Alright, so basically, right now I am an intermediate player, I have mostly just played barbarians and fighters for the last few campaigns I have been in, and recently I was able to scrap together a dnd game with around 6 people (It's usually changing a lot). I was really happy to start this, and things were going great up until the players reached level 7, one of the players (who just so happened to be the host) found out about a little spell called Aura of the Guardian. Now, I cannot progress any further into the campaign due to the fact that the host (who I can't kick out) keeps on repeating "I take the damage" whenever a npc gets almost murdered, and now the host keeps on saying that I am terrible at dnd and that I don't know what I'm doing, I'm genuinely thinking about ending my campaign because of this absolutely horrible player, if anybody knows how to deal with this player, please respond as soon as possible.
There’s a few things to unpack here. First and foremost is that no player should ever tell another that they are terrible at dnd or they don’t know what they’re doing. Even if it’s true, it’s unkind and utterly non-constructive. Players should help others to learn not belittle them. Because they are so rude, this player does appear to be a problem however there are a couple of things that give me pause. Why an NPC must die in order to progress the plot is the main thing. There are tons and tons of ways to move a story along without murdering someone within 10’ of the paladin. The general expectation is that the characters prevent such things where possible—the paladin is just doing their job. Why are people even attempting murder within 10’ of a the paladin? Of course that is complicating the situation. If you absolutely must have someone die, do it off screen, where the paladin can’t save them.
That said, is the player using the ability correctly? Are the NPC’s the paladin is saving actually within the aura? Aura of the Guardian is not a spell at all but a 10’ aura. It also takes a reaction to use. Is it being used properly? Because these are built in limitations so that a redemption paladin can’t go around preventing every death that might occur. Always ensure you understand the mechanics your players are using as well as all the other things you need to know about your NPC’s. (DM’ing is hard!) If the paladin is being played properly, you can speak directly to the player to explain that you are having a difficult time. Some things are inherently advantageous to other similar options in the game so perhaps they could tone it down for your sake or maybe even roll a new character. A good player should be happy to oblige IMHO. Talking to people is the solution to most problems at an RPG table.
Ultimately, you’ll have to decide whether this is the group for you based on how things play out after that. As you already acknowledge, it’s unfortunate your difficult player is the host but take heart, DM’s are rare birds—you are pretty much guaranteed to find another game quite easily; it’s possible the other players may even follow you to a new venue. Either way, put your foot down about the nasty comments. When the player sees an error or questions your decisions, they can be polite and kind about it or they can zip it. Or, if you’re not enamoured of forever DM’ing, they can DM since they seem to think they can do better.
There’s a few things to unpack here. First and foremost is that no player should ever tell another that they are terrible at dnd or they don’t know what they’re doing. Even if it’s true, it’s unkind and utterly non-constructive. Players should help others to learn not belittle them. Because they are so rude, this player does appear to be a problem however there are a couple of things that give me pause. Why an NPC must die in order to progress the plot is the main thing. There are tons and tons of ways to move a story along without murdering someone within 10’ of the paladin. The general expectation is that the characters prevent such things where possible—the paladin is just doing their job. Why are people even attempting murder within 10’ of a the paladin? Of course that is complicating the situation. If you absolutely must have someone die, do it off screen, where the paladin can’t save them.
That said, is the player using the ability correctly? Are the NPC’s the paladin is saving actually within the aura? Aura of the Guardian is not a spell at all but a 10’ aura. It also takes a reaction to use. Is it being used properly? Because these are built in limitations so that a redemption paladin can’t go around preventing every death that might occur. Always ensure you understand the mechanics your players are using as well as all the other things you need to know about your NPC’s. (DM’ing is hard!) If the paladin is being played properly, you can speak directly to the player to explain that you are having a difficult time. Some things are inherently advantageous to other similar options in the game so perhaps they could tone it down for your sake or maybe even roll a new character. A good player should be happy to oblige IMHO. Talking to people is the solution to most problems at an RPG table.
Ultimately, you’ll have to decide whether this is the group for you based on how things play out after that. As you already acknowledge, it’s unfortunate your difficult player is the host but take heart, DM’s are rare birds—you are pretty much guaranteed to find another game quite easily; it’s possible the other players may even follow you to a new venue. Either way, put your foot down about the nasty comments. When the player sees an error or questions your decisions, they can be polite and kind about it or they can zip it. Or, if you’re not enamoured of forever DM’ing, they can DM since they seem to think they can do better.