dm's, be honest: how often do you make mistakes?

[Mark]

At least once a game.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I voted "rarely" but after thinking about it a bit more it is probably more like "sometimes". Most of my mistakes are forgetting an attack that a monster had or something like that. For example, about 6 sessions ago the party fought Wererats. I totally forgot to try and bite the PC's to give them lycanthropy! Not really an "error" as such but close enough.

Forgetting DR, SR or Resistance X is another common thing for me to forget. In almost all cases it is in favour of the PC's so it's no big deal. If I made a mistake that resulted in a PC dying I would definitely be retconning the game to fix it (as much as I hate retconning).

Olaf the Stout

 

[The Green Adam]

Although it may seem contrary to my post in the thread, "Do you know you're a bad GM", I will happily admit to making mistakes all the time. At least once a session, though I have been known to go two or three with not but a couple of minor errors. I've also bundled things quite splendidly on a number of occasions.

Actually I embrace my mistakes - I just love'em! I've gotten some of my best and most creative ideas from my forgetting a rule or creating a minor plot inconsistency. My players never know if I planned it or not!

GM: "And so with no where else to turn, the last Wizard of Zozrath teleports from the chamber in a flash of..."

Player 1: "What?! You said the Wizards of Zozrath can't teleport. It's against their code or something."

Player 2: "I have it here in my notes from our 5th session months ago. The arcane spirit of Zozrath refuses to allow his followers to learn the magic of Teleportation because it defies his personal code of honor."

GM: <Shifts his eyes from player to player and then leans back in his chair and smiles> "So the Wizards of Zozrath don't 'port. But this one did."

Players: <Angry> Yeah! <Inquisitive> "Yeeaahh." <Stunned and excited> "Yeah! Oh man...that guy was a fake. There's still one left out there somewhere!"

GM: <Cool outside...Laughing internally> "Exactly."

AD
"Never Give Up, Never Surrender!"

 

[Mighty Halfling]

Eye Nevr mike mystaks

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

All the freakin' time.

 

[CharlesRyan]

I went with "comedy of errors" because I probably make at least several of what you call mistakes every session--but I don't think "comedy of errors" is really a good characterization.

RPG rules form a structure designed to create a certain experience. As long as that experience is created to everyone's satisfaction, who cares if every i was dotted and t crossed to perfection? The rules are a means to an end, not the end itself.

 

[cougent]

Comedy of errors

As others have said, they usually do not matter, they usually affect me more than the players (forgetting to regen the troll, dropping continued spell damage, missing special attacks, etc.), and the tend to increase throughout the night as my players volunteer to get me another cold one more often.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I'm human; I make mistakes. I don't keep track of 'em all though.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Eye Nevr mike mystaks

Meee niether. Eye am alllways korrekt in effrything I doo.

More seriously, I voted at least once a game. Whether it be forgetting regeneration, missing situational powers (that goblin could have done another 1d6 damage!) or lacking in description.

Helpfully, my players are clear that it's their problem if I miss something they were supposed to remember...

 

[Silver Moon]

Where's the option for "The DM cannot make mistakes?"

It's all fiction, stories can evolve different ways, thus, there are no mistakes. Even continuity errors can be fixed when you look for alternative explanations.