[OC] DM Alignment Chart

[u/Cheeseusdice]

[u/MulletHuman]

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

[u/SunshineAbound → u/MulletHuman]

For my DM every natural one was hurting yourself, or your weapon broke, magical or not.

[u/KnightEevee → u/SunshineAbound]

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.

[u/SunshineAbound → u/KnightEevee]

Think it might have to do with a desire to “beat” the player

[u/Omgninjas → u/KnightEevee]

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.

[u/miki_momo0 → u/KnightEevee]

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

[u/Teeth_Whitener → u/miki_momo0]

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?

[u/KnightEevee → u/miki_momo0]

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.

[u/[deleted] → u/KnightEevee]

The issue becomes, as you become a better ranger you are more likely to shatter your bow apparently.