DMs are special people?

[demon_jr]

one thing that i am grateful for is that our gaming group has is a great DM. one of the things that makes him great is his passion for DMing, so much that he prefers to be a DM over being a player.

while i respect and admire him for it, i could never imagine myself desiring to be a DM over being a player. one of the main allures of DnD for me is being able to create a character, and do things i could only dream of. for lack of a better example, it's like playing the ultimate video game.

that being the case, i am just curious if anyone out there prefers being a DM instead of being a player. what is the attraction?

 

[Piratecat]

I'd rather DM! I love both, but I think I'm better at DMing... and it lets me be more creative.

 

[Bagpuss]

I'm about 50/50 on being a DM or a Player, basically I prefer being a DM but I'm lazy and being a DM is a lot of work.

Main appeal of being a DM is as a Player you might be playing a great character in a video game, but as DM I get to make the game you play in.

You get to ride the rollercoaster but I get to build it, I put all the ups, downs and twists in it and get to see the joy, gloom, and fear on the player's faces.

Besides as a player I can find myself thinking it would have been better if he'd just done this little touch, twist or flourish, and I pick up ideas from other DM's I want to incorporate into my ideas.

I can see the advantages as a player, its much less work, and you can put more effort in making one outstanding character. But as a DM you have much more control and greater range of 'toys' to play with.

Also its really rewarding to see players enjoy a good game, and know you are responsible for it. I imagine its a bit like the kick an actor or stand-up comic gets from a live audience.

Its great when you have the players by their balls, so to speak and they are hanging on your every word... erm its a bit of a power trip at its best.

At its worst however is when you realise you have a game the next day and your up to 3 am working on it and it still looks like a series of pointless combat encounters linked by the weakest plot you've ever thought of. You know all the players are expecting you to match that last great game you had and you know what you have planned doesn't even come close.

That's responsiblity for you.

 

[Alchemist]

Raw power drives my DMing, and it would be that much better if I didn't have to cater to those pathetic players and their "fun". They don't know what fun is until they've been railroaded into it.

Seriously though, I like to be in control. I like setting up obstacles for others to knock down and plots for others to uncover. That's fun to me. But I like to play too, so I can show those upstarts how a real wizard goes to town, so to speak.

 

[roytheodd]

I've been a player less than a dozen times in the past twenty years (all the time I've been gaming). I like making maps, exercising my creativity, finding ways to improve, never aching to game because there's no DM, etc. Lots and lots of reasons - a true labor of love.

 

[Crothian]

I perfer DMing and boy do I miss it. The last two games I ran were both short and I don't think they worled as well as they could have. Both were mosern games, and that is not my forte as a DM. So, aside from 7 weeks of short lived modern games, I really haven't DMed in over a year.

The attraction for me is blending different things into a complex story. Then having the PCs be able to enjoy that.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I prefer being a DM.

I'm told that I'm pretty good at it, and most everyone else's DM'ing style drives me batty. When I'm playing my character's are never as cool as I want them to be, and almost nothing ever works out for me

I wonder when I lost the last remaining bit of my attention span?

 

[Redleg06]

I usually DM, but I happen to game with some good DMs so in that I am rather fortunate.

But one of the down-sides of RPGs is that a group is only as good as it's weakest link so to speak. It only takes one guy (or gal) to blow it for everyone.

I'm sure we've all been there!

 

[GrayIguana]

Must be DM

I preferr to DM. I get to be a story teller, and I run a world that I created. I get a kick out of setting up the initial events and seeing how the story unfolds. I also enjoy getting to play several different kind of NPCs.

I love seeing my players enjoy what I have put together. And I assume that they keep coming back for something other than to humor me. I've also overheard someone say I'm really good at keeping a plot going. So yes, it feeds my ego a bit.

I've also noticed that I enjoy games the most when I have created them or added my own twists to the adventure.

 

[AMG]

I love DMing! I don't play as a PC at all. I get to play dozens and dozens of NPC's.

I enjoy building (drawing) the dungeons, creating the lands, inventing new monsters and spells etc. In fact just before I typed this, I was drawing up a new realm. For me the fun keeps going long after the game ends.