I think I broke my Dungeons & Dragons group by using a homebrew rule.
By @ellielol · Friends
I'm the Dungeon Master for my friend group's D&D campaign. To make things more interesting, I introduced a custom rule for critical fumbles. Now half the group loves it and the other half says I've ruined the game and wants to quit.
The full story
I've been running a D&D campaign for about a year with the same group of six friends. I try to keep things interesting and fair, and I spend a lot of time prepping for our sessions. A few weeks ago, I had an idea to make combat a little more chaotic and funny. I introduced a 'critical fumble' chart. Basically, if a player rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll, they have to roll again on this chart to see what extra bad thing happens. It's mostly silly stuff, like their character trips and falls prone, or drops their weapon, or accidentally hits an ally for minimal damage. When I first brought it up, everyone seemed to think it was a fun idea. But after a few sessions with it, the group is completely divided. Three of my players think it's hilarious and adds a level of unpredictable fun to combat. They love the moments when a plan goes completely sideways because someone fumbled. But the other three absolutely hate it. They are the more 'min-max' type players who have carefully built their characters to be effective, and they feel like the fumble chart unfairly punishes them for bad luck. One of them, who plays a fighter, has fumbled three times in two sessions and is furious. they says I'm invalidating his character build and making the game less about strategy and more about random chance. The other two agree and have said they don't want to play anymore if I keep the rule. The pro-fumble side says the other players are being sore losers and taking a game about elves and wizards way too seriously. I'm stuck in the middle. I thought it was a harmless, fun little addition, but now it feels like it might end our entire campaign.
How people voted
- On their side — 44% (8 votes)
- Both sides — 28% (5 votes)
- Other side — 28% (5 votes)
Readers say “On their side” (44%) — 18 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@sorrynothanks — lmaoooo
@sasha — ah yes, alienating half your friends for a laugh. classic.
@kiraagain — It sounds like you were just trying to make the game more fun for everyone, and it's a shame that it's causing such a rift. You'll figure it out.
@kirahm — If you don't like the rules, you can always just leave the table.
@inesmm — Did you talk to them at all before putting this rule in or did you just spring it on them?
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