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I've been running games for 30 years now . It is literally one of my favorite things to do . I know my players appreciate and look forward to my games .
But every now and then being a GM seems like a thankless and arduous job .
Example ;
Me - I've been thinking about doing a city-based political intrigue style campaign , would you guys be interested in that ?
Players - Sounds great !
After 2 adventures ;
Players - This is good and all , but we want pirates .
Me - Uh , I'm not sure how that would fit in but maybe there's a coastal city that . . .
Players - Whatever man , just make it happen .
After the next adventure ;
Players - What was that that ?! We wanted the pirates to be our friends , they were total jerks !
Me - Why would pirates be on your side ? You're basically the police .
Players - That's your problem buddy .
After the next adventure ;
Me - What was that ? Those pirates were going to be your allies and you massacred them .
Players - Yeah , they had good stuff . You can't have NPCs with cool gear try and befriend us , you know what's going to happen - that was your fault . We want the pirates to BE cool not have cool stuff that we are forced to kill them for .
After the next adventure ;
Players - Why are there so many pirates in this campaign ? What is this some kind of dang pirate campaign ? I thought we were doing political intrigue . You should have told us this was a pirate campaign .
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Sounds like a Monty Python routine.
I feel your pain. Long ago had some players whine about why their superiors and deities were jerks. "Well, you wanted to play an evil campaign and worship demons..."
Player: "I saw this thing and it's awesome and I want to get one way down the road!"
At an appropriate time I eventually introduced it.
Player: "What the hell?!? Why do the bad guys have one?!?"
Eventually the player realized that it was so they could get one but then it was (essentially) never used.
That sounds rough Jim. Seems like your players aren't respecting you or the work you do and don't see the obligations that players have to keep the game healthy, particularly when they claim no fault of their own for their actions in-game.
But then, I can't account for dramatic hyperbole so perhaps it's not so bad.
It's good to listen to your players, but it's not helpful to follow every of their whims. Sometimes players don't even know what they want (they just think they do) or what's good for them, and sometimes they enjoy giving someone the runaround.
Given how they act in game, I think they are better off with a light-hearted campaign. Keep the intrigue part to a minimum, let their PCs be pirates and jerks (their PCs, not them). And stick with it - players are totally capable of adapting, and a GM shouldn't be more stressed out than necessary.
If the campaign breaks apart - well, so be it. Gives you the chance to start over some day, with a probably different player composition - and more fun for everyone.
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A corollary; sometimes we GMs get over-enthusiastic regarding our precious creations.
Players may not always say what they want, and may not always know what they want, but one thing is certain: they want to have fun. Our clever plotting and world-building may or may not be fun to them. Just because we get player agreement to city-based political intrigue campaigns doesn't mean that's what the players will find fun.
This is why there's both Coke and Pepsi, McDonald's and Burger King, and why there's sportsball and interesting hobbies. Different strokes for different folks.
The scriptwriter for even the crappiest movie thought he'd wrought a masterpiece.
GMs should view our creations as less sacred, and just focus on running a session that makes players smile, laugh, and generally enjoy themselves.
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A corollary; sometimes we GMs get over-enthusiastic regarding our precious creations.
The scriptwriter for even the crappiest movie thought he'd wrought a masterpiece.
GMs should view our creations as less sacred, and just focus on running a session that makes players smile, laugh, and generally enjoy themselves.
I agree with Anguish. I've been GMing games since the mid 80s and it's a well known fact in our group (who've been with me nearly that whole time) will at least 1 time in 5 go somewhere completely off the rails from what I had plotted out for the game. I've learned that no matter how well put together we might make our games the players end up, and should be, largely responsible for their own fun. We've all learned to adapt to each other's styles over the years and I guess I'm doing something right as they keep coming back.