Dungeons & Dragons is primarily a role-playing game. However, some players seem to repeatedly forget that their behavior also affects the environment. A game master has therefore drawn consequences in his campaign.
What did the player do? User get_it_Strahded_hah expresses his distress to the community on Reddit in his thread. He is the game master of a campaign for 5 players, one of whom has taken it upon himself to be mean to pretty much every NPC the group encounters.
This frustrates the game master so much that one day he decides to take action and clearly make the player feel the consequences of his actions. The group encounters an old man who breeds horses and magically enhances them. The aforementioned player begins his usual behavior and deliberately addresses the NPC by a false name that sounds like a kind of drink.
When the man wants to give them a quest, the player asks him why he doesn’t just do it himself. The NPC then replies that he is very old and cannot manage it, to which the player simply responds: “That doesn’t answer my question.”
The other players are friendly towards him, and ultimately they complete the quest. Everyone receives a long-desired, valuable reward in the form of magical horses – only the rude player receives as compensation only a glass with the drink whose name he used for the NPC.
The affected player now has to walk because the horses won’t run when he’s on their backs, while the others can ride. He shows confusion and anger, but the game master sees this primarily as a consequence of his behavior. He shares the story with the community, who believe he could have been even stricter.
The Fine Line Between “Lovably Mischievous” and “Rude Jerk”
What does the community think about this? Many users in the comments under the thread find the game master’s reaction more than justified. After all, Dungeons & Dragons is a role-playing game, and the environment would realistically react if one behaves badly. No one would give a valuable reward to someone who is rude and mean.
Nevertheless, the game master receives advice in several comments to address the player outside of the campaign and to talk to him clearly about the problem, instead of only taking ingame actions. Because the fact that the player reacts so angrily shows that he does not understand the underlying issue.
Perhaps he is simply not aware that he is not playing his character as “lovably mischievous,” but rather like a “rude jerk.” And if so, he might just not fit in the group. To spare himself and his fellow players further trouble, it would make sense to discuss and search for possible solutions.
Nevertheless, the game master acted appropriately with his consequences, as the NPC’s reaction makes sense in the situation. Therefore, it is fundamentally important to consult about such issues and also to reflect on how one plays and presents one’s own character.
Besides things that must be discussed in the group and with one’s players to avoid further issues or even the premature ending of the campaign, there are also things that some prefer to leave unsaid. For example, there are always players who notice clear parallels to popular classics in their campaigns and are unsure whether they should bring it up: Player discovers that his campaign in Dungeons & Dragons is secretly inspired by a gaming classic, and dozens of game masters feel caught
