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Ever benched a GM?
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<blockquote data-quote="BlackMoria" data-source="post: 1784284" data-attributes="member: 424"><p>A long time ago, we had a group playing 2e AD&D. One of the players commented that he wanted to DM, so our group let him.</p><p></p><p>The first outing by the new DM was....well, less than stellar. Okay.... it sucked big time to be absolutely honest. No storyline, big time railroad, no continuity, poor grasp of the rules, NPCs who would be more interesting as paper doll cutouts. And he talked in a monotone. Everyone else was in pain.</p><p></p><p>After the session, I spent several hours debriefing him on how to improve. What worked, what didn't, that sort of thing. I suggested that he go with a module and provided one from my extensive library. Told him to study it and get a feel for it and he could try the DM thing again.</p><p></p><p>There was some improvement in the second outing. Again, most of the players seemed to be in pain. Strange thing was, I gave him a module to play but I only recognized a few elements. As we transitioned from the first level to the second level, a person magically appeared and offered each of us a draw from a Deck of Many Things. So he provided a deck and we each drew several cards and everyone lucked in as everyone got black mark cards.</p><p></p><p>After the session, I talked with him again. The players were clearly not happy with the DM but I reminded them that he was new at it and to have some patience and understanding. I found out that he heavily modifed the adventure (not a sin... all DMs do it). Trouble was, he modifed it so that it didn't make any sense at all. He abandoned the storyline and input his own. Trouble was, the story was in his head and was not coming out in any coherent fashion that anyone could make sense out of. And, he stacked his 'deck of many things' with nothing but black cards. I asked him why and he said that he didn't like the fact that you could screw yourself with a bad draw. Sigh....he just doesn't get it.</p><p></p><p>Session three: Sigh....more of the same, despite my talking at length after the second session at what was wrong and how to improve. Again, as we moved from level 2 to level 3, that same guy bopped in again and offered us all a draw from the deck of many things again. And eveyone drew black cards....no surprise there. Shortly after, the DM went to the washroom. One of the players announced that he was going to kill off his character or commit suicide or something and encouraged everyone else to do likewise. They were one unhappy lot.</p><p></p><p>With heavy heart, I knew what needed to be done. I was the oldest player and the one with the most experience. It was for me to do the dirty deed.</p><p></p><p>So when the DM returned, I handed him his books and dice and told him that he was banished to the players side of the table. He said "So, I am fired, right?". "yeah...something like that", I replied. "Okay" he returned. He actually seemed relieved. Afterward, he told me that he knew the other players were not having any fun but he couldn't turn it around, despite what he tried. And the deck of many things thingy was to try to compensate for the fact the group was not having fun....but even that backfired on him.</p><p></p><p>He continued as a player and everyone was happy with that arrangement, including him.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BlackMoria, post: 1784284, member: 424"] A long time ago, we had a group playing 2e AD&D. One of the players commented that he wanted to DM, so our group let him. The first outing by the new DM was....well, less than stellar. Okay.... it sucked big time to be absolutely honest. No storyline, big time railroad, no continuity, poor grasp of the rules, NPCs who would be more interesting as paper doll cutouts. And he talked in a monotone. Everyone else was in pain. After the session, I spent several hours debriefing him on how to improve. What worked, what didn't, that sort of thing. I suggested that he go with a module and provided one from my extensive library. Told him to study it and get a feel for it and he could try the DM thing again. There was some improvement in the second outing. Again, most of the players seemed to be in pain. Strange thing was, I gave him a module to play but I only recognized a few elements. As we transitioned from the first level to the second level, a person magically appeared and offered each of us a draw from a Deck of Many Things. So he provided a deck and we each drew several cards and everyone lucked in as everyone got black mark cards. After the session, I talked with him again. The players were clearly not happy with the DM but I reminded them that he was new at it and to have some patience and understanding. I found out that he heavily modifed the adventure (not a sin... all DMs do it). Trouble was, he modifed it so that it didn't make any sense at all. He abandoned the storyline and input his own. Trouble was, the story was in his head and was not coming out in any coherent fashion that anyone could make sense out of. And, he stacked his 'deck of many things' with nothing but black cards. I asked him why and he said that he didn't like the fact that you could screw yourself with a bad draw. Sigh....he just doesn't get it. Session three: Sigh....more of the same, despite my talking at length after the second session at what was wrong and how to improve. Again, as we moved from level 2 to level 3, that same guy bopped in again and offered us all a draw from the deck of many things again. And eveyone drew black cards....no surprise there. Shortly after, the DM went to the washroom. One of the players announced that he was going to kill off his character or commit suicide or something and encouraged everyone else to do likewise. They were one unhappy lot. With heavy heart, I knew what needed to be done. I was the oldest player and the one with the most experience. It was for me to do the dirty deed. So when the DM returned, I handed him his books and dice and told him that he was banished to the players side of the table. He said "So, I am fired, right?". "yeah...something like that", I replied. "Okay" he returned. He actually seemed relieved. Afterward, he told me that he knew the other players were not having any fun but he couldn't turn it around, despite what he tried. And the deck of many things thingy was to try to compensate for the fact the group was not having fun....but even that backfired on him. He continued as a player and everyone was happy with that arrangement, including him. [/QUOTE]
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