In my experience, it has always been this way. As for the reason people would rather play than DM? It could be a number of things. They are too lazy, their attention spans are so short that they barely have the span for being a player who feels like he only has to worry about his turn, they lack the confidence, social anxiety, feel their time is more valuable spent on something else than doing any sort of prep work, don't feel like it, don't want to be that much of a "leader", etc.
The main reason I don't want to GM (when I don't want to GM) is that I want to explore and discover things, unravel mysteries and be surprised by plot twists. As a GM you already know every surprise the world holds.
It's simply a desire to experience rather than create every now and then.
In my experience, it has always been this way. As for the reason people would rather play than DM? It could be a number of things. They are too lazy, their attention spans are so short that they barely have the span for being a player who feels like he only has to worry about his turn, they lack the confidence, social anxiety, feel their time is more valuable spent on something else than doing any sort of prep work, don't feel like it, don't want to be that much of a "leader", etc.The main reason I don't want to GM (when I don't want to GM) is that I want to explore and discover things, unravel mysteries and be surprised by plot twists. As a GM you already know every surprise the world holds.
It's simply a desire to experience rather than create every now and then.
There are game systems out there where the GM can be just as surprised as the players about what's behind the door.
There are game systems out there where the GM can be just as surprised as the players about what's behind the door.In my experience, it has always been this way. As for the reason people would rather play than DM? It could be a number of things. They are too lazy, their attention spans are so short that they barely have the span for being a player who feels like he only has to worry about his turn, they lack the confidence, social anxiety, feel their time is more valuable spent on something else than doing any sort of prep work, don't feel like it, don't want to be that much of a "leader", etc.The main reason I don't want to GM (when I don't want to GM) is that I want to explore and discover things, unravel mysteries and be surprised by plot twists. As a GM you already know every surprise the world holds.
It's simply a desire to experience rather than create every now and then.
Oh, yeah.
I'm playing in a Dungeon World campaign, loosely using the Parsantium: City at the Crossroads campaign setting.
In this week's game, pretty much the entire adventure was made up on-the-fly by the GM and the players, based on a bunch of botched Perilous Journey rolls to get from the city to the adventure site. We encountered a secluded valley inhabited by an angry minotaur,
found the ruins of an abandoned underground Dwarven fortress, fought a phalanx of the insectoid creatures that drove out the dwarves, and then accidentally collapsed the entire cavern. None of the adventure was planned ahead, and it was a total blast!
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Gods, I love GMing PFS. Everyone I've GMed for has been so grateful and gracious. It's been a lovely, lovely experience!
In my home games, I had many more problems, complaints and conflicts so I quit.
Hmm
Wow see, my experience was largely the opposite until I moved. My home group was pleasant and easy to deal with (until an internal rift formed after 2 players broke up their relationship), but PFS back in Toronto was absolutely awful. After moving though I haven't had a home group, but the San Antonio PFS scene is pretty nice (and I imagine any home games I get into will be through some of the PFS regulars)
There are game systems out there where the GM can be just as surprised as the players about what's behind the door.In my experience, it has always been this way. As for the reason people would rather play than DM? It could be a number of things. They are too lazy, their attention spans are so short that they barely have the span for being a player who feels like he only has to worry about his turn, they lack the confidence, social anxiety, feel their time is more valuable spent on something else than doing any sort of prep work, don't feel like it, don't want to be that much of a "leader", etc.The main reason I don't want to GM (when I don't want to GM) is that I want to explore and discover things, unravel mysteries and be surprised by plot twists. As a GM you already know every surprise the world holds.
It's simply a desire to experience rather than create every now and then.
Oh, yeah.
I'm playing in a Dungeon World campaign, loosely using the Parsantium: City at the Crossroads campaign setting.
In this week's game, pretty much the entire adventure was made up on-the-fly by the GM and the players, based on a bunch of botched Perilous Journey rolls to get from the city to the adventure site. We encountered a secluded valley inhabited by an angry minotaur,
found the ruins of an abandoned underground Dwarven fortress, fought a phalanx of the insectoid creatures that drove out the dwarves, and then accidentally collapsed the entire cavern. None of the adventure was planned ahead, and it was a total blast!
Yup, Dungeon World is great for "seat of your pants" gaming. The mechanics push you to create stuff on the spot, but the mechanic involved determines the nature of the thing. It's perfect for that "Hey, we're hanging out, but we have nothing planned and want to roleplay" kind of night. You can even intentionally show up to a session with that.
It doesn't work well for a thought out campaign though. As much as I love Dungeon World, I wouldn't use it to play the PF campaign I'm currently running, it just wouldn't work. Our campaign is currently mapping out nicely to a 3-act play and we're entering the final act. The surprises and curve balls of Dungeon World would wreck havoc on our ability to wrap up story-lines we've been building for several years.
I do think that Dungeon World (and similar games) are good for getting a new GM's feet wet in short games that don't necessarily have to go anywhere and can just be a wild ride. Get used to running a session without the pressure of having to plan it out ahead of time.
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There are a few reasons in my experience for the abundance of Players to Game Masters.
1-The first being that they are inexperienced and don't want to host until they know the game better. This mostly applies for players just learning to Role Play but it IS a reason people do not Game Master.
2-They want "to play" and feel like they are not actually playing if they are Game Mastering.
3-Not enough time to do the prep work OR are not willing to do the prep work to host a game.
Now 1 is pretty common, especially if you are constantly trying to teach people who are completely new to table top games. Which is a reality I find myself in a lot. If you are lucky some of these players will take to it and will then show some interest in Game Mastering.
While few players will say it (or are even aware of it) a LOT of people are only interested in being the adventurer in a game. Sometimes these are players that are only playing because someone else is playing. Such as spouses or friends who are only playing because of another friend invited them.
Other times these are players that even though they COULD host a game, would rather make a character and play then make the adventure. From their perspective being the Game Master is not actually playing the game. They enjoy making a character and going on the adventure, but making the adventure does not appeal to them.
Sadly number 3 IS a reality of life with real life commitments conflicting with hobbies. Now SOME of them are just not willing to invest the time and energy, even IF they can/could to hosting a game.
When it comes down to it, there are a lot of people who enjoy being a player character but have absolutely no desire to be a Game Master.
There will always be more DMs than players because it takes a special mindset to be a DM. Not everyone can find the enjoyment in writing a story. Hell, not even all roleplayers enjoy being part of the story and only want to sit around to wait for combat to start (you know the type)
Being a DM requires time, effort, skill and the ability to enjoy watching people play out the story you wrote. That's not something everyone has
There will always be more DMs than players
Pretty careless language, when I've already noted exceptions.
Being a DM requires time, effort, skill and the ability to enjoy watching people play out the story you wrote. That's not something everyone has
Most people seem to think they have most of those things, anyway...
GMing is a time and money sink. Modern players often ___________ rather than just playing the game and having fun.
GMing is a time and money sink. Modern players often ___________ rather than just playing the game and having fun.
Money sink? Personally, I never spent a dollar more on GMing than I ever did as a player.
Hi all,
So I have noticed recently that there seems to be a real shortage of the number of people that are willing to GM. Looking at sites like Roll20, there seems to be somewhere between 5-10 times the number of people applying for the number of slots available.
Is this a new trend, or has it always been this way? Why aren't more people willing to give GMing a chance?
I'm curious to hear your opinions.
Thanks.
It's been a new trend since... the late 70's.
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Oh, the money I spend on printing and lamination...
TOZ has lamentations over his laminations.
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GMing is a time and money sink. Modern players often ___________ rather than just playing the game and having fun.Money sink? Personally, I never spent a dollar more on GMing than I ever did as a player.
I regularly spend money on systems I have never played, and probably never will. I'm sure my Pathfinder spend would be the same even if I never GMed again.
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Oh, the money I spend on printing and lamination...
Due to my desire never to draw a map again, I bought a projector that projects onto the table. Is it perfect? No, sometimes shadows from minis block the map. Was it expensive? Oh, yes, very. Was it worth it? Totally. I think of all the maps I have not had to draw or print and rejoice.
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I never ran a game for strangers, though I've run campaigns for my regular group. I quit as GM because my running style is very different than the preferred gaming style of the rest of the group. No drama or anything, I just know they don't have fun in my games and I don't have fun running for them, so now I play and let someone else handle GM duties. It's worked out for the best so far.