Another 2000 Things I Am No Longer Allowed To Do In An RPG

Hemlock · 07-17-2013, 05:52 AM

121 : As GM, I am no longer allowed to use secret Nazi bases that survived WWII by hiding in the (Amazon basin, Congo, Antarctica, wherever), giant spiders attacking a small mining town in the southwestern US, Giant horned skulls being discovered by archaeologists or any other article I might pull from a supermarket tabloid as a plot device even as a hoax pulled by NPCs to get the attention of the PCs. Players simply don't believe that fictional NPCs would do such things; despite real world people doing precisely this.

121a: When researching monsters and plot devices for my Monster-Hunter Campaign, old episodes of Scooby-Doo are completely off limits ... Players are tired of having to hunt down the super-special Macguffin that can slay the evil monster only to find out that the beast was just some convenience store clerk in a monster suit who could have been killed with a simple 9mm hollow point to the head.

121b: Likewise with old episodes of Doctor Who (3rd doctor; Tom Baker is the BESTEST DOCTOR of all time). Players hate assuming the monster is a normal human in a monster suit only to find out it really is a monster and having their PC mauled by an alien being that is immune to normal weaponry, but vulnerable to the super-special Macguffin that they refused to seek out.

121c: When Players complain that I am a jerk for putting them in an impossible position, I am not allowed to remind them to have their PCs in a Monster-Hunter Campaign be more like private investigators than a SWAT Team. They hate being told what to do.

07-17-2013, 05:52 AM	#11
Hemlock Join Date: Nov 2007	Re: Another 2000 Things I Am No Longer Allowed To Do In An RPG 121 : As GM, I am no longer allowed to use secret Nazi bases that survived WWII by hiding in the (Amazon basin, Congo, Antarctica, wherever), giant spiders attacking a small mining town in the southwestern US, Giant horned skulls being discovered by archaeologists or any other article I might pull from a supermarket tabloid as a plot device even as a hoax pulled by NPCs to get the attention of the PCs. Players simply don't believe that fictional NPCs would do such things; despite real world people doing precisely this. 121a: When researching monsters and plot devices for my Monster-Hunter Campaign, old episodes of Scooby-Doo are completely off limits ... Players are tired of having to hunt down the super-special Macguffin that can slay the evil monster only to find out that the beast was just some convenience store clerk in a monster suit who could have been killed with a simple 9mm hollow point to the head. 121b: Likewise with old episodes of Doctor Who (3rd doctor; Tom Baker is the BESTEST DOCTOR of all time). Players hate assuming the monster is a normal human in a monster suit only to find out it really is a monster and having their PC mauled by an alien being that is immune to normal weaponry, but vulnerable to the super-special Macguffin that they refused to seek out. 121c: When Players complain that I am a jerk for putting them in an impossible position, I am not allowed to remind them to have their PCs in a Monster-Hunter Campaign be more like private investigators than a SWAT Team. They hate being told what to do.