Is the DM the most important person at the table

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[hawkeyefan]

I ask because unless you can make GM'ing as easy or easier than playing I'm not sure you would entice people who play but are choosing not to GM to actually GM. It also makes me wonder as to the practical application of some of these suggestions for a new GM who has to change the entire playstyle of their group in order to run...

I do think that there is a barrier to people becoming GMs that is the perceived difficulty of the role. Is that the entirety of what keeps people from GMing? No,of course not.

But after so many people expressing the sentiment that what makes GMs important is their scarcity, which can be attributed to the difficulty of the role, why would the attempt to discuss how that role can be made easier be met with such resistance?

I don't find GMing to be significantly more difficult than playing. There is more involved, yes, and the coordination of the content largely falls to the GM.

There are ways that can make that easier. Yes, I realize the focus for the last several pages has been about player authored NPCs and the like. However, that's one possible option. Players tracking initiative, players tracking HP, players creating notes on NPCs....these are more basic and practical ways.

Unless someone thinks that they're a perfect GM, then there are ways to improve. What will work for one person may not for another, and that's fine.....fair enough. Maybe someone else reading along will find it helpful.

And yes, some things will work more for newer GMs and others more for experienced GMs. I agree with that. However, even hearing some of the "advanced ideas" may benefit a newer GM even if they're not quite ready to adopt those ideas themselves.

It can be made different, by making the game play differently. I'm not sure that that different way is easier. I find it much more exhausting and difficult to contemplate doing long-term compared to spending prep time.

The game is also different. It's like saying making Nanaimo bars is too hard so let's make chocolate cookies instead. They might be easier to bake and still tasty, but they aren't Nanaimo bars.

There are things that I have adopted for my game that have made it easier for me to GM. Different things for different games, but a fair amount is pretty universal. Others may find it less so. Some of these things I came to on my own, others were mentioned to me by others, either here on these forums, or in other online sources, or in actual RPG books.

Some options may change a game too much for a particular person's taste....sure. Yet someone else may find the game better for the suggestion. Other options may not change the game too much.

Again, if a task is difficult, there can be things done to make it easier.

 

[prabe]

@lowkey13 Thanks! I think I can roll with some of those. I'm working on establishing my campaign setting (B), and I use a lot of Passive scores and roleplay for out of combat stuff (D). I wouldn't have thought about "gritty realism" speeding up play/prep, but I can see it (and may consider it). Published adventures make no sense in my head (which is me) and I think battlemats make things clearer enough that I'm reluctant to do without. Obviously (I hope it's obvious, anyway) I'm not arguing with how you do things at your table.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Hussar]

I don't have a problem with players making up NPCs or places (for example, as part of their background). I'm glad when they do it, since it's something to hook on to that they're invested in.

That said, I don't really see the benefit to what you're describing. I could go on the internet and get an adventure or NPC with less effort than assigning "homework" to the players. With the added benefit that there's a very high chance that it will be something the players haven't read and will therefore be able to explore without having to suspend their disbelief. Either way, I still have to analyze the material, and make any desired adjustments. I just don't see how this would save me work. I don't even usually run modules since in the time it takes me to prepare one module, I can come up with multiple adventures for personal use.

Well, there's the clear benefit of player engagement. They are creating material for THEIR characters. Hopefully they will be interested and be able to create material that is tailored to the group.

 

[Imaro]

I don't find GMing to be significantly more difficult than playing. There is more involved, yes, and the coordination of the content largely falls to the GM.

Could you tell me what you believe to be the responsibilities of the GM vs the responsibilities of the player both in play and outside of play?

EDIT: Which is to say if the role has more involved andis largely responsible for the coordination of the content, I find it hard to argue being a GM isn't more difficult than playing. Now to what degree I'm probably not going to argue because that is much more subjective.

 

[Nagol]

I do think that there is a barrier to people becoming GMs that is the perceived difficulty of the role. Is that the entirety of what keeps people from GMing? No,of course not.

But after so many people expressing the sentiment that what makes GMs important is their scarcity, which can be attributed to the difficulty of the role, why would the attempt to discuss how that role can be made easier be met with such resistance?

There were hints of BADWRONGFUN in the advice/admonishments, for one.

I don't find GMing to be significantly more difficult than playing. There is more involved, yes, and the coordination of the content largely falls to the GM.

More involved and extra coordination == harder. It is only not-hard for the segment of population that find coordination and the extra involvement above and beyond playing no big deal. For some people playing is hard. For some that play, extra work is hard.

There are ways that can make that easier. Yes, I realize the focus for the last several pages has been about player authored NPCs and the like. However, that's one possible option. Players tracking initiative, players tracking HP, players creating notes on NPCs....these are more basic and practical ways.

Unless someone thinks that they're a perfect GM, then there are ways to improve. What will work for one person may not for another, and that's fine.....fair enough. Maybe someone else reading along will find it helpful.

29 pages into an argument thread? Not likely. There have been threads specific to easier DM/GM techniques. I was always a fan of the Lazy DM thread, but there have been a lot over the years.

There are things that I have adopted for my game that have made it easier for me to GM. Different things for different games, but a fair amount is pretty universal. Others may find it less so. Some of these things I came to on my own, others were mentioned to me by others, either here on these forums, or in other online sources, or in actual RPG books.

And different things for different player groups. The better you know your group, the more consistent prep becomes.

Some options may change a game too much for a particular person's taste....sure. Yet someone else may find the game better for the suggestion. Other options may not change the game too much.

Again, if a task is difficult, there can be things done to make it easier.

To a point. There are always diminishing returns and hard limits. If you can make tasks for a role disappear then the role never really existed as more than arbitrage.

 

[Nagol]

I would say that there are two separate things going on:

1. DMs are important because of their scarcity. This is observational. For example, you see articles about being paid to DM. You hear about groups that are looking for DMs. You even (unfortunately) hear about power imbalances created because DMs are more scarce ... as in, "The DM decides, and that has to go, because there's one DM and a lot of players... who ya gonna replace?"

2. I don't necessarily think that it goes to being more difficult. There's also the rather banal observation that sometimes people just ... want ... to ... play. Without the overhead. Sometimes it's fun to think about designing rides at Disney ... but sometimes you just want to get on the rides, know what I mean?

In some ways, it's like saying, "Why do more people want to play soccer than be refs?" Usually, the answer is self-evident. DMing can have its rewards and fun, but people really like to play.

TLDR; I've never met a DM who doesn't want to play sometimes, but I've met plenty of players who never want to DM.

There are certain games over the decades I would have dearly loved to play a long term game of. Unfortunately, no one else was willing to run and capable of keeping a long-term game going. Sigh.

 

[chaochou]

A. I think Italian food is the best cuisine. Because of X, Y, and Z.
B. Well, you don't even know what you like.

I’ve never seen that discussion, but I’ve seen this one an absolute ton.

A. I think Italian food is the best
B. What other food have you tried?
A. Er, I like Italian.
B. There’s lots of others. What have you tried?
A. Your food doesn’t sound as good as Italian. I wouldn’t even call anything else food.
B. Congratulations. Bye.

 

[Imaro]

I’ve never seen that discussion, but I’ve seen this one an absolute ton.

You're definitely not looking hard enough then...