumatic, share it here! I’d love to hear it.
For starters, I’m running a caveman campaign. And the wizard keeps trying to fly on her staff. She’s not high enough level to do so. She jumped straight into a river of crocodiles. At level one.
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
Traumatic... A charismatic player who convinced me to let her play a Malefactor in the first campaign I ever ran, during which she proved to have Main Character Syndrome and an overt Player-vs-DM mentality. She spoiled the game for everyone, trivializing every encounter by Exhaustion-ing every boss to death from a safe distance, and gaslighting me on game rules that she said were official, that turned out not to be. Ever since, anyone who reminds me of that player immediately puts me on edge.
That’s rough:(
I thankfully have not had anyone do that-then again, I’ve only played with my siblings and a few close friends.
In the first session of a pirate themed campaign, one of the two rogues stole the tavern proprietor’s pegleg…immediately after my brother, who was playing a talking monkey pirate, seduced her.
she was a dwarf.
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
One of the players wants to jump from one roof to the other. There is 20 feet's in between
PC ask the GM, "Do I know if I can make it"
GM answer, "You know you can't make it"
PC, "I'm trying it anyway" and *roll*
GM, "You've failed to reach the roof and end up smashing your face onto the front door just below"
Argument ensues about why he didn't make it for the next 20 minutes
We still laugh about it to that day; I was one of the other players
That’s hilarious.
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
I’m running the Acq-Inc Orrery of the Wanderer adventure. The first chapter ends in the Shrine of Destruction, which is made up of two parts really, an altar dedicated to That-Which-Endures, and a large magical hammer attached to a mobile arm which is used to destroy magic items placed on the altar. The altar also happens to be protected by spirits faithful to That-Which-Endures who possess anyone that touches the alter. The hammer has enough reach to hit anyone in the room and will try to destroy anything it deems a threat to the Shrine.
As this hammer is wailing on the party, the Paladin decides “Hey, that hammer is attached to this altar by its arm, maybe if I destroy the altar it’ll quit working!” So he attacks the altar with the +1 Longsword he found a few rooms back.
His attack roll is successful, but since this is an altar of destruction, specifically used to destroy magic items I decide to give the sword a savings throw, it was successful, so yay, the sword didn’t blow up… but I also decided that since anyone who touches the altar gets possessed, there’s a slight chance (literally 1%) the magical sword gets possessed. So I ask the player, “You want high, or low?” He has zero clue as to what I’m planning because this whole idea popped into my head when he decided to hit the alter of destruction with a magic item… He says, “High.” So I throw my percentile dice and roll a 100. Then I cursed rather colorfully and had to create “Gheist”, a sentient +1 Longsword, for the 1st level Paladin. 🤦♂️
Oh wow…that’s both hilarious and extremely frustrating.
Poor guy…
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
This was somewhat planned but:
My players got arrested and called for a court trial. By the end of the trial, the prosecutor was getting arrested.
lol
Oh wow…that’s hilarious.
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
on the first session of a campaign we had just gotten started they started in a tavern a man walks up to the group and one of the players out of the blue punches the man ensuing in a bar fight su big that the roof came down in flames in the first 10 minutes of the campaign
Oh gosh…sounds like something my brother would do.
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
I had planned a huge epic battle with an adult green dragon for my players. It was guarding this tower, which was a key location in the campaign. I knew they would fight it because they had killed basically any creature that they saw previously. However, to my surprise, they tried to stealth. Nat 20 from the rogue. At first, it worked really well, but then the ranger said something in-game which attracted the dragon's attention. So, Plan A (Stealth) failed. They then decided to befriend it. Keep in mind that this is a gruff and aggressive adult green dragon. It all came tumbling down when the druid gave this amazing speech about how they needed to enter the tower, and then got something like a 22 in Animal Handling. It ended with the druid becoming best friends with the dragon and then riding on its back to the final destination.
That's just one of the many incidents of shenanigans that my players have caused. Obviously, to me, it's hilarious, but they all think that their chaos is what I intended. One time the rogue broke into a menagerie and started placing illusions down from a Deck of Illusions. The menagerie's manager thought that the illusions were real monsters, and called the police. The rogue got fined. Meanwhile, the rest of the party tried smuggling all the animals from the menagerie. I no longer include menageries and pet stores in my campaigns.
Separately, it's not really shenanigans, but my players sometimes rack their brains off trying to find the solution to a red herring, thinking it's a major plot point. This once occurred with a regular statue. Just a statue. Everybody was so disappointed when an 18 on Investigation revealed that it was just an ordinary statue.
If anybody would like my GMing playlists
battles: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2mRp57MBAz9ZsVpw895IzZ?si=243bee43442a4703
exploration: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qk0aKm5yI4K6VrlcaKrDj?si=81057bef509043f3
town/tavern: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/49JSv1kK0bUyQ9LVpKmZlr?si=a88b1dd9bab54111
character deaths: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6k7WhylJEjSqWC0pBuAtFD?si=3e897fa2a2dd469e
That’s amazing😂
one time, I was DMing a short campaign with my siblings set on modern-day Earth. The players were searching for clues to an ancient treasure, and were investigating an ancient island to find the first clue. However, this island was inhabited by cannibal’s, which they ended up getting captured by.
Anyway, they woke up, tied up in the cannibal village while the tribe prepared for the feast. My brother rolled a nat 20on persuasion to get the guard to take him on a tour of the village. He got the guard to show him the treasure hut, then when they were inside, knocked out the guard, recovers his equipment-part of which was a grenade launcher and about 10 rounds which I’d mistakenly given to him. - he then stuffed his backpack with treasure, blew up the main building-all of the buildings were grass huts so the beeline began burning down. Meanwhile, the other characters escaped their bindings, joined him, stuffed their backpacks with treasure (including a live fish), and escaped, bringing my brothers unconscious guard with them. My brother then woke the guard, convinced him that he’d saved him from the goes that killed his entire tribe of 150 cannibals, and then got him to join the party. They named him Unga-Bunga-Wunga-Duck.
I never should have let him have that grenade launcher.
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
Gave one of my players the diary of their Uncle, who had descended into madness at the time they were born and summoned demons to fight off giants, causing their home and their family name to fall to ruin. They did so by sacrificing the characters father.
The response I got was "I don't know how to respond to this as a player, let alone as my character."
So that was awesome!
Shenanigans, they killed a giant and stole his landship, christening it "The Dairylea Dunker". They sent a Pressure Weird to the Astral Sea. they teleported a dragon into an automated slaughterhouse to be attacked by Iron Golems. And then they brought a Caravan on a 5-day journey and just abandoned them at the entrance to the dragons lair because they got engrossed in exploring and chasing down some giants!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Wow!
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
One of them freed Loki from a prison than double crossed a mob boss another unleash a kraken on a civilization. Another got the party sent to Stigya. One of the pcs said were all chaotic good we just make really poor life decisions . This group is by far the most fun I ever had as a dm.
Oh wow…
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
So, there is a dwarf and an elf in a cave. Sitting next to a fire. Meditating. The Ranger's first thought: CHARGE IN SCREAMING AND KILL EVERYONE AHHH
Also the Ranger: dies on turn one of combat
Oh no.
If I haven’t offended you, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get to you eventually.
So I was running shadow of the dragon queen when the bard started seducing a dragon now he has dragon eggs and I don’t know what to do