I’ve been playing D&D since 1980. That’s a while. I can’t count the number of game sessions I’ve run as a DM or participated in as a player, but it’s a lot. In that time, I’ve experienced several ways players and DMs alike have sabotaged the game or otherwise prevented the session from reaching it’s full potential of fun.
Here is my list of 5 ways players sabotage a D&D game, followed by 5 ways Dungeon Masters ruin the fun around the gaming table.
5 Ways Players Can Sabotage a D&D Game
- Erratic attendance
D&D is a team sport. Every person that plays expects their teammates to show up when they say they’re going to show up. I know, life happens, and it’s not uncommon for a D&D session to have less than a full house. But, when players sometimes show up and sometimes don’t, and there’s no rhyme nor reason for it, that disrupts the experience for everyone in the group, players and dungeon master alike. Oh, and stop ghosting people. Ghosts are dicks. Don’t be a dick.
- Murder Hobos: Gotta attack everything in sight
There are times when you want to forego the social interaction, give exploration a miss, and you want to get into some good old fashioned skull bashing. When that gets disruptive is when a player wants to attack every NPC, monster or creature they come across, benign or malignant, and murder hobo their way through the entire session.
It’s the “I have an axe and I want to use it, on everything and everyone” way of playing that’s disruptive. Pace yourself, padawan. Not everything needs to die.
- Ignoring obvious quest hooks
When players are completely clueless about obvious quest hooks, this becomes disruptive more to the DM than to the other players. That’s probably more the DMs fault than the players’. However, this can manifest in two ways that drags the party down: being overly cautious even when there’s a clear path toward adventure, and insisting the party pursue pointless details or other elements in the game when a reasonable person would say, “The rabbit you incidentally saw hopping in the meadow is not as important as the dragon you saw flying overhead.”
- Contrarian … always saying no or going against party consensus
Some people are just disagreeable. They aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy, and stirring the pot seems to bring them pleasure like nothing else. These are the kind of players who identify what the party wants to do and insists on doing the opposite. I don’t know if psychologists have a name for the condition that makes people act in such a contrarian way, but I’ve seen it often enough around a D&D table to know that this kind of behavior can be one of the most disruptive on this list.
- Dishonoring the honor system (fudging dice rolls, etc.)
There’s a lot of the honor system inherent around a D&D table. One of the most obvious ways the honor system manifests is when rolling dice. It’s not always easy to see from across the table how that d20 attack roll turned out, so the DM and other players alike trust that you’re being honest about the outcome. If you’re a player and you cheat by fudging your dice rolls, either in the game or beforehand when you create your character, you’re degrading the trust that we all rely on. Don’t dishonor the honor system.
5 Ways Dungeon Masters Can Sabotage a D&D Game
Now that we’ve talked about how players sabotage the fun of the game, it’s time to pick on the Dungeon Masters. Here are 5 Ways the DM can kill the fun around your D&D table.
- Sees the players as the enemy
I’ve seen this first-hand several times, and heard players lament their experience at other D&D tables more times than I can count. When a DM takes things personally, the mood at the table goes down almost immediately. They will fudge dice rolls, “The orc just rolled its third nat 20 in a row. You take … max damage! Ooo!” That can happen, but the gleam in the DM’s eye is a dead give away. Pun intended.
Good DMs are actually rooting for the party to succeed, not hoping they fail.
- Expects players to be mind readers; expresses frustration, even contempt, when they do something “wrong”
What’s obvious to the DM may not present the faintest whiff of a hint to the players. The DM gets this sort of attitude toward the players, bordering on contempt. The eye rolls and heavy sighs … we’ve all experienced that from time to time. It’s like going on a road trip with someone who’s angry with the world and everyone in it. That kind of attitude becomes a serious buzz kill around the D&D table.
DMs and players alike, check your anger and frustrations at the door. Look at the D&D game as a way to escape all that. And dungeon masters specifically, be aware of how you’re coming across to the players. If you find yourself getting frustrated at their actions or choices, look inward first rather than jumping to the conclusion that your players are morons or are deliberately trying to aggravate you.
- Favoritism
Everyone has their preferences of who they like and who they don’t. It’s almost chemical. But Dungeon Masters have a special responsibility to not only be creators of the milieu the players live within. They are also the impartial referees for what takes place around the table. It is the DM’s expressed duty to remain fair to everyone and not play favorites. If you find yourself fudging dice rolls or giving more hints to one player over the others, you’re doing a disservice to everyone else in the room, including yourself.
- Lack of enthusiasm or not putting in the time and effort to make the game a fun experience
Even the most fervent DM can experience lulls in their enthusiasm. Life can get in the way and fatigue can set in, or other duties might drain their brain in a way that leaves only a few creative crumbs available to power their game session. This can manifest in a lack of enthusiasm at the table or in their prep, and they just kind of phone it in. Trust me, it’s okay to take a break and let your creative juices and energy get replenished. Your players would rather have fewer but more engaging games, than to sit around the table with a DM who’s got the energy and enthusiasm of a wet dishrag.
- Railroading: Not honoring player agency
This is probably the biggest yet most insidious ways that a DM can ruin the whole table’s D&D experience. The ironic part is the DM is likely convinced their “plan” is the best way to go, yet when the players either don’t pick up on their hints and quest hooks, or deliberately go west instead of east, the DM gets frustrated. See my previous point about expecting players to be mind readers.
The biggest reason why railroading kills the fun of a D&D session is because it takes away one of the most important reasons why people play D&D in the first place: agency and the freedom to make your own choices. If your players are just puppets under your strings and are doing nothing but acting out your plot in the precise way you wrote it, go write a fantasy novel and leave the Dungeon Mastering to someone who sees players as co-equal partners in the dynamic storytelling experience that is Dungeon and Dragons.
