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<blockquote data-quote="Jer" data-source="post: 7784279" data-attributes="member: 19857"><p>Wait - it doesn't?</p><p></p><p>Are you saying that the DM doesn't have to run more characters than the players do? The DM has to run all of the NPCs the players encounter including all of the monsters - the players only need to worry about one character. If you get your fun out of immersing yourself in a single character - either because you like to immerse yourself in a role and play it to the hilt, or tactically because you like to figure out how all of your different abilities can be used on a battlefield, or for any other reason players have for enjoying playing a single character, then you aren't going to get that fun out of being a DM.</p><p></p><p>Are you saying that the DM doesn't have to lose more battles than the players do? If you're DMing right you will lose and lose and lose again because if you don't your players aren't going to come back. If you get your fun out of the thrill of winning a battle, you aren't going to get that fun from being a DM.</p><p></p><p>Are you saying that the DM doesn't have to get out of the players way and let them be the stars of the show? I guess that's true that you don't have to be, but in generally they don't make for great DMs - DMs whose NPC characters have to be the best at everything or who won't shut up and let the players play are the worst. When I end up at games run by guys like that at cons it's always a disappointment because I don't get to actually play. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So - characters and plots. A dungeon to explore is the plot. The monsters are the characters. Sure it's not a mystery to navigate, but the exploration of the dungeon is the story and you have to be the person keeping track of it.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Sure, anyone can DM, but can everyone HAVE FUN WHILE DOING IT? That's the actual question that matters - if you don't have fun as a DM you're not going to keep wanting to do it.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This "DMs are special snowflakes that are better than players" attitude aggravates me to no end. It <strong>isn't true</strong>. I'm a DM for life and I'm lazy as hell as ANYONE who knows me can attest. But I derive enjoyment out of running games at the table - more than I do from playing. My fun comes from setting challenges and running combats and presenting players with puzzles and playing random NPCs that they encounter and so on and so forth. That doesn't make me better than them, it just means that my fun is different than theirs.</p><p></p><p>(I also derive enjoyment from designing adventures - which is a different kind of enjoyment than DMing at the table. I know folks who like DMing but don't like writing adventures and I'm glad that Wizards has recognized that if you want to bring in more DMs you need to provide adventures for the folks who don't have fun designing adventures but do enjoy running the game at the table to run.)</p><p></p><p>And this should be expected because players all get their fun in different ways. At my table I have one who loves playing a character - putting on voices, coming up with backstory, working subplots that I dangle in front of him, etc. I have another who mostly just likes figuring out how the special abilities of their character work and coming up with weird ways to use them to solve problems. I have a third who just likes to beat up monsters and spends most of the game just enjoying the show everyone else is putting on around them. They all get their fun in different ways - none of them enjoy DMing not because they're lazy but because that isn't how they have fun.</p><p></p><p>(Also I'm disturbed by the idea that "laziness" should come up at all, tbh. It's a game - we're at the table for fun. If it's work for anyone involved then what's the point? I do enough work at my job and maintaining my house - if my hobby is work too then as far as I'm concerned I'd be doing it wrong. But perhaps that's just me.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jer, post: 7784279, member: 19857"] Wait - it doesn't? Are you saying that the DM doesn't have to run more characters than the players do? The DM has to run all of the NPCs the players encounter including all of the monsters - the players only need to worry about one character. If you get your fun out of immersing yourself in a single character - either because you like to immerse yourself in a role and play it to the hilt, or tactically because you like to figure out how all of your different abilities can be used on a battlefield, or for any other reason players have for enjoying playing a single character, then you aren't going to get that fun out of being a DM. Are you saying that the DM doesn't have to lose more battles than the players do? If you're DMing right you will lose and lose and lose again because if you don't your players aren't going to come back. If you get your fun out of the thrill of winning a battle, you aren't going to get that fun from being a DM. Are you saying that the DM doesn't have to get out of the players way and let them be the stars of the show? I guess that's true that you don't have to be, but in generally they don't make for great DMs - DMs whose NPC characters have to be the best at everything or who won't shut up and let the players play are the worst. When I end up at games run by guys like that at cons it's always a disappointment because I don't get to actually play. So - characters and plots. A dungeon to explore is the plot. The monsters are the characters. Sure it's not a mystery to navigate, but the exploration of the dungeon is the story and you have to be the person keeping track of it. Sure, anyone can DM, but can everyone HAVE FUN WHILE DOING IT? That's the actual question that matters - if you don't have fun as a DM you're not going to keep wanting to do it. This "DMs are special snowflakes that are better than players" attitude aggravates me to no end. It [B]isn't true[/B]. I'm a DM for life and I'm lazy as hell as ANYONE who knows me can attest. But I derive enjoyment out of running games at the table - more than I do from playing. My fun comes from setting challenges and running combats and presenting players with puzzles and playing random NPCs that they encounter and so on and so forth. That doesn't make me better than them, it just means that my fun is different than theirs. (I also derive enjoyment from designing adventures - which is a different kind of enjoyment than DMing at the table. I know folks who like DMing but don't like writing adventures and I'm glad that Wizards has recognized that if you want to bring in more DMs you need to provide adventures for the folks who don't have fun designing adventures but do enjoy running the game at the table to run.) And this should be expected because players all get their fun in different ways. At my table I have one who loves playing a character - putting on voices, coming up with backstory, working subplots that I dangle in front of him, etc. I have another who mostly just likes figuring out how the special abilities of their character work and coming up with weird ways to use them to solve problems. I have a third who just likes to beat up monsters and spends most of the game just enjoying the show everyone else is putting on around them. They all get their fun in different ways - none of them enjoy DMing not because they're lazy but because that isn't how they have fun. (Also I'm disturbed by the idea that "laziness" should come up at all, tbh. It's a game - we're at the table for fun. If it's work for anyone involved then what's the point? I do enough work at my job and maintaining my house - if my hobby is work too then as far as I'm concerned I'd be doing it wrong. But perhaps that's just me.) [/QUOTE]
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