Add your GM Anecdotes, please [March Fo(u)rth for GM's Day!]

[Mark CMG]

Just a reminder that it is two weeks until GM's Day! and you should take a peek at what the supporting publishers have in store for you by checking the links here

Share your plans for the big first-ever Gamers' Holiday!

Join the web ring if you'd like to help get the word out. Grab one of the buttons or banners and add it to your own web pages. It's GM's Day! but it's also a holiday for each and every gamer!

Take advantage of the sales and discounts if you like or just be sure to bring the snacks that night (or the night on which you choose to celebrate.)

 

[Maldur]

Woohoo!!

AS designated DM, I really like this idea

 

[KDLadage]

{cartman} SWEET {/cartman}

 

[Mark CMG]

In another thread they point to this 1974 review of D&D -

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~beattie/timeline/1972-1979/dd.gif

- and one line struck me in particular...

"The scope is too grand while the referee is expected to do too much in relation to the players"

Is this true in all games? I think that D&D, or rather role-playing games, are unusual in that the "referee" is also a player, although known by the term "DM" or "GM" I'd love to hear some stories from the player perspective on how a GM made a night of gaming memorable because of some of the hard work that was put into making the game that way.

 

[Quickbeam]

Thanks for the reminder thread, and the links pertaining to various publisher discounts. [cartman]SWEET INDEED!![/cartman]

 

[Mark CMG]

Thanks for the reminder thread, and the links pertaining to various publisher discounts. [cartman]SWEET INDEED!![/cartman]

No problem. Any little anecdotes you might have about one or more of your GMs over the years?

 

[Quickbeam]

I'd have to say that the most memorable GM I ever had was the fellow who ran our 2E game. I didn't like much about 2E, but he made the campaign pretty enjoyable.

I'd been out of gaming for quite awhile, but returned to help round out one of my friend's groups. What made him memorable were his very real, thoroughly believable NPC's...particularly those that were part of the adventuring party. In particular I recall our group's bard -- a halfling named Stinkel, who was designed with the jester kit. Stinkel's primary "weapon" was a small staff that had a pierced bag of flour (which had a clown face painted on it) tied to the end. Stinkel would then attempt to smack foes with this stick, covering them in a fine dusting of flour, all the while taunting them. The truly funny thing was that whenever things got scary and the party had its collective backs against the wall, Stinkel would pull off some incredible die roll and save our bacon. These rolls were always in the open too -- I guess the luck bonus really worked for the little bugger !!

The other thing this GM did was to keep a log/journal of the many stupid things we said as players...particularly quotes that were likely to become famous last words. The alltime greatest quote among our famous last words, was the brilliant statement that, "He couldn't possibly blink someone dead twice in one day." Let it suffice to say, this PC was wrong .

 

[KingOfChaos]

Just wanted everyone to know that RoEG Publishing fully supports GM's Day I have named it an official holiday for my community and already my forumites are gearing up for the GM Day festivities I have planned

I have only had one GM/DM in my 15 years of gaming and that would be my older sister (who goes by Ariadne on the RoEG forums).

 

[Mark CMG]

Welcome Aboard!

What a cool way to learn about RPGing! I'll bet there are a lot of families that play together. My first GM was a fella named Gerry (one of my best friends when I was growing up). He and I used to play regular board/wargames before D&D was even released but focused more of our time on RPGs after 1974. He taught me the game, though I imagine in a lot of ways we learned it together since it tends to be a game where most of the learning comes while playing. Along with Gerry's two brothers (Ralph and Ken) and other friends (like Tim, Steve, and Kurt), we'd delve into the dungeon of Tantalus searching for treasure.

Aside from the many-leveled dungeon he had created, he'd use the map from the Avalon Hill boardgame Outdoor Survival (full game contents pictured below from a listing here) as a wilderness map. Kinda funny how the company that produced this early seventies board game and the company that produced the first ever RPG that we had used it with, are now both owned by Hasbro! So many smaller companies have come and gone but I'm glad that the two that first sparked my RPG interest are both still kicking and not merely some distant memory.

 

[Mark CMG]

Outdoor Survival circa 1970-73 from Avalon Hill