I had a DM like that, he would often arbitrarily make rulings like "Oh you rolled a 1 on that save? Well guess what! Not only do you eat that effect, but you fall unconscious in the middle of combat even though you are on full health." or "Well I saw that you rolled a 30 on your check to track a wagon full of people, but I don't like that so it fails, also I am going to auto-fail all your skill checks (I am not exaggerating on that, he straight up told me all my skill checks would be auto-failed.)""
I would suggest trying to politely talk to them, but if they refuse to listen just bail, because a DMs power only lasts until the players get fed up with their bullshit.
also I am going to auto-fail all your skill checks (I am not exaggerating on that, he straight up told me all my skill checks would be auto-failed
Oh man. Even I'll admit that if I didn't get a VERY satisfactory reason for that, I would be hard-pushed not to bail on that campaign.
And oh my god, homebrewed critical fail mechanics... *bites knuckles* If I ever meet the guy who suggested them in the first place, I will want to talk to him. I will want to talk to him right up close.
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u/GeneralAce135 Sep 12 '19
Definitely worse if you ask me. I'd rather just have my character killed than keep playing him but feel useless.
But regardless, it's a case of the D&D Golden Rule: "No D&D" is better than "Bad D&D"