"Hey, what are we supposed to do?" "It's a sandbox. Like Skyrim" Skyrim: opens with a dragon attack and tells you to go to city A to advance the story

Is it a nuclear take to say that the DM in the Mary Sue Story is at least partially responsible for her behavior? If she's taking too long during morning scenes the DM needs to put his foot down and tell her to save the RP for the actual story. Also the DM should have NEVER allowed her to divine intervention her way into the Warlock's confrontation. Don't even allow a dice roll. I understand he was upset with her behavior too but if you don't want a spoiled brat steamrolling your campaign then don't spoil them.

I don’t think Miranda realizes most books and movies cut out those tedious moments to keep the story moving and keep the audience engaged. Or at the least combined such unexciting moments like brushing your teeth with a plot relevant moment or character development moment.

Miranda's story illustrates why Main Character Syndrome doesn't just waste peoples' time and interest, it often actively makes the party lose battles, because they'll cut and run any time things are looking tough, in order to "save their character" at the expense of everyone else's. Which often snowballs into a functional TPK, since the challenge was leveled assuming the whole party would participate in it. It doesn't matter if they "saved" their character when the entire campaign collapses because everyone else is dead.

The second story, specifically the tiefling girl dilemma, is SO FRUSTRATING for me to hear, because I'm almost certain I know exactly where the DM pulled the idea for it from, as I used this same setup at the start of my longest-running campaign (it's based on an old Twilight Zone episode, "The Howling Man") and the ENTIRE POINT of the set-up is forcing the party to make a choice and live with it: either release a potential evil or leave a potential innocent to their fate; there is no other option, it's either action or inaction. Taking away their agency like the DM here did undermines everything the scene is designed to evoke, and it's clear the DM just wanted to introduce a BBEG and force it to be the party's fault, which could have been done so much better in so many other ways.

The DM of the slave story was poorly adapting a twilight Zone episode called the Howling Man

Wait "not every PC is like this"??? This DM isn't the same DM that got a bunch of players pissed at him for his "realistic, medieval" Campaign with the warlord who got both his legs cut off, and then rode away on his horse like it was nothing... IS IT?!?!

4:18 This sounds like an episode of Twilight Zone (which itself was based on a short story), where a monk had Lucifer imprisoned in a cell in his monastery until a visitor set him loose. The monk in that episode was also deliberately vague because of the free will covenant or something. However, after the reveal, the monk took it upon *himself* to recapture the Devil, instead of laying it on the visitor. The point is: this story premise is not without precedent, yet it was poorly handled here.

Well, I mean... "incredibly deadly tasks which almost certainly would result in death or dismemberment" is a highly accurate description of your standard D&D quest.

Ok, one extra, pedantic complaint I have about the Miranda story: When you pray for Divine Intervention, you have to roll equal to or _below_ your cleric level. A 90 would be a failure.

tbh the masked GM gimmick could be done really well for immersion, but I think it would work best if you had different masks for different NPCs. That, and it's not something ever game can use well lol

Oi…the one with Miranda was painful. I had to try so hard to get a group who is on session 23 now with a year of playing (my longest running campaign ever) and there were groups subjecting themselves to that sort of behavior for that long…

When I read the thumbnail, I imagined a priest hearing an objection and just moving along with marrying a couple anyways

Don't be a Miranda, the best players know when to shut up, and let a scene play out. Bonus points if you actually remain silent and let your friends character have their moments.

Why can't the last guy just make up his own girlfriend and leave real women alone?!?!?!?

The Miranda story expertly shows why you confront set guidelines or kick players like that before the $#!+ hits the fan.

All I'm saying is if your characters are breaking their oath of pacifism to "capture" something so dangerous they have to break their oath In what world wouldnt they just chomp the bit and kill the dangerous thing? I know "oath" and all, but you're already breaking it, it means nothing to just go ahead and kill it

Look I get it that most people want to be nice and unproblematic and non-confrontational. But with a player like Miranda, you DO NOT owe them politeness after they refuse to listen to any criticisms. Some of ya'll need to know that there are times when it's ok to call someone out and make a scene.

4:13 so… the DM is just hoping none of the players have seen the Howling Man episode of the twilight zone I guess

4:40 this whole thing sounds like the DM had a bunch of ideas very crammed into a single campaign. (probably because he knew nobody would want to play more than one campaign with him.) And the whole thing of a pacifist church having imprisoned a personification of evil while being extremely vague, and expecting the party to be the ones to release the evil so they can be charged with imprisoning or the feeding them, is the plot of an old twilight zone episode. And you can tell that that’s where he got the idea from because he had no nuance to it. That’s why when the players decided they weren’t going to release the child because everybody was being too vague he forced the issue by having someone else do it and yet it’s still being considered their fault.

That mask sounds like a prosthetic mask. Commonly used for burn victims

0:44 Oh, yeah, the famous "Let me cover my face so when I'm making a NPC talk you have no clue about their facial expressions" kind of immersion, of course. Every great story teller knows about it, I'm sure!

There was a fantasy RPG in the 80's that did include a special mask for the GM. Not a full face cover, think more a Venetian style carnival mask with a dragon wing motif ... but made of cardboard

The "nice guy" demanded pics?😕😤 Wow just wow.

1:21 "While it's definitely not something I think actually works, nor would I recommend doing this" You mean you're not wearing your plague doctor mask while gming? I'm sure it would not be distracting at all for your players!

Every time players ask "Why is something so stupid / contraived / etc" there is simple reason for it - DM considers those players stupid / uncooperative / stubborn / etc and tailored content to make it easy for them to engage with it

You can absolutely run D&D as a sandbox game. In fact, that's how early D&D was genuinely ran and even how some early adventures are designed; the ironic Keep on the Borderlands is made like this. It requires players a DM to at least have plot hooks though; rumors of someone going missing in the local caves, bounties on near by bandits, etc. though. Seems like the first DM didn't do that at all and just wanted the PCs to come up with stuff. But like... Really, I wish more players/DM would do standbox stuff 'cause the standard idea of a more linear storyline in D&D never ends up getting past like six or seven sessions.

Intro: Yeah, the mask sounds like it's very distracting. The "Can I ______ Game Master?" sounds like he might also be power-tripping a bit. When the DM Wants You Dead: You got to love it when "Gritty Realism" is used as an excuse to make the players suffer and the story bad. Great. Another MARY SUE: Wow, I'd hate to play with her. She couldn't even let the other players have their moments. And I hate her using her alignment as a weapon rather than a tool. Do... You Actually DM?: Sounds like the DM from a video or two ago who added stuff as the players asked. These DMs sound very lazy and uninspired. The players weren't very good either (at least two of them). "I dOn'T cARe YoUR're MaRRied": I pray that Creep doesn't learn anything about OP, and that his officer keeps him on a very short leash and catches wind if Creep does try something. No one should have to feel that way.

Miranda made the boss fight a self-fulfilling prophecy by dipping with Wizard

I had a party where 2 out of 5 of them refused to learn how to play the game. no matter what I did or sources I sent they'd never remember. I've since ghosted them.

It's wise to have your guard up at least bit, and don't just give such obvious signs the brush off.

I hate starting in a random Tavern for no reason… I haven’t DM’ed much but on my first homebrew campaign I started everyone as the bridesmaids and groomsmen of a wedding and told all my players that they had to, in some way, know the bride or groom well enough to be there… This actually worked out well… The bride and groom got attacked and abducted during the ceremony… I railroaded the players to escape by making them be in suits and dresses with no equipment forcing them to flee as their friends were taken… The short campaign was based around saving the pair

Oh, thank god. I really needed something to watch. This shift just will not end!

On the mask thing: could work in a setting where everyone is masked in-universe (individuality being banned or something) and the mask a reference to that, but otherwise the lack of facial acting and the distracting gimmick are going to cause more issues than it solves. On the topic of sandbox games: they still need an intro and a bit of framing. Even Skyrim had something going on at the begginging rather than the PC just getting up from their seat at the bar and deciding to go on an adventure.

As always, let's not overlook that in the second one, the DM is at fault too, how the hell do you not stop her? And how do you let her roll a d100 to enter another dimension?

Yeah the masked GM gimmick personally for me would be extremely distracting not to mention unable to listen to what their saying. I have mild tinnitus and even wearing a surgical mask I’m like please speak up. If you want costumes and stuff try larps at the table if least expect the GM to make sure they are clearly understood. First story yeah if all you do is toss defeat after defeat to your party your not going to have them come back not saying oh there’s good people here you just haven’t met them and everyone has a giant stick up their butts. This whole demon lord gotcha moment is just so railroaded out and if the dm seen they weren’t going to fall for it he should of let them save the girl and give them that little win. Second story while I enjoy roleplay doing just mundane tasks that’s not tied to important encounters just really lags the game. What might look fun to do during the first couple sessions really is starting to feel old hat by the 12th session and your still lvl 3 and made very little progress. While I like her creativity Miranda really needed to appreciate the other peoples time and give them a chance to play and have their moments. This shoehorning into conversations and scenes where she’s not present and hijacking another players moments is just really a jerk move to do. I’ve had DMed sessions where this happened once and I immediately told the problem player your not there keep quiet. I’m like seriously DM why did you let her steal the warlocks moment Jesus have some balls and just say no. Spotlight hogs can be tricky to deal with sometimes they are really good at roleplay and it’s hard to say no. But if you don’t then the other players never get a chance to have that moment or it’s completely stolen from them. Third story yeah this DM had to be new right off the bat. Taking so much time to move in combat I’m picturing them looking at stat blocks and learning the system while trying to look professional. Sandbox game yeah I almost never have heard of rolling on a table what things might happen. Sure a bandit camp raid the ubiquitous tavern scene but a extra dimensional maze you just fall into. That’s just random. And then it goes down that dark and creepy path I’m thinking why isn’t OP saying anything about this. Sure he’s writing about it now but he’s having to sit there and awkwardly listen. Yeah no help from PCs guy playing a bad rainman knock off just really highlights this group is seriously not something you’d want to go off on an adventure on.

Ok i know theres all those stories about lawful stupid paladin and edgelord assains but WHY DIVINE SOUL? I mean its obvious why, chosen of a god but its my favorite sorcererous origin and sorcerer is my second favorite class. Complete sadness

The second last one was just “I dunno what to do man… uhhh you fall into the backrooms… oooooo”

Shout outs to Nexpo in this video. :) But also, another great vid Crispy, loved it.

Years later op discovers that their long list farther was the GM that day.

Oh my gosh there's a player like Miranda in one of my groups. 😵‍💫 Wish I could recall any good stories. But ugh I don't even have that really. It's all very boring. But she's 100% pulled the card of loudly proclaiming "Well I guess I can't do anything! I just won't play." Before proceeding to sit and mope, refusing to talk or roll, and only after being dragged back into the game repeatedly for an hour and given direct DM attention and the spotlight did she perk up. She's the player who asks the barkeep in every tavern, what beer they have. And then she makes the DM describe them all, while her PC tries some. One time this lasted a literal IRL hour and a half. And it did not include real life beer. She does.. the most mundane stuff. And getting her to follow plot is like pulling teeth.

I'm fairly certain that some GM's including Gary Gygax himself would sometimes completely obscure themselves even behind a curtain sometimes to separate themselves from the party and act as a narrator completely divorced from the situation at hand and to remove personal biases

had a similar event to the 3rd story after the intro. the four of us were new to shadowrun with the GM's brother our fifth who had some experience (i think). the point of the group was to learn the system and play it, so when the GM asked us "what are you doing?" and we gave small ideas and he didn't/couldn't do anything with them and just kept asking what we wanted to do it felt a lot like he was trying to get us to tell him what to do. we eventually got a plot going when the orc and troll decided to hunt down some racist gang members, but it was interrupted so the DM could have the three NPCs we've interacted with flex on us and blow up a building "with our help" (read: someone needed to ride my drone, the troll needed to fire a gun, and the orc needed to watch. meanwhile the guy who rode my drone was shooting up the place, setting bombs, stealing information and tech that we didn't ever see again, and eventually got the get away car for us and the 2 NPCs). it fell apart after we started a run and the GM's brother refused to show up and the troll and orc were tired of the GM's NPCs having the same asshole personality and attitudes. i don't blame them, agreed even, but i figured the GM just didn't know how to GM shadowrun. edit: this isn't really a horror story, at least by my standards, since everyone involved was learning and tripping over our own feet.

had an idea for a warforged soldier with a metal flag pole he carries around but doesn't remember why or where he came from. he knows something belongs on the pole but cant remember what it was and wonders around looking for said object. (magic/relic battle standard) never played d&d but i think it sounds like an amusing character

I had some problems with a spotlight hog in a campaign... that had a lot of other problems, so it wasn't the most annoying thing, but it was annoying. Especially because the dm let the her do this and even encouraged it by writing a whole other campaign centered around the player in question. I'm talking about taking a lot of time for a stupid riddle, because "my pc is the one with the higher int, so I have to solve it", trying to intimidate some guards after we asked to have a low key/stealthy approach because "I'm a tall dragonborn, so they should be scared of me", or holding all the party back because they were convinced they had to "save the party" (the party was waiting for her character to exit a simulation so they could go on their merry way) What I learned from that experience is that a lot of spotlight hogging can be (and should be) prevented by the dm. Ask the other players, interrupt the problem player if they get in the way of someone else's roleplaying moment, have honest conversations off-game about the best way to make sure everyone feels like the protagonist in the story and ultimately if all else fails just get the mary sue out of the party. It can be prevented

I do a lot of being second fiddle, I'm a dm at heart, so I'm always trying to push the story forward and everyone is glad to have me there for my ability with skill checks. I am usually the party face, and I'm usually the one trying to get people to do their side missions and such. I don't try to steal the thunder though, my character is by all means a nobody and he's really good at it

BRO THAT FIRST GUY IS LITERALLY INSCRYPTION

If I’m not mistaken, GG use to DM from behind a black curtain screen type thing so no one could see him they could only hear him.

Well the mask thing is a mis interpretation of Gygax's late life dming style. He said to physically disconnect from the players. Because he wanted information to be only given through the senses explained, because he believed seeing the dm's expression would taint the experience and muddy the information. His style was very mathematical and clinical, which you might say sounds boring, but for a group of 20 y/o nerds who are obsessed with the story possible in the chaos of numeric chance, a man pan reading the dimensions of a room can make you sweat realizing it's big enough for a tunnel fireball trap

My faith in humanity is rapidly disappearing.

Crispy I really like the new background and you are both insightful and give good advice, thanks for sharing :)

Great video as usual, but that light Grasp of Avarice music in the background of the third story was exquisite.

I...what? Yes, I agree. All the DM has to be is good. I'm relatively new when it comes to D&D 5e, having mostly been into AD&D, then kinda stopping for awhile when third proved too confusing for the group I was with. (And me. It was almost a full overhaul in my way of thinking that just gave us headaches.) I might just stick with trying out the weird side stuff out there, like Dracones between the campaign I have now. Might be fun to go outside the norm, and it seems simple enough. Still. Good lord, those were not good DMs-I think the worst thing I do is when there's moments when the party gets to act before combat begins, or the 'pseudo-combat' moments. I mitigate it by giving a set initiative based on what they did to start the attack, and...well. It's the only thing they've complained a little about so far, and I've been adjusting accordingly (It's just they keep finding ways to set up situations where it's not a proper combat, so...I had to do something to be sure there was a turn order.) Outside of things going horribly wrong when they tried to stop an NPC they kinda...ah...accidentally broke emotionally from killing themself. In the end the caster accidentally killed them trying to help them, and I'll say...I was just as sad as they were, as I was gunning for them to succeed despite choices leading to this moment. But still, it doesn't compare to those guys. Or that creep. I had someone similar, but not as bad...and they shaped up quick when they realized I wasn't going to tolerate that, and would side with the people they bothered. I'd like to think they learned something valuable, as they haven't even bothered the others privately. I hope not, anyway. No one's talking yet, and I do ask them privately here and there to check in.

Love these. As a rule of thumb, I try to 1-on-1 with everyone I'm DMing for, on occasion at least, so they can be a little more comfortable talking about any gripes, or even praises within the group. I'd recommend it as long as the players are willing. Great chance to discuss backstory/item ideas/plot expectations or predictions, and generally how the real person's wellbeing is. Player or DM you deserve respect, and you also give respect. My players know this 1st thing before a session 0 is even discussed, set those boundaries people. Keep up the good content @Crispy

The Miranda story is an example of when bad DnD is worse than no DnD. After multiple sessions delayed by at least an hour, with everyone but Miranda having gripes about it, it’s time to mutually agree to find a new game or remove/fix the issue, especially when it’s online DnD. It’s not like you’re a group of friends playing it socially. I would’ve left by the 5th session in a row of over-role playing and spotlight hogging, because my free time is more valuable than others would think, and if I feel like a pure side character with little to no spotlight it’s *not* worth it anymore. So while it is on Miranda for being a bad player, it’s only around 60% of the blame, with 30% being the dm allowing it and 10% being the players letting it slide as soon as she had a temper tantrum.

in the intro i wanna say, the phantom in the source material's mask in fact did cover the entire face

I learned D&D in Army, about a half year playing once week before DM got orders, I was also waiting to get out (‘79-‘80s army was not great for women) Once out I was jonesing for a game but none of my hometown friends had played, still shaky about DMing I made heavy use of modules at first (note: I feel modules sucks DMs away from DMing on their own) Can’t recall the name, anyhow when I got this module where players start/quickly wind up without gear, it’s been decades, can’t recall as slaves or gladiator pits but I wasn’t going to DROP that on players out of the blue. We were table top so we were there to discuss possible loss of gear & money, I think there was one plus dagger being used by thief due to backstab, not loads of loot in any case. They were told there would not be a handy locked chest with their stuff (they got that when jailed once as that made sense then) but there would be slight chance but no guarantee. If they had issues about a deus ex machina start they could do new pc but it would need to be all new or keep same pcs. I was pleased they trusted me and kept their original pcs and they actually wound up better of even with out regaining lost ideas (well the cleric did fight a goon wearing many religious items as she took all of them to return them “to a temple home to them” which then gave me a plot hook that got me to start altering modules to fit this quest, which gave me confidence to introduce group to Amber based on the book series, no dice, it went of what you put points in compared to other players or NPCs (most being family members were wrote up, so I just wrote up a new generation which the players belonged to) Also in the book they had an optional quiz about PCs known past, their likes and dislikes, favorite toy or imaginary friend etc. they weren’t required to fill it out but the got a few points AND their PC would be more personalized and involved in the plot in return for plot hooks to get them in trouble.

Yeeesh. That last one is pushing getting a restraining order territory.

I see in a lot of these horror stories involving sand box games the dm doesn't put in a lot of prep when sand box games often require 10× the prep of a linear campaign

Miranda was just following orders

Real horror!

When I played my first session of DND I had done RP in servers before, but DND is not like that. I would try to stick with others and try to make myself relevant in events I wasn't initially suppose to be a focus of. My DM talked to me and I apologized because I was, unintentionally spotlight hogging. I pulled back on myself and I tried making sure unless I/the whole party was addressed I let the RP go until I was addressed. Not as bad as Miranda, but I was a that guy, tbh. I now have amazing stories of all the session my friends and I have played and many amazing experiences of love when someone else goes full badass mode on different encounters.

Warlock retained his powers because they probably would have quit the game after such massive bs from the dm. Yeah Miranda is a problem, and the dm has their thumb on her side.

That last story was very similar to what a close friend of mine, C, went through. Long story shorter. She was then in her early 20s and was part of an in person fantasy RPG group. I don’t know much about the setting other that it was LoTR based. According to her they met both in person and online. The group had been established for about a year when a new member, A, joined. C was the only woman and she is objectively attractive…and married. C is a kind, but somewhat naive person and devoted time to make A feel comfortable and to learn the game. This resulted in wild, possessive behavior by A, where he attacked any male who interacted with her, including irl. He demanded that she have no contact with any other male without his permission. It escalated into violent behavior in which A would destroy his room and his belongings, once beating his guitar on the ground during Skype with her. He would go from sickeningly sweet to enraged to sobbing uncontrollably and back to sickeningly sweet in an hour. The group disintegrated as a result of A’s behavior and C left gaming. She took legal action and A was arrested but was released due to jail overcrowding. He then stalked her for two more years. Of course, this was an issue in her marriage because A contacted the husband, saying that C was with him. Many of us told him the truth that she had a stalker. He had some very bizarre pathologies that he revealed to C. He was an incel, but imagined himself to be some kind of love god. He told her that it was his lifelong dream to “cuck” another man. He was obsessed with her ethnicity and went berserk when it was suggested that he try to date someone else, who happened to be of a different ethnicity. He screamed, you know I only go for x chicks! From what C tells me, he was banned from multiple RPG groups and vanished completely a year ago.

wow, that last one was the *real horror*

A terror to behold

If I ever get a bad set of rolls I always laugh about it

Guy from the first really did inscryption 15 years early.

I've had a couple people that get really down if they take damage or potentially go down. From a DM perspective, it's really upsetting when you give them a good story and a good challenge and get made to feel like ass that you're "ruining their fun" because they took 1d6+2 of damage out of a 80+ health pool. This last session I just ran was a final fight before we wrap up the campaign, one of my Duskblades got dropped on by a shadowdancer/assassin and failed his fortitude save vs. paralysis, I could have made it a death blow instead but I chose paralyzing, he virtually shut down completely even though he had 2 character, which his sorcerer was under fire from a hostile wizard while the paladin was flanked in a 3v1. I had an ex-machina set up to save the party if they looked like they'd lose but the fact I had a player almost fully shut down was a bit of a downer.

Blah the second story... I knew a DM like that. The DM who thinks if the players are losing, that means the DM is winning. Apparently Gygax had a very similar DMing style, and I've heard that his players hated him as a DM, and that his modules really aren't very good.

Cold open: in the book, Erik (the Phantom of the Opera)'s mask was black. That said, that GM's kind of creepy - but then Gygax and Arneson reportedly ran the game from behind a big screen wall, so... 1. ... who hurt you, GM? 2. ... there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Too much investment in rp can become a terminal case of main character syndrome. 3. This is how not to run a Westmarches game. Usually, the right answer to "why are we here?" in a ttrpg is "because it's the cost of entry" - but that assumes the game is worth entering. The ableist stereotype and sexual assault can go f&$@ an aboleth. 4. Always a good sign when a story needs a trigger warning! Especially a trigger warning for something alluded to without a trigger warning in the previous story! This is a great example of what I mean when I say some people shouldn't be allowed in public unsupervised.

Skyrim only has a "sandbox" reputation because of the modding community.

real horror of crash bandicoot

I kinda like the mask idea. But it would have to be the right game, and represent an actual character. I know there's another pretty good masked storyteller I like.

Bro legit went all Leshy on them with the mask

REAL HORROR!!!

This totally happened.

Why in the world did DM in the Mary Sue story allow Miranda to enter the warlock's dimension with a 90 roll? That's equivalent to a 9 on a D10 or an 18 on a D20. Which isn't that high of a roll. If you're rolling a D100 for it then you're looking for any roll above 95 as every other number could easily be represented on a D20. If it were me, I'd have firstly not allowed a roll to begin with, but had I allowed a D100 roll, had she got anything below 96 then I'm classing that as a failed roll. As the statistical chances of getting anything below that mean that a D20 could have simply been used.

Last OP needs to make sure their VPN is active so their IP is hidden

REAL HORROR

Hehe "Masky" Hehe Marble Hornets

More on the minecraft thing, one of the brilliant parts of minecraft in my opinion is that the main quest is IN THE NAME OF THE GAME. You mine, and you craft.

Im not going to say that Miranda was in any way right and was a serious problem beyond combat rolls, but i can sympathize a little on that end. I have a groyp that i play with out of love for the players and games we play, but the dice roller we use HATES me. I've gotten around to laughing at it, but it was very depressing to start with not being able to succeed at anything, even when i should have done so 9 out of 10 times. Thankfully, the dms are aware of this obvious problem of me being fucking useless due to the dice roller and allow me to do more with rp for bonuses to overcome my usually 5 and below rolls. I love the group, amd they love me, so it works out.

REAL Horror!

Had a player on a server who acted really creepy to female NPCs, tried to assault one, got really creepy with an underage NPC in a Viking game, was repeatedly checked on his behavior and was always apologetic so protected himself from getting banned. Turns out he was a sex offender too, and had been creeping on female members of the server, which only came to light after he was banned for blatant racism.

I personally think that on it's own, Miranda's character concept wasn't horrible, but a combination of spotlight hogging, character inconsistencies, disrespect towards the other party members and DM enabling (she never should have been allowed to reach the Warlock) are what made that character annoying.

Sounds like the gf of my friends who wants to suddenly change her mind in her "role play". It consistes of just constant mind changing. Switching up personalities. Then yelling and breaking down in tears when she didn't get her way. And knowing her boyfriend is scummy in game trying to bang every character. She opts to start fighting nearly every female npc who reject him or if they fall for his character. She gets mad. It's annoying

Serious question. As dm shouldn't you want the players to eventually beat you? I'm not saying make it quick or overly easy for them but isn't the point to get them to the bbeg at the end of the campaign?

Real Horror

As I feel, DMs should want their party to succeed. But NOT hand out wins on a silver platter, they should make the players work for it, earn it. But not be crippling to them. Too much upfront loss prevents success in the future. you need to balance this kind of thing.

Real horror

Are you positive the first story was about DnD and not an audition to be in the band Ghost?

A creep who thinks it's okay to harass married women, and doesn't like them swearing? I'd like to dedicated this next song to a very special little man. "And we know Juggalos ain't never afraid to cuss-".

real horror

One for the algorithm

I need facial expressions to fully connect to people, so that mask thing would not help me at all.

Sometimes dice just don't wanna dice on fights say, last saturday I was playing a lvl1 Orc Paladin, I was unable to land a single axe attack... but hey, I scared the shit out of a monster and it's my pet now, lmao on the other hand, none of the enemies could hit me (18 AC) and kept rolling under 5 on everything against me, but the poor wizard was even crit by the enemies shit happens lol

The Demon Girl story is just painful, and honestly quite poorly executed. If he wanted to give the players a dilemma, he should have planted signs that maybe the nuns were malicious or dissociated from reality, and then have them offer the explanation of the girl being an archdemon before the staff is pulled. If the party is not sure if the nun's story is reliable or delusional, then there's a real dilemma; otherwise it's just more messed-up set dressing in an already messed-up world.

Wow, the guy playing a developmentally delayed character as a drooling moron really got to me. It’s a very insensitive and tactless way to play a person with a disability. I know a couple people who are developmentally delayed, so yeah, the way he played his character irked me. Even though he was given no guidance in character creation, I would think “don’t mock developmentally delayed people” would be common sense.

I feel like the campaign I'm in has some over rping and attention hogging from a specific player. But you're right, it doesn't really feel like a horror story obviously because it's not terrible and the player really is doing it unintentionally. And their my friend. Half the time, I end up blaming myself anyway for being impatient. I think that's kinda the worst part, felling shitty about myself over the whole thing.