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That's what he said.
Now I live in Britain, I've gamed a good deal over the years but no one has ever said anything that brazen.
I was stood in a Games Workshop and we were just chatting away about various games and anecdotes and then he said it. About himself.
Now no one has ever said that to me. British Reserve maybe but even at the Cons where DM's were rated by the RPGA once upon a time, no one ever thought that highly of themself.
Is that unusual? are there others out there who think the same?
Cheers
P.S. one of the best British DMs I have ever had the pleasure of playing with is Rob Silk (the Most Excellent DM mentioned on the Genconuk Paizoblog). A real gent.
I'm an awesome DM.
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I think modesty is a big part of it. I've never seen any awesome DMs (yes, they exist) saying so about themselves. One of the things that sets them apart is that they never stop to listen to their player's(or other people's)suggestions. They won't agree everytime, but they will listen and think about it.
So to know when to say yes and when to say no is another thing which makes an awesome DM.
Most people who SAY they're "awesome" - about anything - are usually, most assuredly, NOT. They're just fishing for positive affirmation in order to bolster their own low self-esteem.
Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be totally wrong...
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Most people who SAY they're "awesome" - about anything - are usually, most assuredly, NOT. They're just fishing for positive affirmation in order to bolster their own low self-esteem.
Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be totally wrong...
Oh! I've been trying to remember the term for this all week. There is a psychology term for the tendency of people who are not so great at things to overevaluate their own performance.
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My players have actually said this to me, one of the few times they even showed awknowledgement that i worked hard. although it was also when i was going through a period of depression, so it may just have been trying to bring up my spirits.
though, when i look around the table and see that everyone is having a good time, noone is left out or complaining, and they take an interest in the smaller details i put in, then I like to think that I am an awesome DM. I never say it out loud, but I like to think it and smile to myself.
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I'd like to think I'm a good DM based on the positive feedback I've gotten from dozens and dozens of players over the years. (And some are close friends who don't hesitate to let my feelings get in the way of the truth!)
Anyways, with that being said, I don't think I'd throw my credentials around like that.
I'm a hard heavy-handed DM... characteristic never seen as awesome...
Cold hard truth
My awesomeness is awesomely awesome to the awesomest degree.
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Honestly, I've had some really good DM's. And I've had some that I don't like their style. They may still be good, but not to me.
I'll admit I'm more of a gamist DM, and not everyone likes that. I have been trying to find out how to be a better RP inducing DM, but in all honesty, I have to quote a great philospher: I ams what I ams.
I'm awesome. Could I be awesomer? Most assuredly.
Sorry, TheOcho I aspire to be better but I ain't that good. There are several guys at the UK Conventions alone who I reckon are better, don't think they are awesome though.
Maybe my question really is "What makes an awesome DM (like ghettowedge)?"
D&D is a game, and the point of almost any game is to have fun. If all the players at the table are having fun, you're having an awesome game. Being the DM is akin to being the host of a party. If the party was awesome, odds are it had an awesome host.
I will never claim to be the best DM, but every time I run a game I do my best to ensure the players are having fun. I run a game that I would want to be a player in, and so far it's working. My players come back every session and everybody appears to enjoy themselves, and they usually thank me for running the game when we pack it up. We're all grown-ups and there are a couple of DM's in our circles, so it's not even like they're stuck with me.
I have every indicator that my games are awesome and that I'm an awesome DM. I know I have weaknesses as a DM, but as long as I keep trying to be better, I don't think they're a big deal as long as everybody is having fun.
I think to be truly awesome at anything, it is imperative to not believe you are awesome, since you will maintain a hunger to improve.
The moment you start believing your own infallibility, is the moment you stop making any effort, and your performance plummets to the depths of suck.
I am an unbelievably nice player, so I will not comment on what Snorter is saying here in reference to him as a DM. But that last session was sooooo good I recounted it, round-by-round, to the wife when I got home! I loved that evening - although I think I cheated, accidentally...
Have a great week!
Matt
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But that last session was sooooo good I recounted it, round-by-round, to the wife when I got home!
Bet she loved that!
LOLI enjoyed that session, too, so much so, that I had to recount it to my fellow AOW DMs. In particular, I have to commend the civility and maturity of the players, for ignoring any ooc knowledge, and not freaking out when they started dropping like flies.
I think modesty is a big part of it...
Well generally speaking I find the opposite is true of those who are accounted (by history) as "the Greatest" at what the did, i.e. Napoleon, Da Vinci, Mozart, Alexander, Caesar, etc ad inf. So by that measure, modesty would be a hindrance no, or worse a sign of lack of greatness?
Argument No.2: Is it modesty to analyze a situation correctly? If after comparing campaigns, play-styles, player-fun, low turnover, high turnout, one might correctly judge oneself to be 'awesome'? Granted it is opinion and judgment but so are the Olympics.
Finallyl being awesome doesnt mean being perfect, or even being the best. Being awesome is simply attributing the qua,lities 'awesomenss' possess onto one's own-self, such as inspiring awe, admiration or wonder. Check. Remarkable, outstanding. Check. Yep still awesome. Hope the streak keeps up.
(There was this one time two weeks ago when I almost wasnt awesome. Everyone was late, and had to advance character levels to third. And the silly girls, they hardly know what they're doing... a bunch of haggling with a small wood-elf enclave for rights to fresh black-dragon scale... a slightly awkward introduction to a new villian - I was torn on how I wanted the first impression to go so I left it to fate to decide, not so well - it devolved into a running battle up tower-stirs, very complicated with newly minted 3rd level char's...)
What a great question posed in this topic!
I guess in any field of activity, one should have a grasp of the qualities to aspire to. Hopefully then the practitioner should then have some idea of how they measure up against the best standards.
But of course there would be some disagreement. If I said; what makes a good teacher? or what makes a good soldier? many different idealogies would emerge for both roles.
And possibly the qualities of an 'awesome DM' might be open to even more diverse interpretation than almost anything!
I guess it's all down to the audience.
If the group in question are loving the DM's work, then he might be awesome. But in another group he might suck.
I'm guessing by the tone of the first message that your impression of the self-proclaimed 'awesome GM' is that, for you, he'd suck : ) haha
As possibly one of the more ancient DM's on this forum, I can tell you I've had good days and bad days. But there's never an end to learning how to bring more to the art of DMing!
*Footnote - I've played under some GM's who had super-human powers of articulation and scene-setting, yet I didn't enjoy their games at all. Others who didn't have an orginal idea in their heads yet could make everyone feel hyper-enthused about whatever was happening. It really is horses for courses.
If the group in question are loving the DM's work, then he might be awesome. But in another group he might suck.
Completely agree with this. I played for years with a group that never liked roleplaying. As soon as I joined groups that did even a little bit of roleplaying my outlook on the game changed completely.
Awesome is a degraded word in the English language these days I'm afraid. Thanks to those bloody Americans I say! ;-)
People use it to describe a nice cup of tea, or an okay movie, or a pretty good sunday roast.
Having said that, sounds like the guy in question was something of a big head who felt he had a lot to prove.
PS - I'm a GM of some twenty years experience, and I like to flatter myself I can run a game fairly well, and come up with some clever plots, memorable characters and settings, and a good story, but I'd never be so complacent or arrogant as to think or say I was an 'awesome GM', I still flounder sometimes when players surprise me or spin things in directions I didn't have the first idea they would. I still forget stuff (especially rules related) on occasion, and I am lazy when it comes to adventure writing and often end up typing like a frenzied stenographer half an hour before the players are due to turn up, finishing off the the adventure I could have written at a more civilised pace over the course of the week. :-)
Was it Sebastian?
I have been praised for particular abilities, putting characters in moral dilemmas, but never overall rated as awesome. I certainly would never claim to be awesome.
The poodle aspires.
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I'm with you Rockheimr.
To me an awesome DM would stand out from the rest.
The ones who do stand out for me are generally good listeners and able to make you forget you are playing a game. Make you really feel the emotions of your character.
As for my original comment that I felt the guy had bragged out his skills, to be fair I have never been at the same table, but its just not British to use a word like Awesome, is it?
I doubt it was Sebastian because when I mentioned Pathfinder he had no idea what I was talking about. He is a Call of Cthulthu DM.
Cheers
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I'm with you Rockheimr.
To me an awesome DM would stand out from the rest.
The ones who do stand out for me are generally good listeners and able to make you forget you are playing a game. Make you really feel the emotions of your character.
As for my original comment that I felt the guy had bragged out his skills, to be fair I have never been at the same table, but its just not British to use a word like Awesome, is it?
Cheers
I dunno. my English friend uses the word Awesome all the time...he also says "epic" a lot. and fantastic, though that's a new development after watching all four seasons of the new Doctor Who in the span of 3 weeks.
I'm with the bard;
'.. it will come to pass, that every braggart shall be found an ass.'
I'm with the bard;
'.. it will come to pass, that every braggart shall be found an ass.'
You make a good point, sir!
If you don't believe you are, you will never be.
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Oh! I've been trying to remember the term for this all week. There is a psychology term for the tendency of people who are not so great at things to overevaluate their own performance.Most people who SAY they're "awesome" - about anything - are usually, most assuredly, NOT. They're just fishing for positive affirmation in order to bolster their own low self-esteem.
Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be totally wrong...
If you don't believe you are, you will never be.
There's a big difference believing you are, and telling people you are. The one may be a private observation, the other is just plain rude and boastful at best, in my experience all too often at worst it's also just plain incorrect.
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But the key seems to be what the players think. It doesn't matter so much what a DM says as what his players say.
Ghettowedge's original argument was a good one and made me realise what's important. His players probably do think he is awesome as he says. And if GW also tries to better himself then that stops the arrogance and rudeness ever starting.
I have run games at RPGA conventions where the DM's were scored. I consistently scored well in some areas and badly in running combats, mainly because I tend to move PC's along quickly and try to put the players under pressure.
Then when the scoring system was simplified to the players marking as a fun rating I did much better. And when I ran games for friends at the Con then I did get better marks again.
Since the Living games took over our Cons, the scoring system has stopped. Which is a good thing in my opinion.
But what it all showed was that the players opinions rule whether you are an awesome DM.
I wasn't sure why I started this thread but I now know it is because I value the opinions of the Community.
Cheers
