Let them cook, the result is almost guaranteed to be amusing.
You know, there’s something I can’t really grok in the TTRPG community, and it’s the desire for a, how do I put it, “Paint by numbers” sort of adventure. A game where everything goes right, at the exact time its supposed to, with the players only ever making an impact via backstory. No desperate struggle, no clever ideas or unexpected turns, never using the sword of doom to punch through the dread citadel’s walls, only using it for its +3 bonus to strike enemies. I just don’t see the appeal, because to me, that’s just what video games are!
" A game where everything goes right, at the exact time its supposed to, with the players only ever making an impact via backstory"
You never DMed a game before have you ?
I have, and I do. Its why i find the desire for that kind of game so alien
The DM expecting a game to go exactly as planned is a new DM. Nobody with experience on this side of the DM curtains actually expects this. As for the players, it only makes their surprise more tasteful.
Dont know what game you played where everyone expected things to go according to plan, but plans never survive long for anyone, DM or players
Dont know what game you played where everyone expected things to go according to plan, but plans never survive long for anyone, DM or players
I didnt, I’m referring to the attitude you see in posts like this. Like, in the OP, the fictional GM is picking up the ball and going home because the fictional player is doing something zany. And in the other comments, just take a look at em. There’s a pretty clear air of disdain for that kind of behavior, like its bad manners to do things “clever” in an RPG.
Without the chaos of player agency, you’ve pretty much just got low quality fiction without any sort of deviation from the course. And I dont know about you, but I dont think thats particularly compelling, dramatic, or memorable. Antics can be messy, but thats kind of the point.
Eh, but maybe its because I dont play with PUGs anymore. It’s been years since ive played with anyone I could consider a problem player, so maybe ive just lost perspective.
I see it as the DM realising the items he gave the players are too OP and deciding to remove them. A bit clunky, but reasonable depending on the item, imo.
I would’ve thought from your previous rant, that you’d be against players having too many OP items, as that can easily lead to the situation you described where everyone always succeeds and there’s no “desperate struggle”, as you put it.
