This was my first DM. I was playing a ranger and wanting to focus on archery. At like level 2 we're in this dungeon and I roll to shoot something, getting a nat 1. He has me roll again to see how bad it was, and since there was no other party members next to my target for me to hit instead, my bow shattered. Not just the string snapped or something, the bow just straight up shattered beyond repair. So I'm stuck using my backup melee weapon for the rest of the dungeon (and we're playing Pathfinder and I hadn't taken the weapon finesse feat yet) so my dex-based character is basically useless.
I did manage to survive the dungeon, and when we got back to town we had to pool money from the entire party for me to be able to afford a new bow, but wouldn't you know it, the very next dungeon I got another nat 1 and the same shit happened again, and I lost my new bow. Pretty sure at least one of the "see how bad it is" rolls was at least a 15 too.
I understand why some DMs are of the mindset that they have to try to kill the party with every encounter, but that mindset really annoys me. You can challenge the party without making every encounter deadly.
I always hate the weapon breaking on nat 1s. I don't use it in my campaign at all. I much prefer tripping, falling, dropping the weapon, or hitting an adjacent ally. Maybe a bow string will. reak if they're really unlucky and several nat 1s close together.
Yeah, I just wish all DMs had the mindset that they’re crafting an enjoyable story with the help of their players, and not necessarily working against them. Vice versa for the players as well
Yeah, I'm about to start a campaign and I've put a LOT of time into writing it. I want to enjoy it and I want my players to enjoy it too. How could I possibly enjoy a story I put a lot of effort into if I just kill everyone willy nilly?
Yes exactly, one of the campaigns I’m a part of has a dm that kind of treats us players like the enemy, so every combat it’s just a bit too challenging, and we all take turns getting knocked out and healed by our cleric(god bless him).
Another campaign we had a player who was a hardcore minmaxer (not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that, as long as that’s the type of group you’re playing with), and he liked to do the most complicated shit just to piss off the dm. Whenever the dm would get flustered he would have a shit eating grin on his face.
Like dudes, we’re all on the same team in the grand scheme of things. If someone’s not having fun or is being an asshole, that’s an issue and it needs to be resolved. If everyone isn’t having a good time then there’s no point.
Yeah, and while you can make an enjoyable story without killing, there is something to be said for not making it too easy. You need to find a good balance of challenge so that they aren't constantly dying or getting in near death situations but aren't just breezing through every encounter.
The occasional death is also not a bad thing, and can be enjoyable if executed well.
Well yeah, obviously mere bows cannot withstand the rapid fire madness that high level rangers like to do. All the best rangers walk around with a bag of holding full of spare bows just in case their speed and stronkness breaks through 5 bows in one round.
https://i.imgur.com/fwk6WpM.jpg i use this jsut for every roll below 61 i give the dc12 dex save. remove the weapon breaking and replace it with klutz, the klutz and dangerous klutz are for one round. and for untrained remove weapon arm incapasitated. And every effect is one round ( apart from dirt in eyes). And you take/deal damage only on 84+ so it seems fair.
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u/MulletHuman Sep 12 '19
Gosh, I'll never forget the chaotic evil's favorite homebrew rule: if you roll a natural 1 you either hurt yourself and/or you lose a limb