Do DM's ever go on strike?

[Ovinomancer]

Never done it myself, but the GM of the game I play in did. The players, all good friends outside fo the game, started treating the seesion as something they could be late to and no one would notice. Really annoying. The DM quit in order to not be pissed off at his friends. They shaped up after 5 months, and now we play again.

 

[Altalazar]

Never - but then I've usually gamed with good friends, so it just wasn't an issue. We always managed to have fun.

 

[milotha]

Oh No, I forgot to pay my RPG union dues. Let's see. With 25 years of roleplaying and all the late fees...

 

[johnsemlak]

I periodically threaten a strike in order to pressure my players to bring bigger sized bags of potato chips. Rarely works though.

 

[PoppaGunch]

When I was running games in WotC stores I had to endure a ton of BS. So has a ton of people who run them for other stores.
And god knows I have lost my nut when someone fruitcake cheesed my sandwish (yes I am hungry right now).
My favorite strike moment (I can be melodramatic) was the night I banned Monks permanently from my games. I was so mad at the player that I stood up, said "That's it!" and without another word sat down at my TV and began playing SSX Tricky. Needless to say the 12 faces at the table looked horrified. Their was one of those silences in the room that was painful to hear (like being busted by your father in the 10th grade, stumbling in the door, with a big hicky on your neck). Not that a geek like me would know what that was like.

 

[Ashrum the Black]

Yes I have had those moments. As a matter of fact I stopped DMing my last campaign because of it. It just stopped being fun when it looked like the paladins player was set to self destruct his character for the third time. The wizards player was miffed because I wouldn't let him design his own prestige class, and when I designed three prestige classes for him he shot them each down.

Two folks dropped the game for three months so they could game with another group on two nights a week instead of just the one they were doing at the moment. They anounced that it was their last night gaming with us at the end of the night. Nice. I had spent the whole night setting up plots to revolve around their characters and weave their backgrounds as the next big story arc.

These same two also complained that I played favorites to my wifes character by setting a story around her character. Well, duh, the plan had been to do this for all the characters backgrounds and their plot points were supposed to start in earnest the next time we #$%^@ gamed, but then they took a brake for the "gaming oppotunity of a life time". Whatever that means.

So things limped along for a while longer, but when these folks came back all of this drama came back to the table. When one of them called to say they would no longer be playing with us because we didn't respect the persons abilites as a gamer is when I had finally had enough. I stopped DMing and put together a new group made up of folks that didn't drive me insane.

 

[diaglo]

Ever wanted to go on strike?

i wear my mood on my sleeve. so when i was refereeing a campaign and got to the point where i had to take a break... (it seemed like i was always the referee and never got to play my PC)... the players would know. and then one of them would volunteer to run an adventure. or we would play another game without a ref...like Car Wars or Star Fleet Battles or Freedom in the Galaxy or ...........etc....

life is too short to play crappy RPGs. and when the referee is feeling fiesty or moody... it is better to just try something new.

 

[Shallown]

I have. When My group in mass decided being rude to me by not showing up for a few games in a row. This was after a period of OOC BSing which had gotten worse. I just had it and told them Game was off. It might be back on some day and at the time I was being honest. I wasn't trying to be a jerk but I had had enough and more or less said I'm quiting the game so I can still be your friend. If I put up with it much longer you wouldn't have me as friend or GM. We worked it out and started gaming again. They know if it happens again then I won't game with them at all. I'll find or start anew group and move on. Since we have gamed together 3-4 years I would prfer this didn't happen but I prefer lots of things didn't happen and they do.

Later

 

[Rallets Artois]

SOmetimes we give our dm a hard time. if we do he rule zeros. He is running the game. may make him sound like an ass but he isnt. given the way we are all individuals in this game and teamwork revolves mostly around not harming the other player as opposed to getting together and moving forward. sometimes you need to bash a player round the head to get them to shut up. good example

we are creeping around a city trying not to be obvious. the rogue (me) spots a building that we may wish to enter I say
"im going to climb up there to see it there is an entrance at the top"
other player "Why"
"to see if there is an entrance"
"how we we get in"
"same way I will"
"but HOW will WE get in" (ok should explain these are Dorfs, fighters in plate etc)
"same way I will"
"I SAID HOW WILL WE GET IN"
ok rinse and repeat the bit abouve getting louder and Louder.
SO the DM arranges for the town guard to come and investigate the noise

mucks up our plan.

may not be relevent but if a player shouts at you drop a rock on his head

 

[Arnwyn]

Hey, it's tax day and I'm feeling ornrey. Do DM's ever go on strike for better working conditions? Have you ever wanted to tell off a
group of players, give them the finger, and walk away?

Well, I've never gone on strike, but I have (in effect) threatened it. My players are excessively lazy and won't lift a finger if they don't have to. Therefore, DMing is right out for them as they think it is "way too much work". So when a player is being a dumbass, I just have to lean over my DM screen, fix the offending dork with a steely glare, and say "If you don't like it, then somebody else can DM". This shuts them up very quickly. They are quite aware that I am a busy person, and would choose 'no gaming' over 'bad gaming' in an instant... and they are also aware that I am blessed with a waiting list of players, and thus they are expendable.

However, I'm thankful that I've only had to threaten that a couple of times over the past decade; and I'm also thankful that we have a helluva fun time at the game and that I've never burnt out, ever, in more than a decade of gaming. Woo!