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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 7758396" data-attributes="member: 6796661">Well, the worst things a DM can do are similar to the worst things a person can do in any situation: abuse, boorish behavior, poor hygiene, etc.  I think "favoring one player over another" falls into the general social skills bucket. If you are favoring one person over another, you need some lessons in etiquette and empathy. As for issues specific to the art of running a TTRPG, many of the complaints are a result of misaligned expectations. With that in mind, I think the following are areas that present pitfalls to well-meaning and socially well-adjusted, but perhaps inexperienced, DMs:1. Not clearly setting player expectationsHave a session zero or at least discuss the campaign with players before you start play. Make it clear what major homebrew rules will be used, the theme of the game, how open world it is (is it focused on some save-the-world plot line the party is expected to engage with or it is a full-on sandbox), do you have character limits (only official material, only PHB, no dragonborn, etc.).  There are plenty of articles and discussions online about what should be included in a session zero. 2. Not prepping the sessionMost DMs are not skilled improv artists. DMs that are able to just sit down with no prep and run great games tend to have a mixture of natural skill and years of experience. They also tend to have lots of tools and GM aids that help them run the game. Their preparation is often years of DM experience and having the tools they need ready. Most DMs, however, are running published material or modified published material. Most DMs need to spend time reading and rereading the material and marking it up to run the game smoothly. It isn't fun waiting for a DM to flip through the material and read it for the first time. It breaks the flow of the game. Even if you wrote the adventure yourself, you likely need to spend time preparing before the session.  This also includes having minis and battlemaps ready and organized. It is better to just throw and M&M or eraser or some other odd item to represent a monster than to have everyone wait 5 minutes while you go searching for the perfect mini. 3. Playing the players' charactersI know that this has been brought up already, but it bears repeating. Do tell me my player is scared unless there is a magic or similar effect that imposes the fear condition.  Don't tell me I'm grossed out. Describe the scene so that I can decide how my character reacts. Perhaps more controversially, I would also say that I find it even unacceptable for the DM to say "your character would not do that." No. Your character may not BE ABLE to do that, but that's up to the game mechanics. You may say that your alignment is no longer X because alignment is a game mechanic and represents social norms or even cosmic reality. But a GM shouldn't be telling players what their characters would or would not do. Things become murkier when it comes to player vs character knowledge. There are long threads on the subject in this forum, with detailed arguments and counter-arguments on this. I think this goes back to point 1: agree with the players at session zero what level of metagaming is acceptable.  I would argue that unless you are playing with long-term friends who all enjoy deep-immersion games, don't get hung up on metagaming.</blockquote>

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