D&D 5E DM Quits The Game

[MarkB]

When it comes to the player taking ages to decide what to do, unfortunately there are some players who simply do take longer, and it's not necessarily even a matter of inexperience.

Rather than telling them it's unrealistic for a player to deliberate for ages over an action that the character decides in moments, emphasise to them that it is impolite for them to slow the game down for everyone else. Making them realise that they're affecting their fellow players' fun is more effective than just telling them it doesn't make sense.

 

[PnPgamer]

... King Snurre?

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

... King Snurre?

His friends call him Jon.
He doesn't know much, by all accounts.

 

[ExploderWizard]

... King Snurre?

A fire giant king. He appeared in AD&D module G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King

As a DM, my plans don't include player action. If player activity were to be weaved into the scenario prior to play then I wouldn't really need the players.

I like to concentrate on how the NPCs would react to player action or inaction and let the game take its course.

 

[TheLoneRanger1979]

I feel for you man. Unfortunately, there is no easy way around it. Sometimes the GM and the group are just not compatible. Sometimes the DM is too rigid when the group wants or need to be creative and just plain enjoy making up stuff. Other times, the DM is too leeway friendly, when the group needs more direct guidance (either because of lack of experience or just the way they roll). I know personally what i prefer, but you should ask yourself if the group is right for you and vice versa. If so, then sit together, have a chat and decide on how you gonna play it.

 

[Dorian_Grey]

My take on this: Time for a break. Maybe even a new group.

In my own experience, I find that I get the most frustrated when I switching from GMing to storytelling. When I have epic plots and a plethora of devious NPCs that are going to do The Big Bad Thing on their schedule and damn the PCs. In that situation, the PCs aren't actually players, they're actors in a script I've written - except I haven't handed them the script so they get off script and I get ticked off. When I realize I've made that mistake, I apologize and move on.

For example, in my current game I've worked up an incredibly complicated plot. A tiny kingdom exists between two large empires, one human and one gnoll/human. The human empire, which would normally protect the kingdom, has thrown all of it's resources into helping mountain dwarves fight some unknown threat from the underdark. So now, the little tiny kingdom is feeling a little less confident. The king dies unexpectedly, and now an eleven year old girl holds the throne.

Sensing weakness in the capital a number of opportunistic barons are making plans to take out the young Queen, they are led by her supposedly loyal cousin - who is in fact deep in debt to the elven Royal Houses, and they plan on putting him in power so they can gain their own port (no one is really good in any world I create btw).

So the players are in a port city, one of the biggest in the kingdom. I want them to meet up with the head of Her Majesty's spy ring, the Black Rose. The Black Rose is aware of the threat but they are afraid to move openly due to how uncertain the whole situation is. My plan was to have the players work with the Black Roses and get involved in some pretty deep political and skullduggery type stuff.

But what happened was slightly different.

The players start to explore the city and find the market quickly enough. And they ask what's going on. And so I describe general market stuff, and on the fly say "Oh and there is a recruiter station. The local Lord General is attempting to recruit mercenaries." So they want to go talk. And I'm now making stuff up on the fly. So I say that mercenaries are being recruited to reinforce small forts along the southern border facing the gnolls. In addition, they are also scouting old ruins for potential use as bases of operation.

So they decide to take a mission.

Now I've made up a whole secondary mission of going out to this old manor house to explore it and find some threat and some treasure and have them report back where the recruiters will refer them to the head of the Black Roses.

So yeah, two or three sessions shot - and I'm totally making crap up on the fly for the games, but what the heck? Why not?

 

[Sacrosanct]

A fire giant king. He appeared in AD&D module G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King

As a DM, my plans don't include player action. If player activity were to be weaved into the scenario prior to play then I wouldn't really need the players.

I like to concentrate on how the NPCs would react to player action or inaction and let the game take its course.

Yeah, as a DM, the only schedule I have is what's happening in game that follows a normal timeline. I.e., if the PCs stand around yanking in town for a few days, the world isn't on pause for them and something may have happened. But I never, ever, have a schedule for adventure completion, nor an order of completion that has to happen. That just seems really odd for me, and takes away a lot of choice from the players.

IMO of course.

 

[SwivSnapshot]

DM burnout is a real thing- I've seen it as a player and felt it as a DM. Our group has lost some good people over the years and I have come to the conclusion that most of it could have been avoided by better communication between the DM and the players.

As a DM and a player I am pro meta-gaming to keep the game a game and not an adversarial competition. I am also in favor of setting aside time for pregame warm up and post game analysis- what was good/bad last week and what was good/bad about what happened on game night- the game everyone says they wants to play can change from session to session based on what's happening in their lives or what happened during the night's session. That's how my players were able to tell me that they were going to hobo murder me if I didn't wrap up the caravan episode from HOTDQ really quickly....

 

[Rya.Reisender]

I guess everything was said already...

Try to be more flexible. If the players waste too much time, make something happen yourself that forces them to act (or die).

I'm also strongly bothered by players that are late. If someone is constantly late, I kick him out (but only after warning him first).

If you do the DM job for free, then be aware that just like the players you are playing a game to have fun, so only do it when you have fun.
Alternatively, charge money for DMing, then you do it for the money. And if the players are late, it's their loss. No money back.

 

[strider13x]

As a DM when players dally about I have the world keep moving around them. So they stood on a hill discussing how to enter the city? After 10 minutes of players deciding what to do next I would have had them discovered by a hobgoblin patrol or merchants or something. Force the game along, give the players a sense that a living world is happening around them.