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Message: <blockquote data-quote="buzzard" data-source="post: 2685147" data-attributes="member: 3003">This is a very good question because it comes down to something that peeves me in my local gaming community. We have a few local cons per year, and there is a rating system employed to determine the best judges. I've been known to rate well in this myself, though I honetly don't much care how I place since I spend little enough time in prepping modules (unless of course it happens to be one which I wrote). However there are people who place among the top who might well classify as a 'good DM', but I certainly don't believe they deserve a top rating. What I believe separates a good DM from a top DM is how they handle adversity. I don't mean difficult players, I mean the ability to gauge an appropriate challenge and to run a module by the rules in a fair manner. Mind you this is a particular analysis for convention play rather than home play. But to explain, take a Living Greyhawk module. These are often all over the map in regards to difficulty. Some are meat grinders, some are creampuffs. A good DM will run the module as intended, but follow the rules (ahead of the writer since LG writers often have issues following the rules, <ahem CORES>) and keep in mind what is DM knowlege rather than NPC knowlege. I've seen some of the top rated judges locally get into a rather serious DM vs. player mentality when running high level tables (at high levels, LG characters are most often very twinked out because the meat grinder modules are otherwise not survivable). The main sin tends to be forgetting what the opposition actually should know. Also the application of innapropriate tactics based on the brains of the opposition is fairly common. In addition to this mentality, they rarely know the rules well, and thus you end up with rule disputes. While I certainly understand that you can't know all the rules, you generally have to take a position of either trusting the player, or accepting way too many delays (or you might happen to be lucky and have a rules junkie at your table).Now these top rated judges very often run very entertaining tables. People will often rate people favorably based on that. I've gotten high ratings for preparation before for modules which I've only read once. However I don't believe these ratings are generally well considered. A top DM should know the rules, know the adventure, know appropriate tactics and know the limitations of the NPCs that he runs. If you have to cheat to present a challenge to your table, you are not a great DM. If you feel that you simply must present that challenge which drives you to cheat, then you have a bad attitude. You may still be a good DM, but not top rate. buzzard</blockquote>

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