Constructive Criticism for Your GM

[Nagol]

Always sucks to create a PC youre excited to play only to be disappointed.

Ive done twists before, sent my players from Faerun to Ravenloft, or incorporated Spelljammer into an ongoing campaign but it always somewhat made sense within the story line and in the end came full circle with the players returning home.

In my current game, my players where in Undermountain and they all jumped into the prismatic wall. Instead of killing them I sent them to Athas, where eventually they fond and unearthed an ancient crashed Spelljammer and used it to return to Faerun. When they returned they found that 110 years had passed and because they didnt complete the mission they were originally on Waterdeep was very different.

I have no objection to weird jaunts; they can be a lot of fun especially around session #xxx when people's interest is flagging. These were one-way trips early in the campaigns without player input.

The universe was explicitly destroyed and we were the only survivors in one going from the Hero System to Chivalry and Sorcery. The Mississippi delta we thought we were on was really a dome in a vast Starlost style spaceship and we found the way out. At least that one kept us in the game system: Aftermath though our equipment very quickly upgraded from scrounged guns to tri-focus laser rifles. The aliens had invaded world wide a la War of the Worlds Tom Cruise edition and the small private detective a la Simon & Simon needed to figure out what they wanted to do (going from a procedural encapsulated adventure style to full blown sandbox).

Yeah, GM. Don't be that guy.

 

[collin]

In my experience, there is no such thing as constructive criticism. There is criticism, but I have not found any criticism to be constructive, whether to me or to others around me. Rather, I think what is offered up here (and is better to think of rather than criticism) are more along the lines of suggestions, comments, observations, etc. which may help improve the gaming experience for the player(s). I also affirm the rehearsal part of offering the suggestion to be very helpful. In fact, just give it some time before presenting it to the intended recipient in order to remove more of the emotion and keep it simple and factual.

 

[R_J_K75]

The aliens had invaded world wide a la War of the Worlds Tom Cruise edition and the small private detective a la Simon & Simon needed to figure out what they wanted to do (going from a procedural encapsulated adventure style to full blown sandbox).

Gotta be one of the worst RPG stories Ive ever heard. Let me guess Cagney & Lacey and Remington Steele made appearances too?

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Admittedly drinking while playing can slow things down, I forget rules, players forget certain abilities their PCs can do and overall it sometimes takes longer to resolve actions.

As a DM I wish I had a better handle on the mechanical rules. But Ive played mostly 2E through 5E so even if Im sober I confuse certain things from edition to edition. Id say we use 5E rules for character creation and monsters but other than that I kind of handwave or improvise the rest to keep the game moving and no one seems to mind.

We play S&W so there are few rules to trip over.

 

[R_J_K75]

We play S&W so there are few rules to trip over

S&W, not familliar or just not recognizing the abbreviation.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

S&W, not familliar or just not recognizing the abbreviation.

Sorry! Swords and Wizardry. Its an OGL take on OD&D.

 

[Nagol]

Gotta be one of the worst RPG stories Ive ever heard. Let me guess Cagney & Lacey and Remington Steele made appearances too?

Perhaps they might have! I wouldn't know. I stopped attending that session and the game wound up shortly thereafter.

 

[Umbran]

1. Write out what you might say to address the situation constructively. (Rehearsal can keep things productive and useful rather than argumentative.)

There was a piece in the Harvard Business Review about constructive criticism some years back. While it is aimed at business, it has some points worth considering. ( There’s No Such Thing as Constructive Criticism )

To wit: If your approach is, in effect, about how the other person is doing something wrong that they need/ought to change, it is less likely to be constructive. You may be far more successful with leaving the judgement of past efforts or events out of the conversation entirely, and simply talking about how cool a future state might be.

"I don't like the X we have been doing, and would prefer Y," is more prone to failure than, "Hey, I've been thinking about Y. It might be really cool to try it!"

 

[Celebrim]

3 separate GMs. Average experience when pulling those stunts was well over a decade of running. There seemed to be a fad of "well the players think they know what's going to happen and have built characters to deal with it. Let's Gilligan Island them and see how the fish out of water do in this entirely different situation! The players will love it!!!111!!!!!!1!"

Nitro Ferguson style world building and GMing is surprisingly common. Or rather, it would be surprising how common it is until you figure out how people's brains work, and then it is depressingly unsurprisingly common.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

If I'm messing up, yeah, tell me right then and there. I don't claim to be perfect, and am always looking to be a better DM. If it's a playstyle or preferences thing, I think tact is a little more important. I try to treat my players with respect, and prefer to receive the same.

My worst DMing and drinking story dates back to 4e. I sprung an ambush by a foe that they had already killed. Whoops.

I seriously would prefer my players be brutally honest with me and the other players within reason as long as its constructive. But then again were all pretty thick skinned and if most of the people on this message board heard how we talk to each other youd probably say..."And you guys are friends"? Its all in good fun though.