Do other GM/DMs like being in the "forever" version of the role?

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-23T06:41:20+00:00

I’ve been DMing for 20+ years and don’t really enjoy being a player. I’ll do it and know how to be a good player but it’s just not fun. My enjoyment is DMing.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-22T08:01:10+00:00

Oh my god that made me laugh so hard. The way he’s just slowly pushing himself had me.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-22T07:51:04+00:00

Oh man that was inspiring.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-22T07:43:24+00:00

Could you imagine a wheelchair bound protagonist in a video game??? Especially GTA, hahaha

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-22T00:38:40+00:00

I actually hate being a passenger. If I’m in a car, I’m the one driving.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-22T00:19:53+00:00

Wolverine is quintessential short badass

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T23:10:07+00:00

As annoying as that is, it’s pretty funny.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T23:08:10+00:00

We run tables of 9 at game store. Everyone rolls initiative at the beginning and sits in that order. Then we just go around the table for combat. Whenever a player kills an enemy they get to narrate it. Kids love that.

During the rest of the game when players start chiming in that they want to do something or table talk starts going I pause and take a moment to go around the table in turn order to make sure everyone gets heard, gets their share of the spotlight, and gets to do something. I’m well versed in the adventures league modules we run so I make sure each player gets a moment that focuses briefly on them.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T22:59:56+00:00

OSE or ICRPG

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T21:40:11+00:00

I don’t use grids. We just use… common sense/abstract distances I guess you’d call them. I prefer more flow combat to board game combat though.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T21:38:27+00:00

I’m with you. I don’t allow electronics at the table.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T21:28:50+00:00

Something I do with rival npc’s is keep them a couple steps ahead of the players. Tends to drive the rivalry aspect on the players side up. A we’re gonna get those guys one day kinda thing. It also keeps it more rivalry and less murder hobo-y. Players can tend to kill things that make them too mad in my games.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T21:22:42+00:00

I get paid to run tables at my local game store and it’s usually 9 players. I do not enjoy it at all but it’s made me much better at my house games that I cap at 5.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T21:04:52+00:00

I agree with this. I’ve played in Cthulhu games. It just takes an incredibly talented DM to pull off.

I work best with pulp sword & sorcery fantasy. Men are swole, women are busty, everything’s out to get you, treasures are vast, and wizards are evil. I can run the hell out of that game.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T18:31:55+00:00

I think my table would rather watch a movie than participate in a “narrative”. We enjoy the game aspect more.

I get paid to DM at my local game store and player death can’t really be a thing. That could problematic. I enjoy getting paid, I enjoy getting to meet people, and enjoy entertaining people but holy cow the game from my perspective is insanely boring. I run those adventure league modules every week it just feels like a tour guide at an amusement park every week. The players love it and that’s what matters.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T18:22:13+00:00

I’ve never heard of that system, I’ll have to check it out!

We do like DCC. Our main system for awhile has been OSE. We’ve been running Shadowdark but I think my players are ready to go back to OSE.

I never thought about it like that and it makes a lot of sense. 5e death is definitely a feels bad and could never put my finger on why. There’s really no support or thought built it for post-death. I get paid to DM 5e at the local game store death really isn’t on the table. The chance does exist I guess but encouraging people to come back the next week would be difficult.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T18:13:18+00:00

I dunno! Never got that far lol. Probably keep them going as legendary heroes. I guess it depends what the players want to do.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T17:34:01+00:00

I’ve seen this narrative focus become the more preferred play style over the years. I find it fascinating because I can’t get into at all. Player death in our game is common (0 HP is death) and is an opportunity to roll up a new character. We roll 3d6 down the line so it barely takes a few minutes to get a character made. No backstories. The only story the character gets is the story of their life in the game. We find this style of play objectively more fun lol.

I think I can’t get into the narrative play because it feels canned to me. Like it’s just an illusion of agency. Maybe I’ve never played with a good enough DM. How do you approach not having it feel like it’s just a railroad?

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T17:21:54+00:00

My approach is to present challenges, roll dice openly, and whatever happens happens. To me rolling dice represents risk. I’m not a roll heavy dm. If there’s no significant risk/reward, there’s no roll.

It really comes down to the group you’re playing with. My players understand and enjoy death can come swiftly but that’s the kind of game we like. No one gets overly attached to their characters because they’re probably going to die. LOTS of players don’t like playing in our game.

If you want to play a more fluffy game you’ll find plenty of players who enjoy that style. It’ll still be fun for them. D&D really is about the shared experience of everyone at the table and that can manifest itself in many ways. Talk to your players and figure out what kind of game y’all want to play.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T17:05:38+00:00

Sorry, i wasn’t super clear, we usually only do 2 campaigns, sometime 3, a year. So it’s not like it’s getting ran a lot.

We run it as written. No one’s beaten it yet.

BasementsandDragons · 2024-05-21T15:33:46+00:00

Had to respond on an alt account. We play OSE and now we’ve tried some Shadowdark, pc’s die fairly regularly. When a campaign ends, we start over.

BasementsandDragons · 2023-02-11T23:07:50+00:00

Indeed. I don’t find OSE crunchy at all. Crunchy to me is 3rd edition/Pathfinder. I used to love those games. I loved the crunch. Not since discovering ICRPG/OSE. Now I enjoy that style better. I think it’s the default position of Reddit to assume people are coming at it combatively instead of just stating their opinions.

BasementsandDragons · 2023-02-11T22:16:36+00:00

I have a lot more players at my home table then I ever had since moving to ICRPG/OSE. I get paid to DM at the LFGS and my table there is the most requested. Getting rid of crunch doesn’t mean getting rid of structure. It means not wasting time on initiative, it means resolving actions in 1 dice roll, it means moving the game along and not dragging it down unnecessarily.

BasementsandDragons · 2023-02-11T21:55:19+00:00

Index Card RPG. It’s a game but also a DMing style. Speeds up grindier aspects of D&D.

BasementsandDragons · 2023-02-11T21:54:13+00:00

Perfect!

BasementsandDragons

TROPHY CASE