[Chaos]

There are only a very scant few instances in my events where I do not grant players (some) control over what happens. This section of last night's event was no exception. As a move to clarify some things which, honestly, no DM worth their salt should EVER be clarifying, this is a basic sketch of what I had (mentally) planned of that little bomb segment as a whole:

-Okay, so I need to provide a way to occupy players that aren't fighting the PC mechs, that isn't just dumping wave after wave of KD-spamming mechanation minions on them
-New mechanation enemies are not possible, due to the limited time available
-An impromptu bomb could work, but just putting it down and expecting people to run is not what I'm looking for
-If the bomb could be disabled through a puzzle or two, then there's room for it to work (the mastermind(s) behind all of this are skilled and rather prideful, so it should fit for them to have a bomb not unlike something out of 'Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes')
-To ensure that players cannot easily run out of the bomb's way, a fleet of mechanations will serve as a barrier to try and prevent escape (multiple mechanation minions have been attacking the area; if this was a planned stunt, it wouldn't be too unusual for them to roll in as a unit)
-Trying to forcefully push through the minions should be near-impossible (they are known for being not only heavy and well-suited for taking physical blows, but also know how to abuse their weight, if their knockdown gimmick is any indication)
-Removing the bomb from the scene should not be easy for the players, and to prevent potential dickery, it should take more than one or two strikes against the bomb to forcefully detonate it
-The bomb is on a timer; this is mostly to provide a necessity to deal with the bomb, and push for action if absolutely necessary, since I'm not going to actually put people on a timer (that bit would fail due to how long it can take for some people to reply, and potential AFKs)

That's obviously not my full list of what I was thinking at the time, but it's enough to give people a solid idea.

Before I go any further, however, let me touch upon something:

"The mechanations here are defensively oriented, bearing towers shields. Not to mention their heavy forms.... It would take a while for them to make an opening."

Typos aside, Trex, this was in response to your character, who attempted to charge through them. Look back at the sketch I provided in the spoiler above. Notice anything that lines up here?

Not everything the players do will be able to succeed, and going into posts assuming that you'll just succeed (moreso without any big rolls) is not a good idea. Despite whatever my split-second salt with whomever I'm talking to during an event may suggest, I generally don't have an issue with trying to roll with whatever the players are going with, but not every plan is going to work.

Of course, there's the failed events (see: the first raid in the Necromancer plotline), which I've already learned from, or so I would like to believe.

As for your numbered suggestions....

1. Ideally, there would be at least two GMs for big events. However, GMs are people as well, and there are plenty of times where it's impossible to have more than one GM around. This can be solved with helpers (giving them event tools for this is not necessary in this case), though more often than not, they will likely be embroiled in something due to their presence. Currently, events are usually built with the least amount of helpers in mind on my end (see: only one GM able to preside over things)

2. This is already the case. There's also nothing stopping people from poking me if they feel like I'm trapping them in a limbo of inaction, or if they feel I'm not giving them time to react. Of course, there will be times where the background has to act on its own, but that's for another topic.

3. I apologize, but it sounds like you're telling us to do little to no planning here. You will want to clarify this, but in the meantime....

Events are made with a general idea of how it would go. We also prepare for potential things in the meantime. In fact, we can plan for a lot of potential things, which most players probably wouldn't think of. Take the undead attacks on the Arena, for instance. What if someone managed to find the Necromancer during the attack? What if someone managed to track down the Necromancer('s lair) early on? What if someone wanted to take the Necromancer's power/resources/combination thereof for themself? What if someone accidentally found the Necromancer's Lair because they wanted to find somewhere quiet to bang? Of course, odds are that the players will likely do something that either we don't plan for, or don't have the resources to immediately cover for. It would be a lie to say that we aren't usually thinking on the spot with events.

There's also a notable issue with player initiative, but again, this is something that should be discussed in its own topic, since that will inevitably be a 'fun' topic that will likely tick people off, be it for the right or wrong reasons.

4. If you looked at the spoiler near the top of this post, you would've seen that I made sure that at least most of the event's elements had reason to be there, and why I went with certain things. As for the rest of this issue, this sounds like something that should be noted in a private conversation, as it sounds rather vague to me (how, exactly, is this making PCs look 'incompetent'?), and can be better settled one-on-one.

5. ....I'm sorry, what? Did you not hear about how many times I look/ask for opinions/criticism following events? I keep my doors open for criticism, both good and bad, even if I don't end up responding to it. I have admitted several times that the bomb portion caused more trouble than it was worth, and I've already noted that I wouldn't be replicating it anytime soon, if ever. Again, I strongly suggest you clear this up with me, because I have done exactly this and you are still complaining otherwise.


I believe the overall issue you're presenting is more personal than otherwise, given the circumstances, and I would implore you to directly discuss this with me, instead of trying to make a 'GMs in general' topic that actually points out one situation that only one GM had to do with.