D&D Camp

[Nohbody]

[PeeWeeHerman]I know you are, but what am I?[/PeeWeeHerman]

[Sheldonrs]

OK. I've been following this thread and, as a former D&D player from 30 years ago, I feel justified in saying...


NERDS!!!!!

[Nohbody]

So, yeah, anyone that tries to rules-lawyer on you is pretty much automatically wrong. Rocks fall, everybody dies.

When I was younger, the group I occasionally played with (Star Wars, not D&D, but the principle holds) was pretty self-policing about rules lawyering, without the DM's intervention.

We referred to it as "throwing 2D6". And, no, "throwing" is not figurative.

(Mind you, we're talking about a light toss, not trying for a fastball in a pro baseball game. Still smarts, though... which was sometimes the closest the offending party got to "smarts", particularly first-time visitors. )

[Jetfire]

Geek: That sounds a lot like my DM's attitude to gaming. Of course, us players can give as good as he can, so it's a good balance.

And we have a very nasty habit of zagging when he expects us to zig. (Big nasty dragon we have no chance of fighting? Stay and fight! A small group of minions we'd kill by sneezing on them? Run away! Run away!). It's to the point now that I know the group tends to be over paranoid over the simplest of situations now.

He says I can be one of his best, and one of his most frustrating players at the same time too. Most of the time, encounters go on, and happen normally. But occasionally I'll get an idea (and my characters tend to be notorious for thinking outside the box) and I'll ask him if X is possible. (Usually followed by if Y is possible in the next round, and finally if Z is possible in the round after that). By the time Y comes up, he (the GM) is beginning to dread what's coming, and when I drop Z on him, he's like "Oh crap!" (in a good way) because I've pinned him into a logical corner he can't work out, usually by using tricks and spells that have no real reason to be used together, but have no real reason why they COULDN'T be used that way. He both dreads and looks forward to the times in encounters when I send him the "Can I do X?" message, just to see what I'm trying to pull off.

[Geek King]

I would like to Object.

The DM is MOSTLY right, but DM's also cheat and scheme. So, they can't ALWAYS be right

Things your GM won't tell you:

1) Yes, I fudge the dice. Most of the time, it's to save your character's ass when I have a hot streak.

2) Sometimes I lie about the adventure layout. I know GMs that plan out the encounters in advance, then modify the adventure as you go along so you run into everything. A good GM doesn't let accidents happen. A great GM makes sure you don't realize how much he's bending things.

3) I don't care how cool your character is. I can crush you in one encounter anytime I like. I don't because I want the adventure to go on as much as you do.

4) I love when you brag. It gives me more ideas to use against you.

5) I get tired of you running the same damn character type every campaign. Why are you basically building a ranger in a Cyberpunk game? Try something different!

6) I notice when you cheat on the dice. What you don't know is I just upped the hit points and AC on the monster you're cheating against. Hiding your dice rolls isn't fooling anyone.

7) GM bribes of free food does work. Blueberry and banana pocky especially.

8) If you do something heroic and selfless, I'm less likely to kill you, even if realistically I should.

9) Stop complaining about something I do that you don't think is 'realistic'. I will do an encumbrance check just to point out how unfun reality is Mr. Walking Weapons Rack Bank & Trust. Enforcing ten coins to the pound will make you a lot poorer.

10) Sometimes I just want to scream, "There's nothing there you boobs. Get a move on!" I don't, but I want to.

11) A lot of times, I won't make you roll for something if you actually role-play it out. You will likely get better results that way, too.

12) Sometimes I put in encounters with no pre-planned conclusion. Just to see what you will do.

13) Anything in character backgrounds is fair play. I will use those six siblings to torment you someday. But if you understand this, and give me that fuel anyway, I'll love you for it.

14) Perfect characters and Munchkins are boring. Min/maxing doesn't make for interesting characters, and I will come up with ways to make you interesting.

15) Coming up with a good adventure every week is hard work. Sometimes I just don't have time to do all that work, so I'll be flying by the seat of my pants some games.

16) I may not be your enemy, but I do enjoy putting you through hell every session.

[RebeccaOTool]

D&D camp? Wow, that's much cooler than any of the other camps I've ever attended/worked at. It sucks that you got a group that doesn't take the game seriously though. Then again, they're just kids. I could name adults who've pissed me off pulling similar crap at my gaming sessions...

[Nijiero]

Later they learned that she was a chosen champion, they should have saved her, yadda yadda. And they blew off the whole thing like it was nothing. So, it was determined that they should be punished for this transgression.

Last session they were mugged and left naked on a flying tree. By a bunch of angels.

/OT

Heh... ah, the drawbacks of doing something you're not supposed to... a campaign my group and I are playing... we made a mistake in it, ten minutes into the game, causing the Storylines Main Protagonist to die via Dagger to the direct center of her skull... and all the rougue had to say was, "Oops...".... Campaign ovah! =P
It's the most fun, when things go catastrophically wrong, innit?

[lordlundar]

Hmmm, I'll have to ask both you and lingering grin about using the DM part of that as my suig.

well, you have my permission.

[Gerrinson]

Right, so, I'm jealous I never heard of the camp when it started - I was still in highschool at the time and I'm already in the state. *sigh*

And jealous of GK's LARP camp. *sigh*

OT:

On the bright side, I have a great D&D campaign I'm running right now. Then one of my PCs had the brilliant idea to slaughter a 12 year old girl.

Granted, she was a Drow Duskblade/Warmage but still. I had planned for them to save her from mind control at some point. Instead he kills her and destroys the body.

Later they learned that she was a chosen champion, they should have saved her, yadda yadda. And they blew off the whole thing like it was nothing. So, it was determined that they should be punished for this transgression.

Last session they were mugged and left naked on a flying tree. By a bunch of angels.

/OT

[Calud]

Aww man I wish more people would just accept the DMs decision.

We are in an underground tunnel. In a temple to a lizard god.

Elf Hunter: I don't care about stupid Gods!
DM: Roll a Will save please.
Elf Hunter: But that was out of character?
DM: You start running around screaming at the top of your lungs!
Elf Hunter: Damnit.

[reimero]

Did anyone kill a Gazebo?

I think every D&D group has a munchkin.

Knights of the Dinner Table reader?

[Canarr]

I ATTACK THE DARKNESS! :P

Damn, that camp sounds awesome. And GK's LARP even more so. I wish we'd had sth like that when I was a kid...

And, put me down for hoping that it's some other time soon...

[bunnyboy]

Fixed for my amusement.

Hmmm, I'll have to ask both you and lingering grin about using the DM part of that as my suig.

[Andara Bledin]

Ah, but you fail to see Rule Zero's beauty. Due to Rule Zero, the DM IS always right, whether the DM does or does not cheat. Because Rule Zero declares the DM's cheats to be what was SUPPOSED to happen.

Oh, no, it's even better.

When is the last time you read a full rule-book and actually looked at what it says about dice rolls? Or, actually, any of the rules in the book.

They are not writ in stone. They have the force of strong suggestion, and anything the DM chooses to do with them is canon for that campaign.

So, yeah, anyone that tries to rules-lawyer on you is pretty much automatically wrong. Rocks fall, everybody dies.

^-.-^

[mikoyan29]

Marry me?

That aside, have you encountered The gamers? Search it on youtube, theres two 'films' and they are hilarious.

I'm currently playing Star Wars D&D, good game ^_^

I think I've seen that. A friend of mine brought something similar.

Never did the D&D version of Star Wars but I have played the minis. My favorite is the d6 version of Star Wars.