I've been playing in a game ran by a friend of a friend. He's an easy going guy, laughs a lot. Loves lots of stuff that I love (Finally someone I can talk about Mass Effect)
Three sessions in, and a sudden realization strikes me. This guy SUCKS as a GM. Really sucks.
He cannot stay serious even for a second. I mean a guy is panicking because the city is on fire and he giggles every other sentence.
His NPCs are bland and one-dimensional.
He loves to take player agency away from the players. Sometimes he actually narrates what we do without our input. (A huge no-no in my books)
His story is so-so but that can be forgiven, half of my stories were horrible too, only made better by the players.
He does not how to distribute the spotlight properly, last session a guy and I who had an illustrious task of infiltrating the castle through the sewers waited for 3 hours before we were allowed to play. Because the other group was busy discussing stuf with the castle guards.
So, after the session, I take the guy aside, and in the friendliest manner possible tell him that I think his game could use some improvements, and that he can rely on me to provide advice (I've been GM-ing almost exclusively for 14+ years, and everyone tells me I am a good GM)
He immediately grows cold and tells me that he doesn't need advice and that there is nothing that I can tell him that can improve his game.
So i say sure, have it your way.
As it is late, he packs up and leaves, and we remain for a nightcap. And everyone says what's on my mind. That he sucks.So, everyone asks me to run that Vampire game I was talking about, but I feel bad. I mean, he is horrible, true, but I was pretty bad when I started too.
Should I insist on giving him another chance? Or should the other players decide?
I've convinced them to sit in another session before deciding.How can I advise him without it sounding pretentious?
Let the players decide. I was TERRIBLE when I started, but at least I knew I was not good, and when they made fun of me, which was a way of giving advice I paid attention to what said. Being arrogant when you are good is a lot more acceptable than being unwilling to take advice when you are not so good.
He is not new? I assumed he was. In that case do what you have to do. :)
There are rails (and I'm pretty happy to follow them because, story), then there are RAILS.
Also, I never said that he's new. He's been GMing for years. Still sucks a lot.
I misinterpreted this was his first time GMing as well. In that case I doubt anything is going to change.
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Where are all the "GM IS GOD!" folks at? He's wrong in how he is running the game? I thought such a claim was just "Player Entitlement."
It's time to switch. Either games or dms.
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I'm glad I wasn't the only one thazt thought he was new. I don't know what you mean by single player.
I think Hama means "He plays as if it's just him and the DM."
Oh, and I assumed that he was a new DM too. I think the uncontrollable giggling really gives that impression.
Where are all the "GM IS GOD!" folks at? He's wrong in how he is running the game? I thought such a claim was just "Player Entitlement."
The sad thing is, pres man, the "PLAYER ENTITLEMENT" and "CREATIVITY QUASHIN' GMS" people we've heard so much about?
They aren't actually real. They're just people made up to make arguments more exciting.
Also, there's no Santa Claus. Just thought I'd rip that bandaid off.
How...convenient that you aren't able to find them.
Kidding. I was using hyperbole up there, since I didn't really want a serious talk. Pres man was joking, so I was, too. That being said, a more accurate statement would be "They don't really exist on this forum".
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If the players want to leave, see if one is willing to gm before deciding what to do. I would also consider giving him a warning that if his style of GMing does not improve, he runs the chance of losing players. If he accepts, offer services to give helpful advice at times if he willingly asks.
I am relatively new to GMing but my focus has always been to see that players have fun. I do ask questions at times to those more experienced on stuff I have never run across or am unfamiliar with. I do make mistakes as a gm and welcome good faith correction. I will most likely never be a 5 star gm or even come close but if players have fun and my skill set as a gm improves, I will be happy.
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Yeah.
Today's session was the breaking point for me.
Aside from thwarting our every effort to accomplish something meaningful, and not even giving our very disparate group of characters something even resembling a common goal, he did for me three unfotgivable GM mistakes.
- He told us we were boring him.
- He told us that we were annoying.
- He pulled the I'm the GM, what I say goes thing because he obviously cannot explain why a fully VTOL utility droid can only hover a foot above ground.
So yeah, I'm done. I sat out the rest of the session because rage quitting is lame and immature, an will be annoucing my retirement from the game on our facebook discussion.
Vibes, dude, that sucks.
For the record, I don't think it's a rage quit unless you scream at someone or flip a table on your way out. Getting on with what's left of your day is perfectly mature, IMO.
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Ordinarily, I would say it's rude to just leave with the obvious attitude of "this isn't fun, you're a s***y DM so I'm out". Unless the DM or someone made a hostile environment that made you feel really uncomfortable to be in, sticking it out is the right thing to do. That being said, him insulting you and telling you that you're boring and annoying when he's already a PitA could have been the final straw to really justify people just walking out.
I don't know the context of how he said it and in Serbian, things could be lost in translation to get the gist of the situation.
He pretty much said that we were annoying him (because we were going off the rails which pretty much were only in his head) and that we were boring as well.
I nearly lost it then and there and punched him, mostly out of sheer frustration.
I'll be starting a new game, and inviting all the players who play in his, sans his brother and him, to it.
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Lets get a few facts in...What age group are we talking here? What sort of actual GM/Player experience are we talking? Time frame do we play every night.week.month? Yes it all comes into play.
I can't really slap you on the back of the head and shout harden the Heck up your acting like a bunch of school kids if in fact your 12.
I would advise, GM Rotation as a standard action anyway, its gets fresh blood in/out of the hot seat. I would make the hard decision and just say your a crap DM cause your allways being a dick and not playing well.
Also how many people are playing? Had he been drinking?
I currently run 2 Groups (AD&D1E & PF) with a combo of New players & Vets, aged round the 30-45 oldies that said we have had players do one off as a test who have been in the 25-35. I would run a session every F/N Most of the players are friends family and or from contacts in the game store.
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I would advise, GM Rotation as a standard action anyway, its gets fresh blood in/out of the hot seat.
No way, GM rotation should be at least a Full-Round Action!
How can I advise him without it sounding pretentious?You shut up and let him learn the hard way.
Yep, that's the best way to avoid all the ensueing drama. Seconded.
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Lets get a few facts in...What age group are we talking here? What sort of actual GM/Player experience are we talking? Time frame do we play every night.week.month? Yes it all comes into play.
I can't really slap you on the back of the head and shout harden the Heck up your acting like a bunch of school kids if in fact your 12.I would advise, GM Rotation as a standard action anyway, its gets fresh blood in/out of the hot seat. I would make the hard decision and just say your a crap DM cause your allways being a dick and not playing well.
Also how many people are playing? Had he been drinking?
I currently run 2 Groups (AD&D1E & PF) with a combo of New players & Vets, aged round the 30-45 oldies that said we have had players do one off as a test who have been in the 25-35. I would run a session every F/N Most of the players are friends family and or from contacts in the game store.
Age group? Anywhere from 22 to 30. I'm 27.
I have almost 15 years of GMing experience.Every weekend.
GM rotation here is a no no. Nobody wants to play several fragmented games.
So, I told everyone that I will be bowing out of the game. I wished them fun times.
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lets get a few facts in...What age group are we talking here? What sort of actual GM/Player experience are we talking? Time frame do we play every night.week.month? Yes it all comes into play.
I can't really slap you on the back of the head and shout harden the Heck up your acting like a bunch of school kids if in fact your 12.I would advise, GM Rotation as a standard action anyway, its gets fresh blood in/out of the hot seat. I would make the hard decision and just say your a crap DM cause your allways being a dick and not playing well.
Also how many people are playing? Had he been drinking?
I currently run 2 Groups (AD&D1E & PF) with a combo of New players & Vets, aged round the 30-45 oldies that said we have had players do one off as a test who have been in the 25-35. I would run a session every F/N Most of the players are friends family and or from contacts in the game store.
This, quite frankly.
Hama, the main vibe I'm getting from you is a superiority complex ("I'm such a great DM, I know what great DMing is, this guy doesn't do it so he's crap, blah blah"). It might be an issue with English not being your first language and the idiom yo are expressing yourself in but my response is largely "Really?" I'm not saying this guy is a great DM or that you are not, but we really only have your say-so for this. You might be a really terrible guy to DM for, given you seem to have very defined ideas about what is good and what is not, and I doubt your body language has been at all positive, so he is probably feeling defensive and pissed off with your attitude. Not unreasonably.
People get together to play RPGs for all sorts of reasons. Most people play to chill and have a laugh with friends, not to have a deep and profound roleplaying experience. You seem to take this way more seriously than seems warranted ("I nearly punched the guy" yadda yadda). In the end, it's only a game. You have to balance out your friendship with this person and the rest of the group against you issues with his DMing style.
I should also point something else out. As someone who DMs most of the time for his group, I sometimes find it hard to let go and find myself disagreeing with the DM in what he chooses to do because "I know best", even if I am actually a player. It's something to fight against, especially if you are habitually the DM. You seem to be having trouble letting go of th DM's chair even though you say you want to play as a PC. You might want to play as a PC but possibly only in a game that you DM.
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How do I know I'm a good GM? People keep telling me that I am. People keep asking me to run games for them.
I put their fun in front of my own fun.
I am the "If my players have fun, I have fun" type of guy. I enjoy seeing them enjoy themselves.
Maybe I was unclear. He didn't tell just me that I was boring and annoying him. He told that to ALL OF US.
I don't mind chill and laugh games. Especially when people are up front about it. But when the game is a frustrating tedium of NOTHING EVER GOING IN OUR FAVOR, you don't really have fun.
Also I can compartmentalize. When I'm playing, I'm playing. Also since we are not using any kind of familiar ruleset, I just wanna have fun. And I'm not having any fun.
Oh yeah, I may be arrogant, but I think I deserve to be.