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I need a shoulder to cry on...My pity party's pretty pathetic.

Someone

Adventurer
sparxmith said:
I've gotta be the world's worst DM. I can't ever remember rules, I never plan anything out, and I give way too much treasure.

Yet, my players enjoy their games, the pacing is about right, the action flows, and there's just enough intrigue to keep the players guessing.

First, nobody can remember all the rules all the time; you sometimes forget that you can´t full attack after a charge, don´t remember the rules about falling objects and make one on the fly, or suddendly think that you don´t like the rules about petrified characters and decide that they still are conscious, trapped forever in stone.

On the other hand, if you always forget how to roll a spot check, that´s somewhat more problematic. But I don´t think that´s the case.

Second, I need a lot of planification and careful magic item management just to keep the pacing right, the action flowing and the players intrigued. If you can do it on the fly, you must be a great DM!
 

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sparxmith

First Post
ThoughtBubble said:
First, list off 5 things you do really well. Then pick one or two things that you'd like to do better to accent that. Off the top of my head, here's some advice.


How do you feel about setting DC's, using EL and CR, and the basic combat rules?


1. Creativity. I think both inside and outside the box as appropriate.

2. Improvisation. I'm seldom caught flat footed, and have no trouble with altering details to maintain verismilitude.

3. Verisimilitude. I always like settings to make sense, both on the macroscopic and microscopic levels. PC actions ALWAYS have an effect upon the world around them. NPC interactions must always make sense, and the NPC's have lives of their own.

4. Combat Balance. I've never had a TPK, and my PC's seldom die to anything other than bad luck or poor tactics and strategy on their part. I also recognize that the game is not a power struggle between me and the PC's. I can kill them all at will, so why bother. On the other hand, I manage to create a sense of danger because they know that I will not fudge dice rolls. Furthermore, I'm an sublime tactician and my players know it.

5. Sense of the Heroic. I like my games to be adventurous and Heroic in nature. I disallow evil characters, and expect my Players to bring a sense of Morality to their in-game judgements. Why waste time pretending to be evil when we live in a world that is already full of the negative and tragic?


I'd most like to improve my creativity and improvisation. I think a firmer grasp of the rules would make this better.

As far as DC's, I usually set them too low. I tend to make it too easy for my characters to succed on non-combat problems. EL's and CR's are not a problem. (see #4) Basic combat is no problem either. But for me, the Devil is in the details.

I look forward to your reply, Thought Bubble.

Currently, I'm working on introducing a twist to my plotline. The PC's are completing a series of quests to earn the trust of a Baelnorn (CR 30) who is guarding an artifact that the PC's wish to destroy. The Zentarim wants the same artifact, and have an ECL 21 Rogue attempting to steal it. The twist is that a Paladin and his troupe will attempt to stop the party, arguing that the Baelnorn is more than capable of defending the artifact. To remove it from its current dungeon is to risk having it stolen. (And no, I didn't get the idea form OotS. It's purely coincidental. =-)

Thanx again!
 

delericho

Legend
As others have said, if everyone at the table is having fun, you're doing a good job as DM. (And if you're not sure whether they're really having fun or whether they're just saying that, here's a little test: how prevalent is absenteeism in your games? Do the players make the effort to attend regularly, only missing the game if something important comes up - or due to something they really can't avoid, like work - or do they miss them game quite often, with a succession of lame excuses? If attendence is good, they're having fun.)

As regards the specific weaknesses you listed: lack of rules knowledge, lack of preparation and too much treasure...

Rules knowledge is gained through practice, not reading. Firstly, put down the DMG - there's virtually nothing in there you really need to know. Now, pick up the PHB, and generate some characters. Mix classes and levels, include multiclassing, and take it slow. Make sure you're doing things correctly. Then practice some skill rolls. And a few sample combats. Include the wierd cases - flanking, attacks of opportunity, disarm, sunder, trip, grappling. Have a few spells going off. The more you do this, the easier it will become, as the techniques become second nature. This is the same principle as revising for an exam - you don't want to just know the material, you want to be so comfortable with it that you can use it at will.

(In any event, don't worry about it too much - of all the weaknesses a DM can have, lack of rules knowledge is one of the most minor, and probably the easiest fixed.)

Preparation is something that you're going to have to force yourself to do, assuming of course that you are actually serious about doing it. I recommend starting small: spend some time between sessions dreaming about cool encounters to throw at your party. Then take to writing down the nature of these encounters. Then add the stats behind the encounters. And then start linking them together. Leave a few weeks between each step I've just described, until you're doing the previous steps as a matter of routine. Basically, it's about getting into the habit of preparing.

You can stop giving out too much treasure in one of two ways. One is a 'freebie' that doesn't require you to do anything special, while the other is an immediate quick fix you can use. The quick fix is to use the random treasure tables from the DMG for all encounters. Use random rolls, and don't deviate from the results you get. This will bring the treasures back into line. However, it probably isn't terribly satisfying - you'll want to place specific items, your players will want you to place specific items, and you won't be able to do this without damaging the value of the random system (and using a mostly random system with some fixed elements tends to give the worst of all possible world, IMXP. I recommend avoiding doing this at all costs.)

The good news is that the real solution to the too much treasure issue is to prepare the treasures in advance. Here, you can use the random tables while still assigning fixed items without running into problems, because you'll have time to ensure the substitutions are equal. So, once you start preparing your encounters in advance, you'll find the treasure issue automatically fixes itself.

Of course, you could take the view that you're doing a good job already, so don't need to worry about changing things. Indeed, it's entirely possible that your players like the fact that you're playing fast and loose with the rules, that the games have a free-flowing nature, and their characters are more powerful (due to the greater treasure). If that is the case, fixing any of these 'problems' will actually reduce player enjoyment. So, don't just dive in to fix these things - decide whether you want to fix them first.
 

Rel

Liquid Awesome
delericho said:
You can stop giving out too much treasure in one of two ways. One is a 'freebie' that doesn't require you to do anything special, while the other is an immediate quick fix you can use. The quick fix is to use the random treasure tables from the DMG for all encounters. Use random rolls, and don't deviate from the results you get. This will bring the treasures back into line. However, it probably isn't terribly satisfying - you'll want to place specific items, your players will want you to place specific items, and you won't be able to do this without damaging the value of the random system (and using a mostly random system with some fixed elements tends to give the worst of all possible world, IMXP. I recommend avoiding doing this at all costs.)

One quick note regarding this approach: I suggest that you write down the CR's for all of the planned encounters for a given section of the adventure and generate the treasures for all of them at once. Then take the total list of items and monetary treasure and redistribute among the creatures in a way that makes the most sense. This way you get both the random element and the placement element, it makes a little bit more sense and the amount of treasure stays the same.

I'll also note that your treasure "problem" might be leading to your DC problem too. If the PC's have better gear than they should at a given level then they're going to have an easier time overcoming your DC's if any of that gear enhances those same skills or provides easy alternatives (like if you were inserting a cliff that they had to climb but one of the PC's already had Wings of Flying).

But I'll agree with the majority that says you're probably doing a better than average job as a GM. And while there is always room for improvement, don't beat yourself up so much.
 

Aaron L

Hero
You sound exactly like me. I cant keep things organized to save my life, I end up giving out magic items that seem really cool at the time, I forget names and lose notes, and always end up reaching for a big storyline that I can never quite seem to achieve. I always think my games are complete failures. But my friends always tell me they have a great time playing my games. And they come back for more. I just agonize over it anyway.


I sympathize with ya.
 

Particle_Man

Explorer
One of my favorite Dm's has never even READ the rulebooks. But we players are all ruleslawyers so it balances out. He does the story, improvs like crazy, and we all have a great time.
 

Gruns

Explorer
It's all about fun...

I used to worry that my campaign didn't have enough story to it, the plots were weak, etc... It turns out, my players don't care. They'd rather have a night of "You spot a sign in a tavern that says a dangerous cave needs cleared out. Inquire within." then try to discover the kidnappers of McGuffin X or similar "roleplay-heavy" adventure. Romping through an old cave killing everything you see is just more fun to them. More of that "1st edition flavor"...
In the end, if everyone is having fun, keep on doing what you're doing! D&D is really all about the pizza and socializing and cracking stupid jokes as we escape our real lives for that one day a week...
Later!
Gruns
 

sparxmith

First Post
Wow! You guys are great.

Thanx for all the support guys. All the advice and commiseration have made me feel much better. I was actually considering quitting my game, but if everything you all are telling me is true, then I'll stick it out.

The next question is, how do I make the game fun for myself. Obviously, I'm not having a good time if I'm perpetually stressed about the quality of my campaign. What can I do to make it better for me?

Keep the Faith, and may Kelemvor bless you,

Sparxmith

PS I love Kelemvor. I wish I could worship him in RL. :cool:
 

DonTadow

First Post
sparxmith said:
I've gotta be the world's worst DM. I can't ever remember rules, I never plan anything out, and I give way too much treasure.

Yet, my players enjoy their games, the pacing is about right, the action flows, and there's just enough intrigue to keep the players guessing.

Any advice on how to accentuate the positive and rid myself of the negative?

Seriously, I don't understand why my players like their game. I'm beginning to think its because something is better than nothing, and I've all of the something they've got. The worst thing that can happen to a man is for him to succeed, especially repeatedly, without understanding why. That's me right now.

I've been DM'ing since 3.0 came out. I've been re-reading the DMG for pointers on how to DM a good game/session/campaign. I could just as soon be reading the Illiad in the Attic Greek it was written in.

So, I guess the question comes down to, what makes a good DM? And, How do I emulate him?

I know this thread's been done about a quintillion times before. In fact, I've read most of them looking for the answers. I just don't get it yet.

Sparxmith

If the player's enjoy the game then they got to like your style of play. You want to improve areas for the players. Ask them what they think you can do better (and make sure they know they can be critical). Sometimes it may seem everyone is having a blast and secretly they all have issues. I had this problem last year. I asked before and after session for critisism and i never got any, just a lot of "you're the best" "i had the most fun" blah blah. Four months into the campaign after I dropped five of the members for attendance issues, I got a host of reasons why they never wanted to come.
 


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