Why get angry when the set up for a story is “You’re kidnapped and press ganged onto a pirate ship (which you will presumably eventually mutiny against)” if you said you were going to be playing a game of Pirates? Why whine about getting caught in the Death Star’s tracker beam when you’re literally running Star Wars: A New Hope, the TTRPG?
Personal experience may be shaping my opinion here, but the campaign that made me think of this was one where like 3 unrelated epic-level villains some form of magical compulsion to force Good-aligned characters to do quests on their behalf. It got to the point where I seriously felt like the best thing my character would do was throw himself off the nearest cliff because he was such a useful asset to the side of Evil.
That does suck, if its just being strong-armed. And, again, you do need some degree of contingency for when the players buck the system. So subverting the will of the villains by doing as-stated-but-not-as-intended executions of jobs could be fun. Dethroning the good king by getting him to implement a parliamentary democracy, rather than by stabbing him in the back. Burning down the orphanage after you've evacuated all the kids, and then moving them into a new luxury town home that you've purchased with your adventuring money. Whatever.
But simply having the GM announce "Your Paladin eats the baby because he has no choice" isn't particularly fun.
Personal experience may be shaping my opinion here, but the campaign that made me think of this was one where like 3 unrelated epic-level villains some form of magical compulsion to force Good-aligned characters to do quests on their behalf. It got to the point where I seriously felt like the best thing my character would do was throw himself off the nearest cliff because he was such a useful asset to the side of Evil.
That does suck, if its just being strong-armed. And, again, you do need some degree of contingency for when the players buck the system. So subverting the will of the villains by doing as-stated-but-not-as-intended executions of jobs could be fun. Dethroning the good king by getting him to implement a parliamentary democracy, rather than by stabbing him in the back. Burning down the orphanage after you've evacuated all the kids, and then moving them into a new luxury town home that you've purchased with your adventuring money. Whatever.
But simply having the GM announce "Your Paladin eats the baby because he has no choice" isn't particularly fun.
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Sometimes DMs are just assholes who like to piss in your punch bowl.