Flaws in your game

[Dragonbait]

- My major GM stumbling block: I have to like your characters, too. If people create characters I can't stand, the game is not really much fun for me, and I have a list as long as your arm as to things I can't stand to see. I can put up with a lot of it, but it really does detract from the enjoyment I'd otherwise get from running.

One I forgot. I'm glad I'm not the only one that is like this.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

I dont adjust my games to the players. I usually have a story and things stated up, with plot hooks the whole shabang and if my players make characters that i dont think will last very long in my game or be ineffective i wont change the encounters for them. I also dont feel like i owe them an explaination when something odd happens good or bad to them (be it story or a rule decision.), so long as i know the real reason behind it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have a tough time gauging what an appropriate threat for my player characters will be. The CR system helps, but it makes some assumptions about group makeup that's not necessarily the case for me. So a few times we've had the group just disintegrate threats that I thought would be a real challenge for the characters, and am trying to carefully scale things up. Other DMs can glance at the rulebooks and pull out better fits a lot more naturally than I can.

 

[Samnell]

Though I know my NPCs and monsters much more poorly than the players know their characters, I still manage to have explosive tactical acumen that makes ordinary encounters much, much harder than they otherwise would be. My players don't have that correspondent mindset and I'm not at all good at turning it down to match them better. I've even given advice to players on tactical errors they could do more to avoid. Related to the above, my NPCs often play a bit too smart or a bit too coordinated with one another.

I've built several structural biases in the PCs' favor into my house rules (PCs get more generous hp. NPCs and monsters are usually assumed dead at 0 hp. If I catch a rules mistake in the PC's favor, I usually let it stand.) but I still end up running very lethal games.

The upshot of all of this is that my players tend to get a bit paranoid and don't blow off encounters as "easy monsters". They always tell me that they're waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

[Terwox]

My main flaw is that I have a really hard time staying in-character without cracking jokes. Intense roleplaying makes me a little nervous and I'll draw myself out of it time and time again. This especially hurts the game when I'm DM'ing.

 

[Gold Roger]

As DM:
-I'm way sloppy. I don't put enough into preparation. I skip and forget descriptive points. I forget names of PC's and (important) NPC's, even those just introduced. I loose my notes. etc.

-I'm weak at structuring. This is half solved by making more site based adventures, running published adventures once in a while and stealing structure from published adventures, storyhours and an occasional manga.

-I still don't have a complete hang of pacing and occasionally mess it up.


Recently resolved DMing flaws:

I used to take stuff way to serious

I used to suffer from campaign ADD

I used to focus to much on my own preferences


Flaws as player:

If the game goes more to my prefernces I can turn into a real spotlight hog.

I can be really critical with the DM. Far more than I want or intent to.

 

[pogre]

I know what it takes for me to run an awesome session. Extensively planned framework with fully fleshed-out NPCs, props, solid maps, lots of options for the PCs. Yet, all of that takes time to prepare and as a campaign progresses - I get lazy.

 

[BaldHero]

Im too leasy on my group when it comes to off topic conversation. Some of us get off on a tangent, others wait patiently to get back to game. I try to remember that we get together to game, but im often fascinated by some topic or other that someone brings up.

Our group suffers from campaign ADD sort of. We run until one of us gets close to burning out, or runs out of material, then switch. But some of us have taken to writing in small bursts and then we have to play something else while they catch up. It irritates the hell out of me, and i cant seem to get the group to focus on a single game. I consider that a flaw.

 

[RFisher]

I'm just wondering what everybody's weak spots are when it comes to roleplaying.

Most of mine are more related to when I'm behind the screen.

• I have a terrible rules-lawyer habit that I must constantly suppress.
• I'm horrible at imaginative descriptions, either as a player or DM. I can't imagine why they keep letting me run Toon except for the fact that I'm the only one who owns the book.
• I'm not detailed-oriented. Whenever I DM, I invariably make at least one bad detail-oriented mistake.
• I'm not very organized, which isn't usually a big deal when I'm a player, but makes me a less effective DM.
• As DM, I don't think I do a very good job of making sure everyone gets their spotlight time.
• I'm constantly wasting time working on homebrew system but never really finishing one. I probably have 1000 drafts of slight variations on three or four themes.

 

[The Human Target]

One I forgot. I'm glad I'm not the only one that is like this.

I'm the same way too.

I always have a hand in PC creation for the games I run.

Both to "help" the players and understand what they can and can't do.

And to make em interesting enough for me to wanna revolve a story around.