worst moment in D&D

[tsmith96]

anyting that you think was really bad that happened to you while playing a campaign.
i was just beginning to play D&D and i was eager to do stuff so i saw a sword and grabbed it and well my players soul got trapped in along with thousands of other souls over the years my DM at the time made me roll up a new character at lvl. 1 while every one else was at lvl. 10.

[Shield]

Well, since I am usually DM (my friends do not bother to buy the books other than the players handbook), I have to deal with alot of stupid players. This one player I had, wasn't a dumb person, but he made dumb choices in D&D. There were many incedents, including asking a bartender if he had any "missions," and throwing a tool at a caged beast when they were infiltrating an evil wizard clan's headquarters, alerting the guards, and for some reason telling a bandit they captured "If you try to fight us, you will most likely starve."

But one idiotic move that he made caused the death of him, and then the death of his partner. While on a quest to escort traders to a city, on the road they encountered a band of dwarves seeking help. They were looking to hire someone to rid their mine of a couple beasts that recently took it as their home. The dwarfs told them they would pay the adventurers for their duties, and the adventurers were promised they could keep whatever they find in the mine. So they entered the mine, and amassed alot of pieces of gem and various books and magic items, but when they came to a room with an underground river, the idiot insisted on grabbing a golden cup at the bottom of the river. So he made a check to reach in the river and grab it, but failed miserably, and fell right in. The river current was very strong, so he was swept away and drowned to death. And then his partner, left alone, tried to leave the cave but was confronted by the monsters and died as well.

At that point we kicked that kid out of our games.

[Moritz]

For me, as the DM, it was the greatest moment. For the players, the worst.

So, we had a mixed group of goodie goodie PC's including a Paladin. They came up to a door and the Paladin detected evil. The actual door was so evil that the Paladin passed out and the non paladin players could also feel the evil. I gave them hint after hint In Game not to touch the door. While out of character I told them that it's not advised to touch or try and go through the door.

Well, what did the players do? They touched the door and everyone in the group turned Chaotic Evil, the Paladin turned into a Death Knight, and well, it was time to roll up characters.

The same group in my NWN game came up to a door. In front of the door there was a sign that read, "Do Not Enter, Plane of Fire". They all went through the door at level 4. They emerged in a room where another sign read, "Do Not Pass through Portal" with an Out of character notice, "Do not go in to this area unless you are above level 15".

Guess what, they all went in and subsequently died due to the ambient fire and heat attacks of just being within the plane of fire.

Duh

The moral of the story, "When the DM says don't do something, Don't do it."

[Grimwell]

It was on of the few campaigns I was actually able to play (and not GM) for a protracted span. Everything was going well. I was playing a figher who had an unusually high WIS score, so I took on the roleplay angle that he was 'searching for God' and would coverse with every religious person he came in contact with on this search.

The failings of the humans representing each God kept my character from choosing one faith as his own for quite some time, but the search went on. Late in one session, the party was attacked by some Trolls and the two fighters (mine and another) went toe to toe with three of them (we were mid level). The casters and thief (2nd Ed at the time) were all sleeping and had to wake up, so we bought them as much time as we could.

In short order my character was hit a few times and then received a crit on a roll of 20. I went down to -6 hp and the GM looks at me and says, "As the light of the world fades to blackness, it is replaced by a new light -- You see a God, your God. You feel a peace you never have before!"

In a very cool plot move the GM was giving me a chance to come back from death with knowledge of the faith that was right for me. All I had to do was hang on long enough for someone in the party to rescue me. Was I that lucky? No. I was stupid.

"I get as close to my God as I can to learn everything of him/her/it!" blurted from my lips just as soon as the GM finished his descriptive statement. He took me literally and my soul rushed to my God's side to enjoy peace in eternity. Even beyond the reach of raise dead (the soul refused).

The only thing that made it bad for me was that the GM wouldn't tell me which God it was. He thought it was funnier that my character received peace and I didn't. Yes -- we were young and mean back then.

[Farcaster]

My worst moment in D&D? Well, as a young an experienced DM, I ran a module (or really, an adventure setting) in Grayhawk that I remember being called the “Towers of Zagyg.” I had spent weeks reading over the module and preparing for this game, and I was very excited to finally be playing it. The first mistake I made was that I allowed the group to port over their characters from an existing game for a foray into my game via a portal between worlds.


So, in this module there are three towers infested with all kinds of nasties—think of Undermountain but a bit smaller in scope. The characters make their way to the accursed place and decide at random which tower to explore, which just so happens to be the “Tower of War.” Creeping into the tower, the party disposes of their first group of undead assailants who are protecting this unhallowed place.

As I read the description of the first level, the party’s eyes light up. At the bottom of the tower, lies an ancient but still usable chariot, lined with adamantium. Now, this is 2nd edition mind you, and adamantium is worth an ungodly amount. But, taking the chariot is a guarantee that they will be eternally pursued by the restless dead of this place. So, what does the intrepid party do? They immediately halt their exploration (having found the mother-load), take the chariot and ride it out of the tower all the way back to the portal back to their own world, all the while being chased by an army of undead. And that was that. They were done with my module. I think the game lasted all of 2 hours.

[Moritz]

all the while being chased by an army of undead. And that was that. They were done with my module. I think the game lasted all of 2 hours.

Farcaster,

I would have had a time bomb strapped to the bottom of the chariot and killed them all.....

Mo

[tsmith96]

yeah i agree with Moritz u should have made them drop into a hole or made the portal close or put a really powerful enemy in front of the portal.

[abstractra]

I had been playing in a Warhammer campagin for about three years when my character and another players had been killed. The problem was that the god of the dead was not home so all the souls returned to their bodies as did ours. We were now creatures of chaos, undead and unclean.

The group rallied to our sides and vowed that together we could solve this issue. We would travel to the center of the earth and take on chaos, returning balance to the Empire.

After weeks of traveling and discovering how handy it was to have characters that couldn't be killed, yes we did a lot of dirty work for the group, we arrive at the dwarven kingdom. The head of the clan asked the dwarf player, " Do you feel this is the right thing to do bringing undead with you on this holy mission."

Well, that was it. He decided that we could not travel with the group and that we should have our bodies burned. I pleaded our case to him and tried to get the other players to join our cause. The just looked at the floor, ceiling or were busy hunting for something in their pockets.

The other player decided to try another tactic by screaming at everyone, hurling his dice about the room and tearing his rule book apart. When that didn't work he stormed from the room and left squealing tires down the street.

Recovering from the violence I had just witnessed I realized that my ride across town had just left and it was my book he thrashed. Three years of every saturday and friendships were on the bend.

Oh, it was also my birthday. One of the best memories I have of that game. Thanks Brad, Jim, Bill, Carol 1, Carol 2, and Mark.

[ShadowSystems]

Our party was comprised of me (Ranger), a Thief, a Barbarian, & a Cleric.
We've been given the task of finding a house & retrieving some stolen property.
As we're walking through the woods, we come across a cave.
The three of us turn to determine what we should do, and the Thief takes off saying "Don't move, I'll be right back!"
We groan, and before we can stop her, she's already IN the cave.
We hear CLANK, CRASH, "Ooopsie!" and she comes sprinting back out, a very large gem clutched to her chest.
Followed immediately after by the sounds of the DRAGON she woke up & pissed off, as it comes through the entrance into the daylight.
We all draw our weapons, but the Thief keeps running into the trees, leaving US to fend against the angry beast!
We finally manage to kill it, but the Barbarian died & had to be rez'd, I got maimed to the point where I had to have the Cleric tie my shield arm back to my body, and the Cleric had to cure himself of a couple of bad bites to the leg.
We finally find our Thief a while later, sitting on the rise of a hill, crying.
When we ask where the gem went, she just points over the crest of the hill & starts bawling like a baby.
We peak over the edge, and it's the open lip of a caldera to an active volcano - the gem is history.
"I... I... I tripped and dropped it... and it flew ... flew over the edge. It's GONE! MY SHINEY'S GONE!"

The three of us look at each other, look at her, grab her by the scruff of the neck, and DRAG her to the nearest town.
We forced her character to chose between dancing on tables for money, or shoveling out every animal stall in the village, until she'd raised the money required to replace the weapons we'd lost, the gear that got damaged, & the spell components we went through to keep us from being carrion food.
She was angry, but we told her "Either you pay us back, or we're leaving your character naked, bound to a tree, and left as dragon food."
She wails "But I'm not a virgin! Dragon's won't eat me!"
The Barbarian growls & says "We'll cover you in lamb's blood - by the time the dragon notices, you'll be half digested & on your way out his backside."

It took her two weeks (game time), but she eventually paid us all back. =)P

[Grimwell]

I like that one! Very funny, and realistic reaction in the name of the characters who were stuck fighting the dragon!

[ShadowSystems]

Thanks. =)
It's one of my more memorable events...
Well, if by "memorable event" you mean "emotional scarring"... =)P hehehehehe

[NewGrace]

I usually play rather than DM in a game, but I had an epiphany one evening and just had to run a game. I spent months planning and designing the background fundamentals and had a truely inspiring game. It came down to the breakdown of good and evil, to a world where only neutrality existed and good and evil slowly seperated and ceased to exist. The gods of good and evil were going insane as were their followers. The key was, the party had to figure out what was happening, and their actions would dictate which gods survived, and the shape of the world. I thought it would a great game to run, specially since any good or evil character in the party would slowly go insane. Well my "friends" decided to all play brothers, brother paladins... it was downhill from there. As most DM's know, there is a big difference between lawful good, and lawful stupid. One player in particular insisted on the later. The end of the game was when they sailed to a major pirate hub, a lawless port city. Aparantly when I described it as lawless, this paladin decided that meant they had no rules, and he could do whatever he wanted. He started by enforcing his view of law on everyone he met, and bullying everyone to start following his religion and do what he said. He basically tried to take over the town and enforce good morals and values....on a pirate town....by himself.... he started killing any person who wouldnt conform to his rules, and was shocked when the thousands of pirates rised up against his lvl 4 paladin. The group died, painfully.

[CAD]

In my first foray into the Lich Lords I played an NPC, and we traveled down a magical circular hall that shrank our characters to 1/6th their normal size. At the end of the hall we were facing one of the five liches (full size), but by exiting the way we came we made a hasty retreat at full size.

If that wasn't bad enough try making a second assault months later with your own PC, but the PCs from the original party don't remember the effects (Quiet on the Set) and this time it's permanent!

Worse yet try spending a weekend gaming marathon playing a PC with a fear of heights, when the adventure begins at the bottom of a cliff! Talk about water boy!

[tsmith96]

ok so there i was running through a forest i had gotten separated from my group when i ran into a goblin camp i looked around cause none of the goblins had seen me as i started turning around i saw a little goblin kid i looked at it and it ran to its mom and said can i keep it(as in me) and thats when the whole camp saw me and looked at me like theres dinner so i was like oh shit run so i took off and they didnt chase me cause i was too fast but i ran into my buddy steven he was running when he saw me he stopped and i asked him what he was running from he pointed at to trolls coming our way so i decided to fight but then steve decided to use the spell jade strike and when he used it he kinda ignited a gas leak from somewhere and blew us away we didnt die but we did land in a pile of manuer. i so would have taken the camp of goblins over him and the trolls anyday.

[Ed Zachary]

"Worst Moments"... when a DM turns into a control freak, or changes rules without proper notice.

Also when another player kills another player character.

Almost as bad are squabbles over the rules.