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What (who?) is the Jerk DM?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7571572" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>There is something wrong with me, because that silly little pun just never gets old, I laugh every time. </p><p></p><p></p><p> Not to be contrary (I mean, I am contrary, but in this case, not just for that reason), but my observation is that players tend to praise their current DMs and the games they're running …</p><p></p><p>… the Jerk DM is often recognized as such in hindsight.</p><p></p><p> IMHO, these fit in the Jerk DM category/stereotype. The others are just jerks, probably 24/7, jerks who happen to DM. </p><p></p><p>In that sense, I think we should think of the Jerk DM as a sort of lycanthrope, a were-jerk, who's full moon is the DM's screen.</p><p></p><p>OK, I'll take a stab at it:</p><p></p><p><strong>Story Coercers</strong> Can't finish that great <s>American</s>United Statesian novel or Oscar-worthy screenplay? Can't even string a few sentences together? Inflict that unpublishable third-rate-hack inspiration on a half-dozen gamers! </p><p></p><p><strong>Setting Tour-Guides</strong> With 'creativity' running more to setting than plot, rets really obsessive over the excessively detailed fantasy world they come up with. But they really need other people to care about and validate that obsession. That's what players are for, to be tourists in their world.</p><p></p><p><strong>Adversarial DMs</strong> Sure they could be openly competitive in PvP play in a context meant for that, but why bother when, as DM, you can win whenever you want? Which is every time, of course. Hey, as long as you stick to those encounter guidelines it's 'fair,' right?</p><p></p><p><strong>Unabashed Chaotic-Evil Sadism</strong>Different from honest adversarial DMing in that the objective isn't so much to best the players as make them suffer. Don't just encourage the player to care about the character and then just kill it - ruin the character horribly, and get the players blame themselves for the horrible things that happen to their characters and any NPCs they foolishly end up caring about.</p><p></p><p></p><p> You sir, are like those casino commercials: Just the Right amount of Wrong. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> </p><p></p><p> OK, now I get to start disagreeing...</p><p></p><p><strong> IMHO, the classic Killer DM qualifies as a jerk DM, while the classic Monty Haul DM is just one of Hussar's 'bad DMs' - lacking in skill/perspective/sense of proportion or something, but not malicious.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p> <strong>There are gamers who aren't socially awkward? How did they slip past all the nerdly gatekeeping? </strong></p><p><strong>(I kept telling Galen Erso we needed a tighter defense...)</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p> <strong>No matter how big a tent they try to build...</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7571572, member: 996"] There is something wrong with me, because that silly little pun just never gets old, I laugh every time. Not to be contrary (I mean, I am contrary, but in this case, not just for that reason), but my observation is that players tend to praise their current DMs and the games they're running … … the Jerk DM is often recognized as such in hindsight. IMHO, these fit in the Jerk DM category/stereotype. The others are just jerks, probably 24/7, jerks who happen to DM. In that sense, I think we should think of the Jerk DM as a sort of lycanthrope, a were-jerk, who's full moon is the DM's screen. OK, I'll take a stab at it: [b]Story Coercers[/b] Can't finish that great [s]American[/s]United Statesian novel or Oscar-worthy screenplay? Can't even string a few sentences together? Inflict that unpublishable third-rate-hack inspiration on a half-dozen gamers! [b]Setting Tour-Guides[/b] With 'creativity' running more to setting than plot, rets really obsessive over the excessively detailed fantasy world they come up with. But they really need other people to care about and validate that obsession. That's what players are for, to be tourists in their world. [b]Adversarial DMs[/b] Sure they could be openly competitive in PvP play in a context meant for that, but why bother when, as DM, you can win whenever you want? Which is every time, of course. Hey, as long as you stick to those encounter guidelines it's 'fair,' right? [b]Unabashed Chaotic-Evil Sadism[/b]Different from honest adversarial DMing in that the objective isn't so much to best the players as make them suffer. Don't just encourage the player to care about the character and then just kill it - ruin the character horribly, and get the players blame themselves for the horrible things that happen to their characters and any NPCs they foolishly end up caring about. You sir, are like those casino commercials: Just the Right amount of Wrong. ;) OK, now I get to start disagreeing... [B] IMHO, the classic Killer DM qualifies as a jerk DM, while the classic Monty Haul DM is just one of Hussar's 'bad DMs' - lacking in skill/perspective/sense of proportion or something, but not malicious. There are gamers who aren't socially awkward? How did they slip past all the nerdly gatekeeping? (I kept telling Galen Erso we needed a tighter defense...) No matter how big a tent they try to build...[/b] [/QUOTE]
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