Are you a Player or GM?
- Thread starter Spinachcat
- Start date
Bob the Destroyer
First Post
I play more than 50% of the time, but it's not by choice. It just happens that my DM and I have almost exactly the same social group and he is a more experienced DM, so most of the time that people get a hankerin' to play, they play in his games. 
-Bob the Destroyer
-Bob the Destroyer
Over the past 30 years of gaming, I've GMed as much as played.
However, in the past decade, I've only run 1 long-lasting campaign (3Ed) plus a short stint as co-GM in a RIFTS campaign.
My players have generally praised my skills as a GM, but that last campaign I ran was decent...but I subconsciously "mailed it in" and was ultimately unsatisfied with my own performance. I had screwed up a certain aspect of the campaign which detracted from its epicness...and didn't catch it until after the final battle. Essentially, I burned out.
I didn't have a good FRP campaign idea for almost a year...but I still didn't want to run a FRP campaign, so I posted many of my ideas in my favorite thread here (see my sig).
Instead, I had a host of ideas for Supers, Sci-Fi, and Modern/Urban fantasy campaigns. Unfortunately, nobody was interested, so we've been going through other peoples' campaigns.
Since then, I've designed a great setting for a FRP campaign and have been writing adventures for it- and now we're playing SFB and Battletech! (Not that I mind, but...)
Someday I'll step behind the screen again, but I don't know exactly when.
However, in the past decade, I've only run 1 long-lasting campaign (3Ed) plus a short stint as co-GM in a RIFTS campaign.
My players have generally praised my skills as a GM, but that last campaign I ran was decent...but I subconsciously "mailed it in" and was ultimately unsatisfied with my own performance. I had screwed up a certain aspect of the campaign which detracted from its epicness...and didn't catch it until after the final battle. Essentially, I burned out.
I didn't have a good FRP campaign idea for almost a year...but I still didn't want to run a FRP campaign, so I posted many of my ideas in my favorite thread here (see my sig).
Instead, I had a host of ideas for Supers, Sci-Fi, and Modern/Urban fantasy campaigns. Unfortunately, nobody was interested, so we've been going through other peoples' campaigns.
Since then, I've designed a great setting for a FRP campaign and have been writing adventures for it- and now we're playing SFB and Battletech! (Not that I mind, but...)
Someday I'll step behind the screen again, but I don't know exactly when.
fanboy2000
Adventurer
Why I DM
I DM so much because I'm an evil bastard who enjoys playing with the lives of the PCs. I pretend I'm an average DM who's interested in world building and playing funny NPCs. But this is just to lure them into a false sense of security.
In reality, I love to design diabolical traps, inflict intelligent egotistical cursed items on them, and see if they can fight dragons way above the recommend CR/level. My players seem to have caught on, but they keep coming back.
I don't play more because I'm a whiney player who make DM's lives miserable. The last major campaign I played in, I yelled and stormed out of game session over a line of sight issue. (He said I didn't have line of sight while standing in a doorway, I said I did. I still maintain I was right.)
I DM so much because I'm an evil bastard who enjoys playing with the lives of the PCs. I pretend I'm an average DM who's interested in world building and playing funny NPCs. But this is just to lure them into a false sense of security.
In reality, I love to design diabolical traps, inflict intelligent egotistical cursed items on them, and see if they can fight dragons way above the recommend CR/level. My players seem to have caught on, but they keep coming back.
I don't play more because I'm a whiney player who make DM's lives miserable. The last major campaign I played in, I yelled and stormed out of game session over a line of sight issue. (He said I didn't have line of sight while standing in a doorway, I said I did. I still maintain I was right.)
Shades of Green
First Post
I've been a player very, very few times in the past; for the overwhelming part (far more than 90%), I've been the DM/GM/Referee.
Wombat
First Post
When I first started gaming (September 1976), I was the only guy with the rules. As such, I was the guy running the game. And after that I developed a reputation as a GM (for multiple systems), so I pretty much stayed in the role.
I don't get to play very often -- I GM about 85% of the time. I like playing as well, but there are fewer GMs out there than there are players, or so I have found. If I put out the shingle as a GM, I will have a game of some sort; if I just look for a game to play in, people look around sheepishly for a GM.
I enjoy being a GM. I love crafting the world and the stories. I love creating voices for each major NPC. I like creating background myths, keep my notebooks in line and the rest. GMing has been in my bones for over 30 years now; I doubt I'll be changing that soon.
I don't get to play very often -- I GM about 85% of the time. I like playing as well, but there are fewer GMs out there than there are players, or so I have found. If I put out the shingle as a GM, I will have a game of some sort; if I just look for a game to play in, people look around sheepishly for a GM.
I enjoy being a GM. I love crafting the world and the stories. I love creating voices for each major NPC. I like creating background myths, keep my notebooks in line and the rest. GMing has been in my bones for over 30 years now; I doubt I'll be changing that soon.
kitsune9
Adventurer
I would say above 90% of the time I GM. The only times I've played was one or two campaigns where one player wanted to run something or I play in the RPGA (well, used to).
I would like to play, but my players have a bad habit of not finishing what they started. We would play in a campaign, get to 10th level and then quit with no campaign resolution. This drives me kind of crazy. In the days of 2nd edition when I didn't run I'd get saddled with a GM who likes to make up adventures as they go along and then thinks its a great story, but what it really gets down to is just two to three hours of unnecessary haggling over buying items and then exploring around for the rest of the sessions. Real old, real quick. So, I run published mods or write my own and make sure the campaign runs from its beginning to end. At least I can feel satisfied in making something work that's fun for me, and hopefully for my players too.
Happy Gaming.
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