Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7758597" data-attributes="member: 42582">Agreed. We don't need to list all the things that can make a person an unpleasant person to spend time with.On rulings I prefer a more &quot;first among equals&quot; approach - I don't mind if a player queries a ruling, as maybe they've thought about it more clearly than I have! But if someone has to exercise veto power, then in the end - in a relatively traditional game - that is going to be the referee.I certainly agree with you about players actively engaging, paying attention, etc. As a GM I don't see my job as being one of providing entertainment to an audience - I want to be an audience being entertained by the players just as much! (If an individual player is tired from work and nods off on the couch, or has to go and wrangle kids, or whatever, of course that's fine - I'll just engage with the other players until that player returns to the game.)I found that one weird too. I've used a GM screen once in 35 years of GMing - when I got one as part of some 4e boxed set (Essentials DM Kit?) I thought I'd try it to see how it worked. It just got in the way, and was folded up and put away before the end of the session.Sometimes I might write something down that I'd rather the players not read, but I just rely on the fact that it's on a bit of paper in front of me and so not readable by them as long as they don't try.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7758597, member: 42582"] Agreed. We don't need to list all the things that can make a person an unpleasant person to spend time with. On rulings I prefer a more "first among equals" approach - I don't mind if a player queries a ruling, as maybe they've thought about it more clearly than I have! But if someone has to exercise veto power, then in the end - in a relatively traditional game - that is going to be the referee. I certainly agree with you about players actively engaging, paying attention, etc. As a GM I don't see my job as being one of providing entertainment to an audience - I want to be an audience being entertained by the players just as much! (If an individual player is tired from work and nods off on the couch, or has to go and wrangle kids, or whatever, of course that's fine - I'll just engage with the other players until that player returns to the game.) I found that one weird too. I've used a GM screen once in 35 years of GMing - when I got one as part of some 4e boxed set (Essentials DM Kit?) I thought I'd try it to see how it worked. It just got in the way, and was folded up and put away before the end of the session. Sometimes I might write something down that I'd rather the players not read, but I just rely on the fact that it's on a bit of paper in front of me and so not readable by them as long as they don't try. [/QUOTE]

Verification