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Yeeesh. On the surface, this sounds like a power-tripping DM. Or at the very least, one who really wants to have the campaign tied down to the rails. I can sympathize with the guy - as a GM I have occasionally gotten too fond of my own creations. Honestly the best way to resolve this situation is to talk about it openly with him. Trying to beat him over the head with your rulebook is not going to solve this and just make everyone miserable.
I assume that all the other players are in agreement with you? If so, the best thing might be to ask your GM to take a break and be a player for a while, and hand off the GM-ing duties to someone else. Not in the same campaign - probably a published adventure path or something like that, but if someone else wants to run an idea of theirs it would be good. Changing up the group dynamic might help your GM get over his control issues.
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Bring his favorite alcohol to game.
Get him drunk.
Enjoy gaming again.
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Hmmmm.
Nonsense.
It seems there is a GM in story-telling mode where he's telling stories about heroic NPCs he has created while the much less significant PCs are just incidental characters in the GM's stories. That's not GMing, that's ego-tripping.
Then it seems there a player of one of these insiginificant NPCs who want's an in-game, rules-abiding solution that exploits a loophole to build a PC more significant than this GM's heroic NPCs.
It won't work.
Even if you show up with Punpun or some snow cone wish machine or some other uber-munchkin PC, the GM will ALWAYS win. He's the GM. It's his story, his ego, his game. He'll just kill you with "rocks fall". Or he'll build an even more superior hero NPC. Or whatever.
No player has EVER beaten a GM. Any player who thinks they have is wrong - that player's GM simply tanked the fight so the player could win. Any player who thinks he can beat the GM is wrong. It can't be done.
Long story short, talk to Mr. Ego and tell him how you feel. Get the whole group talking. Find a way to play that doesn't marginalize everybody at the table for the sake of pumping the GM's ego. That's the only way to beat this guy; you gotta help him grow into a mature person rather than a childish bore.
Yep, improving your GM is the only way to "win".
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Hmmmm.
Nonsense.
It seems there is a GM in story-telling mode where he's telling stories about heroic NPCs he has created while the much less significant PCs are just incidental characters in the GM's stories. That's not GMing, that's ego-tripping.
Then it seems there a player of one of these insiginificant NPCs who want's an in-game, rules-abiding solution that exploits a loophole to build a PC more significant than this GM's heroic NPCs.
It won't work.
Even if you show up with Punpun or some snow cone wish machine or some other uber-munchkin PC, the GM will ALWAYS win. He's the GM. It's his story, his ego, his game. He'll just kill you with "rocks fall". Or he'll build an even more superior hero NPC. Or whatever.
No player has EVER beaten a GM. Any player who thinks they have is wrong - that player's GM simply tanked the fight so the player could win. Any player who thinks he can beat the GM is wrong. It can't be done.
Long story short, talk to Mr. Ego and tell him how you feel. Get the whole group talking. Find a way to play that doesn't marginalize everybody at the table for the sake of pumping the GM's ego. That's the only way to beat this guy; you gotta help him grow into a mature person rather than a childish bore.
Yep, improving your GM is the only way to "win".
Getting him drunk helps with this approach too.
Rum has helped me in the past, but find his favorite drink...
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+1 to what DM Blake said.
If the group is not enjoying being told a story then as a group tell the GM that you don't want to continue in his campaign but he is welcome to play in your new campaign that is continuing the same story. One of the existing players, e.g. the King can take over the role of GM.
If the rest of the group is enjoying the game and you're not, then you have two simple choices. One, suck it up and keep playing; or two, leave.
This problem with the GM ego-tripping has to be solved with a 4-eyes-talk with the DM and you.
it is best if you ask around the other players how they feel, to see how wide this problem is.
But dont confront him all at once. This will feel to him like a ganking.
This needs to be solved in the grown up way of honestly talking about your problems with the person causing it. This can be hard.
If you cant get yourself to do it, its best to leave this group.
It's a touch cheap, but use the Fleshgrafts craft ability to bind a bunch of Cyclops eyes to yourself.
Next time he calls for 3 20s in a row, use flash of insight to auto 20 on the rolls, as your character fulfills his destiny exactly as forseen.
Admittedly it does involve becoming an eyeball covered freak, but hey, that's life when you mess with fate itself.
Or, more reasonably, get your group together and talk to him about how he keeps messing you about as a group and having NPCs be the focus. He might not even realize what he's doing, could be he's sincerely setting out the challenges thinking one of you will pass, then after you all fail thinking 'Well, I guess there are NPCs who are as proactive as you lot, so one of them inevitably gets it', then moving on to the next scenario in the hopes this time you'll gain amazing cool powers, not realizing his mistake.
Never attribute to malice what can be laid at the feet of honest incompetence.
No player has EVER beaten a GM. Any player who thinks they have is wrong - that player's GM simply tanked the fight so the player could win. Any player who thinks he can beat the GM is wrong. It can't be done.
I have, several times. Under conditions very similar to those described by the OP.
It was always a pyrrhic victory, it destroyed the campaigns.
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No player has EVER beaten a GM. Any player who thinks they have is wrong - that player's GM simply tanked the fight so the player could win. Any player who thinks he can beat the GM is wrong. It can't be done.I have, several times. Under conditions very similar to those described by the OP.
It was always a pyrrhic victory, it destroyed the campaigns.
Bag of holding+portable hole= hold the game hostage
No player has EVER beaten a GM. Any player who thinks they have is wrong - that player's GM simply tanked the fight so the player could win. Any player who thinks he can beat the GM is wrong. It can't be done.I have, several times. Under conditions very similar to those described by the OP.
It was always a pyrrhic victory, it destroyed the campaigns.
Your GM pulled his punches. He never fell back on "Rocks fall, everybody dies!" Sure, that ends the campaign, but if it was ending anyway, he at least gets some Mutually Assured Destruction (which was the original definition of "MAD"). Nobody wins, but at least he knows you didn't "beat him" as he's packing up his campaign materials and going home.
No player has EVER beaten a GM. Any player who thinks they have is wrong - that player's GM simply tanked the fight so the player could win. Any player who thinks he can beat the GM is wrong. It can't be done.I have, several times. Under conditions very similar to those described by the OP.
It was always a pyrrhic victory, it destroyed the campaigns.
That doesn't sound like you really won...
So to me Blake's statement still holds true.
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a witty response involving alcohol
a well-thought and intelligent suggestion about resolving the conflict at hand
Soooo torn by which to agree with...
soooo torn...Wait, have I GM'd for Alex D?
a witty response involving alcohola well-thought and intelligent suggestion about resolving the conflict at handSoooo torn by which to agree with...
soooo torn...
Wait, have I GM'd for Alex D?
LOL, I think you were beaten with rum. Now the only thing left to do is thank Alex and ask him if you may have another...
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He took a player's character away and made it an NPC because he thought it would be more fun to run it himself????
:-O
That would have ended the campaign in every single group I've ever played in.
It's not like he turned into a vampire or werewolf or something, right?
He became a king, so the GM stole the character?
That's horrible!
:-(
Is your GM Draco Malfoy????
Carishia, why is your alias name green??
Pathfinder Society character aliases are in green.
winning = everyone having fun
Losing = some people not having fun
It has nothing to do with power level and being able to destroy the campaign.
I would be interested to know why the DM changed the King to an NPC? Was it your character, did he give you a reason? Also there may be many reasons why your DM not wanting you to found a new religion, maybe another religion has an important part to play in the campaign.
I presume you are playing kingmaker from your description?
Incidentally if your DM is giving you extra power like spellfire or its equivalent for a few sessions, taking it away isn't exactly bad. It's not a net loss.
More information would help us give better advice than "sucks to be you, find another group".
I guess you could try using roleplaying to set up situations where you get to embarrass/mutilate/murder some of the more treasured NPCs though they'd probably just "poof" back to life miraculously. Perhaps just making fun of them would work better. Ridiculing the DM and his NPCs seems more direct to me than bringing a super powered character through a rules loophole to upset the DM and destroy the game.
@alexd1976 - It is funny that you mention getting the DM drunk since the DM we play with who has the most oppressive NPCs is also the DM who typically drinks a lot during the sessions. I kind of shrug it off, but my girlfriend finds it to be kind of a drag that every little town seems to have at least a few NPCs who outclass the PCs and tend to berate/lecture/threaten them.
The mark of a good/mature GM is being able to roll with the wishes/plans of the players, regardless of the campaign. Not to mention, the game is about the PCs, not the NPCs, and the point is to advance the PCs as characters, and develop their story, much like you find in a novel. If you want them to do something, the GM needs to give the players incentive to do so.
The mark of a bad/immature GM is using his status as GM to do whatever he wants at whim, take PCs and turn them into NPCs for no reason, making them do what the GM wants them to regardless of the player's desires.
As a GM, I've rarely done pregen campaigns, always made my own, and made them about the PCs. I always asked the guys what they wanted their characters to become, their goals, etc., and GMed according to that. I never tried to insert overpowering NPCs to overshadow them.
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Have you told him that you find these 'super NPCs' frustrating? That you'd rather the story focussed on the PCs-as-heroes, not as supporting cast? He may well be concerned with providing a 'cool story' and have fallen into the trap of thinking that retaining control will lead to more elaborate and hence "better" plots (it's an easy mistake to make, in my opinion).
Don't expect him to guess what you like - the best way to give him a chance to improve is to (politely and respectfully) tell him what you enjoy about his games and what you don't.
Responding to not enjoying something by trying to come up with something he won't enjoy is unlikely to work out well (even if you succeed - it will just mean that both of you are having a miserable time). If you don't tell him about the problem, he may well just start to think of you as a 'problem player' and never realise it was a response to his DMing style.
When this one guy wasted a whole gaming session insisting a monster who got a 1 on his crit confirm roll should drop the weapon, I simply threatened to stop playing. I went home, told my friend to tell him I would not DM or even come to his house again till he accepted it as a normal hit. I also insisted fumbles are dead. I was not going to continue the argument, ever. My friend talked to him. He agreed before the next session. The game went on.
Something like this might work in your case. He can't tell you, "Because I'm The GM." if you are not there. He does not need PCs to tell himself a story. He does to play Pathfinder.
I thought of more. If he denies an item to a PC who could use it better, such as a fighter versus an NPC warrior, start asking him why he hates fighters so much. Drag the whole fighter spellcaster discrepancy mess into it. You can do the same thing with Gnomes or really any race, class, or religion.
An artifact holy sword does no good on a wall in a church. It should be chopping up demons, undead, and aberrations in the hands of a paladin. Any NPC with some real good item should be killed by goblins and the party can go get it back from the wimpy goblins who took it.