Does being a DM make you a better Player? Does being a player make you a better DM?

[seasong]

I play in an occasional session run by a friend of mine who also likes to GM. He has a very different style from mine - more action where I'm more drama - but he uses a lot of similar techniques in managing proper timing, escalating excitement, PC-PC interaction and so on. So while I'm playing, I spend a lot of time observing and learning.

Another advantage is that I get to watch other players faces, without distraction and without them taking cues from me as GM. When a PC is interrogating a captured gangster, and I'm the GM, I have to "be" the gangster; when I'm just another player, I can observe the player who is doing the questioning. What I really keep my eyes open for is action scenes with the GM above - I watch to see who's bored, who's excited, and what they're doing at the time of each.

The shift in perspective... It helps me keep in touch with my inner player, but that's more maintenance of my abilities as a GM than improvement. I rarely get an epiphany due to player perspective.

Does being a GM help me as a player? I dunno. I don't play enough to rate my skills at it, or analyse the results.

 

[Creamsteak]

I must say, the more DMs I play under, and the more I play altogether, the higher my skils as a DM become.

 

[tburdett]

I have spent one game session as a player in the last 5 years, and that was two weeks ago.

The first thing that I did was give the guy filling in as DM a really, really hard time about the rules, about his decisions, basically everything. I wanted him to see what it's like.

At one point I actually thought that he was going to give up and ask somebody else to DM. It was a little cruel, but he had it coming.

After the first 2 hours I dropped the rules lawyer routine and dropped into regular player mode. He told me after the game that he was a little angry at first because he was GM'ing as a favor to me, but then realized that I'd spent the last 2 years DM'ing as a favor to them. I'm hoping that he'll remember that when we switch back.

What skills have I learned by DM'ing that will help to make me a better player?

1) Planning. Never charge into battle when you can sneak in and kill them while they're sleeping. Never fight a battle that you can not win, never run from a battle that you MUST win. Never place yourself in a position where there is no possible retreat. Never insult the cleric right after the big battle and then expect him to heal you.

2) Retreat! Every combat does not always have to result in the total destruction of one side or the other. If things look bad, and then get a whole lot worse, it's time to run.

3) Acceptance. No DM is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes.

 

[hong]

I have spent one game session as a player in the last 5 years, and that was two weeks ago.

The first thing that I did was give the guy filling in as DM a really, really hard time about the rules, about his decisions, basically everything. I wanted him to see what it's like.

At one point I actually thought that he was going to give up and ask somebody else to DM. It was a little cruel, but he had it coming.

After the first 2 hours I dropped the rules lawyer routine and dropped into regular player mode. He told me after the game that he was a little angry at first because he was GM'ing as a favor to me, but then realized that I'd spent the last 2 years DM'ing as a favor to them. I'm hoping that he'll remember that when we switch back.

What skills have I learned by DM'ing that will help to make me a better player?

... how to be a vindictive dickhead?

 

[tburdett]

Typical.

 

[Kalendraf]

Presently, I'm DM'ing two different campaigns and playing in a 3rd. I find that there is much synergy between the two, but it can also lead to some problems.

First of all, being a DM means you need to know the rules pretty well...or at least that's my opinion of what a DM is supposed to know. Knowing the rules can help you as a player in the fact that you shouldn't waste the group's time asking what you can or can't do with your character. A DM needs to be able to roleplay quite a bit, and the more you DM, the stronger that should become. As a result, when you find yourself as a player, you should be able to draw on that experience to roleplay your own character that much better.

If you play, and then DM, you are likely to have a fresh picture of what you did or didn't like as a player (what was boring, what was exciting, etc) and be able to use that experience to craft better adventures. It's also possible that you may take a trick or two that the other DM used and apply it or something similar in your own campaign.

However, there are some pitfalls to avoid. First of all, when moving from DM back to player, you need to be careful not to assume the role of DM yourself. It's a very easy trap to fall into. You'll find yourself trying to be the co-DM or a rules lawyer. Also, it's important to understand that another DM may handle situations entirely differently from how you would. There isn't necessarily only 1 correct way to do things, and that can be a difficult lesson to understand.

There are fewer problems in moving from player to DM. However, it's very easy to get into a re-hash mode of what your last character just went thru if you don't spend enough work on prep'ing the adventure. For example, if you just played in a campaign where you faced lots of bugbears, you may be tempted to use bugbears yourself. That isn't necessarily a problem, unless members of that other group are players here as well, or if there is communication between them. You come across as highly unoriginal, and as a DM, that can lead to a very uninspired campaign.

 

[Caedrel]

Where do you guys find the time?

Yes, "going over to the other side" helps if you've got the self-awareness to be able to learn from the experience. If you do, it can make you a "better" DM and player, but not necessarily make you a "good" DM or player - it depends on where you start off.

I'm also a DM and don't get much chance to play - one of the big reasons is because my group gets together once a week or fortnight, and trying to run separate campaigns where I DM one and participate in another is, logistically speaking, very hard - especially when we sometimes have people who can't make a particular session.

I appreciate the situation and I'm okay with it - my only slight regret is that I won't get to try out and develop some of my own cool character concepts - I end up with a couple of 1st or 2nd level PCs who will probably never get much further, unless we have something radical happen in my group.

But again, that's okay - I'm still enjoying myself as DM and scaring my players every now again with some very cool NPC (like Lareth the Not-so-beautiful anymore - but that should really go into a campaign log somewhere )

 

[yeebarr]

Re: Where do you guys find the time?

But again, that's okay - I'm still enjoying myself as DM and scaring my players every now again with some very cool NPC (like Lareth the Not-so-beautiful anymore - but that should really go into a campaign log somewhere )

Good point Caedrel; why not start your own story hour?

 

[Dinkeldog]

Wulf and I each run one game that the other plays in. What it really helps with is providing consistency between our rulings. It also helps to keep us honest. We know a ruling that would tick us off if the other made it, so we work a better way.

Adding KidCharlemagne to Wulf's game helped a lot, too. Now we've got three minds considering rulings. I could count on one hand the number of subjects we disagree on. (Yes, sneaking vs. blindsight is one.)