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I'm in high school and very new to dungeons and dragons so I have no experience with this. I joined a new group recently made up of 3 mildly experienced players and a relatively new DM.

Our DM decided to try Mines of Phandelver but it got horribly derailed. It was going good until I missed one meeting and one of the other PC's decided to go murder hobo, burn down the Inn in the first town, and use oil to try and kill as many civillians as possible. After this, the DM missed two meeting without telling anyone (with all the players showing up). After he came back, he made it so that the entire party appeared as criminals despite no one else doing anything. He's also not pulling his punches trying to kill the murder hobo through combat.

The DM isn't saying anything about this but I'm worried that it's going to get out of control. Should I try to talk to the DM or PC about this or should I let it play out?

Micheal
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    Are you enjoying yourself or do you not? Do you notice any other tension/frustration in the group? – Akixkisu Mar 05 '20 at 05:47

4 Answers4

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You need to talk to everybody

Clearly, you're no longer enjoying the campaign as it is. You came into the game with a different expectation than what you're getting, and that's what a Session 0 is for.

Point out that you thought that this was going to be a game about adventuring heroes and that not everybody is in agreement on that idea.

After he came back, he made it so that the entire party appeared as criminals despite no one else doing anything.

You're traveling with a known murderer, are aware of that fact, and haven't made any attempts to arrest him for his crimes. In any realistic world, you're the guy's accomplices.

Community
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Theik
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  • This is a generically good answer, but could improve with some elaboration. Maybe give some tips on how this player (who is relatively new to the hobby) should raise their concerns in a constructive way to their peers (who are high schoolers). – MikeQ Mar 05 '20 at 09:48
  • @MikeQ The linked question on session 0 has all the information he will need. How to raise concerns and to talk to people is not something I think fits in this stackexchange, that's what the interpersonal stackexchange is for. – Theik Mar 05 '20 at 10:09
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Nothing will change unless you say something

Of course, nothing may change even if you do say something but that’s a different problem.

I get the impression that you aren’t happy with the way things are so you should speak up.

Dale M
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    A wise man once said "If you don't tell people to stop picking their nose, they will keep picking their nose" ;) – Ben Mar 05 '20 at 07:58
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    @Ben If they are my kids, they will keep picking their nose anyway. – Dale M Mar 05 '20 at 09:05
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    @Ben And if you do tell them, they'll just keep picking their nose, but make sure not to do it when you can see. – Mason Wheeler Mar 05 '20 at 21:48
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DM coordiation

One thing that seems notably missing is why the DM said he made the decision to put the entire party on a wanted list instead of just the murder hobo. What is the IC justification for it?

The DM should not have missed two meetings in a row if arrangements had not also been made for the players to take a break as well. His failure to discuss the matter with the group raises further concerns.

RP

It seems that the DM is failing to treat the situation with the seriousness it deserves. Unlike in the wilderness or a dungeon, slaughtering a civilized area will draw serious attention from the powers that be.

It's not something that goes unnoticed for long and will likely draw a severe response. Mass murder is a direct threat to civilization and at the very least the local watch will be taking a keen interest, and possibly the army.

Supernatural beings or high powered magic users may well take an interest as well. You can only go on a killing spree for so long before you get noticed.

Parting thoughts

It's never fun dealing with a problem player, but being helpless to deal with a situation that is inadequately being handled by the DM is especially demoralizing. If anything it should be your DM and not just you as a player asking this site for advice.

Raymond Jennings
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  • I don't disagree with your general thoughts on this, but the asker isn't looking for a critique of the DM. They are asking for "what do I do?" give that they and the others are pretty new to D&D and they may not have the experience base you or I do with situations like this. – KorvinStarmast Mar 07 '20 at 16:12
  • Honestly this sort of situation really is the DM's job to handle – Raymond Jennings Mar 07 '20 at 18:11
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You definitely should be having a chit chat with your DM about this. What concerns me besides how he reacted is the fact that he went AWOL from sessions and didn't clue you in on how or why you were appointed the murder hobo's accomplices.

This is dereliction of his duty as a DM.

Raymond Jennings
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