EnWorld DM to Player ratio

[Jdvn1]

I'm a player most of the time, but because we have too many people wanting to GM. I guess we're an odd group in that regard.

I like playing and GMing both, though. I like playing because I like to work out new character concepts or replay old fun ones, maybe with a twist. I like figuring out plans.

I like GMing because I like to work out new story arcs and put new twists on old ones. I also have a setting that's pretty in-depth and has a fairly unique backstory with a fairly unique pantheon. I like figuring out plans for my bad guys and watching my players as they work through them. I also GM very different from the vast majority of GMs I've had, and I like my style. I guess I'm biased, though.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

100% player.

 

[IronWolf]

I DM most of the time and do prefer to DM. Playing on occasion is a nice break though, as there is so much less preparation than for a DM. But as DM, even with all the work it seems like I get to "play" all week long while preparing sessions, so it all works out in the end.

 

[Orius]

I usually DM, which is what I prefer. I hate to be at the receiving end of evil DMing, but I don't mind dishing it out in large heaps.

 

[shilsen]

I prefer to DM and nowadays that's what I end up doing the majority of the time. Besides my original group, which I am DMing in, I joined another group as a player. But in the last three months the DM in the latter has cancelled so many games that I've run (I usually run a one-off session when he cancels) 3 sessions to his four. And he may be leaving in a couple of months, in which case I'll probably end up DMing in this one too. It's my curse - good thing I enjoy it

 

[National Acrobat]

Can't really reply, as I love both equally, and a friend of mine in the group and I both share DMing duties for six months a year, to give us each a chance to do both.

No option here really reflects this.

 

[sjmiller]

Well, I have been running games for a myriad of systems since 1979, and I have been a player almost as long. Over the last 15 or more years I have run more game than I have played in, by a more than 10 to 1 margin. I do enjoy being a DM, but I also really love the freedom of being a player. I wish I could play more than I DM, but that is not possible for the near future.

 

[EricNoah]

I think of myself as mainly a DM, thought I think I now play as much if not more than DM nowadays. But DMing is highest priority; if I were forced to scale back, I'd drop out of the games in which I am a player before I'd drop the one I DM.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I am the DM most of the time now. It used to be split with another DM in our group, but he has said he no longer has time for it and has dropped to player only status. I prefer to both play and DM. If I only DM for too long a time, I begin to burn out. If I only play for too long a time, I get a really strong desire to DM and sometimes start to become a pain in the butt for the other DM as I offer more "suggestions" and argue more rules.

Life requires balance.

 

[Lanefan]

There needs to be a "prefer both" option for those who - like me - can be equally happy playing or DM-ing. And, the answers you're getting are most likely not peoples' permanent state; once the campaign I'm currently DM-ing has run its course, I'll most likely go back to playing only and hand the DM reins to someone else...


Lanefan