Eli5?
Bahamut is a commonly recurring Draconic deity of Good dragons who often appears in a humanoid shape with 7 yellow birds hanging about.
If you’re on his bad side, you’re going to get fucked up.
Hah, I see. Thanks!
One of my favourite lines from the internet I’ve enjoyed recently …
“If you don’t fuck around … how are you ever going to find out?”
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Putting a “random” encounter that didn’t exist five minutes earlier in the path of your players, knowing it will be a TPK, is the DM version of murder hobo-ing. You’re ignoring the logic of the game and the feelings of the other players so you can have fun killing things. You’re not fixing the problem, you’re becoming part of it.
i don’t see the issue, in theory. if players have chosen to live by the sword, the dm is meeting them on their level by allowing them to die by the sword.
and you never know, maybe it’s an op party that could make it a close match. maybe the players had warnings and brought the god’s wrath on their heads anyway.
as with all things, there are contexts where it is appropriate and contexts where it is a wild overreaction. but this is a meme comm, not a nuance factory.
Then the meme doesn’t make sense. The DM doesn’t look like they’re having fun, they look spiteful. If the DM’s actions aren’t spiteful, the meme is poorly made.
It’s telling you think the only thing that can come from that situation is a TPK. Nobody’s ever made a threat to “straighten up or else”, as the most basic and uninspired alternative possibility.
The post is about a seething GM putting their players who always start a fight against someone unassuming, but undefeatable. What exactly do you think the DM in the meme is trying to do?
Starting a fight with an undefeatable opponent does not guarantee a TPK. They could be swatted around a bit, learn a lesson, and move on. They could realize it immediately and handle the situation without violence. They could do lots of things.
You are right that the point is to offer them a chance to fuck around and find out, but that doesn’t always mean TPK.
“They hated him because he told them the truth”
I agree, there are tons of different approaches a DM should take instead of just killing their party for no reason.
The main one would be to have a discussion with their players about what kind of campaign they want to run, so that everyone is on the same page.
Everyone at the table has the right to have fun, players and DM alike. But it should be a team effort.
I never get more hate than when I say “hey, this toxic DM behaviour is bad and you shouldn’t do it.” This time, it’s “responding to violent PCs with an unreasonably powerful NPC out of spite just reinforces a player vs DM mentality.”
See also “the illusion of choice isn’t a brilliant trick, it just removes player agency” and “if one person’s idea of fun doesn’t match the rest of the group, remove that person, even if that person is you.”
Bahamut isn’t going to kill them unless they force him to, and even then one of those “canaries” will have ressurections prepared specifically for that contingency. Bahamut is going to force them to atone, and stop getting the attention of literal gods.
