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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pielorinho" data-source="post: 954766" data-attributes="member: 259">It doesn't end with "too bad."  If necessary, it ends with the player and the DM parting ways, in one form or another.Although there's no perfect analogy for the DM-player relationship, some work better than others.  The DM is neither the players' servant nor the players' boss.  She's not the players' mother.  Neither is she their equal.My favorite analogy is that she's the host of a party, and the players are the guests at the party.The host has a lot of responsibility for making sure everyone has fun.  Everyone shares this responsibility, of course, but the DM has it more than everyone else.And the DM also has a little more power than everyone else.  If someone shows up to the party drunk and belligerent, the host has both right and responsibility to calm the person down or kick them out.  Another guest normally doesn't have that responsibility, and usually doesn't have that right.Similarly, if a player is being disruptive in a game, the DM has both right and responsibility to get the player to cooperate or kick the player out.  Other players don't have that right or that responsibility.Sometimes, the host might take action against a guest for lesser offenses.  Perhaps the host is throwing a costume ball, and someone shows up sans costume.  If the host really wants to keep the party's theme intact, he might offer the guest a temporary costume to wear, or he might even send the guest home.Similarly, the DM might take action against a player for lesser offenses.  Perhaps the DM is running a serious, highly political game, and someone shows up with an Int 6 barbarian named Ahnold Schwarzenegger.  If the DM really wants to keep the game's theme intact, he might tell the player to modify the PC, or he might refuse to let the player join the game.If the host is becoming a control-freak, then the guests' options are limited but effective.  They can't take over the party, and they can't dictate the conditions of the party.  But they can voice their displeasure to the host, and if the host doesn't pay attention, they can leave (and maybe throw their own party).  A party without guests isn't a party:  it's a sad sad host sitting alone in a room full of streamers, beer bottles, and inflatable sheep.If the DM is becoming a control-freak, the players have similar options.  They can't take over the game, and they can't force changes to the rules.  But they can voice their displeasure to the DM, and if she doesn't play attention, the players can leave (and maybe start a different game).  A game without players isn't a game:  it's a sad sad DM sitting alone in a room full of dice, adventures, and inflatable sheep.I think the analogy works pretty well.  The DM is, in a sense, in absolute control and with absolute responsibility; this is balanced only by the willingness of the players to put up with the DM's quirks for the sake of the DM's good times.Daniel</blockquote>

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