Dungeon Run: Sam
Chapter: Comics, Season Five
Huzzah, indeed.
This one is a little talky but I needed Sam to get this points across. I hope you dig it.
For the folks who asked about Amy’s elemental being released with her death: It’s true that such events occur (like with Qesh’Nax in the Cinderhaunt story arc) but the mage and elemental need to be higher level. It is awesome that folks are keeping track of the Karthun canon. I thought about working that explanation into the arc but it is one of those extra bits that would slow the pace down so it was cut. If this hits a collection someday, that may be an extra comic I add to the arc.
More on Monday!
Hover-Text: I like that she signed her sext. I’m going to do that in the future. Thanks for the sext. – Brian
Love that Sam isn’t playing favorites here. The rules apply to everyone or they apply to no one. As for Amy, I feel the same way when my man gets authoritative. 😉
That’s the GM’s job: make sure the game runs smoothly and everyone has fun. No playing favorites, no picking on players you don’t like, and making sure no one ruins the game for anyone else. And making Monty Python references.
this was just boss, great strip
I applaud and agree with the statement you put in today’s comment…… I can understand a little bit of teasing fun but totally disrespecting someone like that is never called for…… And as I said before the guy needs a bear trap under the seat cushion…….
Roll to save vs bear trap to the gnads…oh dear you didn’t roll high enough Dove.
Heh, sorry, but brief aside. Favorite anti-thief trap, bag of holding with nothing but five armed bear traps in it.
*stands and claps without saying a word*
Wherever Larry is, I’m sure this would have brought a tear of pride to his eye. Whether it would be because of his DMing or Amy… /shrug
Amen to both!
I don’t think he’s that far….
*stands up an just applauds for this great speech that every GM should listen and take to heart.*
*joins in the applause*
well done sir! I say, well done!
Applause ringing here as well. Expertly done!
The only thing I have to ad to the previous posts is where can we get sames awesome hat?
I already announced that I am SO gonna sew this costume for conventions or such..IF Brian is OK with that XD are you? yes?
Conventions?! You must DM once a week from now on and wear that uniform as you do.
Bravo! Having been on that side of the GM screen when an actual fist-fight broke out between two players, it’s hard to be calm and fair and dish the reprimand out to both parties, major kudos to Sam for laying down the law and calling a timeout.
Also, points to Amy for not letting character death get her down… 😉
I’ve also had to pull aside a player (much like Dove) who constantly made snide and incredibly inappropriate comments about another player, pretty much before the rest of the group took matters into their own hands. It baffles me how any gamer could view that as acceptable behavior in the first place, seeing as how gamers more often than most have at one point or another been the recipient of similar mistreatment.
Upside to being an MMA instructor as well as a GM: I’ve been in that situation. “I will separate you” did the trick well enough. But I feel like when actual fights break out, it’s time to kick both players out. ‘s what I did at least.
I think the reason some gamers get like that is BECAUSE they dealt with that treatment themselves. “I get picked on everywhere else, but in this world I’m a god” kinda deal. As the gm, I feel like our response to that should be “God? Yeah, that guy’s pretty cool. He’s one of my NPCs.”
I am really glad you gave Sam this speech Brian, particularly the part regarding Dallas, as much as it pains me to say it (spoiler alert it’s alot) I have felt pretty bad for Dove this week I mean yeah he’s probably the second worst person in this fictional universe we have encountered. (Klaus topping the list for obvious reasons.) But still that doesn’t mean he should have to put up with four people whom are openly plotting against him. Ultimately it’s as said above gaming has to be fun for everyone.
It was something that has been niggling at my enjoyment of the past few strips so now that I know that everyone gets their warning I can go back and enjoy them again.
I gotta disagree here.
If you make people hate you, it’s unreasonable to expect that they won’t all do their best to make you want to leave so they never have to deal with you again.
But Sam’s running the event for everyone, including Dove. He has an obligation as a DM to make sure Dove enjoys himself, just as he has an obligation to make sure Dallas does. If that means pausing the game and telling them to knock it off, then so be it.
At what point does “making sure you enjoy it” become “in spite of yourself”? Dude came in with a bad attitude, was known for having a bad attitude, and proved pretty much off the bat that the ill will was justified.
Truth be told, I wouldn’t have let him enter in the first place. THAT is part of what making sure an event is enjoyable for everyone entails. Knowing which players to veto from it, because they’ll create a negative atmosphere.
It depends on whether you’re running a private game or public event. Sam’s running a public event and Dove is paying money to play. Unless he’s being openly disruptive, they can’t ban him and even then, he gets a warning. If he persists in being disruptive, despite the warning, he could get permanently banned from the store.
I don’t like the fact that Dove is being allowed to stay….but…yeah. Sam did the right thing. As much as an unrepentant asshat as Dove is, and as much as he deserves to be hunted down like a dog, Sam’s duty as the DM is to mediate and be the neutral party. I hope Dallas sees that. And once again it’s the expressions and writing that draw me back to this comic. Dove’s restrained irritation, Dallas’s shock and Sam’s “Eastwood” worthy glare. Brilliant all over.
What I don’t get is; why do you think your fans would mind longer story-arks? At this point it should be clear, that we’re not here anymore for your daily dick-joke, but for the charakters and their story. (although we still dig the dickjokes every now and then, inside the story)
Make them as long as you’d like.
The dicks, the arcs or the jokes?
Yes. To both.
D. All of the above
“Pierced.”
Amy, you are the absolute best. Never change.
Everything I REALLY need to know about life I learned from Dungeons & Dragons, rule #20: ‘it’s a fair game only if everyone plays by the same rules.’
Way to lay down the law Sam!
I’d have added “On a personal note, if you ever call my gf a wench again, I’ll rip what little physical manhood you have off and squish it beneath my boot.”
So when can are we going to get the Karthun rules/setting book? 😀
Hooray for Sam for standing up for his players. And hooray for Amy for sending Sam her own bit of encouragement.
(Now I really really want to see that text message, though. Heh).
Amy is wearing her round three hat. Only.
I like that he didn’t play favorites. Bravo Sam the GM.
And look, he gets rewarded.
That’s a fair position for Sam to take.
Dallas could have suggested teaming up on Phillip Dove for tactical reasons – he is, as Brian notes, a jerk (or somesuch) who knows how to throw down, and is probably the strongest, cleverest player present, so clearing him from the field could leave everyone else with a stronger chance at victory – but as Sam notes, going in with an out-of-game grudge, at least at an open-registration tournament, is not kosher.
(Obviously, it would be a different story in a household game situation. I wouldn’t expect Dallas, Trevor, or anyone else to have to put up with Dove’s shenanigans at their weekaday escape from real life – real life including having to put up with assholery such as Dove’s on an ongoing basis.)
I’m glad I’m not the only one but now I want to see what the Huzzah.jpeg she sent is. Nice pog mention btw 🙂
Way to go Sam. That is a good GM everyone. Better than the autoban I was suggesting, because in fairness, Dallas would have to go too. The warning is fair, to both Dove and Dallas. And Dove deserves that warning doubly. He stated at the start that he has a personal interest in bringing down this entire group. His interests were just as tainted as Dallas’ from the stwrt.
DAT THUNDAH
“Don’t let the door sneak attack your ass on the way out” is going in the verbal toolbox.
I think I probably speak for your entire fanbase when I say: If you wanna do longer arcs that focus on character development like this all the time? No complaints here. This is probably the best this comic has ever been.
Also, if you don’t release this rule set soon I might actually die.
Love it. <3
Finally. I’m glad Sam is taking charge, but frankly with everything going on at this table, the DM took way too long to step up to his responsibility.
Come to think of it, where were any of the previous DMs at the first round? Some of this should have been headed off then. This whole event has gotten wildly out of hand, and I blame the lax DMs. No public gaming event should ever have been allowed to escalate this far; it’s bad for the game, and it’s bad for the business where it is held. I understand that for the story it creates drama, but it is also really frustrating to see such wholly inappropriate behavior go blatantly unchecked when in any real setting (at least any I’ve observed), it would not have been tolerated by the other players, or the event staff, or the store staff.
Finally? How quickly do you think the game’s going by? I’ve seen events akin to this taking a whole lump sum of 1 hour (pre-made characters, overall streamlined gameplay). In said time, while people can discern personal quarrels and such, the volunteer GMs may have just considered teaming up on Dove a matter of metagaming for the majority of the players.
There’s a point to what you’re saying. Yes, things may have been allowed more escalation than most would like, however, the GM reigned the situation in, in a polite and very forgiving manner.
You’re also right that you don’t see the entirety of what’s going on during the event. We don’t (and can’t) know all the side-action going on around the event, and therefore shouldn’t place judgement on the timing. For all we know, Sam was trying to weed out the possibility of Dove-ganging being metagame v. personal issues for the entire table. He saw Dallas acting rash, he nipped it in the bud.
As far as I’m aware, Dallas and Dove only wound up at the same table by means of the second round initiating. Which means nipping it in the bud beforehand was not entirely available unless they both were making a nuisance of their rivalry upon arrival/ across the shop. Neither will do so because both desire victory. Dove’s also too worried about his concept of “face” and Dallas knew for a fact that if she went for him so immediately, Sam wouldn’t likely have even allowed either of them into the second round.
Dallas wanted to get Dove’s attention personally, and force feed him a big bag of revenge the one way he will both notice and, in his own poor way, respect. Only way that happens, as we have seen Dove loft over people’s heads before, is by outplaying him at his own game.
Issue is, now that Sam’s attacked the situation with true neutrality, Dove can’t complain about Sam conspiring with Dallas to his detriment. Which means if/when Dallas does outplay/kill his character, he has that much less standing for such a claim. He’ll still play it off, but I imagine he’ll be irked about it in his head.
Just my two cents on this, good story Brian.
Yes, “finally.” As I said before, where were the other DMs in the first round? There was the same sort of crap going around then, and no one with authority/responsibility stepped up to nip it in the bud. Even Sam waited for Dove to go overboard before he said anything to Dallas about her behavior. Any decent DM knows to catch these things early and lock them down before they erupt into something bigger. This goes double when it’s an open event held in a local store, as any sort of scene does not go over very well, whether with the other players or other customers in the store who observe what is going on. If you’re the DM, and the store owner has graciously let you host your event there, you don’t want to risk not being invited back for another event. If (as in the case of this comic) the event is run by the store staff/owner, then you recognize the negative impact such outbursts have on your business, and you’ll remove troublemakers before they cause an even bigger problem.
This is pure DM negligence; these attitudes should have been checked in round 1, and never allowed to continue this far. The players should have been warned, and if they failed to heed such warnings, removed from the store. Sam may not have been directly DMing the groups in the first round, but as the event organizer, I’m sure he was keeping an eye on the various groups. Even if he didn’t see something happen directly, his “under-DMs” should have informed him of what was going on. There is simply no reason why things should have escalated like this (except of course, for the sake of story drama, which is a thin excuse if it has to be manufactured this way).
Had I been a participant in this event, I know I would have serious doubts about signing up for any other events at this store. I would probably end up avoiding that particular store altogether, and instead take by business to other stores which encourage respect for their customers and don’t wait for things to come to a head before taking action to preserve that respect.
Far as I was aware, up until Dove and Dallas pulled up a chair at the same table things were fairly par for the course in terms of metagaming and general mindgame antics during FFA tourneys.
I’m willing to bet enmity was expected, but believed to be manageable since, you know, Dallas hadn’t come out with her intentions for Dove until he was sitting at the same table.
From what you’re saying, Sam should’ve just told Dove to not come. Since I’m certain Sam expected to have to tell Dove to turn his high-and-almighty act down for a spell eventually. If not have to kick him out/ separate him from other players due to him running his mouth and someone not having a long enough fuse to put up with him in the least.
However, Sam gave his reasoning for forgoing that extremely easy option already, he wanted to be a fair GM. The time it took for Sam to respond to the situation at hand looked to take a whole of 5 minutes at best.
Sam was respecting everyone’s ability to speak. If I had a GM just come down immediately after hearing a grudge – in the middle of someone else already trying to talk down the situation- THAT is when I’d question participating with that person. Not when the GM allows everyone their opportunity to provide opinion on the problem at hand and provides everyone with his own take when given a respectable opportunity to do so.
And, while I’ll read your reply, this is the last two cents I have to give on this subject.
It’s a shame he never replied, because I’d also like to know what exactly happened in round 1 that he considered so over the line.
I like this one. Wordy, but a fair and just laying of the law. Dove is of course a total jackass, so needed to be called out for bad behavior. But good on calling Dallas out for the personal grudge as well, that sort of thing can take even a competitive game off the rails too far if left unchecked. So good on Sam for being the fair GM, even if screwing over Dove would have been more cathartic.
I loved the speech Sam made; well said, and very effective.
And the subtle message in the strip; “Be fair to everyone, be a mensch, and receive a sext”… I dunno if that’s the best way to encourage a more civil society, but if it works, let me know and I might suggest this a few folk in other disciplines that could use a little straitening out…
I think this is a very timely comic. With party lines getting drawn about who can and can’t be in the hobby, sometimes a DM has to stand up for people he or she doesn’t enjoy because our hobby has to have room. Incredibly ballsy move on Sam’s part and a really quality comic. Kudos.
This link seems appropriate.
http://i.imgur.com/coFkaWR.gif
Seriously the best comic that could come out of that last page, glory upon you.
PS: If you make a Karthun source book for D20, I will spend literally any amount of money to buy it. It’s such a vibrant and amazing world with such interesting ideas and concepts!! 😀
I keep clicking on huzzah.jpeg, but the link seems to be broken. Please repost.
Would love to see a poster version of Sam’s speech, albeit in a more generic nature, but would love to put that up in the LGS i go to.
Being disrespectful to any gamer at the table, or one gone (even an asshat) isn’t right.
Where do you stand on in game RP. There are sexists races, or races that hate other races. Do y’all RP a jerk, but keep it at the table?
Shame on you! Suggesting that characters would only be racist or sexist because of their race. Seriously though, that depends entirely on the group. Having a character that’s a bit sexist or racist could just be a bit more depth to a character, it could lead to fantastic banter if you have an appropriate foil in the group, or it could lead to hurt feelings and destroy the group if they can’t cope with it.
would it be bad to say i wish we could see the photo to lol
Not a big fan of these kind of soap-box-announcement stare-down scenes. In any medium. They always come off tacky or too much of a window in the author/creator’s life. But it shows you had fun drawing it so I’m glad you had a good time. 🙂
A great response. The line between abuse and banter is extremely YMMV, but for an open event with people who aren’t friends, the lines do need drawing pretty damn tightly.
That said, I’m not sure what he’s bitching Dallas out for; Phil, Trev, and her made it pretty clear in round one that OoC grudges were fair game for in-char PvP.