Do you know you're a bad GM?

[Hypersmurf]

That's just mean! I wouldn't put Gary above 6.5 Rels.

Well, sure, now...

-Hyp.

 

[Arnwyn]

the more you can see what works and what doesn't for more than just a small group of people.

Of course, for some, all one needs to know is what works for "just a small group of people".

 

[The Green Adam]

Of course I know I'm a bad DM. James Wyatt told me so:
"D&D is a game about slaying horrible monsters, not a game about traipsing off through fairy rings and interacting with the little people." - "Races and Classes" (pg. 34)

I play D&D wrong.

Me too. I guess that's why I don't play it much any more. Now where did I leave my Ars Magica and Faery's Tale Deluxe books...

AD
"Never Give Up, Never Surrender!"

 

[Snoweel]

I wouldn't say I'm a "bad" DM. Bad implies evil or something.

I'd say my DMing is "poor".

 

[El Mahdi]

I wouldn't say I'm a "bad" DM. Bad implies evil or something.

I'd say my DMing is "poor".

But an Evil DM IS a Good DM.

 

[Snoweel]

Me too. I guess that's why I don't play it much any more.

There's probably more truth to this statement than you realise.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

A bad GM lets the characters do what they want.

Ever.

At all.

In any way.

 

[Halivar]

I am a sucky DM. I'm only doing it because no one else is willing to "first adopt" DM'ing in 4E. It's not that I don't like it. I do! I love stories and storytelling. I'm just bad at it.

I often hear comments like, "You know, I had more fun with tonight's session than I normally do," and "You're getting better!" Of course, this serves as proof that my players have the same opinion of my DM'ing as I do: needs improvement; drastically.

EDIT: Oh, and encounter set-up. Every single room they fight in looks the same. The players hate that to death.

 

[EricNoah]

I think I have a lot of strengths as a DM. I think in particular I'm pretty good at coming up with interesting set piece battles, and I've been improving in the area of giving my players plenty of role-playing opportunities (parties, dinners, encounters that aren't necessarily combat, etc.) and emotional moments. I think I do a good job of organically linking one adventure to the next.

Among my weaknesses: I have trouble with plots (my plots often have huge logical holes in them; I often have trouble filling in the details or making them just the right level of complexity). I don't know the PCs' stats as well as I should when designing encounters. I tend to rely heavily on spellcasting bad guys. I don't do well with the upper end of the game (levels 10+). I've gotten lazier and lazier about things like maps and NPC stats.

 

[Drakhar]

A bad GM lets the characters do what they want.

Ever.

At all.

In any way.

I can't imagine you have that many people wanting to play with you with an attitude like that. D&D is a group activity, so the group should get enjoyment out of it, not just one person.

Now back to the topic at hand. I think my problem is that I think I'm a bad DM. At least as far as the creativity part of it is concerned. Rules and stuff I can do fine, but I just can't seem to be very creative when it comes to DMing