Do You Consider Yourself A Good DM -- If Yes, Why?

[Zappo]

I think I'm fairly good. The first session 10 years ago or so, all the players had great fun, and I've been striving to improve ever since. I feel I am the best DM in my group, because I am asked to DM much more often than anyone else. I have played many games at conventions or with other groups, and I have had a large number of relatively bad experiences, which makes me certain I am at least above the average. I've arrived 3rd in a DMing competition once (not bad, considering that, due to the unexpectedness of said event, between me and the five players we had two sets of dice, one pencil, three sheets of blank paper and no manuals).

I used to be able to adlib very well, though I feel I'm slowly losing that particular skill. I dunno why, it could of course be just my impression. It could be because I've grown used to a higher standard of consistancy and originality that is just too difficult to maintain when adlibbing.

Consistancy and originality are two strong points for me. I use villains, themes and characters repeatedly, because players need to have things repeated a few times before they are able to grasp the concept. Recurrent locations and NPCs give the players some stable points, and I am able to manage them in a consistant fashion, without contradictions. I am also good at inventing original stuff; I almost never borrow from books or movies, always coming up with truly new plots.

Another point in my favor is the good knowledge of the rules. I know what the rules are, but more importantly I know why they are so. This allows me to make a good guess at a rule I can't remember and be correct more often than not, and also to make consistant and fair rulings. This has been made a lot easier in 3E where, as opposed to 2E, most rules actually have a good reason to exist.

Finally, I am very good at spotting and preventing abuse. I can usually tell at a glance whether a spell or ability is broken. I have never allowed a custom made spell, item or ability to find afterwards that it was overpowered.

You want a hint in this sense? Leave something undefined. This confuses the little powergamer inside everyone.
For example, a player of mine wanted a combat drug. I had him find a herb which reproduced the exact effects of the barbarian's rage ability, save that the fatigue lasts hours instead of rounds. You'd expect him to use that at every big fight. What I did was simply telling him "That's what it does. Beware, it can give addiction". No when, how or whats about that addiction; I frankly haven't even figured them out myself. Worked like a charm, his character uses it only occasionally and is the only one using it.

 

[Mallus]

Depending on who you ask...

...wait, you're asking me. Yes definitely.

But...

I have players who want to play in my creations and enjoy them, from a little to immensely. And that's the only real criteria. So yes, in the end I think I'm a good DM. Better than good. But I also game w/people who I've never DM'ed for, and I can easily see how a lot of gamers would be uninterested and even put-off by my style.

Maybe the best thing I can say about my DM'ing skills is that I force players to my style of game and they keep coming back for more.

I don't railroad too often. But I do set events in motion {Having played so many essentially static computer RPG's, I vowed to always run living dynamic worlds where events happen all aound the PC's without their input}. My PC's have to react to my stories, if they want an adventure to particpate in. I don't care how far away from my initial conception they take them --that's part of the fun.

Wait, that's it. Despite how much I may anger my players, its with me that they create their favorite characters. They love the richly storied characters my games produce, even if getting them there isn't always fun...

Of course, my games suffer from plot-overload. My players joke than random encounters don't exist --which is kinda true. If they fight a pack of rabid squirels their first thought is "who are they working for?" followed by "we have to kill them all or they'll be back to haunt us in 3 levels.". Dungeon crawls are fun, and I run them badly. I'm sure I have more weaknesses that I'm conveniently forgetting.

 

[Desdichado]

Mallus, you raise an interesting point. I think I'm a good DM in the style of game I enjoy. I'm lousy at styles I don't like. Hack-n-slash, very high level smackdown -- I suck at all that stuff.

 

[wallshot]

double post

 

[The Sigil]

Well, I know hong will probably chime in with the "everyone thinks they're more competent than they are" article again, but I do in fact consider myself a good GM. Why? What are some of my "secrets?"

Why? In over 20 years of DMing, my players have always said they have had a good time. That's probably the #1 indicator of a good GM.

A Secret? Good players. By that I don't mean "experienced players," necessarily. Instead, I mean "players who want to use the game for the same goals you do" - in my case, that's to have fun, tell a good story, and live out some high fantasy.

Why? I make it a point to describe monsters but never name them. The proof that I'm good at it? Five months after I started my first 3e campaign, one of my newbie players (started RPGing with that first campaign group) got the MM for Christmas. The next time we gamed, he came over and flipped through the MM, pointing out Azers and Kytons and Krenshars and Mummies and Allips and told me, "that's what we fought! As I was flipping through the book, I was able to recognize the picture based only upon the verbal descriptions I got from you!"

The Secret: Never use monster names. Call them what the players call them ("Bugbears" were "ogres" for a long time IMC - until one of the PCs checked the pictures in his MM).

Why? NPCs in my world are alive - because all of them are caricatures (sp?) of people I have met IRL - and I have met thousands of people from many countries. I exaggerate accents and characteristics, but behind every one of my NPCs is a real person. That means they never lack for depth.

Another Secret: Know your gaming world inside and out. I have used the "Known World" (not the "Mystara" abortion that it later became) campaign setting since time immemorial and I know it backwards and forwards - including the tweaks I have made so that a PC can't just pick up a book and know what's going on. Corollary: It's generally better to use a world your players are NOT familiar with (so you can spring surprises on them without having to make up the surprises yourself). That's why it's generally a good idea to stay away from the Forgotten Rums (but see below).

Why? A desire to balance rules accuracy with speed of play. My PCs know in advance that we will play by the rules - and if a question comes up, I will make a ruling on the spot based on common sense and in the interest of speeding up play. I will review the ruling after the session - and announce whether it is to be upheld in the future or reversed in the future - but no matter what the ruling is, past events are not altered.

A Secret: Steal mercilessly from other sources - like the Forgotten Rums. Spells, personas, events, monsters, dungeons, all can be easily integrated into your campaign and if you change the names, the players aren't likely to even realize the difference.

Why? I listen to my players. I get constant feedback. I listen to what they want. I don't give them all of it - but I give them some of it. For example, I had a ranger that wanted a "pet" dire bear as an animal companion so that he could ride it. I told him no (he was 1st or 2nd level at the time). He continued to mention that when he got to higher levels he was going to find and train a bear. At 6th level, he decided to take the Leadership Feat. His cohort? An awakened black bear - not exactly the dire bear he was hoping for, but he quickly grew to love the black bear and soon the bear was as much a part of the ranger's persona as anything. If you give them "close" they're usually satisfied. And it makes them feel like they have a hand in the "story" rather than me just "moving them along."

A Secret: Keep your players on their toes - when you see a neat trick on the ENWorld boards, throw it at your players. Make them think! My players had to deal with a sorcerer who just kept summoning stuff to keep them at bay. They had to deal with a monk with a ring of jumping in a huge room with chandeliers (a great robin-hood-esque scene). They had to deal with three-dimensional combat while in flight. They had to deal with sundering attacks. Don't get into a game of "line up the monsters and PCs and let them whack on each other until one side falls."

A secret: Make time pass. Even if you're not one to keep track of time to the day - or even the week - make sure time seems to be passing. Have the old blacksmith get hit and crippled by a falling tree, and his apprentice take over the smithy. Maybe that family that the PCs saved from the kobolds moves to the big city. A character might receive a letter telling him that his sister has given birth to twins. Have that young lass they saved at the beginning of the campaign return a full-grown lady, seeking to thank the characters again. Make sure the characters have birthdays once in a while. Change the seasons - if it was snowing two adventures ago, make sure to mention that the gentle rains of spring are starting. Basically, keep the world changing - even though it should revolve around the characters, make sure the world always seems to be in motion. Every adventure, find one thing that either changes the PCs' world (be it a seasonal change, one of their contacts dying - to be replaced of course) or reminds them of what they have done in the past (the rescued damsel in distress returns to thank the PCs properly). Little things like this add a lot more than we generally think.

A secret: Let the PCs do the book-keeping. Assign one PC to keep a "journal" of who the PCs visit and what they do. That way, you don't have to remember that Bill is the village armorsmith. Instead, when they ask what's in the armorsmith's shop, ask them, "which one?" They'll drag out the journal and say, "hey, let's go to Bill's, he said he might have some splint mail ready for us next time we visited." It takes a while to train PCs to do this, but once you train them to do the recordkeeping and give you subtle clues (from the above, you get a reminder that the armorsmith's name is Bill and he sells heavy armor) it makes your job a lot easier.

A secret: Create an "alter-ego" party of NPCs. Give them similar (not the same) stats/equipment/feats as the PCs (and have them be the same in number). Run them through the adventures you create (or at least the traps and battles) before you run the PCs through - this will help you gauge whether or not your encounters are too easy or too deadly. This also works as an excellent way to have a "friendly competition going" - see the "final secret."

A final secret: Have an agreement with the players - you won't try to railroad them if they don't play the "beat the DM game." By this I mean that when the PCs complete one adventure, have three (at least) hooks ready, each to a different adventure. This gives the PCs a choice of what to do, without putting it on you to prepare for EVERY eventuality. Nothing sours a DM faster than players who say, "well, he obviously has prepared for X, Y, Z, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, so let's screw with him and do H and I." An agreement whereby the players will stay within the paths the GM has prepared, while the GM will always provide multiple paths for the players to choose from is a great way to help keep the game going. As the PCs choose paths, close some of the old paths and open others. Why close the old paths? Well, maybe the PCs decided to escort the crown prince from a village to the capital city rather than clear out the local goblin caves. When they return to the village, another party of adventurers has already cleaned out the goblin caves (maybe that party of "test NPCs" you have from the point above, eh?). However, because the goblins are now no longer keeping them down, the local group of dwarves has been able to trade with the village - and several of the local craftsmen are upset at the competition and are vandalizing dwarven caravans... the dwarves hire the PCs as impartial outsiders to investigate. While the caves may have "closed" there is now a "detective" option open!

More later as I think of it. ;-)

--The Sigil

 

[wallshot]

i think my stories are worthy of novels. My role-playing npc's is acceptable. Im very good at ad-hoc and on the spot gaming (i have run a game using awakend animals with only the time it took the players to make the characters for prep time). i react to players wonderfully.

my main problem is in two areas...1)i cant think of names to save my life. i can create the perfect blacksmith when the player decides to wonder off the beaten path, but i cant give him a name if my life depended on it (to solve this problem i now carry with me a list of 250 randomly generated NPC names).

2) I have a very hard time limiting what my players get. I very rarely ever (until recently) use the DMG as a guide for treasures. i like to see really kew items and weapons and, yes, even some artifacts, in-game. This has the effects of overbalancing the pc's and also cuts down on the believability of my stories.

 

[Mallus]

I think I'm a good DM in the style of game I enjoy.

Exactly. I would guess truly great DM's can run many different styles of game, like chefs who've mastered many cousines. I'm definitely not in that rank.

Perhaps I'm just a fortunate DM who found players whose tastes are similiar enough to mine...

Here's a question: Even given a gaming group w/similar tastes, to what degree to you folk intentionally confound your players in terms of style of play? You never want to give 'em exactly what they want...

 

[Ravellion]

My strong point is inworld consistency. My world never seems to shatter suspension of disbelief. This just takes a lot of time to set up and take care of though.

The way I do it is I try to think of what every important NPC would do when something changes, how it affects their agenda or motivations... you need lots of "neutral" organizations of well I have noticed, or the world seems to be too polarized and it seems less "realistic". If all organizations want is to protect the world or destroy it, it tends not to really work. But if you have organizations who strive for knowledge, for freedom of one small duchy (and couldn't care less about the global conflict) etc. etc. the PC tend to notice the overarching stuf to be overarching... Technically, this is a matter of tast, but it suits my group really well.

Oh, and I am an excellent Statmuncher who can challenge my statmunching PCs

Rav

 

[fusangite]

I've really enjoyed some of the comments. I too have a D1000 name table, for instance. I really identify with the gradual loss of ad-libbing capacity -- especially as it pertains to NPC voice generation.

I consider myself to be a great GM but a mediocre DM. Right now, I'm running D&D in order to get better at the gamemastering skills that have atrophied while I've been running rules-light, theme-heavy games. Getting back into a heavily codified system with a lot of social and scientific assumptions built into the rules has been a real challenge for me.

I consider some of the games I've run to have been brilliant but none of them have been D&D. Heavily-modified Runequest and Gamma World have been the only systems with which I've been able to really do the kind of GMing I'm good at.

Generally, I find there are two kinds of games -- fractal games and bitmap games. In fractal games, everything in the world is generated out of a single complex concept. In bitmap games, the world is inked-in bit by bit as though you're painting a watercolour. D&D is really only compatible with bitmap gaming, as far as I can tell. Thus ad-libbing, which I can easily do in fractal gaming is tough in bitmap gaming. Similarly, the plot always easily finds the characters in fractal games whereas in bitmap games, they have to find it.

Recently, I've had trouble doing voices and characterization for female NPCs; as women become more inscrutable in my own personal world, I find it difficult to run them as NPCs. Any pointeds on ad-libbing and female characterization would be greatly appreciated.

Anyway, I don't know whether I've been clear on the conceptual distinction I perceive -- or if anyone cares if I haven't.

I'm a fractal GM; as such, I'm thoroughly mediocre at running D&D. Teflon Billy on the other hand, I can personally attest, is a great DM -- and the best superhero genre GM on the face of the planet. Hopefully, he'll post.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Sigil,
Just so you know, your post has made it into my Cut & Paste for Future Reference File.
Thanks for some great ideas.

Darrin