PC Gamer Invites Players to Share Their Wildest Tabletop RPG Moments

PC Gamer's Dungeon Master column, written by Online Editor Fraser Brown, has invited tabletop RPG players to share their strangest gaming moments. The column highlights how live tabletop sessions produce oddities that videogames like Disco Elysium, Baldur's Gate 3 and Esoteric Ebb cannot replicate.

Brown draws from 15 years of tabletop experience, recounting several memorable incidents. In one early adventure, a companion blamed vomiting on a "Vomit Bandit", while another session involved carrying a large table that doubled as a battering ram.

One of Brown's most striking stories occurred during a remote session hosted by a friend from New Zealand. The GM was running a homebrew campaign set in a fictional West African steampunk city when a real earthquake struck, causing items to fall from shelves and sending the GM's partner down the stairs in panic. The group took a break and resumed play after the minor tremor passed.

In a Mothership campaign hosted by former senior editor Robin Valentine, Brown's character became infected with an alien virus through secret direct messages from the GM. Paranoia drove Brown to attempt escape, leading to a fellow player shooting his leg, his head sprouting tentacles, and his character eating the player's face.

A Call of Cthulhu session resulted in Brown's character going mad after witnessing a ghost. He shot a fellow player with an elephant gun, disintegrating them, then fled by taxi. The character had developed echolalia and could only repeat the taxi driver's words, leaving Brown sympathetic to the driver's experience.

Brown indicates additional anecdotes exist but remain private, and welcomes reader submissions of their own strange stories, silly arguments and experiences with difficult Game Masters.