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Post by ripx187 on Jul 9, 2018 15:31:54 GMT -5
I work very hard at DMing, mao . I am always working on my craft. I am constantly reading, during downtime I am thinking, while others are doing other stuff I've got a notebook and I'm drawing or writing. I do this because it gives me pleasure. As a player, I am terrible. I am judgemental of other DMs. I don't mean to be, and I don't like to be, but I am. While I offer encouragement, I also offer unsolicited advice if I don't bite my tongue. When I first started, I was horrible. The players enjoyed what I did, but they put up with a lot of bumbling until I became competent. I sought critique, I played under many DM's as well, noting their mistakes and looking to correct them in my own game if I haven't done so already. I am not perfect, I make mistakes myself, that is the curse of being human, but I LEARN from my mistakes, and I don't think that a lot of DMs out there even want to look at their work like that. I will agree with you. There isn't enough competent and dedicated DMs to go around. The list of Dungeon Masters that I would love to play under is a very small one.
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Post by Hexenritter Verlag on Jul 10, 2018 12:36:43 GMT -5
I work very hard at DMing, mao . I am always working on my craft. I am constantly reading, during downtime I am thinking, while others are doing other stuff I've got a notebook and I'm drawing or writing. I do this because it gives me pleasure. As a player, I am terrible. I am judgemental of other DMs. I don't mean to be, and I don't like to be, but I am. While I offer encouragement, I also offer unsolicited advice if I don't bite my tongue. When I first started, I was horrible. The players enjoyed what I did, but they put up with a lot of bumbling until I became competent. I sought critique, I played under many DM's as well, noting their mistakes and looking to correct them in my own game if I haven't done so already. I am not perfect, I make mistakes myself, that is the curse of being human, but I LEARN from my mistakes, and I don't think that a lot of DMs out there even want to look at their work like that. I will agree with you. There isn't enough competent and dedicated DMs to go around. The list of Dungeon Masters that I would love to play under is a very small one. As a player I sucked, I am introverted but becoming a Ref helped me become a better player. In my last group I tried to run a RPG I didn't fully understand (it was a play test, so it is kind of the point) but I got so frustrated that it effected the enjoyment of my players & myself, so the group imploded. I love creating worlds & GMing, I'd rather do that than be a player. Like ripx187 I can be very critical of other GMs, I've had poor to middling GMs my whole life as a player & I was a poor Ref until I ran 5e. But I learned that I prefer Old School rules light DIY type D&D. Unless it is OD&D, B/X D&D or an clone of them I am not interested in running them. Depending on the style and tone of the campaign my players & I want to run, I can tweak the core rules by adding or subtracting sub-systems to better fit the campaigns style & tone. The only advice I'll give to new GMs/Refs is 1) understand your strengths & weaknesses and choose a rule-set that compliments them. 2) be fair to your players but do not coddle them either or they will never learn to improve. 3) Be consistent with your rulings & be open to compromise, if you are seen as a petty tyrant & your players are not enjoying the game, you'll lose them as I did; and lastly 4) recruit like minded players who enjoy similar styles of play, otherwise your group won't last long.
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Post by True Black Raven on Jul 10, 2018 18:27:10 GMT -5
Lot of good advice in this thread. mao you need an opportunity to play with real old school DMs.
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Post by mao on Jul 11, 2018 9:26:00 GMT -5
Lot of good advice in this thread. mao you need an opportunity to play with real old school DMs. My "mentor" was a great old schooler who taught me my key early DM advice from. but the student def exceeded his abilities. He had a very strang "lawful" way of doing things which made me realize you should not have all your monsters know every thing about the PCs. he died in 1985, the only friend I lost.
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Post by bestialwarlust on Jul 11, 2018 16:12:09 GMT -5
I have a very concrete example of why "tactics" are not the answer. I was playing in a game where I was doing all kinds of fancy maneuvers and the DM flatly ignored me and asked"What did you roll?"If I had a mechanical system that would give me more options, he couldnt have ignored me. People problem, not rules problem.
The rules can't fix stupid.
No but sometimes a heavy club can.
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Post by True Black Raven on Jul 15, 2018 22:21:38 GMT -5
People problem, not rules problem.
The rules can't fix stupid.
No but sometimes a heavy club can. Have an exalt bestialwarlust.
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Post by hengest on Apr 15, 2021 21:24:51 GMT -5
I have a very concrete example of why "tactics" are not the answer. I was playing in a game where I was doing all kinds of fancy maneuvers and the DM flatly ignored me and asked"What did you roll?"If I had a mechanical system that would give me more options, he couldnt have ignored me. Great thread. The way I would summarize what I can take from this thread is: If the dice are the heart of the game, that's one kind of game. If the dice are a tool of the game, that's something else.
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Post by Admin Pete on Apr 23, 2021 19:11:19 GMT -5
... I think that it was a huge mistake to start giving creatures stats. The harder the rules the more commercially viable a game is, but the less useful it becomes. Once the DM learns not to care what a Lizardman's Dexterity is, and no longer looks up how many Hit Dice they have, they become free. The Lizardman isn't a bunch of numbers roaming around, if I want them to be ambush experts, then they are. If I want them to breathe fire and attack with marshmallow guns then they'll do that too. It was Dave Cook's job to sell books, it is mine to invent and entertain. Excellent point! Rules suck. Rules add nothing but restrictions. It is understanding the principles of the game that makes it playable. I used to spend hours researching specifics that honestly added nothing to the game. Why do that? The theories and designs which make a game a game are rarely pointed out in commercial products. If I design a specific encounter, then there is a reason for that. To me, it is more important that a tribe of orcs has a good survival plan and a culture than "An Orc has 2HD, and a Strength of 17" If the player knows this, then that data is out of date. Our job isn't to crunch numbers, it is to bring that Orc clan alive. Stats may give the uninitiated clues, but I know "these" orcs are lazy as all get out and would rather have slaves than casualties. Those orcs over there are more interested in trying to discover the secret of steel, and this other one just sits around and gets high all the time. I placed two quotes above in bold because they are so On Target!
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Post by Morton on Apr 25, 2021 0:13:29 GMT -5
I have a very concrete example of why "tactics" are not the answer. I was playing in a game where I was doing all kinds of fancy maneuvers and the DM flatly ignored me and asked"What did you roll?"If I had a mechanical system that would give me more options, he couldn't have ignored me. I would not ignore you, but I would ask you if you really want to do that. A lot of fancy maneuvers might give them a better chance of hitting you. I would have to hear what you were doing, but it might or might not work against you. A lot of the fancy stuff only works in the most unrealistic of movies.
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Post by mao on Apr 25, 2021 4:11:06 GMT -5
I really am pretty hard to ignore
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Post by The Editor on Apr 25, 2021 19:52:33 GMT -5
I have a very concrete example of why "tactics" are not the answer. I was playing in a game where I was doing all kinds of fancy maneuvers and the DM flatly ignored me and asked"What did you roll?"If I had a mechanical system that would give me more options, he couldnt have ignored me. Great thread. The way I would summarize what I can take from this thread is: If the dice are the heart of the game, that's one kind of game.
If the dice are a tool of the game, that's something else.Wisdom, that is.
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Post by The Editor on Apr 25, 2021 19:53:35 GMT -5
I really am pretty hard to ignore Oh, I don't know about that, a little bit of duct tape could make that happen.
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