TOPIC: Clever Girl.... (perhaps too clever)

I noticed this year that the player with the lowest AC was getting attacked over, and over, and over in every room.

Can the DMs please be asked to mix it up - that isn't fun for the player who is being targeted.

Maybe the DMs could put a pip on the character card next to whomever they attack in the first round and the other DMs could choose other players.

Noticed that was the general theme as well. (Though it was the barbarian which has the highest damage modifier as well.)

However, final room for E3 the DM proceed to pound the crap out of our bard until they were dead. (The paladin proceeded to sacrifice and then the DM decided to mix up after that.)

Strange... I actually felt like this year was one of the better ones for Paladins getting attacked pretty often as monsters actually went after the characters the Paladins were guarding instead of the monsters magically knowing to attack the weakest character that the Paladin wasn't guarding.

Too many Killer DMs out there that get their jollies killing characters. They probably do this crap in campaign settings that they run, too.

When I DM at home I want my players to have fun. I don’t mark my DM screen with hash marks representing character deaths.

I didnt notice DMs targeting lowest AC all the time, although that is usually who the paladin guards, or that player is fine being attacked because of high HP. The thing that did put me off, was the mind slayer combat the DM asked before attacking 'so, who is NOT immune to possession?'
I responded 'why would you know that?' And willfully didnt look at my 'ability notes' sheet until after he chose...even though i was fairly sure i equipped the earcuff to all 4 people i equip for all runs.

I only did one run and they targeted a good mix but the one attack that went to the wizard I did hear him say who has the lowest ac before he chose the target and the other dm the targeted the wizard I think did it to hit the paladin which we didn’t have and he kinda looked had this look on his face like he messed up

It depends on the monster, TD has been better about sharing monster specific information regarding attacks on a party, but, it all depends on the intelligence of the monster. If the intelligence of the monster is high, the monster should target the weak casters or bard, and if the intelligence is low, the monster should be going after either the highest damage dealer or the loudest/smelliest.

I also noticed both of these -- Paladins being targeted and DM's looking down the list to see who had the lowest AC. I doubt anyone would argue with the evil monster targeting the Paladin, but unless the module states the monsters will target the players appearing the least armored, then I think it should be more random.

In Grind I did notice the monsters exclusively attacking me exclusively (after the barbarian had lost both arms) and Trent exclusively in the other run. But these were probably justified.

My monster strictly said to target everyone at-least once, then go back down the line. Usually first the heavy hitters, Barbarian and Fighter, through the Paladin and Dwarf Fighter, to the Casting Line.

I did see E3 monsters seem to get "locked on" to a single player. This was especially noticeable with the next to the last monster. The Paladin protected our bard for two rounds. After that he was in bad shape so our dwarf fighter taunted it to force the mob to attack him. Fortunately, we killed it that round.

I was running with a group of new players. After myself, the next experienced player had played in two other runs (this year). Many were confused and asked the event coordindator if that was normal. He seemed a little embarrassed about it and said he would look into it.

To be honest I am not sure why this was... it could have been by design (hope not) or it could simply be that the DMs were reacting that way for a reason. Like most of you, I wish I knew more.

Ro-gan wrote: Too many Killer DMs out there that get their jollies killing characters. They probably do this crap in campaign settings that they run, too.

When I DM at home I want my players to have fun. I don’t mark my DM screen with hash marks representing character deaths.

I completely understand,
Hash Marks? Hmm kinda cool.

Seems like it was a mix of experiences - maybe group was just unlucky.

Might still be worth dms putting dots by players they’ve targeted so later dms can share the love.