I Made the PLAYERS cry.

[SSgt Baloo]

Admit it. Everyone who's run a game has had a moment where, if you're not completely oblivious, you realized too late you'd crossed a line and turned a fun game into something less than fun.

 

Example: In one 2nd Edition four-color, semi-comedic Champions campaign I ran in the mid-Eighties, one scenario had the WW-II-era heroes investigating a report of "Martians" landing near a small mining town in Colorado.

 

It turned out that a small band of Nazi spies had been experimenting with an interstellar communications device one of their operatives had discovered in an abandoned mine. A passing Kzin vessel landed to investigate, wiped out the nazis, and decided that since that was so easy, they'd just stay and conquer the planet.

 

By the time the heroes got to the town, almost everyone inclined to resist the 7-foot-tall "tiger-men from mars" had been killed and either eaten or stored in a freezer for later scientific study. The remaining living humans were in dire straits and abject terror. I had made the mistake of having the heroes of a light-hearted campaign arrive too late to do much except kill/capture the remaining Kzin and destroy their ship before they could send for more of their buddies.

 

The players were upset. I should have had them introduced to the adventure earlier, perhaps investigating "suspicious characters" in a remote Colorado mining town. It would have been better if the Nazis were discovered and defeated before the Kzin arrived, and the Kzin should have arrived right when the heroes were able to respond, before half the town was wiped out.

 

Big mistake, and almost ended the campaign. Fortunately, my players had learned that I responded to feedback and let the campaign continue. Without a recurrence of such a grimdark episode.

[Mjolnir74]

Re: I Made the PLAYERS cry.

 

I make my players cry on a regular basis in my Shadowrun games. And the strange part is, they keep coming back.

[Folded]

Re: I Made the PLAYERS cry.

 

I had one of these in my first hand-made dungeon. We were playing some odd system that I had a fancy for, but fantasy hack&slash. In the second room of the dungeon into which the characters could possibly enter, I decided to add some color. Something beyond the bare 10x10 room or closet or whatever. So the characters walk in and see an open chamber with markings on the floor. In the middle of the room, there is a stone dagger plunged halfway up its blade into said floor.

 

Amazing possibilities were discussed. They spent two real-time HOURS talking about what to do.

 

When they finally decided to pull the thing up, they were furious when NOTHING HAPPENED. I pretty much killed a game session and a campaign because I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO THE PCs!

 

But, I was young, and have learned a few things since. I call it a Stone Dagger Room, and have used it (on purpose) a few times, always with interesting results.

[GoldenAge]

Re: I Made the PLAYERS cry.

 

Heh, my very first GM stint led to player tears as I lead the lone PC into a room with 3 Chimera (he was a first level fighter).. Hey!!! I was 7 and those things looked COOL!!!

[dmjalund]

Re: I Made the PLAYERS cry.

 

Way beck in the beginning, I had a monkey paw that gave a wish - the only limitation was it undid itself if the wisher went asleep. Unfortunately the player used it to resurrect his friend.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: I Made the PLAYERS cry.

 

My Player's don't cry they get even. Or they wine. Or Leave.

 

GMing is a learning experience. I never seem to lack Player's for my Shadowrun campaigns, but after 20yrs of wanting to play I finally joined a group that seemed more interested in pissing off the other players and a GM obsessed with paper work. Fortunately it ended. Me I just leave.

 

 

QM