Curiosities about DMs...
Curiosities about DMs...
Hei,
I start this thread mainly due to some of my couriosities.
- What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
For me, reading a new adventures and modules give me some satisfaction, as if i am playing it myself. I'm not talking about campaign diaries, i'm specificall talking about Modules, with advices and guides on how to play them. Dont know why!
- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
For me, I suppose it is when players doesnt follow the plot, dont keep attention to all the details I tailor for them... it is quite disturbing, makes me feels like I wasted lot of times (luckily, is a rare event).
- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
I think I am in the middle.. I love building combats and challenge PCs, but also I love roleplay (even though i'm still improving in this). About Investigation, i'm not that good in building such kind of adventures. I think that is due to the lack of experience in this particular kind of campaigns. With "The night of the walking dead" for which i'm preparing myself, i think i have some clues on how to run an investigative campaign, even though i'm still inexperienced (at this proposal,if you have any advice on intensively investigative modules I would be grateful to know them!)
Let me know what kind of DM you are, and what's your point of view!
I start this thread mainly due to some of my couriosities.
- What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
For me, reading a new adventures and modules give me some satisfaction, as if i am playing it myself. I'm not talking about campaign diaries, i'm specificall talking about Modules, with advices and guides on how to play them. Dont know why!
- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
For me, I suppose it is when players doesnt follow the plot, dont keep attention to all the details I tailor for them... it is quite disturbing, makes me feels like I wasted lot of times (luckily, is a rare event).
- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
I think I am in the middle.. I love building combats and challenge PCs, but also I love roleplay (even though i'm still improving in this). About Investigation, i'm not that good in building such kind of adventures. I think that is due to the lack of experience in this particular kind of campaigns. With "The night of the walking dead" for which i'm preparing myself, i think i have some clues on how to run an investigative campaign, even though i'm still inexperienced (at this proposal,if you have any advice on intensively investigative modules I would be grateful to know them!)
Let me know what kind of DM you are, and what's your point of view!
- Dark Angel
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- Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:00 am
- Location: Falentei, the Lands of Fire and Darkness
Re: Curiosities about DMs...
- What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
I enjoy creating plots and stories that may friends can really enjoy and knowing at all times what is going to happen (though players inevitably mess that up). Also as a player (the rare times that happens), I don't know what is going to happen like I am used to and it tends to drive me crazy. Weird how that's a thing.
- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
I also don't like when my group completely avoids the adventure as I lay it out for them, but more experienced players and adventures tailored to their PCs (heading home to return something, helping family members, etc) and not head here for an adventure. The adventures 'appear' around them and they go with it (I do try to blend the concepts together to make them more seamless). One thing that helps me deal with those random acts the players usually pull off (granted, not knowing it usually) are a series of short, random encounters fleshed out to better suit roleplaying opportunities instead of coming up with them on the spot. A few of those thrown at them when they really get off track (like teleporting to another domain, a PC getting killed or badly injured, etc) usually keeps them busier so when you come back to the session next time, you will be better prepared for what new situations they are now in.
- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
I used to run a more typical D&D campaign (and am looking forward to running one for my kids when they are older) and had more of a mix of dungeon crawling and investigative/roleplay driven adventures. The less frequent dungeons and magic in Ravenloft reduce the numbers of dungeon crawls. The cool thing is when they do go to a dungeon, they are less used to that and the more they get to hack and slash (I am going to be running Feast of Goblyns soon (ish) and they will be in for a rude awakening with that cavern). So they are usually in the 'something bad is happening' group and they are the ones more able to do something about it than others nearby. If they choose to do something else instead, that's fine. When they come back to town (or wherever), have signs or situations having occurred because they did not act. Some townsfolk died or were badly injured, someone less able tried to do something (ideally an NPC they were friendly with) and are now missing. And so on.
One of the hardest thing to do with newer PCs (and DMs, sometimes) is figuring out what to do with them. I ask my players what are their ultimate goals for their PCs. What do they want to do, get, be, or desire that forms the starting point for future adventures. Got a cleric looking to renew the faith in the area? How about renovating that abandoned church (after clearing out those monsters/bandits/whatever inside first)? Got a fighter in the group with no designs to be the greatest warrior, but maybe their higher charisma score will put them into a position of power by the townsfolk that have been saved over and over again. Once they get going on their ideas, the adventures practically write themselves.
I enjoy creating plots and stories that may friends can really enjoy and knowing at all times what is going to happen (though players inevitably mess that up). Also as a player (the rare times that happens), I don't know what is going to happen like I am used to and it tends to drive me crazy. Weird how that's a thing.
- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
I also don't like when my group completely avoids the adventure as I lay it out for them, but more experienced players and adventures tailored to their PCs (heading home to return something, helping family members, etc) and not head here for an adventure. The adventures 'appear' around them and they go with it (I do try to blend the concepts together to make them more seamless). One thing that helps me deal with those random acts the players usually pull off (granted, not knowing it usually) are a series of short, random encounters fleshed out to better suit roleplaying opportunities instead of coming up with them on the spot. A few of those thrown at them when they really get off track (like teleporting to another domain, a PC getting killed or badly injured, etc) usually keeps them busier so when you come back to the session next time, you will be better prepared for what new situations they are now in.
- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
I used to run a more typical D&D campaign (and am looking forward to running one for my kids when they are older) and had more of a mix of dungeon crawling and investigative/roleplay driven adventures. The less frequent dungeons and magic in Ravenloft reduce the numbers of dungeon crawls. The cool thing is when they do go to a dungeon, they are less used to that and the more they get to hack and slash (I am going to be running Feast of Goblyns soon (ish) and they will be in for a rude awakening with that cavern). So they are usually in the 'something bad is happening' group and they are the ones more able to do something about it than others nearby. If they choose to do something else instead, that's fine. When they come back to town (or wherever), have signs or situations having occurred because they did not act. Some townsfolk died or were badly injured, someone less able tried to do something (ideally an NPC they were friendly with) and are now missing. And so on.
One of the hardest thing to do with newer PCs (and DMs, sometimes) is figuring out what to do with them. I ask my players what are their ultimate goals for their PCs. What do they want to do, get, be, or desire that forms the starting point for future adventures. Got a cleric looking to renew the faith in the area? How about renovating that abandoned church (after clearing out those monsters/bandits/whatever inside first)? Got a fighter in the group with no designs to be the greatest warrior, but maybe their higher charisma score will put them into a position of power by the townsfolk that have been saved over and over again. Once they get going on their ideas, the adventures practically write themselves.
"One does not stop playing when they get old, they grow old when they stop playing" George Bernard Shaw
"If you could be either God’s worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?" Chuck Palahniuk
"If you could be either God’s worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?" Chuck Palahniuk
Re: Curiosities about DMs...
* Part I enjoy most?
Crafting a linear, meticulously planned adventure and having my players think they had free will the entire time. With players I know, I can usually predict how people will react (on a couple of occasions I have predicted their responses verbatim) and can plan accordingly. The moments when everything comes together and everyone is analyzing information and making choices exactly as I've foreseen? That's the best: when I can revel in the role of diabolical puppet master.
* Most annoying part?
Unannounced absences. Party infighting. ("I'm just role playing my character" isn't an excuse for being a jerk. It's a roleplaying game, and one player's roleplaying shouldn't come at the expense of everyone else enjoying the game.)
*DM Style?
Roleplaying investigative, although dungeon crawling happens a boat load as well. (An investigation usually ends in a dungeon of some form, althoough I try to stretch the term 'dungeoon' to the limit.) Cinematic, I'd hope, would be the best word to describe it. I want people to have individual character arcs for their characters that are meaningful to them and the people around them. I also want them to engage with the game world in a real way, making real connections to NPCs and institutions, to the point that they feel legitimate triumph when they succeed or shame when they fail (I still have a player who wants to run a game in a coastal city to fix a mistake he made ten years ago). I want them to feel real, honest affection for their NPC friends and to feel legitimate anger or sadness at their death or betrayal. I guess 'immersive' might be the best word.
Crafting a linear, meticulously planned adventure and having my players think they had free will the entire time. With players I know, I can usually predict how people will react (on a couple of occasions I have predicted their responses verbatim) and can plan accordingly. The moments when everything comes together and everyone is analyzing information and making choices exactly as I've foreseen? That's the best: when I can revel in the role of diabolical puppet master.
* Most annoying part?
Unannounced absences. Party infighting. ("I'm just role playing my character" isn't an excuse for being a jerk. It's a roleplaying game, and one player's roleplaying shouldn't come at the expense of everyone else enjoying the game.)
*DM Style?
Roleplaying investigative, although dungeon crawling happens a boat load as well. (An investigation usually ends in a dungeon of some form, althoough I try to stretch the term 'dungeoon' to the limit.) Cinematic, I'd hope, would be the best word to describe it. I want people to have individual character arcs for their characters that are meaningful to them and the people around them. I also want them to engage with the game world in a real way, making real connections to NPCs and institutions, to the point that they feel legitimate triumph when they succeed or shame when they fail (I still have a player who wants to run a game in a coastal city to fix a mistake he made ten years ago). I want them to feel real, honest affection for their NPC friends and to feel legitimate anger or sadness at their death or betrayal. I guess 'immersive' might be the best word.
- Gonzoron of the FoS
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Re: Curiosities about DMs...
I love planting seeds of something cool and then years later bringing it to the spotlight and having it pay off. Case in point: At the start of my campaign, I set up a mad clockmaker whose contraptions always bore his maker's mark. 3 years of real time later, his "son" revealed the same mark on his arm, showing him to be a clockwork golem created by said clockmaker. (and I actually surreptitiously drew the mark on my arm, then rolled up my sleeve to reveal it while the character was monologuing.) Even better, said golem was on a quest pursuing a soul. The other major villain of the campaign was a spirit trying to regain his body. For 10 years, I'd developed both plotlines with one goal in mind: The spirit possesses the clockwork man. Soul gets body, body gets soul. When it finally happened, after 10.5 years of playing, I felt I could drop the mike and retire as a happy DM.Nox wrote:- What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
Not being able to play often enough. With long-term plans like that, it's torture to sit on them for years on end. But with everyone in our group having succumb to Real Life, it's hard to get everyone together to play. And when we finally do, a lot of the little details get lost and forgotten between sessions.- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
I love the social and investigative stuff. That's the point of everything, IMHO. To play the characters. But I do spice things up with combat and exploration. The key is to have the combat serve the story. Especially in PF, which is what we play, and especially beyond the low levels, combat takes so damn long that it's got to be worth it. I want every battle to feel like a cinematic set piece. "Knock down the door, slay the monster, take its loot, repeat" doesn't interest me.- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
Re: Curiosities about DMs...
I totally agree with you. I wish I could make every combat like this! Sadly i'm still newbie at DM-ing (I had just 6 months of practice as DM, not enough though, but I realized i learned a lot in that time, this saturday it will start it over again, and I hope i'll get even better this time).Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:I love the social and investigative stuff. That's the point of everything, IMHO. To play the characters. But I do spice things up with combat and exploration. The key is to have the combat serve the story. Especially in PF, which is what we play, and especially beyond the low levels, combat takes so damn long that it's got to be worth it. I want every battle to feel like a cinematic set piece. "Knock down the door, slay the monster, take its loot, repeat" doesn't interest me.- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
Is it usual that you forget some important detail you planned on your campaigns? It happens to me quite a lot, as far as I can remember, and it frustrates me so much. Sometimes is even something really important to the plot, so I after i forgot it, I need to find a way to put it in the next session just to tell the players that single thing.
- Dark Angel
- Evil Genius
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- Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:00 am
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Re: Curiosities about DMs...
Don't feel too bad. Assuming you are still human (big assumption in this crowd), you are going to make mistakes. Assuming your players are still new to the genre, they may be forgiving too. There have been plenty of times where I forgot to include a specific encounter, introduce an NPC, or recall a specific rule. I once set up an encounter action with a specific player in mind. He was running a PC with a difficult armor class to hit and I was planning a spell (Heat Metal) to use on him to do some minor (but 'hey I did damage to you') damage. I was going to run the encounter as such, but we got delayed in schedule and when I ran the encounter the spell slipped my mind. Hours later in game time, I realized this and swore out loud as others in the group were worried I got a text or something with bad news. I looked at one of my players (not the one in mind for the encounter) and asked if I should retroactively do damage as if the spell had been cast. She agreed (she is spiteful), but I decided not to. It happens.Nox wrote:Is it usual that you forget some important detail you planned on your campaigns? It happens to me quite a lot, as far as I can remember, and it frustrates me so much. Sometimes is even something really important to the plot, so I after i forgot it, I need to find a way to put it in the next session just to tell the players that single thing.
Another fun tale from waaaaay back when with the DM/player screwing up. The spiteful player above was running the Return to the Tomb of Horrors adventure (shuddering all about) and I was running a CG Drow fighter/mage (before I knew about Drizzt Dourden, by the way). I had a Ring of the Drow (a magical item that allowed me to keep my drow powers and magic resistance). I was killed at some point in the adventure when a magical device was supposed to brand me with some identifying mark, but I was not evil. As the adventure came to a halt as I rolled up a new character, another player was claiming my items (as proper gamers do). I looked up the ring to give the player an idea what would happen if they put it on, I realized (waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to late) that the ring will alter the wearer's alignment to CE regardless of actual alignment. So I would not have died in the 'trap'. The poor bastard paladin would have and it would have been really funny. I took my lumps, moved on and made a new PC. Things happen. Some times they can be changed, sometimes you are rolling up a new character.
"One does not stop playing when they get old, they grow old when they stop playing" George Bernard Shaw
"If you could be either God’s worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?" Chuck Palahniuk
"If you could be either God’s worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?" Chuck Palahniuk
- Joël of the FoS
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Re: Curiosities about DMs...
Indeed, don't worry Nox about forgetting stuff, happens all the time.
Especially when you contradict yourself (happened once, was really annoying) or when you contradict canon
I sometimes use email between live sessions to add info, or add cut scenes. I suggest you do the same for additions to your game.
Or you could send an email "here's the whole story he told, for reference" (with added details).
Or an email to a player "by the way when you met ABC, you noticed that XYZ (added detail). You thought it wasn't important at the time."
This session scenario includes music and images as well.
When I started this campaign in 2003, I wanted it to be as "real" as possible, with plenty of NPCs : some relevant now, some put there as adventure seeds for later, some just for RL atmospherics. I love planting seeds, or insert cool RL NPCs for atmospherics, even if I have nothing planned for the moment with them.
RL is dangerous. That is the feeling my players have.
And most NPCs have their own picture, so the players can't tell which one is relevant or not.
For reference, as a DM tool, I keep an excel file with the NPCs they meet (which session (s), what important details is known to the PCs, what isn't, and possibilities / links I could explore in the future). This list has about 300 NPCs !
As other said it here, I'm not into linear let's-get-to-the-boss modules, it's very free flow. But to do that, you have to be ready to switch your scenario at the last second, or prepare side tracks quests to give you time to prepare for that new choice they made (without it looking like you are trying to gain time).
So my PCs think they are 90 % in control of their choices, while I know it's only 10 % With playing with the sense of urgency, or hearing what trusted NPCs have to say, I have usually them go where I want.
I'm often looking to surprise them, with new revelations and encounters.
I play a grim and gritty game, where PCs have nothing for free : no free spells appear in your spellbook when you get a level, you cast what you found before, or try to make exchange with NPCs you meet. No magic school to help you. No free raise dead. Very few magic items to loot. Very few deus ex machina knowledge that the players "know", what you learn is what you know, nothing more (you were an ignorant barovian when you started, after all). But all of this is done through exchange of services (sometimes with strings attached, of course! = adventure hooks), meeting useful NPCs that know things, etc. I think it is cooler RP that way, and again it makes it more "real".
Once in a while, I ask my players if they like the game, or if I should change something, and the answer is always that they like it a lot, and that it is unique. Great job !
The goal isn't to win an argument based on logic. It's magic, dude, not logic
Another thing that was a bit difficult was to tell them/him again and again that I have both feet on the brake when it is about getting new levels, and that I was using a slow progression table for getting new levels. Because I love this campaign and do not want to start over a new RL campaign.
Also, I don't feel RL works well when PCs are high levels (they started at 3rd in 2003, they are now are 7-8th only, after 70 sessions of 8 hours!).
I love it that my 7-8th players are still afraid of cannibal zombies, because they know they are not the kings of the hill in RL, and they always fear getting out at night *grin*
Meeting so many NPCs also enforce roleplaying, and when done right, gives a sense of mystery to the game (who is this guy? who is really this guy? Why is he there? Etc.).
Especially when you contradict yourself (happened once, was really annoying) or when you contradict canon
I sometimes use email between live sessions to add info, or add cut scenes. I suggest you do the same for additions to your game.
Or you could send an email "here's the whole story he told, for reference" (with added details).
Or an email to a player "by the way when you met ABC, you noticed that XYZ (added detail). You thought it wasn't important at the time."
Planning my game, then DMing it ! I write my sessions more or less like a movie scenario, with planned encounters, fun or important talk, and story possibilities as well (to put the group back on track, to add atmospherics, or when they have a choice to make and I don't know what they will do).Nox wrote: - What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
This session scenario includes music and images as well.
When I started this campaign in 2003, I wanted it to be as "real" as possible, with plenty of NPCs : some relevant now, some put there as adventure seeds for later, some just for RL atmospherics. I love planting seeds, or insert cool RL NPCs for atmospherics, even if I have nothing planned for the moment with them.
RL is dangerous. That is the feeling my players have.
And most NPCs have their own picture, so the players can't tell which one is relevant or not.
For reference, as a DM tool, I keep an excel file with the NPCs they meet (which session (s), what important details is known to the PCs, what isn't, and possibilities / links I could explore in the future). This list has about 300 NPCs !
As other said it here, I'm not into linear let's-get-to-the-boss modules, it's very free flow. But to do that, you have to be ready to switch your scenario at the last second, or prepare side tracks quests to give you time to prepare for that new choice they made (without it looking like you are trying to gain time).
So my PCs think they are 90 % in control of their choices, while I know it's only 10 % With playing with the sense of urgency, or hearing what trusted NPCs have to say, I have usually them go where I want.
I'm often looking to surprise them, with new revelations and encounters.
I play a grim and gritty game, where PCs have nothing for free : no free spells appear in your spellbook when you get a level, you cast what you found before, or try to make exchange with NPCs you meet. No magic school to help you. No free raise dead. Very few magic items to loot. Very few deus ex machina knowledge that the players "know", what you learn is what you know, nothing more (you were an ignorant barovian when you started, after all). But all of this is done through exchange of services (sometimes with strings attached, of course! = adventure hooks), meeting useful NPCs that know things, etc. I think it is cooler RP that way, and again it makes it more "real".
Once in a while, I ask my players if they like the game, or if I should change something, and the answer is always that they like it a lot, and that it is unique. Great job !
Rule lawyers! I have a player like this and it's a bit annoying. I had to talk to the group a few times (not pinpointing him in particular) to explain my game style in this campaign, and remind them/him it's not a game of "me vs them", but a game where everybody should be having fun and have a good time.- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
The goal isn't to win an argument based on logic. It's magic, dude, not logic
Another thing that was a bit difficult was to tell them/him again and again that I have both feet on the brake when it is about getting new levels, and that I was using a slow progression table for getting new levels. Because I love this campaign and do not want to start over a new RL campaign.
Also, I don't feel RL works well when PCs are high levels (they started at 3rd in 2003, they are now are 7-8th only, after 70 sessions of 8 hours!).
I love it that my 7-8th players are still afraid of cannibal zombies, because they know they are not the kings of the hill in RL, and they always fear getting out at night *grin*
After running very traditional D&D games before 2003, this one is definitively 75 % investigative and role playing. Even when they are dungeon crawling, there is an investigative part going on.- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
Meeting so many NPCs also enforce roleplaying, and when done right, gives a sense of mystery to the game (who is this guy? who is really this guy? Why is he there? Etc.).
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
Re: Curiosities about DMs...
Sometimes, when i forget something reall important, i let them know b sending a message, but usually I try to go short, because i'm afraid they will not read a long a intricated message (at least, not all of them). Do you think i'm wrong?Joël of the FoS wrote:Indeed, don't worry Nox about forgetting stuff, happens all the time.
Especially when you contradict yourself (happened once, was really annoying) or when you contradict canon
I sometimes use email between live sessions to add info, or add cut scenes. I suggest you do the same for additions to your game.
Or you could send an email "here's the whole story he told, for reference" (with added details).
Or an email to a player "by the way when you met ABC, you noticed that XYZ (added detail). You thought it wasn't important at the time."
Planning my game, then DMing it ! I write my sessions more or less like a movie scenario, with planned encounters, fun or important talk, and story possibilities as well (to put the group back on track, to add atmospherics, or when they have a choice to make and I don't know what they will do).Nox wrote: - What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
This session scenario includes music and images as well.
When I started this campaign in 2003, I wanted it to be as "real" as possible, with plenty of NPCs : some relevant now, some put there as adventure seeds for later, some just for RL atmospherics. I love planting seeds, or insert cool RL NPCs for atmospherics, even if I have nothing planned for the moment with them.
RL is dangerous. That is the feeling my players have.
And most NPCs have their own picture, so the players can't tell which one is relevant or not.
For reference, as a DM tool, I keep an excel file with the NPCs they meet (which session (s), what important details is known to the PCs, what isn't, and possibilities / links I could explore in the future). This list has about 300 NPCs !
As other said it here, I'm not into linear let's-get-to-the-boss modules, it's very free flow. But to do that, you have to be ready to switch your scenario at the last second, or prepare side tracks quests to give you time to prepare for that new choice they made (without it looking like you are trying to gain time).
So my PCs think they are 90 % in control of their choices, while I know it's only 10 % With playing with the sense of urgency, or hearing what trusted NPCs have to say, I have usually them go where I want.
I'm often looking to surprise them, with new revelations and encounters.
I play a grim and gritty game, where PCs have nothing for free : no free spells appear in your spellbook when you get a level, you cast what you found before, or try to make exchange with NPCs you meet. No magic school to help you. No free raise dead. Very few magic items to loot. Very few deus ex machina knowledge that the players "know", what you learn is what you know, nothing more (you were an ignorant barovian when you started, after all). But all of this is done through exchange of services (sometimes with strings attached, of course! = adventure hooks), meeting useful NPCs that know things, etc. I think it is cooler RP that way, and again it makes it more "real".
Once in a while, I ask my players if they like the game, or if I should change something, and the answer is always that they like it a lot, and that it is unique. Great job !
Rule lawyers! I have a player like this and it's a bit annoying. I had to talk to the group a few times (not pinpointing him in particular) to explain my game style in this campaign, and remind them/him it's not a game of "me vs them", but a game where everybody should be having fun and have a good time.- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
The goal isn't to win an argument based on logic. It's magic, dude, not logic
Another thing that was a bit difficult was to tell them/him again and again that I have both feet on the brake when it is about getting new levels, and that I was using a slow progression table for getting new levels. Because I love this campaign and do not want to start over a new RL campaign.
Also, I don't feel RL works well when PCs are high levels (they started at 3rd in 2003, they are now are 7-8th only, after 70 sessions of 8 hours!).
I love it that my 7-8th players are still afraid of cannibal zombies, because they know they are not the kings of the hill in RL, and they always fear getting out at night *grin*
After running very traditional D&D games before 2003, this one is definitively 75 % investigative and role playing. Even when they are dungeon crawling, there is an investigative part going on.- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
Meeting so many NPCs also enforce roleplaying, and when done right, gives a sense of mystery to the game (who is this guy? who is really this guy? Why is he there? Etc.).
I aspire to become a Dm like you. I wish my player can feel the fear of walking in the night. Only one of them actually act as real person, fearing death, monsters and dangers, All the others act like superhumans, and more than once they almost died against some frienzing beast who was lurking in the night (Ironically, the poor player who act afraid risked death something like four times). Still i'm probably missing the biggest part of DMing: Good storytelling. I surely improved since when I started almost an Year ago, but still, i'm not even close to be the DM I aspire to be.
I'm sure it's also a matter of players. There are those players who wants to live your world
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- IrvyneWolfe
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Re: Curiosities about DMs...
Creating complicated story frameworks, filling them with interesting characters and watching how the players interact with the inside of my brain.Nox wrote:- What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
Having players who aren't committed to the game, playing on cell phones, canceling at the last minute, or attempting to turn everything into a joke. (Last player I had do that had his character soon after divorced from his wife, his child kidnapped by fey, and making a deal with the hags of tepest for the muscle to get her back. He succeeded, but his daughter had aged 5 years in the shadow rift and he died killing the fey only to come back as a death knight in service to the hags... I may have been a bit punitive on that.)Nox wrote:- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
Definitely the latter, dungeon crawls bore me to tears. My games tend to be like Tarintino movies... lots of tense conversation punctuated by levels of violence that make everyone glad they spend most of their time talking.- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
"...Well that just happened." - Nora, upon failing her first powers check.
Re: Curiosities about DMs...
I'll bite. Can't sleep anyway, may as well.
PCs that do not care. Players that are there to play by themselves, or just have cool powers, or just sit there an listen. I've run the gamut of players, from super into it actors to rules lawyers to that one guy who makes EVERY character have a secret identity and doesn't even want to tell the DM his real backstory. But PCs that don't want to collaborate, who don't want to create, they suck the life out of me. Whether it is someone who makes a character and sticks to it so stringently that it warps the whole game, or someone who is only there for the social aspect and while engaged, ultimately couldn't care, or someone who just wants to hang out. It boils my blood. Because it doesn't just ruin the experience for me, but it ruins it for everyone else. And at this point, you are playing with real life friends, not random folks in a local comic shop or something, so getting upset and frustrated at them doesn't do anything, and kicking them out can lead to actual hurt feelings and hurt relationships in the real world and ... Bah.
Collaborative storytelling. Hands down. A whole world, and story, created together. I love trying to build stories and arches for my players, I love hearing them talk about backstories and random other such things. I love reacting to them (for the most part), letting them drive things and I react. It is the beauty of the game, that you don't control everything like an author does. You can plop down plots, stories, NPCs, and items, but the PCs have the care. And when they do, it is amazing! When they don't, well ...- What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
PCs that do not care. Players that are there to play by themselves, or just have cool powers, or just sit there an listen. I've run the gamut of players, from super into it actors to rules lawyers to that one guy who makes EVERY character have a secret identity and doesn't even want to tell the DM his real backstory. But PCs that don't want to collaborate, who don't want to create, they suck the life out of me. Whether it is someone who makes a character and sticks to it so stringently that it warps the whole game, or someone who is only there for the social aspect and while engaged, ultimately couldn't care, or someone who just wants to hang out. It boils my blood. Because it doesn't just ruin the experience for me, but it ruins it for everyone else. And at this point, you are playing with real life friends, not random folks in a local comic shop or something, so getting upset and frustrated at them doesn't do anything, and kicking them out can lead to actual hurt feelings and hurt relationships in the real world and ... Bah.
Closer to roleplaying-style. I love a good fight, a good dungeon crawl, but you gotta earn it. You gotta have those character moments, those sessions of searching for the info and solving the puzzle. So ... 70/30, Roleplay-Investigative v. Combat-Dungeoncrawlin'- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
Re: Curiosities about DMs...
I could be interested in how to run a character that has secret identity that even the master doesn't know about. He tailors his story? I guess it depends on the master's play style, right?Deewun wrote:I'll bite. Can't sleep anyway, may as well.
Collaborative storytelling. Hands down. A whole world, and story, created together. I love trying to build stories and arches for my players, I love hearing them talk about backstories and random other such things. I love reacting to them (for the most part), letting them drive things and I react. It is the beauty of the game, that you don't control everything like an author does. You can plop down plots, stories, NPCs, and items, but the PCs have the care. And when they do, it is amazing! When they don't, well ...- What is the part of Being a DM that you enjoy the most?
- What is the most annoying thing you find when you DM?
PCs that do not care. Players that are there to play by themselves, or just have cool powers, or just sit there an listen. I've run the gamut of players, from super into it actors to rules lawyers to that one guy who makes EVERY character have a secret identity and doesn't even want to tell the DM his real backstory. But PCs that don't want to collaborate, who don't want to create, they suck the life out of me. Whether it is someone who makes a character and sticks to it so stringently that it warps the whole game, or someone who is only there for the social aspect and while engaged, ultimately couldn't care, or someone who just wants to hang out. It boils my blood. Because it doesn't just ruin the experience for me, but it ruins it for everyone else. And at this point, you are playing with real life friends, not random folks in a local comic shop or something, so getting upset and frustrated at them doesn't do anything, and kicking them out can lead to actual hurt feelings and hurt relationships in the real world and ... Bah.
Closer to roleplaying-style. I love a good fight, a good dungeon crawl, but you gotta earn it. You gotta have those character moments, those sessions of searching for the info and solving the puzzle. So ... 70/30, Roleplay-Investigative v. Combat-Dungeoncrawlin'- Your Dm style is more of the Dungeon crawling, or roleplaying-investigative?
Re: Curiosities about DMs...
Honestly, DON'T. Hiding information from your DM is the worst. He wasn't doing it to tailor some massive story. He was doing it because he thoughts secrets were cool and he wanted to be in control of the DM.Nox wrote:
I could be interested in how to run a character that has secret identity that even the master doesn't know about. He tailors his story? I guess it depends on the master's play style, right?
Working it out beforehand with the DM is better. There is very little to gain from the "Aha!" moment of revealing your secret that you are not who you say you are without the DM's help.
- Joël of the FoS
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Re: Curiosities about DMs...
I don't see the point of this player either.
How can a DM craft his game with this PC in mind if the PC is a mystery to him? Non sense, obnoxious, and childish.
Players can have secrets from one another, it happens in my game, and it is fun, but the DM must know these secrets.
Joël
How can a DM craft his game with this PC in mind if the PC is a mystery to him? Non sense, obnoxious, and childish.
Players can have secrets from one another, it happens in my game, and it is fun, but the DM must know these secrets.
Joël
"A full set of (game) rules is so massively complicated that the only time they were all bound together in a single volume, they underwent gravitational collapse and became a black hole" (Adams)
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Re: Curiosities about DMs...
Agreeing with all on this one. The DM is the facilitator of the game and the only way a secret background works is if the player shares it. The only means for this to be useful for the player (while screwing over your adventure) is when they make up or modify some little bit to bring the game to a halt (my character secretly works for D'Honaire and has to report the party the second they cross the border into Dementlieu) or worse override a rule call (Oh I would have recognized those symbols as Lamordian as I left the Forgotton Realms and spent a year there. Now go back to that encounter and redo it because I would have known). I would explain to the player that the background has to be shared or it doesn't exist. The DM is not the bad guy and is not there to allow the secrets to come out to all (hopefully).Joël of the FoS wrote:I don't see the point of this player either.
How can a DM craft his game with this PC in mind if the PC is a mystery to him? Non sense, obnoxious, and childish.
Players can have secrets from one another, it happens in my game, and it is fun, but the DM must know these secrets.
Joël
"One does not stop playing when they get old, they grow old when they stop playing" George Bernard Shaw
"If you could be either God’s worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?" Chuck Palahniuk
"If you could be either God’s worst enemy or nothing, which would you choose?" Chuck Palahniuk
Re: Curiosities about DMs...
Yup. He was a terrible player. Very frustrating.
Don't be like him!
Don't be like him!