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[EVILrokzz]

Ok, I decided to start a post here because I'm at my wits end and so is everyone in my group.
So, let me elaborate.

There is this guy and he is our GM. We agreed to play in Gaia and made characters (Weaponmaster, Tao, Summoner(me)) which he completely ignored the backgrounds of and the session started. Over time, we have fought a ton of people and undead... then, all of a sudden godlike demons "wake" us and send us to a space shuttle... and things get difficult from here on out. He houseruled a bunch of Star Wars-like weapons that kill everything (A hand grenade does 180 "special" dmg, "special" - ignores shields and AT) and had us land on a planet. Also, he wiped our memories and we don't remember our past but somehow we remember eachother. We try to investigate the planet to remember our past but he constantly attacks us with almost unkillable characters and puts us on a linear story which we cannot avoid. Anything we do he denies if he doesn't like it. I tried to banish a demon boss and he simply said "it failed" (I rolled 436), I tried to summon a mental eye (my summons are mental eyes) with Mental Research to try to find out who we are and it gets turned to ash by a "security system". The Tao got a gun which he is forced (by the gun) to use and can't get rid of it (also, unbanishable) and the Weaponmaster is useless since almost everything uses "Energy" damage (it should be Heat (laser) but he argued it's "Energy" and that "Ion" isn't the same as Electricity). So... we aren't enjoying the session, but the problem lies in this:

He is a friend and has GM'd for 6 years in D&D 3.5 and believes himself to be a supreme GM. He has a temper and said "If you wreck my session, I won't ever GM for you guys" and, where I'm from, there aren't that many people that play Anima (there are 4 of us total) so if he quits (which I believe he will even though he says otherwise) leaves 3 of us. Telling him that we dislike his session is hard since he is a nice guy and a good player. Also, we are fearful that he will start to mess up our campaigns since his would be denied.

Currently, we have avoided the problem by me creating a session that is going rather well... but this is only a temporary solution since my campaign won't last forever.

So... any ideas?

[Cathar the Great]

I'd start with telling him what you just wrote in here. That you don't like the direction this campaign is going and that you aren't having fun.

He either says that everything is going somewhere and all the crap he is putting you through is for a reason, or he still goes by "I'm the GM, deal with it"

If it's the former, go with it a little longer. If it's the latter, toss the guy. You can have a great campaign with 3 people.

A GM should know that it's not about him forcing his fan-fiction and house rules on others, it's about setting up a game world and rules system so everyone can have fun.

[Lizbeth]

Well. Your matter is complicated, I never had any problem with solutions from "hey, the stuff you're doing is not enjoyable for group, lets discuss it and come with solution" to "go to hell, your campaign is terrible".

Also solutions depends on is he fond of totally ignoring rules, or he tries to abide them unless he introduces some kind of plot which can be solved with only proper way.

I once played a game which was not enjoyable for me. So I just charged bbeg with my paladin and he died, I mean paladin. So if your gm is not ignoring rules and such, then you can just make some bad tactical decisions, and voila, all the party flies high on grenade.

Second way I can imagine is just to put his game away to forgetfulness. Just find something else to play, and after some time there 'll be a hope that he forget about this game and get some new ideas, or something like that.

Anyway, as for me, if I had such situation, I'd go head on to him and tell him that what he is doing isn't fun, and he acts like a d*cough*ebag with his threats of "never GMing for us". Supreme GM is not the one who forces everyone to pay dull game of absurd and gm's flicker finger of rules interpretation, and anyway if he is going to make all his games like this, then his "not gming for us for all eternity" is actually a great blessing. But I'm a very straightforward person, even if it's not the best way of doing things.

[EVILrokzz]

I'd start with telling him what you just wrote in here. That you don't like the direction this campaign is going and that you aren't having fun.

He either says that everything is going somewhere and all the crap he is putting you through is for a reason, or he still goes by "I'm the GM, deal with it"

If it's the former, go with it a little longer. If it's the latter, toss the guy. You can have a great campaign with 3 people.

A GM should know that it's not about him forcing his fan-fiction and house rules on others, it's about setting up a game world and rules system so everyone can have fun.

We are getting around to that inevitability... the boiling point is almost reached. Not to mention that the Tao character was first a Acrobatic Warrior (got killed in a "secret" collapsing Golden Gate bridge) then a Mentalist (disappeared in a house never to be heard from again) and now he is a Tao with a gun... I'm barely calming the player down since his characters died for no reason other than the GM wanted to kill him off. The Weaponmaster died 7 times due to his AT being ignored by blasters that do Energy damage and was resurrected somehow and I'm a Summoner... in space... that wasted 200 DP on Banish (my ignored backstory was about banishing evil and using it against itself)

Well. Your matter is complicated, I never had any problem with solutions from "hey, the stuff you're doing is not enjoyable for group, lets discuss it and come with solution" to "go to hell, your campaign is terrible".

Also solutions depends on is he fond of totally ignoring rules, or he tries to abide them unless he introduces some kind of plot which can be solved with only proper way.

I once played a game which was not enjoyable for me. So I just charged bbeg with my paladin and he died, I mean paladin. So if your gm is not ignoring rules and such, then you can just make some bad tactical decisions, and voila, all the party flies high on grenade.

Second way I can imagine is just to put his game away to forgetfulness. Just find something else to play, and after some time there 'll be a hope that he forget about this game and get some new ideas, or something like that.

Anyway, as for me, if I had such situation, I'd go head on to him and tell him that what he is doing isn't fun, and he acts like a d*cough*ebag with his threats of "never GMing for us". Supreme GM is not the one who forces everyone to pay dull game of absurd and gm's flicker finger of rules interpretation, and anyway if he is going to make all his games like this, then his "not gming for us for all eternity" is actually a great blessing. But I'm a very straightforward person, even if it's not the best way of doing things.

You sure are lucky. If you did that with this guy, he wouldn't speak to you again and would pout/sulk forever since he is spoiled like that. I have no idea how he GMd 6 years of D&D and got away with it... hats off to his group.

He uses rules as he sees fit... enforcing them in some cases, ignoring them in others. Somehow, we haven't died... he just has us play crippled characters that can't swat a fly without him allowing it. He doesn't even try thinking of a valid reason. Him saying "It doesn't work" is enough reason since he is the GM. The fact that we feel like horsesh*t seems to be ignored. He also says we should fight, not run like cowards... but we run since it's RP (how would people from the middle ages feel if they saw a Tank?) and because we know that even the city guard is 2 lvls above us and we can't win no matter what.

Although you might be right... him not GMing forever might be a good thing. Now that I think about it... his session isn't like a session at all... more like a waste of time.

[Lizbeth]

I have no idea how he GMd 6 years of D&D and got away with it

So you never saw him GMing before? Well, people tend to exaggerate their rp years of experience.

Him saying "It doesn't work" is enough reason since he is the GM.

we know that even the city guard is 2 lvls above us and we can't win no matter what.

Judging by this, he have some great delusions about what the gm should do. And how should the gm do.

Also, it might be a strange question, but is this guy normal at all? I'm not intending to insult him, but he looks like he have some head problems and better to consult a psychoanalytic, or smth like that. Game is a game, and it should be played when it brings fun to all participants. And this guy looks like the person who have desperate need to rule, and the GMing is the only way for him to satisfy his desire, so he will not hesitate to use inappropriate real life threats just to hold his own personal fun.. weird.

[EVILrokzz]

So you never saw him GMing before? Well, people tend to exaggerate their rp years of experience.

Nope, I had my own group that valued creative thought. As for him... I have this idea that his group got tired of him and kicked him out since he isn't playing with them anymore.

Judging by this, he have some great delusions about what the gm should do. And how should the gm do.

Also, it might be a strange question, but is this guy normal at all? I'm not intending to insult him, but he looks like he have some head problems and better to consult a psychoanalytic, or smth like that. Game is a game, and it should be played when it brings fun to all participants. And this guy looks like the person who have desperate need to rule, and the GMing is the only way for him to satisfy his desire, so he will not hesitate to use inappropriate real life threats just to hold his own personal fun.. weird.

Um... well... I think he is normal. He is a bit impulsive since if he rolls a low number he throws a rage fit complaining that if it were real dice (we use a program to roll dice in a chatroom and have session online over Skype due to time constraints) he would get an open roll. I just think he doesn't know how to enjoy the game and takes everything as a "GM vs. The Players" kind of thing. How to re-educate him is beyond me as I really just want to avoid his sessions altogether. Also, he wrote some 50 pages of text about what will happen in his session while I usually have a few papers and make things up as I go to keep things flexible. I say that because to him what isn't written, doesn't exist. This only adds to the linearity and boredom since you can see what is coming a mile away.

[Cathar the Great]

That's a clear case of "I have this story, and I want others to play it, whether they want to or not."

It's a common GM mistake I guess, and I can understand it, to a point. When I have a few ideas for a story I do want to put them in. It can be frustrating to think of this great encounter or storyline, with lots of ideas and awesome fights/adventures and the characters of your players just walk the other way.

Still, he needs to understand that pushing you through his 50 pages of story and bend the rules to make it so is NOT the point.

I stand by my previous opinion to just toss the guy as a GM. Maybe he will understand if you as a second group get rid of him.


And this goes a bit beyond the subject, but:
Friendships are tricky. They're also not easy, and sometimes they are a bit of work. You don't always have to be of the same opinion and sometimes friends fight. I had furious screaming matches over the stupidest things with one of my best friends in high school. But things got said and that was it. Afterwards there was no sulking and no one had to apologize, the issue was done and dealt with.
Another friend once told me, and I still stick to it, that at some point in a friendship, you have to evaluate whether a friendship is worth the hassle or if you just call it a day.

So talk to the guy, drop out of his game, and if he really sulks and pouts and wants you to come crawling back to apologize, forget him alltogether.

I know this is a rather personal answer, but humor me. YMMV, as always.

Cheers,
Peter

[Sharpandpointies]

He has a temper and said "If you wreck my session, I won't ever GM for you guys" and, where I'm from, there aren't that many people that play Anima (there are 4 of us total) so if he quits (which I believe he will even though he says otherwise) leaves 3 of us. Telling him that we dislike his session is hard since he is a nice guy and a good player. Also, we are fearful that he will start to mess up our campaigns since his would be denied.

This guy can't be much of a nice guy if he has this temper and is willing to mess up your campaigns in retribution.  And pouts, and throws fits, and is generally so difficult to be around that you flat-out don't want to go to his sessions.

Cathar makes a lot of good points on the matter.  His last post pretty much nails it.  In every way.

Sad to say, but.  It's not your responsibility to make HIM happy, and if this treatment isn't fun for you, you have every right to state this fact.  Politely, of course.     

[EVILrokzz]

Ehhh, yeah... I figured as much. Guess there is no getting around that

I am pretty tolerant and give many chances... but the abuse of power he is displaying is beyond my tolerance. Playing a session in which you are put in the role of "meat" while everyone else, even the most trivial character, is a monster just ruins it for me.
A GM should work with players and create a story that everyone can enjoy, not fling us into space on a whim.

I wanted to see if anyone had a similar experience and if they have an idea of how to solve it and... well... I got it

I'll just have to tell him that none of us are enjoying it... at all... and that's it. And I'll also mention for him to burn that "script" of his... it's a hindrance and there was not one time where the check difficulty wasn't 140 or more

Anyway, my thanks to everyone, especially Cathar for pointing a few things out

[tasuret]

I think you should fake your death.

Actually, that's terrible advice. Instead, you should have a child.

Okay, that's still pretty bad. The crux of the problem is, it sounds like you're trying way too hard to not hurt this dude's feelings. However, if it's as bad as you say, you are being GM'd by an emotionless robot trapped in the past who believes that "role play" is how our primitive society time-travels. He is clearly trying to have you act out his life in the future so that it will transport the party - him included - back to where he belongs. It is a mistake to continue, for your mind will not survive the journey.

Other than the obvious (you should torture the robot and take his secrets to sell for money at a pawn shop on the bad side of town) there is one other solution: offer to take over. Once you do, tell the players that they awaken from their dream-like state only to discover that that entire fiasco was a shared dream. They awaken in the bodies they had last, only now they are in a world they can compete with; the laser use Heat damage and of course, that fecking gun can be banished (except it was only in the dream). Now, they realize that they are trapped in an abandoned church and oh sh**, the Inquisition is knocking at the door, asking for the occupants to come out and come peacefully, or they will be executed with force.

Although I'm sure you're aware of the rules, here's what a current GM has to say:

Grenades would deal damage on the Impact table, seeing as how they function by compressing air and pushing it really hard. Plasma grenades, it that's his fancy, would be on the Heat table. So would lasers - there's an actual laser in the Arcana Exxet (a Psychic technique) that works by focusing light, and it uses the Heat table with some Armor Penetration.

Energy damage is strictly reserved for VITAL energy attacks. The Energy AT in Anima is referring to supernatural energy, not lasers and such. An Energy attack has a spiritual component, and few armors are composed (likely by accident) of the right material to properly defend against it.

As a side question, is your GM autistic, by any chance? It can be very difficult to get people on the AS to realize that other people have concerns and desires, so tread lightly if you do try to take over.

Please watch your language! - Planeswalker

[Cathar the Great]

So, any updates on the situation?

[EVILrokzz]

Yeah, we had a session yesterday and confronted him. He said that there is a reason and that we can RP as much as we want... so we went along with it... until he threw an earthworm at us... as big as New York... who can use lvl 90 Earth spells as passive actions and has enough projection to shoot down starships in space... not forgetting that it is immune to any spell, psychic ability or form of damage (save one - his homebrew "Special" damage), a ton of AT and has 16 attacks (tentacles... yeah... it has those) all at about 380 Attack ability, sees all, knows all and is out to kill little ol' us.

So... we tried to bear it and make a run for it (as any lvl 3 characters would be since he gives us about 30 XP per session), but it destroyed everything. If we tried to leave we would instantly die, if we stay we would instantly die, nowhere on that planet was safe (did I forget to mention that the worm is omnipotent?), there are no nukes and if we found them, we couldn't operate them anyway (new skill - demolitions required) and all the while he was saying "There is a reason for everything that is happening"... and so... the Tao with the cursed talking demon gun got squashed under a tentacle... and the GM told him to make a new character (he made 3 so far)

Needless to say, the Tao player lost his temper, then me then the weaponmaster guy... and all of a sudden, the GM said "This campaign isn't going the way I expected". So... we left. After a 3 vs. 1 argument about what GMing is all about, words were said, and we left as he cursed us and said to not count on him in any other sessions.

So... that's how it is

[Gimp]

Small loss for your group.  If the GM is only interested in the players as targets for his ego trip, with no compunction about constantly killing PC's by putting them in impossible situations, you weren't having a role playing game anyway.
 
If everything has to go a special route chosen yet hidden by the GM, you don't have a story, or much of a game.  If characters only survive due to the 'mercy' of the GM, you don't have a roleplaying game.  You have a GM on a power trip.  That isn't a GM worth playing with. 
 
Any GM can kill PC's at any time.  Their job is supposed to be to challenge the PC's, yet let the PC's actions determine if they live or die.
 
A GM creates the plot, but the characters drive the story.  A GM who forces things like this is not actually GMing anything but their ego.

[The Dread Polack]

Well, like a divorce after a bad marriage...

Glad it's over, at least. Maybe the rest of you can start up a new campaign?

[Cathar the Great]

Gimp and The Dread Polack have already said it, you are better off without him.

Anima is a great game and it deserves great players and GMs and great campaigns. Maybe now you can have one, too.