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Question: Dear Dungeon Monkey, so my character was walking through a dungeon, she is a fighter/cleric, and while searching through treasure she found a sword that my DM told me is “oddly compelling.”  Now my character won’t give it up, won’t sell it, and the other players are getting a bit concerned.  The DM won’t let me get it identified and says that it is “oddly glowing now” and the other players won’t trust me alone in the dungeon.  The DM won’t tell me if he is setting me up to betray the party or what he is planning but it is messing with my fun and breaking up our groups harmony.  Any suggestions for how to get the group to trust me again and get the DM off my characters back?

Answer: There is nothing quite as dangerous to the happiness of the world as a Game Master (GM) who has found some hook or running gag to entertain his players or make them into paranoid bundles of sweat and anxiety.  Most GMs work quite hard to achieve that effect and once they find something capable of making players get paranoid they are loath to give it up lightly, however there are ways to get around the situation quickly and efficiently.  The first, and most obvious, is to have a conversation outside of your regular gaming night with the GM and try to find out from them directly what is going on.  If your GM does not want to provide you with details you should explain that it is your character and you worry about changes to the character you don’t understand.  Emphasize what I am guessing is the underlying truth, that you might not want to keep playing your character if he/she was suddenly turned from the fighter/cleric you built into some sort of evil killing machine.  Find out what your GM has in mind and, if that does not work for your vision of the character, either find a way to modify the situation or consider retiring the character.

However sadly many GMs are secretly also thrilled by having power over another person’s character and those sort of GMs are less inclined to give out information in a situation like this.  In which case your best bet is to work with your fellow players and explain to them that you have no idea what is going on and want their help in ending it.  If they agree have all of you simply ignore what the sword is doing, whenever the GM hints about it changing colors or shifting moods, all of you simply nod and ignore it.  If the GM emphasizes it gives off “odd feelings” or makes people feel “strangely unsure” have the players respond about it being “nerves” or just “silliness” and continue on normally as if the sword was doing nothing.  This will either force the GM to up the stakes by having the sword do whatever evil it is going to do or the GM will drop the plot when he realizes that it is no longer working to scare the players.  Either way it will remove your character from its current limbo situation.

If that does not work I recommend forcing the boundaries of reality with your sword, since it is a device the GM wants you to have and keep attached to your character put your character in situations where the blade should be obviously lost or harmed.  Start taking regular walks through whatever local thieves quarters there are in the city, stake the sword in foolish games of chance, offer to let others try out its balance and heft, try to sell the thing.  If the GM keeps saying that you feel “compelled not to do so” then ask why it the sword is so compelling, if the GM won’t tell you then continue with your actions.  If the GM simply says “You don’t do that” and attempts to push the story forwards, don’t let him, stall the game.  Insist that your character is not going to proceed further until you are able to get rid of the sword or you are given a reason why your character cannot get rid of the sword.  Bring a book with you if you need to and drive y0ur point home, if the GM attempts to force your character to continue with the adventure, refuse to assist in this and state your character does not participate.

In the worst case scenario, where your GM simply forces the character along for “story sake” and the players go along with it, retire the character and build a new one as close to identical to the old one as possible.  If your GM asks why simply explain your character has become the definition of a non-player character (NPC) and that you are making a new replacement you can actually play.  Most GMs at that point will finally understand they have gone too far and back down, if they don’t, make it a personal point to kill off your old character with your new one.  At least then you can find out what that glowing sword actually did.

- Dungeon Monkey

Have a question for the Dungeon Monkey?  Want to seek out some gaming suggestions?  Email Dungeon Monkey at dungeonmonkey@umich.edu and get your answers!