So we start combat, the BBEG is in view. Hunter's Mark and fire the first arrow. Crit. Massive damage. 2nd arrow is a crit, massive damage. As a fighter, I declare Action Surge. Crit! Massive damage. 4th arrow...crit! Massive damage. In total I do 216 damage first round. Incredibly lucky, statistically impossible.
Next in initiative is our Monk, he moves up...hits the BBEG for another crit. Massive damage.
DM is all, "He's still up."
Next round I hit him again, twice. Round after that I hit him twice again. The BBEG has taken roughly 400 damage, if not more.
DM, "He's still up".
Me: Nevermind, I stop shooting at him. Do whatever you want with him. It's obvious doing damage to him isn't going to bring him down....just do whatever the module you're running says to do
What exactly are you looking for here, sympathy? You fought a battle, which it seems the DM wanted to be climactic. You admit to doing an unusual amount of damage and you suspect that the DM fudged the health of this creature to keep things going. Then you admit to spitting the dummy after exactly three rounds of combat. What a paragon of patience and cooperation you are! Did you speak to your DM in game? Did you try to role play something? "This guy seems invincible! Can I use my hunter's knowledge to do an insight check to look for his weaknesses? Maybe he has a Philactery-style object around that we need to find!".
You've already posted twice about this ranger of yours, where you think the DM is punishing you for doing too much damage all the time. Perhaps this forum is not the place to solve the issue. Talk. To. Your. DM. I assure you, if the DM is acting to nullify some of your character's effectiveness then it is only because they think it is impacting on the fun had by the other players (like if you personally killed the BBEG on your own in one round and the session ended an hour early). It is perhaps likely that the DM *is* jacking up the HP of bosses outrageously so that doesn't happen. If your fun is being ruined by that, talk to the other players and the DM. Start a group chat. I promise you, nothing anyone writes on this forum is going to solve this situation for you, that will have to be done by communication in your gaming group.
I've posted many times about this character, as it's the one I'm currently playing and the highest level character I've ever played. Unknown territory. I guess you can take in all my prior posts and let it influence this thread....
I talked to the DM, the BBEG had 650 hps.
We then chased him to where he retreated, lots of other players got to shine and I did very little damage....TBH. Granted, the DM was cheating and had the mob attuned to 5 or so magic items. Healer was a huge help, Barbarian got some big crits in and the important thing is we won. We then spent about 2 hours in RP, talking about the BBEG's glaive....
Team effort, we won and there are Bards that will sing epic tales of us....mostly because the Bards are in our party.
You've already posted twice about this ranger of yours, where you think the DM is punishing you for doing too much damage all the time. Perhaps this forum is not the place to solve the issue. Talk. To. Your. DM. I assure you, if the DM is acting to nullify some of your character's effectiveness then it is only because they think it is impacting on the fun had by the other players (like if you personally killed the BBEG on your own in one round and the session ended an hour early). It is perhaps likely that the DM *is* jacking up the HP of bosses outrageously so that doesn't happen. If your fun is being ruined by that, talk to the other players and the DM. Start a group chat. I promise you, nothing anyone writes on this forum is going to solve this situation for you, that will have to be done by communication in your gaming group.
I think the DM IS jacking up the hps of the BBEG....yet here's the thing. Everyone player in my party is "Omg, did you see when the BBEG took 6 crits in a row? He's gotta be really hurt. He fled. Do we pursue immediately? Rest a few secs....or an hour before we pursue? I bet he's all healed up from that punishment....".
The important thing here is....we had fun, braved a dangerous encounter. Did the DM fudge? Maybe. Did the DM cheat, maybe. Does that make victory all the sweeter? Maybe....
You know that npc's and monsters are not player characters right? The DM is not cheating by having it not follow PC rules. It could be attuned to 1000 items and it still not be cheating. If the DM truly wanted to 'cheat', then you wouldn't stand a chance. Reading all of your posts, I honestly don't think you are a good fit for your play group, and there is nothing wrong with that. You are very 'Me vs. the DM' and any time things don't go your way you cry foul. I would recommend that you offer running a few games for your group so everyone can get a chance to walk a mile in each others shoes.
In the case of the increased HP, at my table, I run a 3-round rule. What that means is that if despite all my careful calculations and scheming, if the dice are just so in the favor of the players and/or against my BBEG, it survives through it's 3rd round. Nothing is worse than building up months to years worth of tension and then end in a anti-climatic one turn wash. I make sure I narrate that the BBEG is definitely on the ropes and struggling, but I don't let it go down. Would I call this cheating? No, I wouldn't. My job as DM is not to blindly run stat blocks, it is to create a narrative that all present at the table enjoy.
I also give my npc mages spells that are not in the phb, fighters maneuvers that are not in the books, ect. It isn't cheating. I'm not running PC's, I don't follow PC's rules.
DM is cheating lol! As a DM I constantly scale and alter bad guys depending on the situation, party make up, etc to challenge the group. Especially a big bad? Definitely.
I post here for various reasons (uh, more than twice about my Ranger/Rogue/Fighter), you can try to guess why I'm posting if you'd like. Guessing WHY someone is posting and responding to THAT is kinda odd....I'd say Strawman Fallacy, but that might be stretching it. Just respond to the current thread? Looking at my past posts, and bringing your thoughts on those posts to this thread is kinda creepy. Let's say I was wrong on a prior post, people changed my mind and now I'm posting about a different issue. Are you assuming I'm going to be wrong again? Maybe you think I didn't learn my lesson and I'm just arrogant and never going to change my mind. Please just stick to the topic of this thread.
Sometimes I post about an issue because I don't understand something. People shed light on a subject and I understand it better. I'm more than willing to admit I'm wrong and this forum has changed my mind more often than not. Better to talk it out here in the forums with an impartial audience than make a scene at the table where people might have ulterior motives on a ruling.
What are these message boards for if not to have a discussion about things D&D? I've readily admitted fault when I read something wrong, even though coulda swore the RAI was something different.
Relax, it's just a discussion. It's just a game. Even talking about a game should be fun. If discussing the rules about a game stops being fun....then something is wrong.
Reading all of your posts, I honestly don't think you are a good fit for your play group, and there is nothing wrong with that. You are very 'Me vs. the DM' and any time things don't go your way you cry foul. I would recommend that you offer running a few games for your group so everyone can get a chance to walk a mile in each others shoes.
JGol,
The only people fit to judge if I'm a good fit for my play group is my play group, not you. I'm not "Me vs. the DM". You're wrong. It's me vs. the NPC my character is fighting (which is run by the DM)....if I thought it was a personal thing between me and my DM, then that would be a different story.
If I DO think something is wrong or unfair, I'll bring it up. DM makes a call on it and I'll not hold up play hashing it out; that'd be rude to everyone else at the table. Usually I'll come here with the issue, get impartial opinions and decide if I need to press the issue further. Sometimes the DM lets me get away with something I shouldn't have, I look it up later and let him know "whoops!" We'll play it the right way next time.
That's just part of the game. Treating discussions about rules and game play shouldn't result in arguments...letting things become personal in D&D is stupid and should be avoided at all costs. If the DM is playing an evil NPC, the DM isn't evil...the NPC is.
My character thinks all dwarves are ugly. My buddy knows it isn't personal....it's just roleplay. The Dwarven Barbarian considers me one of his best friends, even though my elf thinks he's loud, smelly and can't throw darts for shit.
Maybe you're getting a slanted picture of me/my character. If things go right 95% of the time, I'm not going to post about that. Game went well, everyone had a good time. Snacks and pizza, maybe a few beers here and there. Characters get xp and we talk about feats, character progression, plot development.
If I posted about all the good times we had, all the rp that was fun (or even when the rp wasn't quite so fun), how our Kender got arrested and did community service for her daring to swim in a holy fountain, maybe you'd have a different view on things. That'd flood the server with, "I too had a good game session, tanks tanked, dps did dps, healers healed and did something off the wall (Banishment) that totally made us high-five our War Cleric. Our Paladin totally saved our asses....that isn't something people usually post about because, that's the whole purpose of the game. "
Thanks for your input though! The reason I post here is to become a better player and a better DM. Why are you posting?
It seems as if you want less of a forum and more of an echo chamber. You post on a public forum but when someone makes a point that you do not like you are quick to give a scathing reply to try to discredit what they have to say while ignoring what they have actually posted. Sure, I may have a slanted idea of your group, but I can only react based on the information that I am presented. I'm not trying to offend you or anyone else here, so maybe cool down the tone of your 'your wrong' rants.
When I say you may not be the best fit, you may have noticed that I did not say to quit playing with them. I offered a constructive solution to try and get you guys to see where each other are coming from. You say you post here to become a better player/DM, I post here to share enthusiasm about my favorite hobby and to occasionally share some wisdom about the game that I've picked up over the past couple of decades. I want the game and community to constantly get better, and the best way for that to happen is to continue to build off of what came before. I've built off of what I learned from my DM, he built of of what he learned from his DM. Great thing is now this sharing of knowledge and wisdom is not limited to ones play group, so growth can be exponential.
What even drove me to comment on this thread is your insistence that your DM is cheating. You have managed to ignore the whole of that point and instead attack me for 'judging' you and to question why I even post on a public forum. I've noticed that you tend to do that a lot. You talk about fallacies of other people while making redundant arguments yourself. If you want, we can discus how I'm such a bad person for judging you and your playgroup for not seeing how great it actually is 95% of the time (which had nothing to do with the topic of this thread, yet you chastised RegentCorreon for doing the same), or we can try to make a constructive dialog that you claim to want. I'm trying to explain to you that the DM is not cheating, and when you complain that the DM is cheating, it isn't about your PC vs his NPC, it is about YOU vs DM.
The reason I post here is to become a better player and a better DM.
Here's a roleplaying exercise: Pretend you are someone else, and reply to your original post. As people here may have noticed, I am quite happy to argue both sides of a debate at the same time.
I like to think it is a useful trait for a DM. It would be nice to think it was useful for something other than mentally screwing me up!
And remember, just because I am arguing with myself does not mean I think I am wrong.
What do YOU (RenFaireMan) think the DM or RenFaireMan should have done diferently?
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Roleplaying since Runequest.
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So we start combat, the BBEG is in view. Hunter's Mark and fire the first arrow. Crit. Massive damage. 2nd arrow is a crit, massive damage. As a fighter, I declare Action Surge. Crit! Massive damage. 4th arrow...crit! Massive damage. In total I do 216 damage first round. Incredibly lucky, statistically impossible.
Next in initiative is our Monk, he moves up...hits the BBEG for another crit. Massive damage.
DM is all, "He's still up."
Next round I hit him again, twice. Round after that I hit him twice again. The BBEG has taken roughly 400 damage, if not more.
DM, "He's still up".
Me: Nevermind, I stop shooting at him. Do whatever you want with him. It's obvious doing damage to him isn't going to bring him down....just do whatever the module you're running says to do
Mob then goes through a portal and regains 50% of his lost health....
What exactly are you looking for here, sympathy? You fought a battle, which it seems the DM wanted to be climactic. You admit to doing an unusual amount of damage and you suspect that the DM fudged the health of this creature to keep things going. Then you admit to spitting the dummy after exactly three rounds of combat. What a paragon of patience and cooperation you are! Did you speak to your DM in game? Did you try to role play something? "This guy seems invincible! Can I use my hunter's knowledge to do an insight check to look for his weaknesses? Maybe he has a Philactery-style object around that we need to find!".
You've already posted twice about this ranger of yours, where you think the DM is punishing you for doing too much damage all the time. Perhaps this forum is not the place to solve the issue. Talk. To. Your. DM. I assure you, if the DM is acting to nullify some of your character's effectiveness then it is only because they think it is impacting on the fun had by the other players (like if you personally killed the BBEG on your own in one round and the session ended an hour early). It is perhaps likely that the DM *is* jacking up the HP of bosses outrageously so that doesn't happen. If your fun is being ruined by that, talk to the other players and the DM. Start a group chat. I promise you, nothing anyone writes on this forum is going to solve this situation for you, that will have to be done by communication in your gaming group.
I've posted many times about this character, as it's the one I'm currently playing and the highest level character I've ever played. Unknown territory. I guess you can take in all my prior posts and let it influence this thread....
I talked to the DM, the BBEG had 650 hps.
We then chased him to where he retreated, lots of other players got to shine and I did very little damage....TBH. Granted, the DM was cheating and had the mob attuned to 5 or so magic items. Healer was a huge help, Barbarian got some big crits in and the important thing is we won. We then spent about 2 hours in RP, talking about the BBEG's glaive....
Team effort, we won and there are Bards that will sing epic tales of us....mostly because the Bards are in our party.
You know that npc's and monsters are not player characters right? The DM is not cheating by having it not follow PC rules. It could be attuned to 1000 items and it still not be cheating. If the DM truly wanted to 'cheat', then you wouldn't stand a chance. Reading all of your posts, I honestly don't think you are a good fit for your play group, and there is nothing wrong with that. You are very 'Me vs. the DM' and any time things don't go your way you cry foul. I would recommend that you offer running a few games for your group so everyone can get a chance to walk a mile in each others shoes.
In the case of the increased HP, at my table, I run a 3-round rule. What that means is that if despite all my careful calculations and scheming, if the dice are just so in the favor of the players and/or against my BBEG, it survives through it's 3rd round. Nothing is worse than building up months to years worth of tension and then end in a anti-climatic one turn wash. I make sure I narrate that the BBEG is definitely on the ropes and struggling, but I don't let it go down. Would I call this cheating? No, I wouldn't. My job as DM is not to blindly run stat blocks, it is to create a narrative that all present at the table enjoy.
I also give my npc mages spells that are not in the phb, fighters maneuvers that are not in the books, ect. It isn't cheating. I'm not running PC's, I don't follow PC's rules.
DM is cheating lol! As a DM I constantly scale and alter bad guys depending on the situation, party make up, etc to challenge the group. Especially a big bad? Definitely.
RegentCorreon,
I post here for various reasons (uh, more than twice about my Ranger/Rogue/Fighter), you can try to guess why I'm posting if you'd like. Guessing WHY someone is posting and responding to THAT is kinda odd....I'd say Strawman Fallacy, but that might be stretching it. Just respond to the current thread? Looking at my past posts, and bringing your thoughts on those posts to this thread is kinda creepy. Let's say I was wrong on a prior post, people changed my mind and now I'm posting about a different issue. Are you assuming I'm going to be wrong again? Maybe you think I didn't learn my lesson and I'm just arrogant and never going to change my mind. Please just stick to the topic of this thread.
Sometimes I post about an issue because I don't understand something. People shed light on a subject and I understand it better. I'm more than willing to admit I'm wrong and this forum has changed my mind more often than not. Better to talk it out here in the forums with an impartial audience than make a scene at the table where people might have ulterior motives on a ruling.
What are these message boards for if not to have a discussion about things D&D? I've readily admitted fault when I read something wrong, even though coulda swore the RAI was something different.
Relax, it's just a discussion. It's just a game. Even talking about a game should be fun. If discussing the rules about a game stops being fun....then something is wrong.
It seems as if you want less of a forum and more of an echo chamber. You post on a public forum but when someone makes a point that you do not like you are quick to give a scathing reply to try to discredit what they have to say while ignoring what they have actually posted. Sure, I may have a slanted idea of your group, but I can only react based on the information that I am presented. I'm not trying to offend you or anyone else here, so maybe cool down the tone of your 'your wrong' rants.
When I say you may not be the best fit, you may have noticed that I did not say to quit playing with them. I offered a constructive solution to try and get you guys to see where each other are coming from. You say you post here to become a better player/DM, I post here to share enthusiasm about my favorite hobby and to occasionally share some wisdom about the game that I've picked up over the past couple of decades. I want the game and community to constantly get better, and the best way for that to happen is to continue to build off of what came before. I've built off of what I learned from my DM, he built of of what he learned from his DM. Great thing is now this sharing of knowledge and wisdom is not limited to ones play group, so growth can be exponential.
What even drove me to comment on this thread is your insistence that your DM is cheating. You have managed to ignore the whole of that point and instead attack me for 'judging' you and to question why I even post on a public forum. I've noticed that you tend to do that a lot. You talk about fallacies of other people while making redundant arguments yourself. If you want, we can discus how I'm such a bad person for judging you and your playgroup for not seeing how great it actually is 95% of the time (which had nothing to do with the topic of this thread, yet you chastised RegentCorreon for doing the same), or we can try to make a constructive dialog that you claim to want. I'm trying to explain to you that the DM is not cheating, and when you complain that the DM is cheating, it isn't about your PC vs his NPC, it is about YOU vs DM.
As people here may have noticed, I am quite happy to argue both sides of a debate at the same time.
It would be nice to think it was useful for something other than mentally screwing me up!
Roleplaying since Runequest.