jgsugden
Legend
I disagree with some of this advice. And I do so based upon the wise advice of Dr. Suess in Green Eggs and Ham.
“Try them, try them, and you may! Try them and you may, I say.”
As a DM, my game has only improved by listening to others, trying their advice and evaluating 1.) what I wanted to steal for myself, 2.) what I wanted to twist in other ways, and 2.) what I definitely do not enjoy.
The games I ran as a 8 year old, 16 year old, 20 year old, 30 year old, 40 year old and cough cough year old are all very different. I enjoyed all of them, but I've become a better DM by being open to what others suggest, by experimenting, and by outright stealing from the best of the DMs I have seen/enjoyed.
I am often very firm in telling people that their game will improve if they watch Critical Role and try to emulate it in their games for a bit. This is not to say that copying that style of game is possible for everyone, or the style is exactly what you'll enjoy - but putting on those shoes as well as you can for a bit can open your eyes to a variety of elements that you do not see in the same way as you will after you try them.
There are plenty of things someone recommended to me that I thought were rubbish ... and proved to be horrible when I tried them myself. There are a small number of things I thought were rubbish that I tried - and found to be Green and Eggy with a side of Ham.
Trying them is not committing to them - it is just learning what you can from them and giving yourself a chance to evaluate them for yourself.
“Try them, try them, and you may! Try them and you may, I say.”
As a DM, my game has only improved by listening to others, trying their advice and evaluating 1.) what I wanted to steal for myself, 2.) what I wanted to twist in other ways, and 2.) what I definitely do not enjoy.
The games I ran as a 8 year old, 16 year old, 20 year old, 30 year old, 40 year old and cough cough year old are all very different. I enjoyed all of them, but I've become a better DM by being open to what others suggest, by experimenting, and by outright stealing from the best of the DMs I have seen/enjoyed.
I am often very firm in telling people that their game will improve if they watch Critical Role and try to emulate it in their games for a bit. This is not to say that copying that style of game is possible for everyone, or the style is exactly what you'll enjoy - but putting on those shoes as well as you can for a bit can open your eyes to a variety of elements that you do not see in the same way as you will after you try them.
There are plenty of things someone recommended to me that I thought were rubbish ... and proved to be horrible when I tried them myself. There are a small number of things I thought were rubbish that I tried - and found to be Green and Eggy with a side of Ham.
Trying them is not committing to them - it is just learning what you can from them and giving yourself a chance to evaluate them for yourself.