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Hey amigos and amigettes. I've started a youtube series about RPGs on my channel, NerdTypeZ! I'm calling it Carpe DM.
The general idea is that it'll be a lightly-edited series wherein I discuss different topics within the overall scope of Tabletop RPGs. I hope to post a new video 1-2 times each week.
Today's inaugural video is part 1 of a question I've seen fairly often on these boards and others:
What makes a good DM?
I encourage you to check it out and please give me your feedback. Hopefully, you enjoy what you see!
Here's a link to the first episode: Ep 1: What Makes a Good DM (Part 1)
...Catch Phrase,
-Chris
watched it, liked it and subbed. good lighting and sound (very important imo). i agree with a lot of points you bring up, especially the god dm. looking forward to part 2.
I don't have time right now to watch it but that is one sweet name for the series!
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Rules Lawyers... I disagree & agree. Knowing the rules builds player trust in your game. It lets players know you will be fair and impartial. The part I agree with is don't be afraid to improvise if there either is no rule or you don't know it yet. PS you will grow considerably in GMing ability if you keep a list of the stuff you had to improvise and research the actual rules for it after game day is past.
Storyteller / god GM has no place? Huh? If your game has no story ONLY gamists will like it. May as well toss aside 67% of the rest of the players out there. Clearly you are a gamist.
Open mind is good... within reason. I would say NO to the guy who is making the son of the king... but then I prefer my game world to make sense and be consistent and so no that wouldn't work. As a side note everyone else at the table would probably also thank me for saying no to such a special snowflake character. The game is about everyone not just YOU. I have reluctantly looked the other way over things like video game character rip offs... but as long as they make it fit my world and it inspires them I see no real harm.
I also think it's funny how you dislike god GMs then advise GMs to DO god GM stuff like dropping a surprise encounter on top of them simply because you don't like how long they are taking... other examples are giving the bad guys all potions of fire resistance, ect... all god GM tactics. F#*~ with them? Why? Why not let the encounter play out naturally? What is SO bad about teamwork and planning? Both things I give bonus XP for. The only time I would alter an encounter is after they engaged it and it is turning out way too hard or easy for this moment in the game. But even then I would keep the adjustment small and believable. The Overconfident BBEG fails to use a special expendable attack because he believes he doesn't need to waste it here since he is hammering the PCs hard already. Or a monster from a nearby area arrives to help in a fight the PCs are easily winning. All believable and make sense. Giving the bad guys an edge against fire after hearing the players are planning to use fire is not believable. And a good example of what I call bad GMing. And if they pull a stunt I didn't think of and blow away an encounter just adapt to the early loss of the BBEG and keep going... why all this punish the players attitude?
Many good points...
First, thank you very much for the feedback. I believe that, regarding some of your questions and complaints, the fault lies with me not being clear enough.
Re: Rules Lawyers: I do believe that a GM should KNOW the rules. However, I do not feel that they should feel totally BOUND by them. Certain rulings should be made based upon the situation. I also agree that you should keep a list of rules on which you improvised and should research the rules after the game. But, again, while most rules with most games should be applied as-intended, I think a DM should always be willing to fudge and improvise if the situation calls for it.
Re: Storyteller/God GM: I didn't say that a game should have no story. I try to chock my games full of story and flavor. However, I try to keep that story flexible, and allow it to evolve based on the actions of the players.
What I meant by Storyteller/God DM is that you shouldn't expect to assume total and complete control over the game (and I thought I conveyed that rather well). The players have the ability to take action and do what they want, not necessarily what YOU want them to do. As a DM, you should have a goal-point in mind (battle atop a volcano, confrontation in the throne room, etc.) but I think the route by which the players get there should be kept rather viscous. It's okay to guide them, but not to force their hand. As I stated, the DM is still, essentially, a player. He's a player with a LOT more characters, and the ability to craft the world, but the one thing that the DM does not control are the other players and their characters.
A DM should be allowed to craft a story. However, he should be willing to let the players help.
Re: Open Mind: I have no response here. I agree with your perspective that everyone should be included, and one player shouldn't necessarily feel like his character is the MAIN character.
Re: God DM tactics/punishment: I think this is where I failed most in explaining myself, and part of that was me referencing the same encounter (raiding a bandit camp) over and over, when the intended idea was to lightly punish players who are being disruptive in any way. I also think I engaged in a bit of hyperbole (giving everyone potions of fire resistance is a bit overkill, I agree). The intended idea I was trying to get across was that action should be taken if this becomes consistent, flow-interrupting behavior.
However, I will admit that even then, so long as everyone's having fun, players shouldn't be punished. However, if even one person is really not enjoying themselves, I think action should be taken. And again, the DM is another player. You, as a DM, have just as much right to have fun as the other players. Granted, in this situation, you should probably just talk to your players (which I cover in part 2 or 3, can't remember).
Sometimes, however, it's just more fun to be a sadistic butt-hole.
Thank you to everyone for watching, and thanks for the feedback. I'll try to clarify my statements a bit more in future videos.
...Catch Phrase,
-Chris
P.S. - I'm working on ep 2 now, so it should be up in a day or so.
watched it, liked it and subbed. good lighting and sound (very important imo). i agree with a lot of points you bring up, especially the god dm. looking forward to part 2.
Thanks so much for the like and the sub.
I'm lucky with the lighting and sound. Basically using an overhead light and an old lamp (both with fluorescent bulbs, though, which helps). And my camera's a $300 handy-cam that just happens to have a decent mic.
Glad to hear you enjoy watching, as I enjoy making.
...Catch Phrase,
-Chris
I think aranna may have overstepped the assumption that 'the GM as god' is a bad idea by supplanting the message with the word 'storyteller'. The gm is always going to be a storyteller and it's never bad to be a storyteller. Being a gm who doesnt have enough flexibility/imagination/spontanaety to allow for players to make their own decisions about their goals or how to reach the goals you've laid out for them is what makes the kind of 'bad god mode gm' that Mr Delvo is against.
Aaaand ninja'd by the OP ^_^
Also in the video you used the phrase 'punish them' in reference to responding to players who get too entrenched in their habits like 'overplanning raids'...
Although I understand your intent, using the phrase 'punish them' is using the exact language that would imply you're a cruel god gm... I would instead use the idea that 'the players have entrenched themselves in the trope of careful encounter preparation, and as a quick thinking improvisational gm it's your job to occasionally subvert that trope by springing wild crazy unplanned for events on them when they least expect it' which is exactly the same thing at the end of the day but with completely different 'motivations' on the part of the gm. One is to 'punish them for overusing a tactic that works' and the other is 'keeping things exciting and dynamic and unexpected and challenging'.
If there's one thing thats at the top of my list of 'do's' for a good gm it's to make sure of why you do what you do. Whats the goal? If the goal is punishing the players thats a bad mindset to have. If the goal is to keep things exciting and challenging then its a great mindset to have.
I will say I laughed when one of your examples for 'is there anything valuable in the room' was 'mirror of life trapping!'
Thankee, Vincent, for the feedback. I do agree, the term "punish" does have some negative qualities and connotations to it. The 'put 'em in their place' mentality isn't the best to have (though I have been guilty of it on occasion), and I probably shouldn't have included it. But, what's done is done, and while I do believe that these sorts of conflicts should be resolved out-of-game, talking with your players, I think that utilizing these tactics to get things back on the rails again isn't necessarily a bad thing.
And as I stated in my previous response, I think I over-used the 'raid' example. Having an interruption when a player is taking too long chatting up an NPC is just as valid a strategy, I think, as a patrol coming along when the players take 2 hours to plan a basic raid. It's more about keeping things moving and making sure everyone can have fun than looking down upon the players as some kind of nuisance, which, I would propose, is a God DM way looking at the situation.
Can't really clarify that in the video as it currently stands. However, I will make a note to take some time and shoot a video at some point going in-depth on some of the issues raised here.
Thanks again to everyone. Constructive criticism always helps, in one way or another.
...Catch Phrase,
-Chris
I think aranna may have overstepped the assumption that 'the GM as god' is a bad idea by supplanting the message with the word 'storyteller'. The gm is always going to be a storyteller and it's never bad to be a storyteller. Being a gm who doesnt have enough flexibility/imagination/spontanaety to allow for players to make their own decisions about their goals or how to reach the goals you've laid out for them is what makes the kind of 'bad god mode gm' that Mr Delvo is against.
Aaaand ninja'd by the OP ^_^
Chris actually uses the term Storyteller and god GM in the same don't do section. I believe the words he used were something like: storyteller GMs are unnecessary in today's games. That is what ruffled my feathers. I love story... can't have a game without it.
Flexibility/imagination/spontaneity are good things... they are awesome things if the GM is grounded in a complete understanding of the rules both RAW and RAI. Oh and beware of the lazy habit of relying TOO much on spontaneity. The GM with no game plan has an inconsistent and lackluster game. The best games are run by a GM with a complete plan for his adventure and the ability to let players hop off those pesky tracks when they want to. So organized planning AND improvisation are great side by side. "Opportunity favors the prepared mind". Having a detailed adventure plan actually helps you understand what can happen next when the players do something crazy. So adaptability is good.
Rules Lawyers... I disagree & agree. Knowing the rules builds player trust in your game. It lets players know you will be fair and impartial. The part I agree with is don't be afraid to improvise if there either is no rule or you don't know it yet. PS you will grow considerably in GMing ability if you keep a list of the stuff you had to improvise and research the actual rules for it after game day is past.
I agree. When someone says, "You don't need to stick to the rules", it translates too often to, "I'm too lazy to actually learn the rules, so I just handwave it and not care if I end up being inconsistent." You want to house rule things, sure. But then it becomes a rule.
"Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems." -Rene Descartes
Episode 2 is up, good people!
You can find it here: Episode 2
And the discussion thread here: Episode 2 Discussion
I'm gonna be honest and I zoned out after like the third minute and went to other videos, but I like the catchy series name 'Carpe DM' and that the lighting is decent and you don't do the annoying video blogger thing of being WAY too close to the camera. You're the right distance from the camera. my advice is to have a series of things you'd like to say written out ahead of time so you can get to the point and make the video shorter.
First, thank you for the feedback.
I'm sorry you zoned out. The intent of the series is to be fairly low-key and discussion-y, with little editing. I will say that part of the problem might be the topic. "What makes a good DM" is a fairly large topic to cover (all in all, I probably sat in front of the camera for about an hour) and doesn't really lend itself to brevity.
All excuses aside, the series likely hasn't found its "voice" yet, and I'll keep trying until I find a winning formula.
Thanks again for the feedback, and for the complements regarding framing.
...Catch Phrase,
-Chris