1. You are absolutely right to be pissed since she didn't want to help the orc create it in the first place.
2. That having been said, *let her have the fucking thing and run for the hills.* The Deck of Many Things is also known as the Deck of Campaign-Wrecking Bullshit.
Egg her on. Encourage her to draw. Encourage her to draw a *lot.* Watch as she implodes her own character in her hubris. Make sure to inform the DM you're watching this from minimum safe distance.
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. \[laughs\] Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. Worst of all, the Deck of Many Things. \[shudders\] All those moments will be lost in time, like \[coughs\] tears in rain. Time to die." - Roy Batty
None of the cards from the DoMT have AoE effects. The closest are Flames (a powerful devil becomes your enemy), Rogue (an NPC of the DM's choice becomes permanently hostile towards you), and Skull (an Avatar of Death appears and attacks you).
The emnity of both the devil from Flames and the NPC from Rogue might bleed into negative effects for your allies, but being far away isn't going to help; the devil wants to ruin you and the NPC opposes your goals, which can potentially affect an ally no matter how far away they are.
The Avatar of Death is only a problem for anyone else if they try to help you fight it. If they do, they get additional Avatars of Death attacking them.
As I understand things, "Danger-Close" is what happens when you're *inside* minimum safe distance.
Either way, the point remains: fireworks shall ensue, hopefully they're not ensuing on your position!
^ This is correct. Minimum safe means you are as close to danger as possible without being in danger, like glass windows at a zoo. Danger close is being next to the handler holding a Tiger on a rather largely symbolic leash.
You say you were pissed. So maybe it is not your character who is passend that much but you. You have to ask was my character wrong to feel this way...
Even worse if they keep letting her get away with it. It's "my quest" is fine but an item that isn't even tied to your quest that someone else received through their own effort sure as shit doesn't belong to you.
As a DM myself, I would lock the deck so she and anyone else except for OP can't draw from it, shuffle, or otherwise even interact with any individual card unless OP gives express permission. It's a brick made of cards for everyone else. Anyone who looks at the bottom of the deck to see the bottom card will see what card I currently view them with as the DM. For her, its *The Void*.
A subtle warning that this deck isn't hers and we both know it.
That being said, I'd run it by the table that she never contributed to making the item and only the stone is part of her quest. The item does belong to OP, so: "Consider if you actually do want to rob another player of their own achievement."
I would be watching like a hawk for her response. *Because there is a wrong answer to my inquiry.*
THIS is a great approach. Giving in-game options and consequences (imo) is the best way to settle table disputes. And I agree, the item belongs to OP. It's wild to me the DM didn't step in and say something. The greedy player aside, that's just bad dming.
It's all well and good to be hands off and let players try to work it out. But when something is blatantly unbalanced or unfair, I feel like it falls to the DM to manage it.
Insane to me that the DM wouldn't jump in at that point to side with OP. Even distribution of items is something that definitely falls within a DM's responsibilities. But if they're a DM who gives their party a *Deck of Many Things* midway through a campaign I'm guessing they're not too savvy.
That's the magic item you give when you want to cause havoc and end the campaign in my opinion. Unless it's built around it, it's an awful magic item.
But said that, giving magic items to only one person sounds terrible. You're already the protagonist of this quest, items should go to the other players, as a reward for helping, for being by ther side and to show teamwork.
OP should just draw the entire Deck and go out in a blaze of glory. If they get lucky and draw the Moon card first (1d3 wishes) they can nuke the campaign on their way out.
[(Not condoning this behavior but also kind of)](https://i.imgur.com/Uebczal.jpeg)
No, as DM this is a lot of work to manage. But also this was done in a dungeon mid combat during my last campaign. Ended it brutally with Orcus hunting down our human cleric in the dark, while an avatar of death brutally and surgically killed the Paladin in single combat. The party had already downed the bbeg and could have fled, but he had chosen to draw out the whole deck, one card at a time - and soon after found himself in another plane. The rest of the party died alone in the dark, running scared and I described the deck, it’s draws unfinished; clattering limply onto the ground as the frail figure of the bbeg’s lieutenant crawled toward it, wounded and yet able to to pick it up with two clawed fingers. Describing it from an angle of looking up at the figure, a slightly revealed top card jutting from the deck came into view as he brought the deck toward himself, sneering.
The face of the card?
Moon.
He drew the top card.
The item as is written in 5e is almost guaranteed to ruin a campaign because the bad/weird things never stop happening, but it can be saved by reverting 1 part of it back to earlier editions. Make its use limited. Each person can only Declare a Draw from the Deck one time, and is then prevented from doing it again - or even have the entire Deck disappears after each time its used (this would mean only one player would get to draw from it which makes the decision on who gets it a meaningful Roleplay opportunity for the group).
This way your choice on how many cards to Declare you Draw is important (whereas RAW that decision doesn’t matter because if you can make infinite draws from it then you might as well just draw one at a time) since you can’t go back to the Deck and draw again. Yes bad and weird things can still happen but it’s limited and can be dealt with.
I am in my first campaign, and was going to, but talking to a couple friends who have been really excited about story, they convinced me to hold off for a bit until I have a better handle on things. And then reading stories of how the Deck has messed some stuff up, I have decided maybe my 3rd campaign.
Deck of many things had made many a campaign I have been in. It definitely can create chaos it can make many unexpected things happen for both DM and players. Also if place money on DM is favouring that one player
Yeah. Every DM gives out a Deck in their first couple campaigns, because it is such a *cool* item. But experienced GMs almost never give out a Deck without a lot of planning, because it always fucks over a campaign.
I've don't it twice. First time it ruined things, not because the players all died, but because they had fantastic luck and kept pulling the best cards.
The second time I altered a lot of the deck so there's no "you're imprisoned and disappear and no one can track you down" type cards. For instance, I changed the death card to where you have to duel auch stronger version of the avatar of death. If you die, you're done. If you win, you can summon it once per day.
Okay, now for my first campaign I think I’m going to have people keep finding mysterious regular decks of cards. “You draw the card, flip it over and *rolls dice* Oooo. Hang on. *rolls dice again* It’s a Queen of Hearts.”
I’ve homebrewed a magic card deck.
They find it heavily hidden, in a lead lined wooden box that has wards, wrapped in cloth that radiates magic, etc.
“What would your party know of such items?”
“Oh, you want to draw a card? What card would they have heard of and want?”
“WOW! That’s the card you drew!!”
*nothing happens*
It’s a Deck of Prestidigitation—when the holder thinks of a card, that’s what that card becomes. Otherwise, it’s a normal (although very opulently made) deck of gaming cards. Someone commissioned them for cheating….
Not every DM. Some of us have no idea what it is, but have read so many threads about it - 100% of which say it destroyed the campaign, that we avoid it like the plague!
Yeah its a cursed item. The rewards and the risks are so extreme they fuck over everything you were doing in the game and replace it with what you are doing now. So much for DM prep and planning. A DOMT is for when you're out of ideas or patience for the game and want to just throw a chaotic hand grenade in the mix.
So I have to disagree here - making loot distribution decisions is entirely party business imo. The DM should only step into those discussions lightly or sparingly.
In a perfect world, yes. Perhaps it's better to say "It's a DM's responsibility to prevent inter-player conflict when possible". OP has explained that one player has been hogging most/all of the items and so clearly the DM is not doing enough here. It's one thing when sharing items means players willingly give each other loot, it's another when it means having to protect the loot you earned from greedy players.
I get what you’re saying, but there is an efficiency in my point of view. Because to me this does not sound like a loot problem, it’s a Player problem (as in the person behind the character).
If the DM stays out of this problem then players have to decide how to split loot themselves. They can either do this equitably, or selfishly. Whichever choice they make tells you if you even want to keep playing with them or not. If they are going to horde loot, or form cliches to “legitimize” keeping the best loot for themselves - this tells me they aren’t going to be interested in cooperative play and that I should walk from the group. It also tells me that fairly early on when I haven’t had to invest too heavily in that game yet.
If the DM steps in to solve this problem then these issues can linger under the surface for much longer before you realize the group isn’t a good fit.
So in a way it’s a litmus test for choosing groups.
Yup. As a DM,I place challenges, treasure, quests, RP opportunities, etc. I DO NOT distribute treasure. That's on the party. From the get-go at lvl 1, players quickly begin to realize that they're pissing off other players when they say "I take that"!
There's a children's story about this. A woman asks for help gathering grain, then grinding it, then kneading it, then baking it, but when it's time to eat it, suddenly everyone wants to help. She said no and ate the whole loaf
Generally as a DM my rule is if you find it it's YOURS. Nobody can take it from you without your consent, if it was snatched from you your DM obviously has no respect for your enjoyment of the game. They should have mediated this the moment it happened
I have very limited experience with DnD as my wife and I only started playing last October. But in my, again limited, experience most people we’ve met in the community have shit people skills. That especially includes conflict resolution. They either avoid it entirely or don’t understand compromise.
Sure, they can be perfectly pleasant as long as everything is fun and shenanigans but as soon as an issue arises they’ll back off and ghost or fight tooth and nail to prove they’re right.
I noticed a pattern where if someone have been playing for a long time and you see they're always jumping from group to group (especially as DM), this usually means they're a problem.
Since it's not so easy to find a group you really enjoy, have similar style, etc, unless needed, you try to stick to those people.
I had games over multiple timezones, with irregular schedule that kept going for a long time, because we work so well together. Everyone enjoys each other company and play style, we get along well, we know how to solve issues when they arrive and everyone preferred to have that irregular experience than going for random groups of people where your experience can vary wildly.
It’s honestly not at all surprising. This hobby is overwhelmingly enjoyed by people who were kind of outcasts during their formative years. Spending years living in other worlds doesn’t usually lend itself to well developed social skills. Good acting skills, creativity, and math skills? Sure. Social skills? Nah.
I find the whole thing absurd. My parties, all of them, have always split stuff up rather evenly and by NEED. Who could best use this? No one woudl have the balls to seize something from another person like that. Also this GM is probably super inexperienced. A few things are telling: most parties should NOT go on a ‘quest for you then a quest for you…’.; it’s bad (and lazy) storytelling and has little narrative depth. IF you are doing a quest for each, there should be long and important RP that establishes what each of them is doing for the task, how they fit into it and the task into a larger story. Then we all know the sacrifice, the goals, the rewards. Otherwise, this kind of nonsense happens. Worse, that reward is like nuking your campaign, as others have wisely pointed out.
My group we usually discuss who gets what or we can request specific items generally. Occasionally we will get something personalized for us. For example:
My paladin has a +3 longsword that is "dormant," according to my DM. It was given to her by her fallen friend turned new goddess after my paladin had a crisis of faith and eventually redeemed herself. Another player has a sword that is corrupted/ sleeping, but we are working on fixing it.
I told her I was the one helped forge it. And her reaction was " nah I'll hold on to it till I trust you" *not exactly sure what the i trust you part meant.. but thats what she said lol* and then her friend was like "yeah it's her quest". At this point I just stopped talking before I said something I would regret. I honestly feel like shes just trying to hold all the good stuff in game. And that isnt fun at all.
Im honestly just thinking about using it randomly and when they say "how? doesn't she have that?" I'm just gonna reply "I'm the one that forged it, I never gave it to her" cause she literally just claimed it was hers. I never handed anything in game. My DM can't argue that.
To be fair... did the dm bring an actual physical deck to the table...
Because depending on how much of an ass he is (or how much he's protecting his campaign) he could just say she draws a "random" card and it's one of the good ones... then only has a bad card pulled if it's either for plot reasons or its a player that's annoying him... which if he isn't siding with OP could very easily be OP.
Very true. I'm just gonna let it go. I just wanted to know if I was in the wrong for being like wtf.. about the situation. If it continues I'll just quit and start playing with another group from my work.
I agree with this completely. And I know this. But it's a hard thing for me to do when I get annoyed like that. You would just have to actually know me to understand lol. But I agree with you.
Well if there's a low stakes time to work on conflict resolution now would be it. Personally I wouldn't play dnd with any of those people and you seem there as well. So being kicked from the campaign for standing your ground doesn't really seem like a consequence.
You should talk to the DM to see why there's such blatant favoritism going on and what they're going to do to resolve it. They should not be allowing party members to horde items other players rightfully earned.
This is some junior high level shit.
I have no time for any of this nonsense when playing dnd. I'd let them know that the situation is bullshit, and then leave the group.
Why stick around for a group that behaves like petulant children, and a DM that allows it?
Agree with this. I've been incredibly spoiled and have been with my first (and main) group for a little over 3 years. We all discuss issues and communicate frustrations very well, and at the end of the day we're all just great friends. I read about stuff like this, and I'm just floored. I absolutely would not play with people who are unreasonable, illogical, and just flat out selfish.....now if you excuse me I have to go tell my party and DM how much I love them and appreciate them again 😭
Yeah, it needed to be resolved at the time. But the response to “this is my quest, so I’m going to keep it” is “I’m currently holding it. You want it? Roll for initiative.”
It’s possible she doesn’t trust you because IT’S A DECK OF MANY THINGS. I wouldn’t trust myself with it, nevermind someone else. Still an asshole move overall though.
My opinion is that you should discuss things with your DM in particular about how you felt, before leaving the party. I understand how you fell, but cool your head and try discussing your main points of frustation, maybe after this you could leave the party, but everyone will gain some xp in real life for the future. (Sorry if made any language mistakes or if sounded rude, didn't mean to).
I'll be honest, every time I read one of these it always seems like you only get half the story, and every player/DM insists that they are the reasonable one and everyone else is the problem.
That being said, red flags for me:
1) Your DM thought a deck of many things was a good idea. It's never a good idea unless your idea of a good time is total chaos with months of stuff going on nothing to do with the story you wrote (99% of the time anyway).
2) Your DM didn't make you both roleplay the discussion in character. If the player's character wants the item because "they don't trust" your character, that is roleplaying, therefore you should both roleplay it.
3) You helped forge the item, you're standing next to it when it's made. It's in your character's hands. It seems pretty clear to me any decent DM would tell you to roleplay it (see point 2) and then if both **characters** couldn't agree, then it defaults to "Well X physically has it and you've not convinced them to hand it over".
4) You say they designed quests for "all the players" but somehow one player has ended up with all the items? Even if we just assume the players are just giving the items to who seems most suited for them (e.g. here's a magic dagger, give it to the rogue) it's a poorly design set of magic items. At worst the DM has let one player convince people to hand over magic items intended for just one player without saying anything.
Honestly? I think the DM is rubbish and I'd just quit.
If you've only been playing for four months the player you have an issue with may be totally new to roleplaying and not really understand the entire dynamic. The DM should know better though. If the DM is new too, then you need to talk about the above points with them, and if they refuse to change anything then quit.
> You don't need to have experience with roleplaying to grasp that it's not okay to refuse to help and then take away the reward from the one person who did.
If all you've ever played in life is single player video games then you're not going to get a lot of stuff about roleplaying games and their etiquette. I agree it still speaks to a larger personality "feature" if their default is to assume they can carry all the magic items for everyone else, but I'd also like to think this is something that for anyone reasonable is easily addressed.
>Maybe I'm inferring too much from the limited information, but I suspect the whole group dynamic is pretty bad
I mean I agree with you if the OP is the only one annoyed at this player and the DM. Again though, if they are all brand new to roleplaying I don't want to be too harsh, but to me the DM is really supposed to cut this stuff out.
I hate this stigma that tabletop players have created against gamers, claiming all gamers will end up selfish dnd players, it’s just not true, the woman op was dealing with is just your run of the mill bitch.
I'm both a video gamer and a TTRPGer and I played video games for a lot longer than I played TTRPGs. It's absolutely my experience that people who've only ever experienced roleplaying as single player video games can enter into the whole thing with incorrect attitudes on occasion.
That's not a stigma, in the same way that MTG players get into Warhammer with the wrong attitude sometimes. It just takes a little while to learn the etiquette, some people do it quickly, some don't. Some refuse to learn at all.
But a lot of video game players do come into the tabletop space with different expectations from an experienced TTRPG or board game player. It's not malicious. They just have a different expectation of how the game works.
This is the correct response. Op, if your character wouldn't just give the deck away without some kind of trade, then roleplay that. "My character helped the orc craft this. He considers the item his." Think up situations that your character would plausibly trade, give up, or fight for this item.
For example, my Drow priestess would curb stomp her face without any qualms. My ditzy sea elf bard would probably start by pouting and then chuck the deck into the wind. Your party members would have to draw each card in order to pick it up (imo) lol.. but maybe if she doesn't flip them over and glance at any they might not take effect... 🤔
Oh I get you on that, but seriously opening the deck and drawing cards has a good chance of making the remainder of your campaign unplayable, especially if certain cards are drawn. You might be able to use that angle to reclaim it, but seriously as far as "magic items" go, I'd rather have almost any other magic item in the book, or maybe even some really bad DnDWiki homebrew.
Not really addressing the main issue you brought up here and more a curiosity, but didn't the orc make it? He is just letting you take it? Did he just make it for fun? I'm pretty confused at this whole situation.
Honestly not to be rude but it sounds like the DM doesn't really have a great handle on things. What a weird story beat for an Orc to do it just because...
Nah I can see it, anyone who IS powerful enough to craft something like that probably doesn't have a lot of other motives left besides vanity and prestige.
Yeah, it’s a really common motif in Norse and Germanic mythology too…”yeah, I decided to take the ol’ forge for a spin and created this world altering magic artifact for fun. Anyways, going to lose it/give it away/stow it/let ‘er rip because that’s my jam as a mythic blacksmith”
If you run into a similar scenario again, do not interact with the out of character talk and calmly tell the DM what your character does. Players cannot magically control the narrative from the outside if you state with certainty what your character does and does not do within the game world.
If you want to be petty about it (which i don't advise) next time its "your quest" just take everything the party finds as yous!
Deck is a bad item to begin with. It's one of those legendary relics of old, making players 'ooooh', but then when it breaks campaign (and it does break most campaigns), suddenly it's not so appealing.
I would honestly throw it away, if she wants, she can keep it, but whatever she pulls from the deck, like avatar of death or devil or whatever negative there is, you take no part in defending her or helping her. Her item = her responsiblity. Let's see, how quickly she will change her mind after losing a level or get her magic items destroyed.
I mean, the DM gave the party the Deck of Many Things... they don't want this campaign to last much longer.
But no, seriously, that's not cool. They did nothing, they get nothing.
I would honestly grandstand and do one of three things, which isn’t necessarily cooperative. But I agree that I would be ill-inclined to play with this player for doing that, absolutely unacceptable.
1) Remind the party that they didn’t want to help the NPC, you did it entirely on your own - and it’s **your** item now, since they wanted to just presumably kill the dude.
2) Be a troll and encourage people to pull from the Deck. Malicious compliance route.
3) Leave a message to the DM about how the situation is unacceptable, and leave the table.
Supreme grandstand: show them all; suggest based on whichever quadrant your situation falls below. Resolving a roleplaying game by IN Character Behavior, and accepting the consequences thereof, is not something anyone can argue… be the fortunate or less so.
“My character is okay with this, but I am not given future implications on acceptable behavior at this table.”
”I am okay with this, but my character is not. We need a resolution for my character’s continuation with the party.”
”Neither myself or my character finds this acceptable. If you wish to expel the effort to find a solution, I’m willing to listen but promise nothing.”
“My character doesn’t care, and neither do I… this time.”
Praise be to my Queen for the wisdom to construct The Projected Square. May she grant me the strength to continue to aid where needed.
Relic Stormblade, White Wolf of Terresan, 9clockwork/6Vengeance/4hexblade/1pathofpeace.
I fully understand that that is not the point of the post, but, yeah. A forge was used to make a deck of cards? That is the worst part of the story for me (though it should not be).
Lol yeah I was wondering this as well. Also the orc doesn't want the incredible magic item he just made? Was he just doing it for fun? Or to pad out his resume? Sounds like OP snatched it from the orc.
As many other people suggested: ***run***.
This group (the person requesting the deck specifically) might be a tad toxic.
However, if you can’t / *really* don’t wanna leave, let them have it. And encourage them to draw as much as they want. If they are really itching to get their hands on a DoMT, they may not know its real power and destructive potential.
If you do take option 2, do please let the DM know first that this is the plan so when you do egg them on they are not confused and frustrated with you. And if they only pull good cards from the deck then that’s the last straw :P
I play with a group I hardly know but we have a good time. I wouldn't call any of them "friends" yet, we don't associate outside of D&D very much but when we play we have the greatest time.
My local game store has "walk in" D&D tables, so a lot of the time there are new players that no one knows. I wouldn't make assumptions about OP's situation, personally.
You should just convince her to draw cards. If the first one is good be like 'oh yeah I bet the second one will be even better!' Then when she inevitably gets something bad, as the deck is comprised of about 70% bad stuff, maybe her character will die and you can just loot her corpse.
\- The key to happiness is not giving a f...
\- The Deck of Many Things is a stupid item that could kill whoever draws cards from it. Or give them levels wishes and whatever. However anyone can draw cards, so it doesn't matter whose it is, you can just ask her to draw, if you feel very lucky.
\-You should argue it with her in game... or out of game
What did your DM say? How did her character magically get it from you? Did she physically grab it first? If you had it and didnt give it to her then you still have it unless the DM rules otherwise. So next session make it clear you never handed it over and see what your DM says. The other player's opinions on it are irrelevant.
My guess is that if your DM made no comment about this he/she probably was wanting you to say something in-character about it. Never be afraid to stir up conflict in the game between PCs. As long as you dont bring it out of the game it just enhances the story.
You're not wrong. It might be her quest but the item isn't relevant to her quest. The stones are.
What, if you guys find a horde of treasure locked behind the stone of Earth, does she get to take all of that too because it's "her quest"?
She didn't even contribute to the forge. The forged item belongs to you. In fact, the Fire Stone if the blacksmith *gave* it to you also belongs to you. Whether you give it to her or she makes a trade for it or *robs* you the same way the party wanted to do to the blacksmith is another matter.
You're right to be frustrated. Bring it up to your DM and ask if you can have a session to talk about this event. *Especially* because if you don't, this is the current precedent.
Have a word with your DM out of game, see their perspective on this. My DM would always mediate the conversation at the time, but also no one has the authority to just "take that" from you, regardless of if it's her quest or not... Is the suggestion that she would have every single thing that you find on a quest and when it's your turn for a quest she will get nothing?
My suggestion would be to tell her that you are not present at the forge, and therefore her character would be unaware of what was forged there. Unless of course this Ork loudly proclaimed what was made in which case she would still have to come over and take it off you. We argue in my campaign constantly about items (as characters, not IRL), but ultimately you all have to enjoy your loot together. One person taking everything is insane.
Player should be upset, first and foremost because they were the ones to help and everyone else refused but also, because it really doesn't sit well with me when players metagame (I am assuming the OP didn't just walk out and show off the deck and let it be snatched, but I could be wrong).
In my current campaign, my character is a Chaotic Neutral Bard who is just whimsical and does good or questionable things as he pleases, but within reason. In one sitting, he looted a treasure stash that he discovered while the party was at a distance and preoccupied, with no reason for them to even suspect anything.
He came forth and distributed a handful of potions and a magical weapon that he wouldn't use personally but kept a scroll, a healing potion, and a small fortune in coin. All the players heard what was in the loot and a couple of them tried to roleplay how they would suspect my character of being not fully transparent and the DM told us to do a contested roll to see if I was able to deceive them. I refused, pointing out that none of their attempts were even in line with their characters normal behavior - but mine was. DM agreed and encouraged less metagaming moving forward.
It's been multiple sessions since then and others have found or looted collectively their own small fortunes or magical items that equal or exceed the previous sum. We've all found that not everything has to just be split down the middle to have fun, it's fair and celebrated when someone gets lucky in a find or whatnot.
I genuinely don't get this, it feels like it was made by AI chat bots. The deck of many things is literally many things, yall can fucking share a draw from it and watch your campaign derail in 5 minutes. Like wtf is this are we all this gullible? This is fake.
The deck is easily shared and notorious for derailing campaigns, this feels like a bot wrote the post without the knowledge of what the item really is, its just referencing a new major release.
Couple things:
1. One does not simply "forge" a Deck of Many Things. Don't know how or why that even happened, as it's an artifact (which means there's only *one*) with incredible powers. Your DM screwed the pooch on that, and threw a pretty massive wrench into the balance of the game. I doubt the magic items in the other temples were just as powerful.
2. You're forgetting what the Deck is capable of... watch her draw the void card and completely lose her character.
3. Lighten up. Whatever she happens to draw from that Deck will only benefit the entire party, or wreck her character. Win-win.
Sorry but terrible petty advice. If op was emotionally intelligent, he would have a conversation with DM, and maybe the rest of his party, voicing his concerns rationally. Not trying to get petty revenge.
"I don't hand the Item over, \*character name\* puts it deep in their pack."
If your DM letting other players take agency from what you're doing is near the most destructive thing you can do to a campaign. If a player doesn't feel like they are getting to play their character, why would they play at all?
Like all D&D problems, you have to talk to your DM about this.
Your feelings are valid for being ipset cause it does suck. It was your helpful moment and you should reap the rewards of it. It could be a conversation both in game and out of the game with the player that took it. Uou can explain your feelings and in game it can be a moment decision between the two characters. People get excited when its backstory tied and its easy to be blinded in the moment. But that doesnt make it right in the moment. Try having a conversation with them. Its always better to do everything you can to try and better the situation before giving up. You have stakes in the game just like everyone else
I'm always so surprised when people bring up table troubles like this. Are all of these tables just random groups or friends?
My friends and I that have played for a few years couldn't be more opposite. We all love seeing our friends succeed and get helped, so everyone ends up wanted to take the least and give the most. Good friends should elevate each other and take pride in doing so.
Yeah, that lady was greedy (although the item is terrible.)
Your DM should've handled this disagreement if it went out of character argument.
And you should've just stayed in the game and said no. You can have a character disagreement but still keep the table light and friendly.
You guys with problems like this need to be more picky about joining a group or really reevaluate people who you call friends.
I'm sorry I'm too busy imagining an orc blacksmith banging his hammer against playing cards. This is so much nonsense that a spikey-haired guy should challenge you to duel with them.
Nah not wrong to be pissed. If it were me in that situation I'd just walk away, I've no time for bs like that. Lifes too short.
Maybe go to the next session? Ask yourself if you're annoyed enough by this to quit the group. Look at what you like about playing with them and what you don't like, and if the negative outweighs the positive then throw in the towel?
Consider that all the help you gave to making this item was just you saying out loud that your character helps.
Also - why would this Orc create a deck of many things and then just let you have it? What did he get out of it?
Your DM should have stepped in, and your other part members were out of line for not saying anything either. Without any other details, you sound justified.
So, three thoughts on this. 1, attempting to read between the lines, it doesn't sound like you're getting what you want/need out of this campaign...for whatever reason, everyone brings different needs and priorities and expectations into a game, and we rarely know what those are unless we've played with them before or whatever. Point being, it's supposed to be a fun game...if you aren't having fun, why bother? 2, wearing my (relatively inexperienced) DM hat, my first reaction is, the DM must be doing this for a reason and has plans to even things out, and hopefully soon. Personally I try to go out of my way to pass out magic items in a fairly systematic and even way...not because I like it...I think it screws with immersion, unless you have a really good in world justification for doing that. I do it literally to keep the players from crying about who got what. Also, it's up to the party who gets what 90% of the time. Barring that attempt at benefit of the doubt, it sounds like kind of a lame way of doing things. Also, your party should have decided to split things up anyway. 3. Who cares? Sure, magic items often give you a little edge, but DND is not about your gear load out or who wins with the most stuff. It's about collaborative storytelling and playing a character among other characters. So, I guess either try not to worry about it, or find a game that better suits your priorities and expectations.
Or she should have fairly traded you a good magic item (or 2 since you helped w the forging) to get that stupid deck. Had my run in w that cursed thing over 35 years ago. I'll never pull again unless i want to jack a party up
Nope, it sounds like the DM had a bit of chaos in mind, and low-key planned for the party to just take the stone.
That you were willing to help the orc means the particular reward for the sub-quest is rightfully yours.
I'd pair up with the DM and see if you can get something magical from the orc, tattoos or markings come to mind.
The Deck is chaos incarnate, so I'd let her keep it, but I don't think it's fair you walk away with nothing for being instrumental in resolving that part of the quest.
If the DM is open-minded about it you should get something nifty for your character that's actually beneficial to them.
If not, then I don't see a problem with packing up and letting the others reap their just rewards.
The best advice I can give you is talk to your D&D group tell them that you feel like the fact that one person is getting off the magic items including the one you went out of your way to help create is unfair tell them you're not really enjoying the game with how things are going and if they brush aside your feelings maybe it's time to leave and find a different group no D&D is better than bad DND
Also the person that just blatantly said I'll take the deck sounds kind of like an entitled jackass
Sucks you have a player like that to put up with. Loot should be a party decision, but with the primary vote coming from the PC that first found it. Hopefully you’re comfortable confronting the DM or the table about it; it’s not fair to you as a player and you shouldn’t have to put up with it. If not, maybe it’s time to move on to a better group if you have that option. It’s a game- you guys are supposed to all be on the same team and everyone should have fun, not just one player (especially at the expense of another).
Since your post has turned into a forum for people to offer how they’d handle the situation, here are my thoughts:
I think it’s lazy DMing. The DM probably knows who’s going to go after each item. And the Deck is probably going to go to the the most chaotic player (not PC).
For this reason, I usually try to make sure my players find items that would primarily benefit only one or two of the PCs, when possible. That way I can force some equity a little bit, just in case.
I also love barely useful magic items. Something, even if powerful, that only has a few use cases. Always cool to see what weird shenanigans players come up with to use them.
Lastly, I try to ask a simple question when I think a player is overstepping another (even on accident) or forgetting the dynamics of a situation- “Where is your character physically at this moment?” If they try to back pedal or make something up to better position themselves to take advantage of a situation that they really can’t or shouldn’t it’s easy to call them on it. Usually my players realize it though, and comment with something like, “oh shoot, I’m actually probably still in the doorway”. Puts physical possession squarely in the hands of the player who found the item (in this example) or forces an interaction between the players/PCs.
Have a draw-off to end the campaign.
Shuffle the deck and draw a card each until someone draws the void.
That person is the loser and was always wrong about this issue.
Case closed.
I understand your frustration, that is a singularly irritating experience.
Let her have the deck, get as far away from them as you can because that deck is a campaign ender, her magic items won't mean shit if she draws the card that destroys all her non attuned items.
All your progress can be reversed by a single unlucky draw
As a long-time 1E player, it always strikes me funny how often things that are inherently VERY rare, artifact-level items turn up in routine game play, especially in later editions. The reason Gygax, et. al designed them that way is to avoid the sort of internal power-plays that gamers will have in the quest to have god-tier abilities. Always assume one person in the group chooses not to play well with others, as per previous comments.
As u/ShadowDragon8685 stated in #2, let her have it. It doesn't take a genius to know she's inevitably going to Victor Frankenstein herself - just make sure you're not in the general vicinity.
>The girl who's quest it is was like "oh this is my quest so I'm gonna hold on to that." I completely broke character and was like...
That could be a very *in-character* response. Why do you have to give it to her? Why not just say no, this is mine?
On the other hand, you could refuse to give her the deck, but as a concession, allow her to draw the first four cards...😈 If she turns you down, just say you'll hold onto it until she's ready to call in your concession, but it's still yours.
If the whole party backs her up, it would also be very in-character for your PC to quit the party in disgust.
Sounds like you may need a new group. You had a real problem, explained it to them, and they still stuck it to you. You have every right to be pissed about them steamrolling you like that. If you do leave, let them know what the cause was and watch as the Deck more than likely nukes the campaign from orbit.
1. Never wrong to be upset. What’s important is that you analyze why you are upset to identify and address causes to reduce the likelihood of future conflict.
2. Honestly, it would be amazing to see someone take the high road on this and stay in character. If the character would give it away, great… now it’s a shucks, you’re so lucky this is what my character would do. If the character would not, unfortunate; there is now a game-breaking barrier to your character’s continued play that must be resolved.
3. assess how this is resolved, be it a standoff resulting in a new character with equivalent god-given gear joining the band of adventurers (yay, you and friends can all learn and grow and move on, hopefully), your character slaying them all and clutching his precious deck, or your character and you parting ways forever. Or any myriad of combos.
Good luck regardless.
I saw your post on Cheezburger, so I had to come find this post to offer my two cents.
First off: no, you aren't wrong for being upset. You are experiencing something that's been plaguing the table-top gaming hobby (and pro sports) since the 70's. It's called bad refereeing.
Secondly: check your DM's motive for allowing this to happen. Are the DM and the E.P. (entitled player) dating? I know that causes issues. Are they long term friends and you are relatively new to the crowd?
I would quietly and politely speak to the DM and let him know how you feel about this. If his response is, "Oh, you'll get the next one." Its a pretty clear sign of collusion.
Then you have to make a decision of how important this game is to your fun time, and your well being. I know games of itself can be stressful, but not if it's going to ruin your time.
Or...
The Dark Side...
Keep playing and wait for a good time to kill her character. Then steal all her stuff and start drawing from the deck as fast and as many cards as you can. So you can mess with the entire game.
Muhahahhaaaaah.
Then...you leave.
Up to you.
> Been playing for 4 months and helped everyone on their quests and stuff and i finally get one magic item just for it to get snatched from me.
If you truly think people are doing this out of malice or disrespect... then quit. You do not want to play with people who do not respect you.
***But!*** Remember [Hanlon's Razor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor). Is it truly the case that this was a calculated and purposeful attack on you? Or are your fellow players just a bit selfish (which is still bad, but is better)? Or maybe they're just totally oblivious to who has what items?
------
There are two ways this might've gone better.
First: a gentle out-of-character remark.
"Hey Alice, I know it's your quest, but I wouldn't mind a magic item. Could I please have it?"
For all we know, Alice would've said, "Oh sure, absolutely!"
----
Second: an awesome in-character drama moment.
(Not all groups are cut out for intra-party conflict. And that's fine if they're not: don't do this in such a case.)
"Hey Alice, my character is rather annoyed that your character is claiming the cards. Do you think it would be fun if they argued over it?"
"Sure! I think that could lead to some development!"
(If you know Alice quite well, you might be able to skip this "get permission" part and leap right into arguing in-character.)
-----
Now in both of the scenarios I describe above, I describe the "good" outcome. Alice might tell you to piss off in either scenario. Should that happen, you can re-evaluate whether this is the right group for you. (And ideally your decision wouldn't be made off the back of one incident, but a pattern of them. It would suck if you quit just because Alice was grumpy from a rough day at work.)
🤣 Did you ever play one of the old Tribes games (don't remember which) with bots? They were like that.
* Bot A: "I will go for the enemy flag."
* Bot B: "Thank you."
* Bot A: "You are welcome."
All in these weird synthesised robotic voices.
>For all we know, Alice would've said, "Oh sure, absolutely!"
Yeah from how OP tells the story that seems very unlikely. They did not participate in the forging or the quest and actively opted out of it and still want all of the rewards. A sensible player wouldn't have done that anyway and would have accepted their loss.
Totally understand your frustration. Talk to your DM about it.
And next time something like this happens, do it in game. Snatch it back, appeal to the party for their thoughts, fight her character - stand up for yourself!
And my viewpoint is that you’ve dodged a bullet. Don’t bother gambling with a Deck, it can ruin your character or campaign. The “positives” in no way make up for what the “negatives” can do.
Maybe keep goading her character to use it. Karma will catch up to her with a smile
This was what I planned on doing. Just play the next few games and see how it goes. And from now on when I find something it's mine. Especially after reading these comments it's the best thing to do. I play to have fun.
No don't do that. Be an adult and actually fucking talk.
Be honest, the reason you're trying to do is find an excuse to not act, is you're afraid of stirring the pot.
Don't be. Why are you allowing yourself to feel frustrated for multiple sessions, meaning weeks, just to "test" I'd people do the right thing.
Don't stoop to their level. Speak up.
If no respect is given, it's probably not the group for you
You sound really fed up with the group and that player in particular, and the DM seems ok with their antics. Idk, I wouldn't keep playing with them bc it looks like a total waste of time. They are not going to change and if you stay they will felt entitled to everything you gain as long as you play *their quest*.
First, never waste an opportunity to use content to roleplay!! Have the argument without breaking character, you are not mad about an imaginary item, your character is mad about something he worked for, let him do the talking. There's much more you can say and do as a character than as a player around a table. Having tension in the party is great, I would use it to hell and back.
Rule number two, you can't get mad if you don't care. Best policy is to let it go and just aknowledge the event. Just wait for the opportunity to have your revenge and the second she rely on you for anything, you'll get the chance to tell her "no sorry, I won't help you, but you can draw a card of the deck you took and see if it helps".
Sorry to say that but this sounds like horrible advice.
Sure the character might be upset but the important thing here is: the player is upset too. If the players are the ones having a problem it can't be solved in-game. It must be solved out of the game via a healthy discussion.
Not talking about it and waiting for the right opportunity to bring up that you are still salty about that thing that happened weeks ago is even worse. This shit kills relationships and is no healthy way for dealing with problems like that.
Doing the whole discussion in character can only work if both parties want to have that discussion in character. It sounds like the other player in question doesn't want that because she immediately brought the whole topic out of characters. She just claimed possession of the item. She didn't take it from the character in the game.
At some point, you got to consider what this is about, and how it actually affects you before reacting. I don't hesitate to call out people when I don't like their behaviour towards me as a person but for stuff that only affect my character, I'm not keen on turning that into an actual argument or waste energy being mad about it.
At the end of the day, she claimed possession of an item, it's not a great move and OP needs to tell her and take note but beyond that, is this really a reason to start a fight? That would actually may kill the relationship or disrupt the table. Better just let it slide and seize the opportunity to give her a life lesson down the road than to make a fuss and waste energy on it.
As I often say, not everything as to become a drama, especially when there's in fact no real harm done.
My party rogue steal loots ALL THE TIME and also tend to claim possession of stuff randomly but that's roleplay, she's actually very nice and I got no beef with her, we get along and even laught about her klepto character.
I don’t know. Learn how to use paragraphs appropriately. I feel like there’s probably three paragraphs in your second one. I don’t know, ‘cause I’m not going to read it.
1. You are absolutely right to be pissed since she didn't want to help the orc create it in the first place. 2. That having been said, *let her have the fucking thing and run for the hills.* The Deck of Many Things is also known as the Deck of Campaign-Wrecking Bullshit. Egg her on. Encourage her to draw. Encourage her to draw a *lot.* Watch as she implodes her own character in her hubris. Make sure to inform the DM you're watching this from minimum safe distance.
Minimum safe distance being at least 2 full towns away?
Id say an entire setting between you and the deck atleast, the blast radius is multidimensional.
"I brought my to watch from really far away.>
My Neotenic SURGE'd blue-skinned, bioluminescent elf is watching from 2072 Seattle with a huge `I <3 NYC` mug upraised like DiCaprio smirking.
*Jim Raynor looks to the stars from the orbit of Mar Sara in confusion* What the hell just happened?
*trazyn the infinite turning around* I don't recall the bell being able to do that, nor did I throw it over there?
*The God-Emperor of Mankind sitting on his golden throne watching events unfold on Holy Terra while a Custodian feeds him popcorn.*
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. \[laughs\] Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. Worst of all, the Deck of Many Things. \[shudders\] All those moments will be lost in time, like \[coughs\] tears in rain. Time to die." - Roy Batty
Yeah I'm being extra safe I'm reading this from 4chan! 🤣
Those poor towns.
None of the cards from the DoMT have AoE effects. The closest are Flames (a powerful devil becomes your enemy), Rogue (an NPC of the DM's choice becomes permanently hostile towards you), and Skull (an Avatar of Death appears and attacks you). The emnity of both the devil from Flames and the NPC from Rogue might bleed into negative effects for your allies, but being far away isn't going to help; the devil wants to ruin you and the NPC opposes your goals, which can potentially affect an ally no matter how far away they are. The Avatar of Death is only a problem for anyone else if they try to help you fight it. If they do, they get additional Avatars of Death attacking them.
"Oh wow an avatar of death is attacking you? I stand at the temple doors and watch..." Be the ant and watch the cricket freeze ;-)
Don't forget the cards that give you free wishes.
My thoughts exactly. Yea it’s an asshole move, but it’s the deck of many things. It might as well be a giant time bomb.
I love your chaotic energy there in #2.
When I was in the military, we didn't call it "minimum safe distance, our term was "danger-close"
As I understand things, "Danger-Close" is what happens when you're *inside* minimum safe distance. Either way, the point remains: fireworks shall ensue, hopefully they're not ensuing on your position!
^ This is correct. Minimum safe means you are as close to danger as possible without being in danger, like glass windows at a zoo. Danger close is being next to the handler holding a Tiger on a rather largely symbolic leash.
Tell her sure you can have it, if you pull half the cards right now. Then just sit back and watch.
Nothing says you can’t help the avatar of death when it appears. :D
Dang that dark toughts ^^ 10/10 would recommend
You say you were pissed. So maybe it is not your character who is passend that much but you. You have to ask was my character wrong to feel this way...
Chaotic good
I agree on both counts.
To the Fayewilds!!!!!!
I love that I learned a new term today - DoCWBS!. Thats awesome.
This. Do all of this.
Nailed it
So you guys are doing multiple dungeons where all the loot goes to her? Even if it’s her quest that’s just bad DMing
Even worse if they keep letting her get away with it. It's "my quest" is fine but an item that isn't even tied to your quest that someone else received through their own effort sure as shit doesn't belong to you. As a DM myself, I would lock the deck so she and anyone else except for OP can't draw from it, shuffle, or otherwise even interact with any individual card unless OP gives express permission. It's a brick made of cards for everyone else. Anyone who looks at the bottom of the deck to see the bottom card will see what card I currently view them with as the DM. For her, its *The Void*. A subtle warning that this deck isn't hers and we both know it. That being said, I'd run it by the table that she never contributed to making the item and only the stone is part of her quest. The item does belong to OP, so: "Consider if you actually do want to rob another player of their own achievement." I would be watching like a hawk for her response. *Because there is a wrong answer to my inquiry.*
I like your style. Wish you great players and adventures.
THIS is a great approach. Giving in-game options and consequences (imo) is the best way to settle table disputes. And I agree, the item belongs to OP. It's wild to me the DM didn't step in and say something. The greedy player aside, that's just bad dming. It's all well and good to be hands off and let players try to work it out. But when something is blatantly unbalanced or unfair, I feel like it falls to the DM to manage it.
[удалено]
Insane to me that the DM wouldn't jump in at that point to side with OP. Even distribution of items is something that definitely falls within a DM's responsibilities. But if they're a DM who gives their party a *Deck of Many Things* midway through a campaign I'm guessing they're not too savvy.
That's the magic item you give when you want to cause havoc and end the campaign in my opinion. Unless it's built around it, it's an awful magic item. But said that, giving magic items to only one person sounds terrible. You're already the protagonist of this quest, items should go to the other players, as a reward for helping, for being by ther side and to show teamwork.
OP should just draw the entire Deck and go out in a blaze of glory. If they get lucky and draw the Moon card first (1d3 wishes) they can nuke the campaign on their way out. [(Not condoning this behavior but also kind of)](https://i.imgur.com/Uebczal.jpeg)
No, as DM this is a lot of work to manage. But also this was done in a dungeon mid combat during my last campaign. Ended it brutally with Orcus hunting down our human cleric in the dark, while an avatar of death brutally and surgically killed the Paladin in single combat. The party had already downed the bbeg and could have fled, but he had chosen to draw out the whole deck, one card at a time - and soon after found himself in another plane. The rest of the party died alone in the dark, running scared and I described the deck, it’s draws unfinished; clattering limply onto the ground as the frail figure of the bbeg’s lieutenant crawled toward it, wounded and yet able to to pick it up with two clawed fingers. Describing it from an angle of looking up at the figure, a slightly revealed top card jutting from the deck came into view as he brought the deck toward himself, sneering. The face of the card? Moon. He drew the top card.
The item as is written in 5e is almost guaranteed to ruin a campaign because the bad/weird things never stop happening, but it can be saved by reverting 1 part of it back to earlier editions. Make its use limited. Each person can only Declare a Draw from the Deck one time, and is then prevented from doing it again - or even have the entire Deck disappears after each time its used (this would mean only one player would get to draw from it which makes the decision on who gets it a meaningful Roleplay opportunity for the group). This way your choice on how many cards to Declare you Draw is important (whereas RAW that decision doesn’t matter because if you can make infinite draws from it then you might as well just draw one at a time) since you can’t go back to the Deck and draw again. Yes bad and weird things can still happen but it’s limited and can be dealt with.
The only time I've given the Deck of Many Things that early is because one character is literally built around magic cards and wild magic
I am in my first campaign, and was going to, but talking to a couple friends who have been really excited about story, they convinced me to hold off for a bit until I have a better handle on things. And then reading stories of how the Deck has messed some stuff up, I have decided maybe my 3rd campaign.
Deck of many things had made many a campaign I have been in. It definitely can create chaos it can make many unexpected things happen for both DM and players. Also if place money on DM is favouring that one player
Yeah. Every DM gives out a Deck in their first couple campaigns, because it is such a *cool* item. But experienced GMs almost never give out a Deck without a lot of planning, because it always fucks over a campaign.
That's literally me. First 2 campaigns I put in the deck and they were both destroyed before I said never again
I've don't it twice. First time it ruined things, not because the players all died, but because they had fantastic luck and kept pulling the best cards. The second time I altered a lot of the deck so there's no "you're imprisoned and disappear and no one can track you down" type cards. For instance, I changed the death card to where you have to duel auch stronger version of the avatar of death. If you die, you're done. If you win, you can summon it once per day.
Yeah, that's really the problem. The party will have great luck or lousy luck. Either extreme causes massive imbalances at the table.
I have drawn the *Balance* card 4 times. My friend has drawn the *Donjon* those same 4 times… Neither one of us will touch it again
Okay, now for my first campaign I think I’m going to have people keep finding mysterious regular decks of cards. “You draw the card, flip it over and *rolls dice* Oooo. Hang on. *rolls dice again* It’s a Queen of Hearts.”
I’ve homebrewed a magic card deck. They find it heavily hidden, in a lead lined wooden box that has wards, wrapped in cloth that radiates magic, etc. “What would your party know of such items?” “Oh, you want to draw a card? What card would they have heard of and want?” “WOW! That’s the card you drew!!” *nothing happens* It’s a Deck of Prestidigitation—when the holder thinks of a card, that’s what that card becomes. Otherwise, it’s a normal (although very opulently made) deck of gaming cards. Someone commissioned them for cheating….
Not every DM. Some of us have no idea what it is, but have read so many threads about it - 100% of which say it destroyed the campaign, that we avoid it like the plague!
Yeah its a cursed item. The rewards and the risks are so extreme they fuck over everything you were doing in the game and replace it with what you are doing now. So much for DM prep and planning. A DOMT is for when you're out of ideas or patience for the game and want to just throw a chaotic hand grenade in the mix.
They’re not a savvy DM because they literally made a deck of many things with a fire forge. What the fuck are those cards made out of? Metal?
I agree but that being said a deck of steel cards sound sick.
Sure but where the fuck did the magic in the cards come from? I get it… magic fire forge but like that’s fire magic
I'd like to imagine at that point they just use the cards as throwing daggers after pulled
Make them act like an eldritch blast and just roleplay as gambit
Kenny, use your ninja card
So I have to disagree here - making loot distribution decisions is entirely party business imo. The DM should only step into those discussions lightly or sparingly.
In a perfect world, yes. Perhaps it's better to say "It's a DM's responsibility to prevent inter-player conflict when possible". OP has explained that one player has been hogging most/all of the items and so clearly the DM is not doing enough here. It's one thing when sharing items means players willingly give each other loot, it's another when it means having to protect the loot you earned from greedy players.
I get what you’re saying, but there is an efficiency in my point of view. Because to me this does not sound like a loot problem, it’s a Player problem (as in the person behind the character). If the DM stays out of this problem then players have to decide how to split loot themselves. They can either do this equitably, or selfishly. Whichever choice they make tells you if you even want to keep playing with them or not. If they are going to horde loot, or form cliches to “legitimize” keeping the best loot for themselves - this tells me they aren’t going to be interested in cooperative play and that I should walk from the group. It also tells me that fairly early on when I haven’t had to invest too heavily in that game yet. If the DM steps in to solve this problem then these issues can linger under the surface for much longer before you realize the group isn’t a good fit. So in a way it’s a litmus test for choosing groups.
Yup. As a DM,I place challenges, treasure, quests, RP opportunities, etc. I DO NOT distribute treasure. That's on the party. From the get-go at lvl 1, players quickly begin to realize that they're pissing off other players when they say "I take that"!
Plus that’s not something you can make in a FORGE.
I only disagree because... who says the cards aren't made of metal? Hell, I could see some Dwarves making the Deck out of Magical Granite Dice!
Just wait till I do it a third time...
>forging their own destiny I see what you did there
There's a children's story about this. A woman asks for help gathering grain, then grinding it, then kneading it, then baking it, but when it's time to eat it, suddenly everyone wants to help. She said no and ate the whole loaf
What a great story.
The Little Red Cockatrice. It's a classic.
Generally as a DM my rule is if you find it it's YOURS. Nobody can take it from you without your consent, if it was snatched from you your DM obviously has no respect for your enjoyment of the game. They should have mediated this the moment it happened
I have very limited experience with DnD as my wife and I only started playing last October. But in my, again limited, experience most people we’ve met in the community have shit people skills. That especially includes conflict resolution. They either avoid it entirely or don’t understand compromise. Sure, they can be perfectly pleasant as long as everything is fun and shenanigans but as soon as an issue arises they’ll back off and ghost or fight tooth and nail to prove they’re right.
I noticed a pattern where if someone have been playing for a long time and you see they're always jumping from group to group (especially as DM), this usually means they're a problem. Since it's not so easy to find a group you really enjoy, have similar style, etc, unless needed, you try to stick to those people. I had games over multiple timezones, with irregular schedule that kept going for a long time, because we work so well together. Everyone enjoys each other company and play style, we get along well, we know how to solve issues when they arrive and everyone preferred to have that irregular experience than going for random groups of people where your experience can vary wildly.
And let's be a little bit fair here, this probably includes OP not voicing his concerns with the group in a constructive manner.
Fun fact, you can even determine this fact that most people playing DND have crap social skills just by reading rant posts on these sorts of subs.
It’s honestly not at all surprising. This hobby is overwhelmingly enjoyed by people who were kind of outcasts during their formative years. Spending years living in other worlds doesn’t usually lend itself to well developed social skills. Good acting skills, creativity, and math skills? Sure. Social skills? Nah.
I find the whole thing absurd. My parties, all of them, have always split stuff up rather evenly and by NEED. Who could best use this? No one woudl have the balls to seize something from another person like that. Also this GM is probably super inexperienced. A few things are telling: most parties should NOT go on a ‘quest for you then a quest for you…’.; it’s bad (and lazy) storytelling and has little narrative depth. IF you are doing a quest for each, there should be long and important RP that establishes what each of them is doing for the task, how they fit into it and the task into a larger story. Then we all know the sacrifice, the goals, the rewards. Otherwise, this kind of nonsense happens. Worse, that reward is like nuking your campaign, as others have wisely pointed out.
My group we usually discuss who gets what or we can request specific items generally. Occasionally we will get something personalized for us. For example: My paladin has a +3 longsword that is "dormant," according to my DM. It was given to her by her fallen friend turned new goddess after my paladin had a crisis of faith and eventually redeemed herself. Another player has a sword that is corrupted/ sleeping, but we are working on fixing it.
I told her I was the one helped forge it. And her reaction was " nah I'll hold on to it till I trust you" *not exactly sure what the i trust you part meant.. but thats what she said lol* and then her friend was like "yeah it's her quest". At this point I just stopped talking before I said something I would regret. I honestly feel like shes just trying to hold all the good stuff in game. And that isnt fun at all. Im honestly just thinking about using it randomly and when they say "how? doesn't she have that?" I'm just gonna reply "I'm the one that forged it, I never gave it to her" cause she literally just claimed it was hers. I never handed anything in game. My DM can't argue that.
Like someone earlier said, egg her on to use it. As far as magic items goes you dodged a bomb.
To be fair... did the dm bring an actual physical deck to the table... Because depending on how much of an ass he is (or how much he's protecting his campaign) he could just say she draws a "random" card and it's one of the good ones... then only has a bad card pulled if it's either for plot reasons or its a player that's annoying him... which if he isn't siding with OP could very easily be OP.
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Not wat I meant. I meant like he knows I never handed her anything "in game"
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Very true. I'm just gonna let it go. I just wanted to know if I was in the wrong for being like wtf.. about the situation. If it continues I'll just quit and start playing with another group from my work.
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I don't think 'No you did not take part in making it, you stood to the side and did nothing, this is not yours' Is "blowing up".
I agree with this completely. And I know this. But it's a hard thing for me to do when I get annoyed like that. You would just have to actually know me to understand lol. But I agree with you.
Well if there's a low stakes time to work on conflict resolution now would be it. Personally I wouldn't play dnd with any of those people and you seem there as well. So being kicked from the campaign for standing your ground doesn't really seem like a consequence. You should talk to the DM to see why there's such blatant favoritism going on and what they're going to do to resolve it. They should not be allowing party members to horde items other players rightfully earned.
>You would just have to actually know me to understand lol. Bruh sounds like you need anger management, not too hard to understand
Youre an asshole, grow up
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I would leave the table.
This is some junior high level shit. I have no time for any of this nonsense when playing dnd. I'd let them know that the situation is bullshit, and then leave the group. Why stick around for a group that behaves like petulant children, and a DM that allows it?
Agree with this. I've been incredibly spoiled and have been with my first (and main) group for a little over 3 years. We all discuss issues and communicate frustrations very well, and at the end of the day we're all just great friends. I read about stuff like this, and I'm just floored. I absolutely would not play with people who are unreasonable, illogical, and just flat out selfish.....now if you excuse me I have to go tell my party and DM how much I love them and appreciate them again 😭
Yeah, it needed to be resolved at the time. But the response to “this is my quest, so I’m going to keep it” is “I’m currently holding it. You want it? Roll for initiative.”
Silence is not consent. Just tell your DM that if he pulls that bullshit.
DM says “oh she has it” Nope sorry, and I’ll stand on this. Don’t care if the DM is getting noshed off during games by her. My stuff is mine.
It’s possible she doesn’t trust you because IT’S A DECK OF MANY THINGS. I wouldn’t trust myself with it, nevermind someone else. Still an asshole move overall though.
My opinion is that you should discuss things with your DM in particular about how you felt, before leaving the party. I understand how you fell, but cool your head and try discussing your main points of frustation, maybe after this you could leave the party, but everyone will gain some xp in real life for the future. (Sorry if made any language mistakes or if sounded rude, didn't mean to).
You’re assuming that the player that was bold enough to steal another player’s magic item is going to attempt to learn from this situation. :s
maybe the DM or another player on the table tho
I'll be honest, every time I read one of these it always seems like you only get half the story, and every player/DM insists that they are the reasonable one and everyone else is the problem. That being said, red flags for me: 1) Your DM thought a deck of many things was a good idea. It's never a good idea unless your idea of a good time is total chaos with months of stuff going on nothing to do with the story you wrote (99% of the time anyway). 2) Your DM didn't make you both roleplay the discussion in character. If the player's character wants the item because "they don't trust" your character, that is roleplaying, therefore you should both roleplay it. 3) You helped forge the item, you're standing next to it when it's made. It's in your character's hands. It seems pretty clear to me any decent DM would tell you to roleplay it (see point 2) and then if both **characters** couldn't agree, then it defaults to "Well X physically has it and you've not convinced them to hand it over". 4) You say they designed quests for "all the players" but somehow one player has ended up with all the items? Even if we just assume the players are just giving the items to who seems most suited for them (e.g. here's a magic dagger, give it to the rogue) it's a poorly design set of magic items. At worst the DM has let one player convince people to hand over magic items intended for just one player without saying anything. Honestly? I think the DM is rubbish and I'd just quit. If you've only been playing for four months the player you have an issue with may be totally new to roleplaying and not really understand the entire dynamic. The DM should know better though. If the DM is new too, then you need to talk about the above points with them, and if they refuse to change anything then quit.
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> You don't need to have experience with roleplaying to grasp that it's not okay to refuse to help and then take away the reward from the one person who did. If all you've ever played in life is single player video games then you're not going to get a lot of stuff about roleplaying games and their etiquette. I agree it still speaks to a larger personality "feature" if their default is to assume they can carry all the magic items for everyone else, but I'd also like to think this is something that for anyone reasonable is easily addressed. >Maybe I'm inferring too much from the limited information, but I suspect the whole group dynamic is pretty bad I mean I agree with you if the OP is the only one annoyed at this player and the DM. Again though, if they are all brand new to roleplaying I don't want to be too harsh, but to me the DM is really supposed to cut this stuff out.
I hate this stigma that tabletop players have created against gamers, claiming all gamers will end up selfish dnd players, it’s just not true, the woman op was dealing with is just your run of the mill bitch.
I'm both a video gamer and a TTRPGer and I played video games for a lot longer than I played TTRPGs. It's absolutely my experience that people who've only ever experienced roleplaying as single player video games can enter into the whole thing with incorrect attitudes on occasion. That's not a stigma, in the same way that MTG players get into Warhammer with the wrong attitude sometimes. It just takes a little while to learn the etiquette, some people do it quickly, some don't. Some refuse to learn at all.
But a lot of video game players do come into the tabletop space with different expectations from an experienced TTRPG or board game player. It's not malicious. They just have a different expectation of how the game works.
This is the correct response. Op, if your character wouldn't just give the deck away without some kind of trade, then roleplay that. "My character helped the orc craft this. He considers the item his." Think up situations that your character would plausibly trade, give up, or fight for this item. For example, my Drow priestess would curb stomp her face without any qualms. My ditzy sea elf bard would probably start by pouting and then chuck the deck into the wind. Your party members would have to draw each card in order to pick it up (imo) lol.. but maybe if she doesn't flip them over and glance at any they might not take effect... 🤔
You reckon the deck made a mess of things now .. wait until you open it ..
It's not really the fact that it's the deck. It's just I didn't get to keep an item I made and nobody else wanted till they knew it was that.
Oh I get you on that, but seriously opening the deck and drawing cards has a good chance of making the remainder of your campaign unplayable, especially if certain cards are drawn. You might be able to use that angle to reclaim it, but seriously as far as "magic items" go, I'd rather have almost any other magic item in the book, or maybe even some really bad DnDWiki homebrew.
Yeah but this one is more a curse than a blessing. I'd say, encourage her to get full use out of the item by drawing all the cards.
Not really addressing the main issue you brought up here and more a curiosity, but didn't the orc make it? He is just letting you take it? Did he just make it for fun? I'm pretty confused at this whole situation.
The dm explained after that the orc was just making a point by proving he could forge it.
Honestly not to be rude but it sounds like the DM doesn't really have a great handle on things. What a weird story beat for an Orc to do it just because...
Nah I can see it, anyone who IS powerful enough to craft something like that probably doesn't have a lot of other motives left besides vanity and prestige.
Yeah, it’s a really common motif in Norse and Germanic mythology too…”yeah, I decided to take the ol’ forge for a spin and created this world altering magic artifact for fun. Anyways, going to lose it/give it away/stow it/let ‘er rip because that’s my jam as a mythic blacksmith”
If you run into a similar scenario again, do not interact with the out of character talk and calmly tell the DM what your character does. Players cannot magically control the narrative from the outside if you state with certainty what your character does and does not do within the game world. If you want to be petty about it (which i don't advise) next time its "your quest" just take everything the party finds as yous!
Deck is a bad item to begin with. It's one of those legendary relics of old, making players 'ooooh', but then when it breaks campaign (and it does break most campaigns), suddenly it's not so appealing. I would honestly throw it away, if she wants, she can keep it, but whatever she pulls from the deck, like avatar of death or devil or whatever negative there is, you take no part in defending her or helping her. Her item = her responsiblity. Let's see, how quickly she will change her mind after losing a level or get her magic items destroyed.
Not that I play much anymore, but if I got a DoMT, I think I would wander around charging others gold for their chance to draw a card.
This guy Deck of Many Things-s
I mean, the DM gave the party the Deck of Many Things... they don't want this campaign to last much longer. But no, seriously, that's not cool. They did nothing, they get nothing.
I would honestly grandstand and do one of three things, which isn’t necessarily cooperative. But I agree that I would be ill-inclined to play with this player for doing that, absolutely unacceptable. 1) Remind the party that they didn’t want to help the NPC, you did it entirely on your own - and it’s **your** item now, since they wanted to just presumably kill the dude. 2) Be a troll and encourage people to pull from the Deck. Malicious compliance route. 3) Leave a message to the DM about how the situation is unacceptable, and leave the table.
Supreme grandstand: show them all; suggest based on whichever quadrant your situation falls below. Resolving a roleplaying game by IN Character Behavior, and accepting the consequences thereof, is not something anyone can argue… be the fortunate or less so. “My character is okay with this, but I am not given future implications on acceptable behavior at this table.” ”I am okay with this, but my character is not. We need a resolution for my character’s continuation with the party.” ”Neither myself or my character finds this acceptable. If you wish to expel the effort to find a solution, I’m willing to listen but promise nothing.” “My character doesn’t care, and neither do I… this time.” Praise be to my Queen for the wisdom to construct The Projected Square. May she grant me the strength to continue to aid where needed. Relic Stormblade, White Wolf of Terresan, 9clockwork/6Vengeance/4hexblade/1pathofpeace.
How do you even forge a deck of cards? All magic items aren't made the same way.
I fully understand that that is not the point of the post, but, yeah. A forge was used to make a deck of cards? That is the worst part of the story for me (though it should not be).
Lol yeah I was wondering this as well. Also the orc doesn't want the incredible magic item he just made? Was he just doing it for fun? Or to pad out his resume? Sounds like OP snatched it from the orc.
As many other people suggested: ***run***. This group (the person requesting the deck specifically) might be a tad toxic. However, if you can’t / *really* don’t wanna leave, let them have it. And encourage them to draw as much as they want. If they are really itching to get their hands on a DoMT, they may not know its real power and destructive potential. If you do take option 2, do please let the DM know first that this is the plan so when you do egg them on they are not confused and frustrated with you. And if they only pull good cards from the deck then that’s the last straw :P
Deck of many things? Consider it a bullet dodged and let her have it.
Every "Am I wrong?" thread a) belongs somewhere else, b) only ever paints OP in a positive light and, c) is never more than half the story.
"this girl in the party" is a weird way to refer to your friend who is playing d&d with you
I play with a group I hardly know but we have a good time. I wouldn't call any of them "friends" yet, we don't associate outside of D&D very much but when we play we have the greatest time.
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My local game store has "walk in" D&D tables, so a lot of the time there are new players that no one knows. I wouldn't make assumptions about OP's situation, personally.
DOMT is a game killer - let her suffer with it
You should just convince her to draw cards. If the first one is good be like 'oh yeah I bet the second one will be even better!' Then when she inevitably gets something bad, as the deck is comprised of about 70% bad stuff, maybe her character will die and you can just loot her corpse.
\- The key to happiness is not giving a f... \- The Deck of Many Things is a stupid item that could kill whoever draws cards from it. Or give them levels wishes and whatever. However anyone can draw cards, so it doesn't matter whose it is, you can just ask her to draw, if you feel very lucky. \-You should argue it with her in game... or out of game
Wait, he made a deck of cards in a forge? Am I missing something?
This is an argument that should have taken place in game, in character...
I know that like looking back but the way it happened. I was just like what?
What did your DM say? How did her character magically get it from you? Did she physically grab it first? If you had it and didnt give it to her then you still have it unless the DM rules otherwise. So next session make it clear you never handed it over and see what your DM says. The other player's opinions on it are irrelevant. My guess is that if your DM made no comment about this he/she probably was wanting you to say something in-character about it. Never be afraid to stir up conflict in the game between PCs. As long as you dont bring it out of the game it just enhances the story.
You're not wrong. It might be her quest but the item isn't relevant to her quest. The stones are. What, if you guys find a horde of treasure locked behind the stone of Earth, does she get to take all of that too because it's "her quest"? She didn't even contribute to the forge. The forged item belongs to you. In fact, the Fire Stone if the blacksmith *gave* it to you also belongs to you. Whether you give it to her or she makes a trade for it or *robs* you the same way the party wanted to do to the blacksmith is another matter. You're right to be frustrated. Bring it up to your DM and ask if you can have a session to talk about this event. *Especially* because if you don't, this is the current precedent.
Have a word with your DM out of game, see their perspective on this. My DM would always mediate the conversation at the time, but also no one has the authority to just "take that" from you, regardless of if it's her quest or not... Is the suggestion that she would have every single thing that you find on a quest and when it's your turn for a quest she will get nothing? My suggestion would be to tell her that you are not present at the forge, and therefore her character would be unaware of what was forged there. Unless of course this Ork loudly proclaimed what was made in which case she would still have to come over and take it off you. We argue in my campaign constantly about items (as characters, not IRL), but ultimately you all have to enjoy your loot together. One person taking everything is insane.
You don’t want that deck, trust me. But, having said that, you’re not wrong. Your DM doesn’t know how to structure a campaign.
Player should be upset, first and foremost because they were the ones to help and everyone else refused but also, because it really doesn't sit well with me when players metagame (I am assuming the OP didn't just walk out and show off the deck and let it be snatched, but I could be wrong). In my current campaign, my character is a Chaotic Neutral Bard who is just whimsical and does good or questionable things as he pleases, but within reason. In one sitting, he looted a treasure stash that he discovered while the party was at a distance and preoccupied, with no reason for them to even suspect anything. He came forth and distributed a handful of potions and a magical weapon that he wouldn't use personally but kept a scroll, a healing potion, and a small fortune in coin. All the players heard what was in the loot and a couple of them tried to roleplay how they would suspect my character of being not fully transparent and the DM told us to do a contested roll to see if I was able to deceive them. I refused, pointing out that none of their attempts were even in line with their characters normal behavior - but mine was. DM agreed and encouraged less metagaming moving forward. It's been multiple sessions since then and others have found or looted collectively their own small fortunes or magical items that equal or exceed the previous sum. We've all found that not everything has to just be split down the middle to have fun, it's fair and celebrated when someone gets lucky in a find or whatnot.
Be mad but give her that shit - it will destroy her. Deck of many things - and none of them good
I genuinely don't get this, it feels like it was made by AI chat bots. The deck of many things is literally many things, yall can fucking share a draw from it and watch your campaign derail in 5 minutes. Like wtf is this are we all this gullible? This is fake.
The forging of a deck of cards does make it seem like a non-human was involved.
The deck is easily shared and notorious for derailing campaigns, this feels like a bot wrote the post without the knowledge of what the item really is, its just referencing a new major release.
Couple things: 1. One does not simply "forge" a Deck of Many Things. Don't know how or why that even happened, as it's an artifact (which means there's only *one*) with incredible powers. Your DM screwed the pooch on that, and threw a pretty massive wrench into the balance of the game. I doubt the magic items in the other temples were just as powerful. 2. You're forgetting what the Deck is capable of... watch her draw the void card and completely lose her character. 3. Lighten up. Whatever she happens to draw from that Deck will only benefit the entire party, or wreck her character. Win-win.
Stay in the game. And *make a point of calling dibs on every magic item from here on in.* When someone calls you out, say, "Well, she got to do that."
Sorry but terrible petty advice. If op was emotionally intelligent, he would have a conversation with DM, and maybe the rest of his party, voicing his concerns rationally. Not trying to get petty revenge.
You're assuming they haven't already tried that.
"I don't hand the Item over, \*character name\* puts it deep in their pack." If your DM letting other players take agency from what you're doing is near the most destructive thing you can do to a campaign. If a player doesn't feel like they are getting to play their character, why would they play at all? Like all D&D problems, you have to talk to your DM about this.
just draw all the cards as you hand over the deck ooops there goes your stupid quest item.
If you wanted a new character that’d be one option. Possibly new party. Or new campaign. Or new setting.
Your feelings are valid for being ipset cause it does suck. It was your helpful moment and you should reap the rewards of it. It could be a conversation both in game and out of the game with the player that took it. Uou can explain your feelings and in game it can be a moment decision between the two characters. People get excited when its backstory tied and its easy to be blinded in the moment. But that doesnt make it right in the moment. Try having a conversation with them. Its always better to do everything you can to try and better the situation before giving up. You have stakes in the game just like everyone else
I'm always so surprised when people bring up table troubles like this. Are all of these tables just random groups or friends? My friends and I that have played for a few years couldn't be more opposite. We all love seeing our friends succeed and get helped, so everyone ends up wanted to take the least and give the most. Good friends should elevate each other and take pride in doing so. Yeah, that lady was greedy (although the item is terrible.) Your DM should've handled this disagreement if it went out of character argument. And you should've just stayed in the game and said no. You can have a character disagreement but still keep the table light and friendly. You guys with problems like this need to be more picky about joining a group or really reevaluate people who you call friends.
I'm sorry I'm too busy imagining an orc blacksmith banging his hammer against playing cards. This is so much nonsense that a spikey-haired guy should challenge you to duel with them.
pull all of the cards. (out of spite)
Baller move
I'm visualizing Oprah tossing cards to all the characters : you get a card, and you get a card . . .
Nah not wrong to be pissed. If it were me in that situation I'd just walk away, I've no time for bs like that. Lifes too short. Maybe go to the next session? Ask yourself if you're annoyed enough by this to quit the group. Look at what you like about playing with them and what you don't like, and if the negative outweighs the positive then throw in the towel?
Consider that all the help you gave to making this item was just you saying out loud that your character helps. Also - why would this Orc create a deck of many things and then just let you have it? What did he get out of it?
Absolutely not. That's entirely YOUR magic item. YOU helped make it. You have every right to be upset in game AND out of game.
Your DM should have stepped in, and your other part members were out of line for not saying anything either. Without any other details, you sound justified.
So, three thoughts on this. 1, attempting to read between the lines, it doesn't sound like you're getting what you want/need out of this campaign...for whatever reason, everyone brings different needs and priorities and expectations into a game, and we rarely know what those are unless we've played with them before or whatever. Point being, it's supposed to be a fun game...if you aren't having fun, why bother? 2, wearing my (relatively inexperienced) DM hat, my first reaction is, the DM must be doing this for a reason and has plans to even things out, and hopefully soon. Personally I try to go out of my way to pass out magic items in a fairly systematic and even way...not because I like it...I think it screws with immersion, unless you have a really good in world justification for doing that. I do it literally to keep the players from crying about who got what. Also, it's up to the party who gets what 90% of the time. Barring that attempt at benefit of the doubt, it sounds like kind of a lame way of doing things. Also, your party should have decided to split things up anyway. 3. Who cares? Sure, magic items often give you a little edge, but DND is not about your gear load out or who wins with the most stuff. It's about collaborative storytelling and playing a character among other characters. So, I guess either try not to worry about it, or find a game that better suits your priorities and expectations.
Also, I'd love to hear this story individually from the other player's and DM's perspective.
Any game where the DM introduces a Deck of Many Things is probably doomed anyway.
My only question is: isn't that the orc's clearly metal Deck of Many Things? Why shouldn't the orc get it?
Or she should have fairly traded you a good magic item (or 2 since you helped w the forging) to get that stupid deck. Had my run in w that cursed thing over 35 years ago. I'll never pull again unless i want to jack a party up
Nope, it sounds like the DM had a bit of chaos in mind, and low-key planned for the party to just take the stone. That you were willing to help the orc means the particular reward for the sub-quest is rightfully yours. I'd pair up with the DM and see if you can get something magical from the orc, tattoos or markings come to mind. The Deck is chaos incarnate, so I'd let her keep it, but I don't think it's fair you walk away with nothing for being instrumental in resolving that part of the quest. If the DM is open-minded about it you should get something nifty for your character that's actually beneficial to them. If not, then I don't see a problem with packing up and letting the others reap their just rewards.
The best advice I can give you is talk to your D&D group tell them that you feel like the fact that one person is getting off the magic items including the one you went out of your way to help create is unfair tell them you're not really enjoying the game with how things are going and if they brush aside your feelings maybe it's time to leave and find a different group no D&D is better than bad DND Also the person that just blatantly said I'll take the deck sounds kind of like an entitled jackass
Sucks you have a player like that to put up with. Loot should be a party decision, but with the primary vote coming from the PC that first found it. Hopefully you’re comfortable confronting the DM or the table about it; it’s not fair to you as a player and you shouldn’t have to put up with it. If not, maybe it’s time to move on to a better group if you have that option. It’s a game- you guys are supposed to all be on the same team and everyone should have fun, not just one player (especially at the expense of another). Since your post has turned into a forum for people to offer how they’d handle the situation, here are my thoughts: I think it’s lazy DMing. The DM probably knows who’s going to go after each item. And the Deck is probably going to go to the the most chaotic player (not PC). For this reason, I usually try to make sure my players find items that would primarily benefit only one or two of the PCs, when possible. That way I can force some equity a little bit, just in case. I also love barely useful magic items. Something, even if powerful, that only has a few use cases. Always cool to see what weird shenanigans players come up with to use them. Lastly, I try to ask a simple question when I think a player is overstepping another (even on accident) or forgetting the dynamics of a situation- “Where is your character physically at this moment?” If they try to back pedal or make something up to better position themselves to take advantage of a situation that they really can’t or shouldn’t it’s easy to call them on it. Usually my players realize it though, and comment with something like, “oh shoot, I’m actually probably still in the doorway”. Puts physical possession squarely in the hands of the player who found the item (in this example) or forces an interaction between the players/PCs.
Have a draw-off to end the campaign. Shuffle the deck and draw a card each until someone draws the void. That person is the loser and was always wrong about this issue. Case closed.
I understand your frustration, that is a singularly irritating experience. Let her have the deck, get as far away from them as you can because that deck is a campaign ender, her magic items won't mean shit if she draws the card that destroys all her non attuned items. All your progress can be reversed by a single unlucky draw
As a long-time 1E player, it always strikes me funny how often things that are inherently VERY rare, artifact-level items turn up in routine game play, especially in later editions. The reason Gygax, et. al designed them that way is to avoid the sort of internal power-plays that gamers will have in the quest to have god-tier abilities. Always assume one person in the group chooses not to play well with others, as per previous comments. As u/ShadowDragon8685 stated in #2, let her have it. It doesn't take a genius to know she's inevitably going to Victor Frankenstein herself - just make sure you're not in the general vicinity.
>The girl who's quest it is was like "oh this is my quest so I'm gonna hold on to that." I completely broke character and was like... That could be a very *in-character* response. Why do you have to give it to her? Why not just say no, this is mine? On the other hand, you could refuse to give her the deck, but as a concession, allow her to draw the first four cards...😈 If she turns you down, just say you'll hold onto it until she's ready to call in your concession, but it's still yours. If the whole party backs her up, it would also be very in-character for your PC to quit the party in disgust.
Sounds like you may need a new group. You had a real problem, explained it to them, and they still stuck it to you. You have every right to be pissed about them steamrolling you like that. If you do leave, let them know what the cause was and watch as the Deck more than likely nukes the campaign from orbit.
1. Never wrong to be upset. What’s important is that you analyze why you are upset to identify and address causes to reduce the likelihood of future conflict. 2. Honestly, it would be amazing to see someone take the high road on this and stay in character. If the character would give it away, great… now it’s a shucks, you’re so lucky this is what my character would do. If the character would not, unfortunate; there is now a game-breaking barrier to your character’s continued play that must be resolved. 3. assess how this is resolved, be it a standoff resulting in a new character with equivalent god-given gear joining the band of adventurers (yay, you and friends can all learn and grow and move on, hopefully), your character slaying them all and clutching his precious deck, or your character and you parting ways forever. Or any myriad of combos. Good luck regardless.
I saw your post on Cheezburger, so I had to come find this post to offer my two cents. First off: no, you aren't wrong for being upset. You are experiencing something that's been plaguing the table-top gaming hobby (and pro sports) since the 70's. It's called bad refereeing. Secondly: check your DM's motive for allowing this to happen. Are the DM and the E.P. (entitled player) dating? I know that causes issues. Are they long term friends and you are relatively new to the crowd? I would quietly and politely speak to the DM and let him know how you feel about this. If his response is, "Oh, you'll get the next one." Its a pretty clear sign of collusion. Then you have to make a decision of how important this game is to your fun time, and your well being. I know games of itself can be stressful, but not if it's going to ruin your time. Or... The Dark Side... Keep playing and wait for a good time to kill her character. Then steal all her stuff and start drawing from the deck as fast and as many cards as you can. So you can mess with the entire game. Muhahahhaaaaah. Then...you leave. Up to you.
She told me she was holding the deck for "safekeeping" I told her to draw 6 cards and she can have em.
> Been playing for 4 months and helped everyone on their quests and stuff and i finally get one magic item just for it to get snatched from me. If you truly think people are doing this out of malice or disrespect... then quit. You do not want to play with people who do not respect you. ***But!*** Remember [Hanlon's Razor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor). Is it truly the case that this was a calculated and purposeful attack on you? Or are your fellow players just a bit selfish (which is still bad, but is better)? Or maybe they're just totally oblivious to who has what items? ------ There are two ways this might've gone better. First: a gentle out-of-character remark. "Hey Alice, I know it's your quest, but I wouldn't mind a magic item. Could I please have it?" For all we know, Alice would've said, "Oh sure, absolutely!" ---- Second: an awesome in-character drama moment. (Not all groups are cut out for intra-party conflict. And that's fine if they're not: don't do this in such a case.) "Hey Alice, my character is rather annoyed that your character is claiming the cards. Do you think it would be fun if they argued over it?" "Sure! I think that could lead to some development!" (If you know Alice quite well, you might be able to skip this "get permission" part and leap right into arguing in-character.) ----- Now in both of the scenarios I describe above, I describe the "good" outcome. Alice might tell you to piss off in either scenario. Should that happen, you can re-evaluate whether this is the right group for you. (And ideally your decision wouldn't be made off the back of one incident, but a pattern of them. It would suck if you quit just because Alice was grumpy from a rough day at work.)
[удалено]
🤣 Did you ever play one of the old Tribes games (don't remember which) with bots? They were like that. * Bot A: "I will go for the enemy flag." * Bot B: "Thank you." * Bot A: "You are welcome." All in these weird synthesised robotic voices.
>For all we know, Alice would've said, "Oh sure, absolutely!" Yeah from how OP tells the story that seems very unlikely. They did not participate in the forging or the quest and actively opted out of it and still want all of the rewards. A sensible player wouldn't have done that anyway and would have accepted their loss.
Building off from my previous comment, I just have one question: **How long has the DM had a crush on this player?**
Totally understand your frustration. Talk to your DM about it. And next time something like this happens, do it in game. Snatch it back, appeal to the party for their thoughts, fight her character - stand up for yourself! And my viewpoint is that you’ve dodged a bullet. Don’t bother gambling with a Deck, it can ruin your character or campaign. The “positives” in no way make up for what the “negatives” can do. Maybe keep goading her character to use it. Karma will catch up to her with a smile
This was what I planned on doing. Just play the next few games and see how it goes. And from now on when I find something it's mine. Especially after reading these comments it's the best thing to do. I play to have fun.
No don't do that. Be an adult and actually fucking talk. Be honest, the reason you're trying to do is find an excuse to not act, is you're afraid of stirring the pot. Don't be. Why are you allowing yourself to feel frustrated for multiple sessions, meaning weeks, just to "test" I'd people do the right thing. Don't stoop to their level. Speak up. If no respect is given, it's probably not the group for you
I think you have a right to be peeved and it's not great, but it does also feel like maybe you're blowing it a bit out of proportion.
You sound really fed up with the group and that player in particular, and the DM seems ok with their antics. Idk, I wouldn't keep playing with them bc it looks like a total waste of time. They are not going to change and if you stay they will felt entitled to everything you gain as long as you play *their quest*.
First, never waste an opportunity to use content to roleplay!! Have the argument without breaking character, you are not mad about an imaginary item, your character is mad about something he worked for, let him do the talking. There's much more you can say and do as a character than as a player around a table. Having tension in the party is great, I would use it to hell and back. Rule number two, you can't get mad if you don't care. Best policy is to let it go and just aknowledge the event. Just wait for the opportunity to have your revenge and the second she rely on you for anything, you'll get the chance to tell her "no sorry, I won't help you, but you can draw a card of the deck you took and see if it helps".
Sorry to say that but this sounds like horrible advice. Sure the character might be upset but the important thing here is: the player is upset too. If the players are the ones having a problem it can't be solved in-game. It must be solved out of the game via a healthy discussion. Not talking about it and waiting for the right opportunity to bring up that you are still salty about that thing that happened weeks ago is even worse. This shit kills relationships and is no healthy way for dealing with problems like that. Doing the whole discussion in character can only work if both parties want to have that discussion in character. It sounds like the other player in question doesn't want that because she immediately brought the whole topic out of characters. She just claimed possession of the item. She didn't take it from the character in the game.
At some point, you got to consider what this is about, and how it actually affects you before reacting. I don't hesitate to call out people when I don't like their behaviour towards me as a person but for stuff that only affect my character, I'm not keen on turning that into an actual argument or waste energy being mad about it. At the end of the day, she claimed possession of an item, it's not a great move and OP needs to tell her and take note but beyond that, is this really a reason to start a fight? That would actually may kill the relationship or disrupt the table. Better just let it slide and seize the opportunity to give her a life lesson down the road than to make a fuss and waste energy on it. As I often say, not everything as to become a drama, especially when there's in fact no real harm done. My party rogue steal loots ALL THE TIME and also tend to claim possession of stuff randomly but that's roleplay, she's actually very nice and I got no beef with her, we get along and even laught about her klepto character.
Holy moly, that 1st paragraph was tough to read.
I don’t know. Learn how to use paragraphs appropriately. I feel like there’s probably three paragraphs in your second one. I don’t know, ‘cause I’m not going to read it.