DM Schticks That Grind Your Gears

[ThirdWizard]

I just think it's wrong to pick on a guy who is just trying to entertain some friends and there is very little required by the friends.

Note that most of the people who replied to this thread are probably DMs. I am. Considering ENWorld is populated mostly by DMs, this shouldn't come as any surprise. If you catch me doing things in this thread, I'll step back and admit my mistakes. I see this thread as more of "what to avoid" than anything else.


Here's another one:

His name? Uhm... Bob: The DM never comes up with names for anyone. Random NPCs is one thing, but when the PCs interact with major NPCs they find that they never have names. The town mayor, the wizard who hires them, the boy they're sent looking for, etc. None of them ever have a name! Towns can fall into this category as well.

 

[Odhanan]

Some very good ones here! I actually recognize some of my own stuff ("My Old PC Runs This Bar" for instance is a trick of mine - I guess that one's annoying when the GM tries to run his old PC from behind the screen and tries to show it off by any means necessary, as a mentor or obstacle. I'd be annoyed as well in these conditions, to be frank).

Question: Do you inform your DM about the things you do not like to see them doing between/after the sessions? That's always good to have feedback. Helps the DM to improve.

 

[Oryan77]

But if you see somebody posting something similar to a pet tactic of yours, perhaps you should rethink it. I've already seen myself in at least one post (the buttonlipped NPC's heh), and maybe changing that trait makes me a better DM.

But that's the problem. I assume you have spent a lot of time as a player, which is why you recognize so many DM fiats. But it may be new to a DM and the group. He may be oblivious that it's a common plot device used in many groups. Even if it is common....it's common because it's fun. Sure, it might not be fun if you've played in a dozen groups in the last 20 years and experienced it many times, but that doesn't make the DM less of a good DM.

Some of these gripes are things that are typically used in movies to grab the audiences attention. How many times do we watch a hero in a movie that has a tradegy at the beginning? It's so the audience can relate to why he's becoming a hero throughout the movie. Guys like you and me will see that and go, "Great, another 'my loved one was killed so now I have to get revenge' storyline". But the majority of people won't even notice that common plot hook. It works, and that's why so many DM's do it and they don't even realize they are doing it. I'm not gonna complain about a DM doing it

Anyway, back to the DM-bashing!

Hey, that's my girl!
Due to the DM's practice at roleplaying high charisma NPC's; he excels at whooing both men & women outside of the game. I have lost many girlfriends to smooth talking DM's when he gets into his Aasimar Bard persona at a party.

 

[Oryan77]

I see this thread as more of "what to avoid" than anything else.

Yeah, same here. The first few really seemed like nit-picking. I kept thinking, "What's so big about doing that...a player would actually complain about that?" It gave me flashbacks of really annoying players I've had. Those players I had were the type that hop from group to group because they are never happy with a DM. But a few comments later were pretty insightful and made me aware of what to avoid.

 

[Elf Witch]

One of my gripes is DMs who play all the monsters as smart combat savy navy seals even if even all they are is a horde of rats.

Another gripe is DM favortism it can be to the spouse or best friend or nephew or any some one special to the DM. They get all the plot hooks for their PCs they get rewarded when they engange in lone wolf activities they get extra Xp or karma for their "role" playing skills.

 

[Montague68]

But that's the problem. I assume you have spent a lot of time as a player, which is why you recognize so many DM fiats. But it may be new to a DM and the group. He may be oblivious that it's a common plot device used in many groups. Even if it is common....it's common because it's fun. Sure, it might not be fun if you've played in a dozen groups in the last 20 years and experienced it many times, but that doesn't make the DM less of a good DM.

Some of these gripes are things that are typically used in movies to grab the audiences attention. How many times do we watch a hero in a movie that has a tradegy at the beginning? It's so the audience can relate to why he's becoming a hero throughout the movie. Guys like you and me will see that and go, "Great, another 'my loved one was killed so now I have to get revenge' storyline". But the majority of people won't even notice that common plot hook. It works, and that's why so many DM's do it and they don't even realize they are doing it. I'm not gonna complain about a DM doing it

If you look back at the responses given and read a bit more closely into them, you'll notice reasons why they are so irritating to some players that might not be readily apparent. For example, one of my devices was the Super-competent Stealthy Omniscient NPC. Having a smart, powerful villain hound and taunt a party is a favorite trick of DM's and like another poster said it can be very effective. However, it has been my experience that most of the time this is done the NPC never makes mistakes, he never leaves clues, is never seen by witnesses, and all of his plots unfold flawlessly until the DM decides it's time for the climax. This frustrates the PC's to no end because there's nothing they can do about it. There's nothing wrong with repeating plot devices, but the problem is that soooo many times I've seen them executed poorly by the DM. It's not so much their use, it's their misuse.

 

[jester47]

People have listed pretty much all of mine. I am so going to bookmark this and mine it for a list of "Don'ts"

 

[Vanuslux]

I just think it's wrong to pick on a guy who is just trying to entertain some friends and there is very little required by the friends. Player's will have the attitude like their 4 hours that day is completely wasted if a DM blew it when he was trying to do a good job. Big whoop; so the player could have been playing WoW instead....well, the DM wasted those 4 hours plus the other 10 hours the previous week preparing a game for some ungrateful player.

In the 13 years or so I've been playing, I've been pushed into the DM slot 90% of the time. This is fine, since I love to DM. I typically enjoy it more than simply playing, though I do sometimes wish I could just simply play sometimes. I'm pretty sure I'd be allowed to play a lot more often if I did the things people talk about in this thread more often.

Honestly, I've played under some of the kinds of DMs talked about in this thread. These people aren't just talking about young DMs who are still getting their running legs. There are DMs out there who run their games with the attitude that you are showing...that Players should suck it up and be happy to have someone to run for them at all. These are DMs concerned only with what they enjoy, not what the group enjoys.

 

[Hussar]

You are surplus to requirements: This DM's story (not campaign, wouldn't dignify this with that honorable word) is so tightly wound that the slightlest deviation would cause it to explode into a million pieces. Thus, the PC's can do absolutely nothing to change/modify or otherwise alter the results of any event. Not that they are railroaded per se, they could go off and do something else, but, nothing they will do will change what is coming next.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

4. Perfectly Contrived Defense Bad Guys. The players build characters that are designed to be GOOD at doing a specific thing, whatever it may be, and every challenge or encounter the DM presents to the players is designed purposefully to negate the benefits of the PCs' preferred tactics.

I don't think this is a problem if not overused. If you have a PC with a very high AC score, making it difficult to challenge him, using an NPC with Improved Disarm on occasion is not uncalled for. The GM has to challenge the PCs.

No, you can't have a pony. (not for you)

This GM despises all manner of horses with a firey passion of a thousand suns. Whether it's a mule, riding dog, horse, or velociraptor with a saddle, be prepared for every single monster to target it like they were the only edible thing in a thousand miles. If the horse isn't being eaten or shot at, it's running away in the darkness after mysticly untying itself from the hitch.

I've run into this twice. Not in actual DnD gaming, because horses will inevitably get killed by Fireballs, but in D20 Wheel of Time and D20 Modern.

In the former, the GM flat out told us that, if we use horses, don't make them attack. (We were low level, so horses could match us in terms of combat ability.) Otherwise they'll get shot or eaten. He kept his word that he wouldn't kill them if we didn't attack. We didn't have them attack, and they didn't die. Something similar in Modern, but not quite so heavy-handed.

His name? Uhm... Bob: The DM never comes up with names for anyone. Random NPCs is one thing, but when the PCs interact with major NPCs they find that they never have names. The town mayor, the wizard who hires them, the boy they're sent looking for, etc. None of them ever have a name! Towns can fall into this category as well.

I'm guilty of something similar (in my Modern campaign) ... they have names. They're just impossible for the players to remember. I had to stop having the PCs adventure in Arabic countries for this reason.