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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 6456138" data-attributes="member: 87792">And as far as I'm concerned if you don't adapt what you offer based on what the players want then that's bad DMing.  (This isn't the same as giving them what they want).To me this is ... aberrant.  The only RPG I have ever played that had fewer than half the table being at least occasional GMs is D&D 3.0 and D&D 3.5 (and for all I criticise a lot of the decisions made by the 3.0 team that's my real beef with 3.X - it's very hard on DMs).Seriously?  Get him to take an improv class.And I'd call you Exhibit A in this thread.  Further my home group has three people in it who regularly DM.  All three of us have different strengths and weaknesses and we all learn from each other.  And all from time to time steal each others' tricks and techniques.  (And no, I don't just play with this group).I can't recall anything I've said to that effect that wasn't simply reflecting back the words of others (you and Mark mostly).  And Mike's DMing style?  The wallchat?  The deliberately and openly playing the Ghouls stupid to avoid a TPK?  Mearls reminded me nothing more than of the fourth possible DM in our regular group (of five people) - the one who only DMs occasionally because he really isn't very good at it.Because I don't want a passive experience.  There are few modules that don't derail if you play hard.  There are few modules that give you the chance to shape the story.  If I wanted a passive experience I'd put on a DVD.And here I agree with you.  A GM should not be writing a story.  The worst thing that WotC ever did for roleplaying was called their GM The Storyteller.  Good stories are about character.  And the lead characters in an RPG are the PCs.  That's where the camera is.  That's who the central characters are.  And that's the one thing the GM really doesn't control.  The best a story written without knowing about its characters in advance can be is a Michael Bay action movie, a second rate hard SF story from the 50s, or a locked room mystery. False equivalence.  Try "Which would you rather read?  A random Star Wars EU novel?  Or something written by a friend."  And in that case I'd go for the thing written by a friend - even if the random Star Wars EU novel is probably technically better written.  The average adventure module is simply not that well written (I submit Keep on the Shadowfell as evidence).  Game of Thrones has many, many faults but George R. R. Martin is an excellent storyteller and hardly an average professional.Anyone saying that modules aren't real D&D is talking out of their hat.  Now comparing modules to microwave dinners?As I have mentioned, my home group has three DMs out of five regular players - and a fourth player occasionally DMs.  Many of us like DMing.You do realise I've run very successful sessions with literally two minutes notice?  As in a text message from the regular DM saying that they couldn't make it ten minutes after they were due to arrive.  I won't say the longer I spend preparing the worse the experience is - other than when I've gone really overboard into the storytelling side of things (which has never worked).  But light prep is good.I said we had GMs - I didn't say we had people who bought GM material.  Most of it is transferrable.</blockquote>

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