What was your worst DM experience, and how do you avoid that stuff when you DM?

[doseyclwn]

Read a similar thread on reddit awhile back, thought it might be fun to have that discussion here.

[Logan-05]

I played a campaign once where the DM permitted one character to have some kind of 'dark' secret in his past that somehow related directly to the campaign we were on. He was this 'mysterious' PC - hooded, never talked, kept separate from the other party members. And to keep to form, that player started doing all kinds of things that were suspicious to the other PCs and came to be viewed as outright hostile to the party. The cohesion to the party quickly broke down, to the point where all other players voted this mysterious PC out of the party, and refused to proceed further with him. (There were some who wanted simply to kill him outright and proceed onwards). This was a point that the DM and that other player both seemed not to understand - from a risk / reward perspective, the risk of keeping that PC around far outweighed the reward of the utility he brought to the party. That's a polite way of saying he was a pain in the ***, hostile, and totally expendable. Things had degenerated to the point where the campaign had ceased to be the thing of interest any longer, and instead, everything revolved around this one PCs dark secret and his great 'mysterious' past. It was narcissistic. I ended up bailing on the campaign, along with 2/3 of the other players. I think avoiding this problem is relatively simple. My own view is that kind of character background can be useful if it's there to give a PC some *general* motivation as part of a campaign. The 'dark, mysterious past secret" thing becomes more problematic when it's specifically tied to your campaign plot, and even more so when it causes the 'mysterious PC' to act in ways that are adverse to the party.

[kylania]

*subscribes to thread to monitor for current players* :o

[Zacchaeus]

A long time ago when I was a young chap and my boys were all - well just boys varying in age between 8 and 13 I ran a published adventure (I can't remember it's name) for AD&D. Things went horribly wrong and all of the party members were snuffed out in a terrible fight with something that they should have avoided fighting. There was much wailing since my youngest had become very attached to his little Dwarf character and I got pelters from my wife for being a horrible father :)

From that point on I fudged some dice a little and whilst not exactly letting them 'win' I was careful not to kill them without some heavy hints that severe danger was on the horizon. 30 years later and I'm still doing this and the buggers take considerable advantage of my generosity :)

[Manahtar]

When i was starting DMing, i commited the railroading sin, i couldn't improvise anything at the time and when the players went on a path i haven't planned i just put high level traps to disuade them. Untill the wizard couldn't detect a trapped door and i ended up with a TPK. Well, 2 survived, but after that we stopped playing for a while, and when we started again, it was a new adventure with new characters. I was lucky enough that they were all my friends and forgave me because i was starting, but it was a really bad experience and no one was having fun, sadly i realized that too late.

[Black Hammer]

Convention games. The players you get at con games have nearly put me off going, let alone running at, cons.

Satanists trying to evangelize at the table (in D&D, where it's totally out of place; could do it IC in Shadowrun, I suppose), someone complaining I didn't include any gay or trans characters (my pregens don't have names, genders, or anything specified past basic stats, so this incident got a little surreal), and folks giving me a hard time about asking them not to swear or make dirty conversation when the next table over has kids playing (I list my games as 16+, I expect players to act like adults.)

The other rule I've had to apply is no PDIs. Public displays of affection? Sure, kiss your spouse on the cheek when you check in about lunch plans. But public displays of intimacy? Nobody's hands in anybody's pants. I used to make the chewing gum joke about that (did you bring enough to share?), but nearly got called on it once.

[Maspalio]

When i was 20, i ran by a friend i had not seen for years. He told me how he craved to play a Vampire campaign. As i DM'd for years, i thought it'd be easy to please him, and have a great RP session too. So we met at his home a few weeks later and i had three players : this ol' friend, his girlfriend, and a buddy grabbed away. My friend created an Assamite. I had revamped an old scenari with a bit of action and mysteries. Very Dan Brownish style. I had some candles on the table, and everyone was in the mood for playing something dark. I described the setting, and put the first friendly NPC in the scene. " - hello, i have to thank you for ... [Bang] ". The Assamite played by my friend starts shooting at point blank on that NPC. Well, he's a bit nervous i thought. But all along the introduction he started shooting at every NPC i put in the game. I couldn't even have the story going, and It was very annoying after the fifth NPC killed coldly, without a reason. I tried to relax him, but no way : he was just at the table to shoot thing, no matter what. Finally the other players jumped his character and killed him. Something i helped a bit with some arranged rolls... Worst DM experience ever.

[chadhill]

This was an EPIC faux pas on the part of the Story Teller. This is actually a very good way to keep groups togeather if done right, but it is VERY tricky and always difficult, the result can be devistating if done wrong. Secrets are great bonding ponts for players ( or at least the shareing of secrets), these secrets make great sub plots, but when they get so big that they interfear with the main plot the situation almost always goes south (case in point). My advice here is, as a Player, don't be too afraid of "secrets" but be aware of them (they might be neccessary to the plot), and if they do become too cumbersome then be honest tell the Story Teller, they always know more than they let on and might not be aware of the overall sentiment of the party, let him know that he is about to loose his party. (We HATE that).

[chadhill]

time for a Trasque