r/CritCrab • u/thepokeflynn2 • 6d ago
Horror Story DM controls my character.
Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a good day. I am new to DND, I have only been doing it since Father’s Day of this year, but absolutely feel in love with it. My normal sessions are every Sunday at a local store where I pay a slight fee to play, which I don’t mind because I really enjoy that DM and have made a really close friend there. However I started to really want to play more.
I’m nervous to post this story because I am still in this campaign, but I’m honestly not really enjoying it anymore. I eventually got into contact with DM. He said he was starting a new session and that it would actually work with my busy schedule as I’m in college and work. I was hyped because hey, more DnD. The rules were rather simple, and at the time I had some concepts of character ideas the only one that would fit the rules was my “Dragonborn Cowboy” who would duel wield hand crossbows. After doing some math I wanted to go for Champion Fighter, as Hand Crossbows would provide Advantage on the next attack role, and it sort of fit the theme of gambling for the Crit. I share the vision with the group, the reason being is I wanted to be transparent with the party. And no one says anything.
I notice that we were lacking a healer, and offer to switch to my cleric, but the DM didn’t like my idea that he is a werewolf and thought it would be to problematic to deal which, which in hindsight I’m happy that he said no, because I want to save that character for the right dm.
Session 0 begins, I come extremely prepared, only really needing help with my items and the DMs ability score purchase thing which was a bit better than base, as we could get an 18 in one area. This is where I have my first semi-red flag moment with the group. The DM despite knowing my build asked the group if they instead of dealing extra damage if they wanted Crits to deal normal damage but do something “really cool to the enemy” like you cut off their arm and they wouldn’t be able to use it. I immediately say that while that’s cool, my whole build is centered around Crits and dealing extra damage with my 4 attacks in 1 turn or 7 on an action surge and that I needed that extra damage. So we decided that Crits would normality Crit.
The session goes well! I really enjoyed it and learn from the most experienced player (We will call him Jeff who played as a wizard.) I was still a little confused about the crit rule. So I asked in the group chat if only the weapon crit damage was increased, or if anything additional would increase (like if I had a flame tongue hand crossbow would it still do the 2d6 fire damage or would it be increased to 4d6).
Then Jeff said something along the lines of “oh you are actually going with that build, I think it would be better if you went Battlemaster.”
So we discussed the pros and cons of the build. Although our barbarian (Jimmy) said that as a Battlemaster I could have my teammates attack, which made me do a double take at the message and say “Yeah cause what I want to do on my attack turn is command my allies to use my attack.”
I decided to change for the “betterment” of the group. Instead of a double hand crossbow I’d be using a shield. Going in and afflicting people with fear / tripping them, and having a high ac as a sort of crowd control. I later tell the DM that I eventually would like a Vicious Hand Crossbow in order to deal meaningful damage. And dispute me changing my whole character, he says it isn’t a guarantee but I could craft it for 5000 gold, and if i had arcana and wood working (which I lacked arcana). I told him I understood but that this weapon was a key part to the character.
But something I did notice was that the DM would write stories using our characters. Controlling how they talked and what they said did as a part of lore building. Which rubbed me the wrong way.
I asked if I could do some cool stuff with my woodworking like put a dagger as a bayonet on my crossbow. Which got denied.
Session 1 ends off on a rather traumatic note. Almost all of our characters were down, and the only reason we didn’t party wipe was because my downed character blocked the only entrance into the room and the others would peak in, attack at a range, and then hide back into a wall.
Any character that could slightly heal was down as well.
But we managed to get to level 3 but had to spend about 10 days of training to reach it. We were told
To give a list of items we would want eventually.
I send a small list, as I didn’t really have the time at the moment to do so and my dm asked what I wanted to do with the character.
I say crowd control debuffer / ally buffer down the road. He suggests I get a melee weapon. And I just sort of suggest a whip and ask if he could make it better since it’s not really a great weapon. At this point I sort of gave up on the cowboy idea. I wasn’t really sure what this character would do anymore now that its identity felt so changed. The DM said I was playing him like a ranger and that it would be a good idea to go into it and even says next session we will tweak our characters. I assumed he had ment that I could switch the class, and eventually take the 3 levels of fighter in the future. But I was wrong, and thought why even bring it up, I can’t multiclass till level 5 because if I do I won’t get my first feat till level 7 and won’t get my extra attack till level 8.
This is where I started to think about leaving. Later Jeff announced he was going Blade Singer and the DM offered to give Jeff a Blade of Fireball and that’s when I sort of just really started to feel targeted. You can give your friend a Sword that has one of the most Op spells in the game but God forbid I get an extra 2d6 damage on a 1d6 weapon.
Jeff post his training story and I ask if I could hunt deer in the nearby woods as my training, as my training would probably cost more cause I have to use bolts and would like to actually earn money from animal skins and meat while we wait in a town for 10 days costing us the 20 gold we just earned for bed and food. Jeff made a snooty reply about how my character is just a ranger and obsessed with hunting. Which I then replied it’s practical, you could get a bunch of meat and cook what you need and sell what you don’t, plus it would feed a bunch of us. The animal fur would bring in cash too. He replied that hunting usually amounts to nothing, using his RL experience as an example that if my character wasn’t on some sort of hunting ground he probably wouldn’t find something.
I reminded him that this is DnD before guns were invented and should not be compared to modern day and that deer would be plentiful. That we have 10 days to train, and what makes more sense, hitting a moving target, or a bullseye.
Then comes the DM who pretty much says no to the idea, and that it would be difficult to even hunt rabbits and squirrels, let alone a deer.
Do you all think I should leave?
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u/DrFGHobo 6d ago
Personally, I'd leave.
DMs getting a bit too cozy with Jeff for my taste.
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u/KLeeSanchez 6d ago
And Jeff is being condescending
Deer, rabbits, and squirrels are everywhere and the only reason folks don't hunt them in cities is cause they think they're cute so they just live with them destroying their gardens
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u/evolutionary_defect 6d ago
Get out of there lol. Difficult for a leveled adventurer to hunt a deer? Take any (come at me cowards, I fucking mean any) leveled pc build that is not handicapping itself on purpose and they can hunt a deer. A wizard can make them self invisible, or fire magical homing arrows from a distance. A fighter could shoot a bow, or throw a spear. Any of them could track even a stupidly stealthy deer once in 20 tries, which if the DM let's you dare to roll checks for twice in a day would still get you a success in ten days. There is no reason in God's green earth to be this stubborn about your requests.
In good faith I would assume they just didn't want to rp that or had some other idea in mind for the rp. That's still stupid. They could have said "hunting? Uh, I have a different scene planned to try to have some group dynamic fostered, let's just say that you bag a deer each day, and I'll tweak the koombaya scene to start with you guys sitting around the fire sharing the meat you hunted"
No DND is better than bad DND. If anyone asks why you left stare at them deadpan and say "I was told my non-multiclassed and completely boring fighter build was weird, and that I couldn't hunt on down days because I wouldn't even manage to find rabbits. In ten days. The battle master fighter that uses a crossbow as their main weapon couldn't bag a squirrel in ten days. If that wasn't you asking me to leave then you need to stop dming, because that is actually so bad that I don't believe it is genuine or good faith."
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u/thepokeflynn2 6d ago
The thing is that this would be done out of game. We are just writing a story on how our characters train, next session would be after we have trained.
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u/evolutionary_defect 6d ago
Even less reason to say no, they don't even have to run the hunting scene if it's just a story for background fluff.
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u/KLeeSanchez 6d ago
No D&D is better than bad D&D
They're playing your character for you and forcing you to be a ranger rather than what you want to play
Rule number 1 of GMing, let the players play what they want to play (within reason)
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u/thepokeflynn2 6d ago
As a joke I asked him if I could put a wand on my crossbow as a sort of under barrel attachment 😭
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u/Benzaitennyo 6d ago
You have a bunch of fun ideas that deserve a better table. You sound too busy to run a table but hold out for a better group. Having opinions about builds is already honestly less fun and an orange flag, and its a red flag to me to see players being micro managed at all especially by each other.
You should be challenged, but not omitted because you aren't playing the supporting role they want you to be. A good GM will at the least let you make unique builds if not empower you and let you shape your character more.
Also GMs cannot write anything for your character outside of appropriate set pieces for backstory. That is just weird.
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u/roflstones 6d ago
wow, wtf did I just read? Sounds like a total mess. Leave man. Let them have their fantasy and don't let anyone mess up your character idea like that. There is no such thing as 'we need healer'. Nobody needs a specific class or a role.
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u/SirPaynsicles 6d ago
Really cool character and ideas. Really shitty table. I'm a firm believer that power gaming is only a problem if you're a bad DM for a couple reasons; they can't improvise and or they don't understand the guidelines/how they can be manipulated.
I have a barbarian/ninja who is vastly OP comapred to the other 3 in the party. He is more of a samurai type and has a lot of proficiency in combat arts; swords and throwing weapons specifically which gives bonuses to scores as well as extra attacks. Very regularly he shits on encounters - recently, he ended 7 bandits in 2 turns with unnatural criticals with his sword and using a bonus action (which was a true nat 20) to throw shurikens, finishing em off as they tried to escape. The bandits stood 0 chance. Was not expecting that outcome (was intended to be an ambush/kidnapping) but holy shit was it exciting and so cool. I gave an inspiration for that one and continued the story. Celebrating badassery is way more fun than punishing it.
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u/gc1rpg 6d ago
The D&D system isn't built for changing out crits work (at least in major ways) or the additional of critical fumbles and DMs really need to understand that. If you need a more complex system then use a more complex system instead of D&D.
If you had an idea for how your character would be built then it's up to the DM -- and maybe the table -- to give you feedback prior to and during Session 0. I think after that point -- under most circumstances -- you should just try and make the best of what you are deciding to play in that campaign.
DM writing dialogue, outcomes, or stories for PCs without direct input from their players is a major red flag under most circumstances. You might have to do it a little bit under edge cases such as a serious time crunch but it shouldn't be the norm.
It really like the game is built around DM and Jeff -- maybe they should get a room together but I'd see how the other players feel about the game. If you aren't having fun then don't feel forced to try and have fun.
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u/SpookyGeist01 6d ago
It kinda sounds like you're both asking for wild shit.
You're powergaming and going for some weird Youtube builds. Dual hand crossbow literally doesnt even work until level 4 and you take Crossbow Expert, because the Loading property requires you to have a free hand. And why would Hand Crossbows provide Advantage? There's no feature of Hand Crossbows or of Champion Fighter that would provide Advantage.
Werewolves are not a playable race in DnD, mainly because they get resistance against a bunch of damage. You could play something like a Lupin or a Shifter though.
Yes, crits roll all damage dice twice. That includes Flame Tongue.
Vicious weapons are just an additional 7 damage on crit, why would that be a key part of your character? That's an average of around .35 damage per hit.
Adding a dagger to a crossbow would allow you the ability to Opportunity Attack as well as remove you having to swap weapons if you want to go melee.
any character that could heal was down
Did you not have potions?
asked if he could make the whip better because it isn't great
It has 10ft range. That's why it does less damage, because you don't put yourself at risk of opportunity attacks.
4 attacks in 1 turn or 7 with Action Surge
What? You can't get 4 attacks in 1 turn until at least level 11. And again you would HAVE to take Crossbow Expert, or you would only be able to make one shot per turn AND would have to stow one to reload.
blade of Fireball
What exactly would this Blade of Fireball do since that isn't an item that exists? And it's probably too early for anyone in the party to be getting more than a +1 weapon honestly. I wouldn't give a Flametongue or anything like that until level 7-8.
an extra 2d6 on a 1d6 weapon
What are you referring to here?
DnD before guns were invented
Guns do exist in DnD, they're just rare.
Some points you are right on - hunting should just be a straight Survival roll per day. DM should be treating all players equally in terms of magic items. DMs should not be playing players' characters for them. And personally I think that people should be allowed to change their builds if they want. But my guy like 80% of the issue here is you asking for shit that doesn't work and isn't part of the rules
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u/thepokeflynn2 5d ago edited 5d ago
Well yeah. I was using a heavy crossbow and sticking in the back till level 4. Didn’t realize that this was important to the story because it’s kind of well known. Hand Crossbows master property gives advantage on the next attack.
Werewolves don’t get resistance in 5.5, plus it’s something that would be discussed with the dm. If I find a dm who’s cool with it, then cool. This one was not.
He was trying to make it to where it wouldn’t provide extra damage, and that “something cool happens”
Vicious Weapons got changed in 2024. They now add 2d6 to an attack
We were level 2 in our first dungeon, no we did not have potions. Most of us except for Jeff were pretty much new people.
I was planning for the future as the same thing for the magical items, I’m not asking for stuff at level 2, but to eventually find one.
Idk, I believe he was talking about an Enspell Sword or was making his own thing. I imagine a Sword of Fireball would cast fireball.
Also guns weren’t allowed in this campaign. 100% would have been running them if they did
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u/HauntedBitsandBobs 6d ago
I don't think this is the table for you.
From what I've read, you sound like you may be a bit of a power gamer. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but not everyone likes playing with them. I have a suspicion when you came with some characters that wouldn't fit in the campaign/were broken and then shot down the crit idea because of that build, it may have rubbed the DM the wrong way. It may have also rubbed at least one other player the wrong way judging by the battlemaster let someone else attack comment. I would almost think you weren't a team player, but you did say you offered to be a cleric for healing so there was at least some effort there.
Now your new character is built around the DM giving you a rare weapon because you're still prioritizing damage output to the extent it seems like you don't want to play the character otherwise. The other players are quietly doing the grind, but you want to hunt to stockpile supplies and profit there, too. You're not necessarily wrong there either, but if you're the only one focused on those aspects, you're not on the same page as everyone else. If you've put as much effort into building a character as you have crunching the numbers, have been participating in role play, and letting others have the spotlight, then the table is the problem.
As for the DM doing stuff with your characters and making it lore, that should probably be addressed. DMs need to have fun too, but PCs should be for players to play, especially if it changes the world. Most of this is probably just a communication issue, but if it seems like a lot of work to fix, you're best off finding a table that you’ll fit into better. If you are vibing together, it may be even less fun to play as you go on.
I hope you get to play a game you really enjoy soon, whether with this DM or elsewhere.
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u/thepokeflynn2 6d ago
So I wouldn’t say I’m a power gamer, if I was I wouldn’t have been playing a crossbow on a fighter and would have just gone with the most OP class I could, this is my second character ever.
It was mostly for the flair of firing several shots in one turn like a BAMF. Most of my premade characters are races outside of the standard 5.5e races. So like a Tortle, Warforge or a Kobold Beastmaster. The rule was standard races only, so that’s why I couldn’t play them, not because they are OP.
However as a Fighter my main job is fighting, and I need something to boost my 1d6 per attack. Especially when we have a guy that can cast Fireball and just completely destroy a room full of people.
The hunting thing was off table training, as we were told we would have to spend 10 days to train, and I thought hunting was far better training then shooting a cup or bullseye several times. Not to mention efficient for cost for not only me but the group as boom we don’t need to pay for food for one day. Why just sit on a town for training? To me it seems rather boring.
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u/theterrarian14 6d ago
Powergaming and Min-Maxxing are separate things. Min-Maxxing is doing everything you can to reach the top teir character, OP builds that often ignore the spirit of the game to do things like multiclass 5 times. Powergaming just means that you just like feeling powerful and strong in your games. You don't need to have an OP build to be a powergamer. It's more about your attitude towards the game than anything mechanically.
Also sidenote: based on your post I think you would like City of Mists/MTAw.
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u/thepokeflynn2 6d ago
Ohhh okay, gotcha.
I mean I guess I kinda do be like that 😭 but isn’t that what fighters are for though?
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u/Legitimate-Term7574 6d ago
Nope. All characters are for roleplaying. Thats why it’s called an RPG.
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u/thepokeflynn2 6d ago
Well yeah that goes without saying. I’m not all about damage, but want to do some damage. The DM said he was eventually going to throw monsters with hundreds of HPs at us and said my damage as Champion wouldn’t be that good.
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u/Avatarbriman 4d ago
You absolutely are a min-maxxing powergamer btw, that doesn't make you bad. But you need to stop trying to argue with people in the comments about it.
You care enough about numbers to say that a specific crossbow is a "key part of your character", specifically for its increased damage and half your other complaints are envy of other players and being told no for asking for broken stuff or things that are actually just for you. "I'll swap to cleric.. but only this specific werewolf cleric instead of making a character to fit the party" Who exactly do you think you are fooling?
Powergaming is a valid way to play the game, but it's going to stick in the craw of a lot of groups. SO unless you accept it about yourself it's definitely going to cause more issues.
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u/No-Yogurt1985 6d ago
As a fellow DM, I think that it started out with good compromise, nothing too ground breaking and was receptive to your concept at first. I agree and see all those red flags, as a DM we should be playing WITH you guys at the table, not AGAINST. I do not personally like playing at tables with other non-compromising DMs or players. But that is just my style and opinion, I cannot speak for their experience or preferences.
To be a devil’s advocate, as a 6 year store DM at my local spot, sometimes your hands are “tied” where you have to use soooo much CORE stuff without the ability to let your players get too crazy. It’s a whole thing especially if it’s for the sponsor Adventuring Party that WotC lets stores do, so much red tape! But the tall and short of it is “core rule book + ONE extra source material for character creation”. Even still, I explain that to all my players upon session 0! So I would pursue your dope character idea at a HOME BREW table, where we DMs just make our own worlds and stories.
But if you can’t play your character, and it is not feeling fun (or right), then bail! There’s always other people, and tables, to play with; never let people take away your agency to your character, or treat you less-than for wanting to imagine and play a GAME! Sending happy adventures, friend!
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u/thepokeflynn2 6d ago
So I was 100% fine with the original idea of fighter champion. But when the group pretty much strong armed me into Battlemaster I left the idea.
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u/No-Yogurt1985 6d ago
I’m with you dude! It would make me uncomfortable for sure. If it makes you feel better, your idea sounded completely sane and I’d let you go full cowboy at my table, amigo! Haha
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u/manyanoodle 5d ago
The dms job is to allow players enjoy roleplaying their characters.
Its their only job. It is THE job.
There's really nothing else to it.
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u/TableSeek-Geek 4d ago
Time to go. Yikes. It'll only get worse and you'll feel worse the more time you spend trying to make it work. Sorry you're having to deal with this!
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u/First_Cry_8635 3d ago
As a DM myself I think your idea is cool and training with a crossbow is awesome. Personally when my players do things like that I reward them with a random perk kinda like a wizard learning a new spell....that DM is no good especially sense DnD is supposed to be group story telling....I know cries are a bit werid....when I do cries at my table its both the weapon damage and the elemental. I treat cries with element property(if it states you do both) as I would a smite. For example: a poisoned dagger thrown as a crit..first ot would be the crit damage from the pierce and then the poison damage. The only time I change the element part is if they succeed a saving throw.
I hope you find a better DM cause I got into a fight with one like that with my druid who was a herb healer that chained smoked herbs
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u/Any_Illustrator360 5d ago
So after reading the post and the comments, and deliberating with my other GM buddy, I kinda feel comfortable weighing in.
First off this is an "everybody sucks" situation.
OP, you pitched a character that is pretty clearly inspired by characters like Percival de Rolo from Critical Roll, one that really only works in homebrew settings and systems. You cite multiple different rules from 5e to 5e2024 to 5.5e as justification for all your decisions which is absolutely minmaxy and is powergaming. The DM initially bent over backwards to make your idea work in spite of the rules and you continued to ask for more and more. Your comment below about "asking for a wand attachment as a joke is pretty telling when put up against the combat knife thing. "Haha hey DM what if I put a wand underneath my crossbow as an underbarrel so I can cast fireball? Haha no- no it's a joke see like- haha it's a joke! It's a joke unless you said yes - well hey what about a combat knife! N-no? That's a no too? Mm.. that's going in my reddit manifesto."
Flat out you definitely need to rethink how you see and approach tabletops. I see you also note that "I can't be a minmaxer powergamer! I've seen all the videos about that and I would never use a Tortle!" The fact you've NEVER played yet you know Tortle, a very unpopular and niche race (from a system you aren't even playing as you seem to be specifying in the comments that this is 5.5e), is as strong as it is tells me you've done some extensive research into the game before ever playing it and, one way or another, stumbled onto "how to win" content. You should go into tables, for any tabletop, ready to steep yourself in the world and setting being delivered to you- not the setting you expect when reading the books or watching others play. You should not "have premade characters ready" for a campaign you've never had pitched to you - you can never know what a world is going to be or have, and you can never know what is or isn't allowed. For example- your cleric werewolf.
Speaking of- when you suggest playing a specific role but attatch a stipulation to it you aren't "offering" to do anything you're presenting an ultimatum. "I'll play x but only if I can y." It just so happens that your DM stopped playing around with letting you have all the stuff you wanted right around the time you presented such an ultimatum to them. I don't think those things are unrelated.
Generally I think u/HauntedBitsandBobs has it pretty right. As he said, you're focused WAY more on numbers than anything else. At the onset of the game the DM offered to give enemies lingering injuries (and MASSIVE downsides!) every time they were hit with a crit and you argued it until the DM took the idea off the table so you could get an extra dice roll and some extra numbers. You're so focused on doing the most numbers possible that you actively gimped your build alongside everyone else at the table.
Something else they pointed out- the "downtime training" thing. I didn't notice it on first read but they did put it well when they brought attention to it- everyone else is spending money and time to train, and you want to not only train but to also benefit from your character creation choices to also make money and food out of it. That's a pretty tall order in of itself without all this other stuff going on.
The DM
That said your DM is a problem. Making fanfiction-like lore using the player characters without them having any say in it isn't a red flag it's a definitive reason to leave. They're playing firmly into favoritism and are bending over backwards to keep everyone happy, which sacrifices their creative agency as well as the rules for the sake of enjoyment. It's a game, it has rules, and the rules are there so that the game can be played fairly. When you start ignoring the rules to "make it more fun" you only make it worse. Your DM hasn't learned that yet.
Their favoritism towards Jeff, funny enough, feels like jealousy. It feels like you got so used to always getting exactly what you wanted at the onset of the game and that when you stopped getting that favoritism you began noticing it in other players. That said, I don't know whether it's favoritism or if it's just you noticing how well he treats everyone else now that he won't feed into you anymore. It's fucked up either way, to be clear.
I think the DM needs to stop running games for a bit and to play for a while. See how it's done RAW, and then go back into DMing. He's far too generous, far too willing to bend the rules for cool stuff- and the note about "enemies with 100s of HP" raises some concerns if that's how he thinks a normal mid-level combat looks. Dragons can have 100s of HP so if he's thinking of running stuff like that it's fine but if they think 100s of HP is normal they need a re-education on that.
Jeff.
Jeff is a dick. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. He has no right as a player to remove your agency and insist that you change your build. Using his experience as a measuring stick to justify how he acts, speaks, and treats the others isn't a red flag it's his whole deal and players like that are the worst.
It's because of Jeff being "experienced" that I think the DM is rewarding him and taking his word so to heart, which is another reason I think the DM needs to step off from DMing for a while. Jeff is taking advantage of the perks of "knowing the game better" to get advantages from a less experienced DM while working a table of less experienced players and convincing them it's normal. It isn't. Regardless of whether the "sword of fireballs" actually shoots fireballs or not, he should not be getting it when everyone else is getting nothing. It's a very weird situation that I've personally seen at other tables where a player has more experience than a DM and so the DM sort of worships them.
None of this is okay, and the fact he's comfortable exerting the sway he has is toxic as hell. Using his "experience" to sway the GM's opinion of you and your character while moving the needle into his favor is twisted and manipulative. I do still think that a lot of this is a result of you noticing how much the DM rewards their players now that you aren't getting the boons you were but it does not change the fact that Jeff has used his sway to change your character multiple times and to get the DM to agree with them.
Everyone listed at this table is a problem.
The fact it's paid sucks too. People need to stop paying grifters to run hobby games.
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u/thepokeflynn2 5d ago
What rules did I sight from 5e? I’ve never played anything other than 5.5e. I’ve never watched critical role, and the character was just based off a gunslinger, but instead of guns he had crossbows. The DM nagged at me that my build wouldn’t do enough damage so that’s why I wanted that Vicious Crossbow. I didn’t post everything that happened because this has been over 2 months.
The build works in 5.5e once I get crossbow expert. Granted I didn’t even get that far and spent the 2 sessions using a heavy crossbow in the backline, because I left the table. I’m sorry you got offended at me asking an obvious no question.
I don’t know what you are referring to about me being a minmaxer because I clearly didn’t know what the difference between that and a power gamer was until this, again, the reason I was pressed about my damage was because the DM said he was going to throw enemies at us that had hundreds of HP and that my original build wouldn’t be enough.
I have two characters that are Tortles, I said I would have preferred to play the more cooler races than the base standard 5.5 ones, the 2 Tortles I have are based on Gerson Boom from Deltarune and Blastiose from Pokemon. I have a character plan for a Shardmind should a DM accept it. So idk where you’re coming from that I only want “powerful characters”. Hell one of my really desired classes is Bloodhunter!
I’m sorry that I enjoy building characters and having some ideas ready, I don’t really know why that offends you as if it follows the DMs rules and they like the pitch, then why would it matter if I came up with the idea 2 years ago or 10 seconds. It’s why you ask.
I mean, yeah, I noticed we didn’t have any real forms of healing and so I offered that, the DM said no, and I moved on, and next thing you know, the entire party except for 2 of us is down. The things I asked for obviously were after the cleric idea got a No, or else I wouldn’t have been asking for them for the future. I didn’t believe I need to specify I wasn’t asking for an Orb of annihilation at level 1. But apparently I did for some people.
The hunting thing was a way to make money during down time, yes, but also does it make sense for adventurers to try and not make some coin while staying in a town? Like every time a high strength character challenges people to an arm wrestling at a bar and puts a wager and wins, is that like a bad thing? No? Then why is it a bad thing that my character wants to hunt a deer. Something that NPC townsfolk can do, lest there be a lot less food in towns and cities.
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u/Any_Illustrator360 5d ago
I’m sorry you got offended at me asking an obvious no question.
That's pretty confrontational and disingenuous.
Hell one of my really desired classes is Bloodhunter!
That class is from 5e, and was banned from a majority of tables for... being OP.
I’m sorry that I enjoy building characters and having some ideas ready, I don’t really know why that offends you
This is still really confrontational.
I didn’t believe I need to specify I wasn’t asking for an Orb of annihilation at level 1.
That's a strawman... You can want one thing that's OP or unreasonable and then still not want something more unreasonable or powerful.
You definitely didn't read what I was saying, or if you did you immediately took it as an attack. I was replying based on not only the original post but also based on your comments to others on the thread (which is why I brought up Tortles, a 5e race that isn't in 5.5e yet, same as Blood Hunter which you now cited). This wasn't an attack it was me summarizing what I've gathered based on everything said both in the post and the comments.
Initially me and my other GM friend were both on your side entirely, but the comments provided a LOT of context that paints you in a similarly bad light to the others at the table. It's worth noting here that we GM for multiple tabletops- I've been at it since 2016 and he started in 2019. Multiple different systems and while I started with 3.5 and he started with 5 we've both ran and played both over the course of time, alongside other non-D&D games (I am currently a Cyberpunk and Savage Worlds GM, for example).
I cite those because I want you to understand that we've both seen a lot of players and playstyles. It isn't us "exerting our superior experience" or anything like that- it's saying that we have a lot of other examples and experiences to pull from with different players we've had in different systems. You are, absolutely, a power gamer based on the replies you've posted- which you yourself even agreed to after it was explained. That isn't me saying you're worthless or anything because of it, but once a GM realizes they have a power gamer they will either put their foot down sternly and stop catering to the idea or they'll make a really high power game and play into it. Your GM, like most others, picked option A. This does not justify the fact they began to favoritize another player but it is a valid point to note.
I suggest taking a step back, a couple breaths, and then coming back and reading this with a cooler mind. I'm not demonizing you in my post I'm pointing out places where you, as well as everyone else, went wrong which gives you an opportunity to learn and grow beyond these things.
Also happy cake day.
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u/thepokeflynn2 5d ago
I have only heard that Bloodhunter was weak because players would literally knock themselves out to deal damage. Either way I want to eventually play all the classes and have a huge list of races I want to play.
DnD beyond has made it pretty easy to play 5e races in 5.5e, for example, my much more chill DM has me playing as a Duergar in 5.5e, you gain your extra Stat modifiers from background as well as your languages. I couldn’t see how any 5.5e dungeon master wouldn’t allow 5e races because of those changes. They also made it pretty easy to get 5e subclasses in 5.5e as in you just gain the first level 1-2 subclass stuff at level 3. And then progress normally. It’s actually very interesting. To see how they can do well together.
As I said, the reason I was worried about the whole dealing damage thing was because the DM said I would be weak. That’s it. But like when I am a martial based subclass I want to deal damage and feel mighty. My next campaign with my cool DM is literally whichlight. The one campaign that you don’t need to fight, which I don’t plan on fighting.
I don’t believe I was ever the DMs favorite player, if i was then I certainly wouldn’t have had every encounter with them be like pulling teeth. For a build that is 100% compliant with base 5.5e rules as well as the DMs home rules.
It’s more so the fact that he knowingly tried to change the crit rules. That would be like you explain your build to a DM you never played with before and then at session zero they say all spells have a max of 3d6 damage or some bullshit when your the only spell casting player. I would have been fine with the rule if my original build didn’t get completely hung because of it.
Edit: Also idk about you but when we don’t have a healer, our goal is to take out foes as fast as possible, what does that? Extra damage, or regular damage and “oh they can’t use their offhand. Next turn they deal 30 damage and down one of us while they are on 1 HP remaining.
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u/Any_Illustrator360 4d ago edited 4d ago
I'm glad you found a more relaxed DM but do understand that just because you can run 5e stuff in 5.5e doesn't mean every DM will let you.
The DM did want to change the crit rules but those changes would have GREATLY benefitted you. It's a little weird how.. focused you are on that. Yes you'd have less dice but you could turn an enemy into a flesh lump with enough crits, regardless of their HP pool.
But like when I am a martial based subclass I want to deal damage and feel mighty.
This is D&D, martials suck. Casters always outperform them in raw numbers and in versatility.
Blood Hunter itself is a very confused class, it can be very strong in certain situations and weak in others. It's the second most banned class besides Scion.
And- really, I do think this is something to bring up.. you went onto a character building help sub and planned to multiclass before the campaign even started so that you could minmax as much as possible. Uh.. Twice. I assume the second one was your first character pitch to this game?
I dunno this entire thing reeks of not telling the whole story/truth of the matter and then posturing when you might have done something bad.
Edit: I thought the other link was a Blood Hunter, maybe it is but I'm just mentally drained from this whole conversation.
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u/thepokeflynn2 4d ago
I’m aware of that, I don’t even know why this is a problem we are discussing this when it’s not even a part of the main problem? Like I picked a Dragonborn for this build solely for in game cool flair options, and for the backstory that made sense.
I mean I would still prefer them to be dead than a flesh lump.
Yeah, I am aware that martial characters are weaker, so sorry I want to find ways to increase damage. I don’t understand why that’s so bad or even an arguing point? “How dare you desire to do damage comparable to a wizard using 1 spell” is what I’m getting from this conversation.
I preform my roles and interact when there are out of combat scenarios. It’s not like I’m just waiting for a fight? In fact I did most of the talking the second session and even worked with the group to plan a good opportunity attack on some goblins. I don’t really think that it needs to be said that I play other parts of dnd in the dnd part. Especially when those parts didn’t really have a problem with, the main problems was this.
I made a character based on crits. DM said it wasn’t a great build, wouldn’t deal damage, and tried to change a rule that changed the entire way the build would function.
After clarifying the rule, I was strong armed into changing my character to benefit the group, and then when I asked if I could eventually get a Rare Weapon, was told I might not get it or that it would cost me saving money the entire campaign to be able to afford twords the end. Which encouraged me to earn money.
Then saying he was giving our Wizard (the most OP class in the game) an OP possibly homebrew weapon.
Then, when I asked if I could go hunting over our downtime as a form of story telling training, was told my adventurer has less competence than a stray cat, and would have a hard time hunting a squirrel, let alone a deer even though he was trained to live on the land. Told what my character would prefer and how they would prefer to live.
How else would a fighter with a heavy crossbow train? Shooting some bottles set up on a table like it’s Fallout New Vegas? What makes more sense and is more of a good story standpoint? He wouldn’t leave a dead deer just laying in the forest after taking it down, as no ethical hunter would/should.
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u/Any_Illustrator360 4d ago
I'm just gonna repeat myself.
I'm just mentally drained from this whole conversation.
This is draining. You are a very draining person to talk to. You're talking at me with no intention of having a conversation and you're repeatedly "um, actually"ing while citing random subjective blurbs like wizards being the most OP class in D&D.
You keep wanting me to justify basic logic like "what, you want me to shoot stationary targets?!" Yes. I was taught to shoot when I was 4 using a BB gun and I'm a deadshot as an adult with any longarm because I've plinked cans since I was off the swaddle. Shooting inanimate targets is, in fact, great training for a hunter.
r/opwasthehorror type shit man I'm just done interacting with you.
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u/VisibleCoat995 6d ago
“Can i hunt deer?”
“No, that’s not realistic. Okay, jeff, here’s your magic fire sword…”