PonyFlare |
This is long, sorry!
One member of my gaming group, the only other one still remaining from our original group. (Others have left, new ones have joined...) has a tendency to railroad when she runs the game.
The two examples that annoyed me the most are following:
We had just finished a story arc and into town where a new plot hook ended up waiting for us: A stone statue of a paladin, which my character learned (through some effect that just put the info in my mind when next to it, iirc) that he was actually a real person turned to stone and was basically given the quest to break his curse.
My character, the only one to actually receive this message, a CN bard who dislikes paladins (which, as a player, I'd already made abundantly clear was my absolute least favourite class by a wide margin) just starts laughing hard and walks away. I didn't mention it, but was thinking it would be hilarious and awesome if all paladins were turned to stone.
A few sessions later we'd somehow incidentally rescued him anyway, despite no other PCs knowing about this quest and mine having already made it clear he didn't want it to happen. Probably would have actively worked against it if I'd been given any hint that we were on track to freeing him regardless while on what I believed, until after we'd suddenly freed him, was an entirely different and completely unrelated quest.
This second example ended in a literal ragequit.
This was a new campaign, I'm playing a crossblooded sorcerer (elemental/dragon, both with electric powers).
There were a few homebrew rules in effect, also the GM has an obsession with vampires. She's since actually gone to get custom fangs made for herself... this is very relevant.
Anyway, at one point one of the PCs, a tiefling, contracts a vampirism curse. She'll not actually turn into a vampire until she actually drinks blood, so the rest of the party, as a whole, did their best to keep her from doing so until we could find a cure.
Cue the GM talking to the tiefling's player outside the game and coming up with a plan that has her drink blood while the rest of the party can't interfere...
That part happened like this: Part of the plot involved some villain going back in time and changing things. (There was some ripple effect that made it change in wave that we, in the present, actually noticed and we ended up with amulets that protected us from it...) We made arrangements with the leader of the city at the center of this (a vampire, no less.) and jumped back in time. The entire party except, of course, the half-vapiric tiefling, is knocked unconscious for several hours after the jump. She managed to get up immediately, apparently because of her infernal blood. (my elemental/draconic blood didn't help me in any way, of course).
So we chase her down and she's drunk blood and all that.
The other players mostly just rolled with it, including a small retcon after another player was going to attack her but yet another player ended up saying 'what if my character had said....' and it got accepted.
I only had one response: She must die now. I would not hear otherwise and very vocally ragequit the campaign. (This was, admittedly, a very very poor response on my part. I quit rping for over a year afterwards. Have better meds now.)
Anyway, now to modern day. New campaign, different GM, this person is now a player.
We started at level 3, we're 4.
Undead bloodline gnome sorceress.
The following things have been becoming increasingly clear:
She has no combat spells.
Her favourite spells to cast are invisibility and expeditious retreat. (After earlier somehow trying to weaponize mage hand for reasons that boggle the mind for a player with enough roleplaying and GMing experience that she should know what she declared the PC was attempting was not actually possible.)
She's a pyromaniac.
The 'chaotic neutral' on her character sheet is a lie. I'd have probably shifted her alignment and had her character sheet destroyed after she shoved a vial of alchemist's fire down the throat of an enemy a while back. (I don't even remember how she was even allowed to attempt it, even less how she succeeded... I think GM just went with 'rule of cool')
In our last game, the boss fight we'd been making our way towards for the last several sessions, her actions amounted to turning invisible and going to play with a distraction (a 'baba yaga' type hut on spider legs). That made the rest of the combat safer for the rest of the party. By the player's own admission, she was going to go try starting a forest fire (keeping in mind we're in the middle of said forest) until the distraction was pointed out.
It doesn't end there. The hut had been described as something of a 'gilded turd'. Pretty ramshackle hut, but the inside was richly decorated with nice carpets and stuff. So just before trying to make her way out of the hut (the door wouldn't open) after the rest of us had finally managed to win the rather deadly combat without her she throws a vial of alchemist's fire behind her and starts burning the place down, deliberately destroying possible loot. This semi-alive thing of course doesn't like the fire and is moving around like crazy making it more difficult for her to escape... unfortunately in character my NG cleric of Shelyn wielding a glaive couldn't just let her die so chopped a hole in the wall she could escape through. The 10 foot reach of the weapon made this relatively easy. The movement and height of the spider-hut made it pretty much impossible to put the fire out. (I could have conjured more than enough water to do so otherwise. Might have salvaged something.)
I had talk to the GM about my issues in the week before last session. After last session I talked to him and gave an ultimatum: That character is removed from play or I leave the table. This will be discussed next session with the other players and which character leaves the party will be determined then.
Things will be a bit awkward, if it's me, since we game at my mother's house. It's the only place between us that's free, quiet, and has a large enough table for a battlemap!
If this doesn't go my way, I am most likely never going to play another rpg involving that person in any capacity, which is sad as she's one of the first friends I made in this city. We'll still have our board game nights though (we alternate PF/board games week to week).
For the record, I kept quiet as long as I did mostly with the memory of my ragequit in mind and not wanting to cause another scene. Also hoping the GM would himself actually call her out on her evil acts and tell her to stop.
.. and now done. To those who read through: Thanks for your patience!
The Mad Comrade |
PonyFlare, you've many years of experience as both GM and player. Your GM is willing to roll with 'rule of cool'. The other players seem willing to roll with it as well.
Instead of issuing demands and ultimatums to your friends, how about rolling with it as a player and in character too?
In character ask "what would Shelyn do?".
As a player there are times, such as these, where you must answer this question: is any game better than no game at all?
If you like everyone well enough to play board games every other week, I suggest that you take a step back from becoming over-invested in your characters. Rule-Before-Zero is: everyone is there to have fun. Sometimes this means you have to figure out how to get along as a player.
PonyFlare |
I tried rolling with it at first, but I've reached my limit.
This one person's fun is severely reducing my own fun to the point that I must answer that question with "no game is better".
As to the other question.. someone deliberately destroying artwork (such as that fancy carpet and other stuff in the shack) probably doesn't appeal to Shelyn, goddess of art, all that much. I doubt she'd be pleased. No idea what she'd do though.
theacemu |
Seems to me as though your group needs to sort out what type of game you are all playing. Different folks enjoy different aspects of RPGs, and sometimes styles clash, but if you all begin a campaign, consider a brief discussion about how that game is going to look and feel for all parties involved.
The wise gamer sorts out roles/responsibilities of GM and players. It's a social contract.
Also, the dreaded "it's really about having fun" applies, but how to get there is often elusive.
As ever,
ACE
PonyFlare |
@theacemu That is certainly something I'll keep in mind for the next group I play with, but it's over for me with this one.
I officially quit the campaign today by showing up to tell the rest of the group (The GM and through him the player in question were already aware) and also give proper goodbyes to the two that don't participate in our board game nights. I left before the game got started.