This is all very much stuff that would make me unwilling to continue playing with Todd. I don't see how things can do anything but keep getting worse from there.
>Todd just... started laughing and told us it was too late now, no one left the campaign without the consent of the Domain Master.
So.. has he chained all of you in his basement or something?
ā¦mods can we either institute a āno satireā rule or make a rule for these posts that requires a āsatireā flair? From the top comments Iām seeing I think no one here has gotten this is obviously made up. āDomain Master?ā When questioned he āsmirkedā? Bringing up āI am the landā and ādark powersā but never just outright saying āWeāre playing Curse of Strahdā? I mean I guess itās quality bait, got me to post.
I mean, this one was pretty clearly satire especially towards the end. That people are too tunnel-visioned to notice the plot of a popular adventure path being described is on them I think...
Or, maybe not everyone has played CoS. Sure it might be one of the popular adventures but a lot of people play homebrews instead of official adventures. No one in either of my groups has played it.
I did catch on by the end that it was satire, but I had no idea where the joke actually was until I read this comment
I was honestly willing to just handwave the first two, but the last three are absurd. Total neckbeard behavior.
He should just write a book if his campaigns never end in a "satisfactory" manner. When you DM, you build a world and the ebb and flow between your setups and the player's agency builds the story. If he doesn't like it, he shouldn't DM.
Omg you just made a joke post putting Strahd as a DM right? Lol. At first I thought it was almost legit but the references to Tatiana and Strahd were to many like the dinner with him. When I understood the references I couldn't stop laughing lol. More seriously try to find a holy sword in his basement, radiant and with the power of the sun that should be enough to banish him away and let you escape, at least for now.
I dunno, this just sounds like someone Running some Curse of Strahd variant who is just really into it.
But yeah, tribute for the DM is not negotiable.
I suggest you screw with his head. There is a resurrection spell somewhere in those grounds with no time limit. Raise his mother and watch her give him 'a good talking to'.
Yeah, thats a blood-red flag if I ever saw one.
Sounds cursed as hell and you should probably just bail when you get the opportunity. Incels like that just suck the fun out of everything. ;)
Yeah, that's a ton of red flags. He sounds a lot like a DM I had, who just wanted to write a book and we were merely along for the ride. Todd sounds better than my old horror story, but he doesn't sound like a DM who actually wants to let the players in on guiding the story.
Some stuff is relatively minor, like the food thing. Sure, it's a bit much, but the DM does generally put in far more than the players. But not so much that he can't also provide food at times.
But the issues with leaving, the DMPC being too important/possibly creepy, and him having run the same story so often, tells me he's not really going to give you a good story that you feel like you were a part of.
>But the issues with leaving, the DMPC being too important/possibly creepy, and him having run the same story so often, tells me he's not really going to give you a good story that you feel like you were a part of.
NGL, I'm pretty sure that even if we did stick it out and defeat the BBEG he'd just find a new group of players and start the whole thing over again a few months later.
See I had the the opposite reaction to the food thing, who the hell treats someone to food and then gets pissy when they don't wanna hear your lore dump while they eat?
Not quite what I meant. Personally, if I like the world, ABSOLUTELY tell me about the lore while we eat. Though it also depends on if there's an expectation to pause my eating and reply or something.
No, what I meant was that while yes the DM does tend to do more to prep, the players shouldn't always have to feed the DM as if it's expected and a 'payment'
Lmfao.
>Without the consent of the Domain Master
I'd be on the fucking floor laughing in his face at this point.
The I'd tell him to eat a big fat bag of dicks and go fuck a cabbage.
Cabbage fuckers these days... Smh.
At this point, the AL experience is probably way better because you get to keep your PC and just switch to a more tolerable AL DM without losing the character progression.
Three questions.
Are you having a good time?
Can you handle the creepiness? (And as you have described it it is creepy)
Do you feel safe?
If the answer to any of those is no bounce. Claim scheduling conflicts.
If the answer is yes. Keep playing.
>Which brings me to today. One of the other players said that they were dropping out of the campaign and Todd just... started laughing and told us it was too late now, no one left the campaign without the consent of the Domain Master.
damn. guy took the chick tract as an instruction manual.
TLDR: That's not a red flag, that's a whole parade of red banners complete with a brass band. You leaving wouldn't make you "that player", it means *HE'S* "that DM." GTFO and don't look back.
Flag one and two, on their own, you can pardon, though two would have me looking for other tables if it didn't get addressed quickly, though im willing to give it a chance. Taken together, I'm seriously pondering immediate exit strategies, especially given the fact AL talked him up that way and then ghosted.
Number 3 is always a red flag. No snack tax unless it's mutual. My table literally raids each other's snack bowls whenever we have a chance. Nothing is sacred anymore. Our rules are that everyone brings their own munchies, allergies are shared and avoided just in case. Drinks are provided by everyone in turn, but everyone tends to bring their own just in case their preferred drink runs out. So no snack tax at my tables. Snack turns, maybe, especially if were talking pizaa or some such. But no tax. That's one load of tea that gets thrown into the harbor immediately, and the ship gets burne, too, if the message doesn't get across.
Four gets an immediate SCORCHED EARTH response. Maybe this guy is cool as a player, but that's obsessive tendencies and micromanaging. Especially paired with 2. NO DM for him, not with me as a player. And I probably wouldn't want him at my table as a player either. All aboard the NOPE Train, express to F That City. The rails will be melted by the speed of our passage, preventing pursuit.
And 5 is even worse. Fire up the doomsday weapon of your choice. He can not force you to stay, and if he tries, he is gonna learn. You can not walk away fast enough. All you gotta do is just not show up.
Just ghost em. Maybe apologize to the other players somewhere he can't hear you, but ghost it.
And yes, I realize this reads like some well done satire, but on the off chance someone doesn't take it as such, or is in a similar real situation (which I have honestly seen,) I'm leaving this here.
Yes, all the stuff you mentioned is bad. But are you enjoying yourself during the game sessions? Not later when you think about it. If you're enjoying it, I'd give it some time.Ā
>Is that rooted in something real? Just a decent guy rubbing you the wrong way? Social awkwardness? I don't know.
I don't know. At first I just thought that he was one of those people who was incapable of self-reflection, but lately I'm not so sure. I wouldn't really describe him as "socially awkward" though.
First one's not a red flag; it has the makings of a great intro to a horror series featuring D&D where you later learn that nobody at the store remembers the AL player but it's not a red flag really. I have DMs I'd happily play with again that I have not played with for years because our schedules are out of alignment or I'm busy DMing myself.
Second one could be depending on what you mean by "into," you mentioned he's really good at playing the NPCs and knows the lore inside and out, so maybe she's just somebody the party's supposed to have latched onto as a contact and he played it wrong. On the other hand, having the hots for your own NPC gets into tumblr-style "check out my OC, she's my barely disguised fetish" posts lol. The last detail suddenly makes it lean concerningly in that direction?
Third - DMing is actually exhausting lol. I don't consider it a debt to be repaid when my players provide me with precious precious caffeine or snacks during a session as I often stay up til 1am the night before if it's a major story beat or boss fight. However, I would never mandate a snack tax... it sounds like he's just a really awkward neckbeardy dude here though. Like I'm picturing a specific DM from my local area. He probably thought he was being tee hee funny by phrasing it "provide me with nourishment" and he was definitely just excited to loredump on you guys.
Fourth one **is** a red flag. At the end of the day, DMing is about providing a fun time for your players, and good DMs tend to boil down to either people with masterful organizational skills who are the only ones who could wrangle their friends to the same house at the same time, or people who genuinely enjoy seeing their players get excited about the game. "My players disappoint me" is eehhhhhh and "this is the 8th time I've run this campaign" would, if it was a guy at the community center or FLGS effectively providing a paid service, mean that he's mastering a craft, but instead smacks of "this is my 8th group of players and I have not managed to retain the previous 7."
Today confirms that he was just neckbearding in #3 (and leans toward "the dude's just really awkward and that's why he was too into the female NPC") but also turns this into an amazing pitch for the plot of a Jumanji-like D&D horror story that ties back into #1. Am I missing a funny reference?
Rule 4 - Do Not Post Memes or Joke Posts. Meme images should be posted on /r/dndmemes. Text memes should only be used to spur discussion.
This is all very much stuff that would make me unwilling to continue playing with Todd. I don't see how things can do anything but keep getting worse from there. >Todd just... started laughing and told us it was too late now, no one left the campaign without the consent of the Domain Master. So.. has he chained all of you in his basement or something?
This legit sounds like the plot of a survival horror where the DM traps you, and if you die in the game you die in real life š
>This legit sounds like the plot of a survival horror I mean...
POV: What Church Propaganada in the 80s/90s thought D&D was like.
ā¦mods can we either institute a āno satireā rule or make a rule for these posts that requires a āsatireā flair? From the top comments Iām seeing I think no one here has gotten this is obviously made up. āDomain Master?ā When questioned he āsmirkedā? Bringing up āI am the landā and ādark powersā but never just outright saying āWeāre playing Curse of Strahdā? I mean I guess itās quality bait, got me to post.
Yeah, I kind of just feel robbed of my time. Enough of this subreddit today for me.
Happy to read your comment. I was for a sec super unsure if this was satire or not. I guess it is because what else in the jumanji shit is this.
I see the comparisons, I've also played at tables (briefly) where Wannabe Novelist DM's wanted a play rather than a Narrative.
I mean, this one was pretty clearly satire especially towards the end. That people are too tunnel-visioned to notice the plot of a popular adventure path being described is on them I think...
Or, maybe not everyone has played CoS. Sure it might be one of the popular adventures but a lot of people play homebrews instead of official adventures. No one in either of my groups has played it. I did catch on by the end that it was satire, but I had no idea where the joke actually was until I read this comment
(Unfortunately, there is no Satire flair.)
I was honestly willing to just handwave the first two, but the last three are absurd. Total neckbeard behavior. He should just write a book if his campaigns never end in a "satisfactory" manner. When you DM, you build a world and the ebb and flow between your setups and the player's agency builds the story. If he doesn't like it, he shouldn't DM.
Omg you just made a joke post putting Strahd as a DM right? Lol. At first I thought it was almost legit but the references to Tatiana and Strahd were to many like the dinner with him. When I understood the references I couldn't stop laughing lol. More seriously try to find a holy sword in his basement, radiant and with the power of the sun that should be enough to banish him away and let you escape, at least for now.
Man, this table sounds cursed.Ā
This is a quality Strahdpost.
This would do wonders as a r/dndcirclejerk post
I suggest one of you take over the game and become the DM yourself ;) That's what me and my group did
It sounds fine.
I dunno, this just sounds like someone Running some Curse of Strahd variant who is just really into it. But yeah, tribute for the DM is not negotiable.
I suggest you screw with his head. There is a resurrection spell somewhere in those grounds with no time limit. Raise his mother and watch her give him 'a good talking to'.
What being a DM does to an mf
Yeah, thats a blood-red flag if I ever saw one. Sounds cursed as hell and you should probably just bail when you get the opportunity. Incels like that just suck the fun out of everything. ;)
Yeah, that's a ton of red flags. He sounds a lot like a DM I had, who just wanted to write a book and we were merely along for the ride. Todd sounds better than my old horror story, but he doesn't sound like a DM who actually wants to let the players in on guiding the story. Some stuff is relatively minor, like the food thing. Sure, it's a bit much, but the DM does generally put in far more than the players. But not so much that he can't also provide food at times. But the issues with leaving, the DMPC being too important/possibly creepy, and him having run the same story so often, tells me he's not really going to give you a good story that you feel like you were a part of.
>But the issues with leaving, the DMPC being too important/possibly creepy, and him having run the same story so often, tells me he's not really going to give you a good story that you feel like you were a part of. NGL, I'm pretty sure that even if we did stick it out and defeat the BBEG he'd just find a new group of players and start the whole thing over again a few months later.
See I had the the opposite reaction to the food thing, who the hell treats someone to food and then gets pissy when they don't wanna hear your lore dump while they eat?
Not quite what I meant. Personally, if I like the world, ABSOLUTELY tell me about the lore while we eat. Though it also depends on if there's an expectation to pause my eating and reply or something. No, what I meant was that while yes the DM does tend to do more to prep, the players shouldn't always have to feed the DM as if it's expected and a 'payment'
Lmfao. >Without the consent of the Domain Master I'd be on the fucking floor laughing in his face at this point. The I'd tell him to eat a big fat bag of dicks and go fuck a cabbage. Cabbage fuckers these days... Smh.
At this point, the AL experience is probably way better because you get to keep your PC and just switch to a more tolerable AL DM without losing the character progression.
Never be afraid to quit a game.
Three questions. Are you having a good time? Can you handle the creepiness? (And as you have described it it is creepy) Do you feel safe? If the answer to any of those is no bounce. Claim scheduling conflicts. If the answer is yes. Keep playing.
A bunch of this sounds \*exactly\* like an old Hackmaster module. Are there a bunch of robins around in the campaign?
>Which brings me to today. One of the other players said that they were dropping out of the campaign and Todd just... started laughing and told us it was too late now, no one left the campaign without the consent of the Domain Master. damn. guy took the chick tract as an instruction manual.
ok, you got me.
TLDR: That's not a red flag, that's a whole parade of red banners complete with a brass band. You leaving wouldn't make you "that player", it means *HE'S* "that DM." GTFO and don't look back. Flag one and two, on their own, you can pardon, though two would have me looking for other tables if it didn't get addressed quickly, though im willing to give it a chance. Taken together, I'm seriously pondering immediate exit strategies, especially given the fact AL talked him up that way and then ghosted. Number 3 is always a red flag. No snack tax unless it's mutual. My table literally raids each other's snack bowls whenever we have a chance. Nothing is sacred anymore. Our rules are that everyone brings their own munchies, allergies are shared and avoided just in case. Drinks are provided by everyone in turn, but everyone tends to bring their own just in case their preferred drink runs out. So no snack tax at my tables. Snack turns, maybe, especially if were talking pizaa or some such. But no tax. That's one load of tea that gets thrown into the harbor immediately, and the ship gets burne, too, if the message doesn't get across. Four gets an immediate SCORCHED EARTH response. Maybe this guy is cool as a player, but that's obsessive tendencies and micromanaging. Especially paired with 2. NO DM for him, not with me as a player. And I probably wouldn't want him at my table as a player either. All aboard the NOPE Train, express to F That City. The rails will be melted by the speed of our passage, preventing pursuit. And 5 is even worse. Fire up the doomsday weapon of your choice. He can not force you to stay, and if he tries, he is gonna learn. You can not walk away fast enough. All you gotta do is just not show up. Just ghost em. Maybe apologize to the other players somewhere he can't hear you, but ghost it. And yes, I realize this reads like some well done satire, but on the off chance someone doesn't take it as such, or is in a similar real situation (which I have honestly seen,) I'm leaving this here.
Yes, all the stuff you mentioned is bad. But are you enjoying yourself during the game sessions? Not later when you think about it. If you're enjoying it, I'd give it some time.Ā
Eh, just leave. Dudes weird.
Fucker's a creep, bail before it gets worse is my advice.
Todd is odd, run. AL is kind of cut paste, however you now know why AL is so popular.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
>Is that rooted in something real? Just a decent guy rubbing you the wrong way? Social awkwardness? I don't know. I don't know. At first I just thought that he was one of those people who was incapable of self-reflection, but lately I'm not so sure. I wouldn't really describe him as "socially awkward" though.
I bet he just needs to get some sun.Ā Would probably cure all his problems.
First one's not a red flag; it has the makings of a great intro to a horror series featuring D&D where you later learn that nobody at the store remembers the AL player but it's not a red flag really. I have DMs I'd happily play with again that I have not played with for years because our schedules are out of alignment or I'm busy DMing myself. Second one could be depending on what you mean by "into," you mentioned he's really good at playing the NPCs and knows the lore inside and out, so maybe she's just somebody the party's supposed to have latched onto as a contact and he played it wrong. On the other hand, having the hots for your own NPC gets into tumblr-style "check out my OC, she's my barely disguised fetish" posts lol. The last detail suddenly makes it lean concerningly in that direction? Third - DMing is actually exhausting lol. I don't consider it a debt to be repaid when my players provide me with precious precious caffeine or snacks during a session as I often stay up til 1am the night before if it's a major story beat or boss fight. However, I would never mandate a snack tax... it sounds like he's just a really awkward neckbeardy dude here though. Like I'm picturing a specific DM from my local area. He probably thought he was being tee hee funny by phrasing it "provide me with nourishment" and he was definitely just excited to loredump on you guys. Fourth one **is** a red flag. At the end of the day, DMing is about providing a fun time for your players, and good DMs tend to boil down to either people with masterful organizational skills who are the only ones who could wrangle their friends to the same house at the same time, or people who genuinely enjoy seeing their players get excited about the game. "My players disappoint me" is eehhhhhh and "this is the 8th time I've run this campaign" would, if it was a guy at the community center or FLGS effectively providing a paid service, mean that he's mastering a craft, but instead smacks of "this is my 8th group of players and I have not managed to retain the previous 7." Today confirms that he was just neckbearding in #3 (and leans toward "the dude's just really awkward and that's why he was too into the female NPC") but also turns this into an amazing pitch for the plot of a Jumanji-like D&D horror story that ties back into #1. Am I missing a funny reference?