Pffft! More like I got 44 problems but D&D ain’t one.
There’s this list going around on Reddit DnD Horror Stories as well as YouTube and TTRPG social media about 44 rules user Khargoth’s Dungeon Master laid out for his group. The original Reddit post has gone the way of the virtual dodo, but copies and bits have persisted long enough to make it a talking point. I saw this post a couple of weeks ago and just kinda rolled my eyes.
I’m not going to repost the list here, but with a little searching it’s pretty easy to find it or commentary on it. If you’re on Reddit, DMAcademy has a response as well as the list itself. I’m not covering the whole thing here, but I’ll go over a few key talking points.
DM/GMs- if you ever find yourself in a similar position coming back from a hiatus and you need to lay down the law for your players like this guy did? You might want to consider finding a new gaming group instead. It sounds like these players were something else. Or just message me, email me, or talk to a friend. Just going off the list, I don’t think this DM deserved some of the grief he was getting. Of course, I’m also not sure he reacted very well. (*Judging by the number of F-bombs in the original post, the DM sounded pretty disgruntled with the group.)
Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.
I know where this DM was coming from.
I had some players in high school that would have driven me to making a list similar to this one. Table talk out of character was a huge problem. Insulting the DM, extended breaks, being drunk/high while playing, touching my stuff with Cheeto fingers, metagaming and rules lawyering were all major issues. (*I was in high school during the 80s when kids would sneak booze/weed. Not me, but my friends might have done it more than once.) Being a DM comes with its own set of circumstances and challenges, but to have players going off the rails out of character makes it so much more difficult than anyone should tolerate.
On the other hand, this list was strangely dualistic as the DM in question threatened to fight players who disagreed with him. Other times the players were almost treated like small children. Threatening to leave without warning and just ditch people wherever when they rode with him is just rude. And what was the freaking deal with owls? (I love owls.)
I still understand where he was coming from, but I’ve never actually threatened any of my players over being late, not having their character sheet, comparing DMs, and forgetting their dice. Honestly, stupid stuff does happen. We won’t discuss the whole Mercer effect thing on this list. I’ll just say everyone has their own style and it sounds as if the guy who wrote this list definitely qualifies.
Half of these problems could have been solved by playing another game.
I was amazed at some of the very basic rules laid out in this list of 44 things. I make no secret that I’m really starting to love Dragonbane from Free League Publishing. Some of the things mentioned about skill checks and spell memorization could have been fixed with a lot of other systems. I happen to recommend Dragonbane because you only have so many slots, 1 major casting resource, and a simple skill roll to resolve casting.
The same goes for a lot of games and skill checks, rules lawyering, rolling in plain sight, exhaustion, encumbrance, and a heap of things D&D players seem to regularly struggle with. Yes, plenty of the 44 rules were written around people issues, but sometimes if the game mechanics are a non-issue, roleplaying and people issues vanish. Several things could also be solved with the simple pre-campaign discussion of “Don’t be an a🦆🦆🦆.”
This sort of negative energy is why I tend to avoid Reddit if possible.
I’m not saying anyone else should avoid Reddit. There are actually some pretty helpful threads out there on the various forums. Much like other types of social media, there are also toxic personalities lurking in the weeds waiting to troll people. Ick. I’ve definitely seen my share of negatives and positives, though.
I would never name and shame a DM/GM on social media. I don’t do it here, X (Twitter), or YouTube. If/when someone does an outstanding job, I’ll totally call it out. (The OG GM Adventures, for instance. Awesome guy. Great channel!)
As far as Khargoth and the infamous 44 Rules list goes, I think all parties involved should go their separate ways. The DM should maybe think about therapy and/or meditation. The rest of the group might benefit from relationship counseling with one another and the DM or again, just breaking up the group. D&D has a pretty abundant amount of players and DMs out there in the world. I’m sure everyone could probably find a group more to their liking.
Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.
Jeff's Game Box 