A Bacchae Problem... scratch that, a DM Problem

For Valor · Post by **For Valor** » Tue May 18, 2010 4:26 am

So some friends of mine are doing a quick little campaign about saving the world, and recently we just ran into an encounter with the Bacchae (FF p.18), nasty buggers who sing and dance and screw you over with their goddamn happiness.

The way regular Bacchae tactics go is: They try to charm you or throw down Emotion to get you to join their fun, and then force you to make a Will Save (we were in up against a band of 32, so the Will Save was DC 20, with us at level 12. Neh.). This will save only works once per joining of the Debauchery, so characters who make the Will save and start killing Bacchae left and right get to fight the horde. At that point, it's basically killing whelps, with an incapacitated party member or two.

Our DM did it this way: We made Will saves for every Bacchae there (an easy save with 32 trials eventually fails), and then we got stuck in the Bacchae thing. The DM was, at that point, like "Wow... these guys are strong." (I was like "No, you're just an idiot." But I didn't say anything) and let us make 1 Will Save to be free, one more time. I woke up, and so did 1 other guy. We then proceeded to massacre the Bacchae, who then started making us take Will Saves again. Clean, rinse, repeat, and now we're in the same position. I ended up just saying "Fuck it." and dropping a flame strike on the whole damn place. All the Bacchae died. But I was very unhappy.

The trend has been persisting throughout much of the game. Last encounter, we fought a "weaker" Orcwort... as in it spawned the same number of bad guys, had the same radius and hit points, but didn't make natural attacks. The day after, we fought an Optimized Level 17 Fighter with a full load of artifacts. At that point, we were Level 15. The DM had to make the guy run away so he didn't kick our asses.

If "TL;DR", my DM is throwing overpowered and poorly-played (poorly-read, I might add. Cite: Bacchae) campaigns at us. I dislike them. What do I do? Tell him that I don't like it? Powergame like a whore? Please help...

Surgo · Post by **Surgo** » Tue May 18, 2010 5:01 am

Sounds to me like you have a communication problem.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Tue May 18, 2010 5:14 am

What do I do?

Rant about it online to a bunch of strangers.

That's guaranteed to fix all your problems and get you games more to your liking.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue May 18, 2010 7:29 am

Josh, if nothing else, it can be cathartic, which should help him, actually.

As for your question, Valor, just talk to your dm, tell him that you think he is mis-judging encounters and possibly made a mistake with the Bacchae. If you're old friends that fuck with each other all the time, this can be as simple as "dude, I think you may be accidentally fucking us over on some of these encounters..." If that's not a phrasing he'd take well, put it however you think it needs to be put.

But above all, do it away from the table.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Wed May 19, 2010 2:23 am

Prak, so can being a snarky jerk online.

The solution to this issue is so patently obvious (discuss calmly with DM or leave game), and similar issues have been discussed so many times previously on every D&D message board in existence that I didn't feel it warranted a sympathetic response.

mean_liar · Post by **mean_liar** » Wed May 19, 2010 8:44 am

Total communication problem. If you're not going to run, the GM runs the show, warts and all. Talk to him outside the game and not over the dice and rulings that are currently fucking you, but basically, roll with it. Deal or ditch.

For Valor · Post by **For Valor** » Wed May 19, 2010 9:42 pm

Josh_Kablack wrote:Prak, so can being a snarky jerk online.

The solution to this issue is so patently obvious (discuss calmly with DM or leave game), and similar issues have been discussed so many times previously on every D&D message board in existence that I didn't feel it warranted a sympathetic response.

I had no idea that this was a problem in other places. Please forgive my stupidity; I'll go shove my face in an iodine bath, now.

...and it was a little cathartic...

TavishArtair · Post by **TavishArtair** » Thu May 20, 2010 9:01 am

For Valor wrote:
Josh_Kablack wrote:Prak, so can being a snarky jerk online.

The solution to this issue is so patently obvious (discuss calmly with DM or leave game), and similar issues have been discussed so many times previously on every D&D message board in existence that I didn't feel it warranted a sympathetic response.
I had no idea that this was a problem in other places. Please forgive my stupidity; I'll go shove my face in an iodine bath, now.

...and it was a little cathartic...

95% of human relation problems can be solved by calming down and discussing the matter in a reasonable fashion with the other person. This doesn't matter whether it's roleplaying, "roleplaying," friendly interaction, or "friendly interaction." You do have to brace yourself for the fact that the solution may not be one you actually want (such as dropping the game), even if it is the one you need (and not getting stuck with a terrible game).

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Thu May 20, 2010 6:05 pm

FV: don't apologize to Josh. If it was cathartic, then there you go. As one of the millions (yes, millions...) who has complained about his his game on this board, talking with the dm will help and if it doesn't, tie him up and poke him with heated d4s.

Jilocasin · Post by **Jilocasin** » Thu May 20, 2010 7:20 pm

Cynic wrote:talking with the dm will help and if it doesn't, tie him up and poke him with heated d4s.

I have steel ones I can lend for that if necessary.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sat May 22, 2010 9:33 pm

Cynic wrote: FV: don't apologize to Josh. If it was cathartic, then there you go. As one of the millions (yes, millions...) who has complained about his his game on this board,

Holy shit, this guy must be a legendarily bad DM, to be able to alienate millions of players.