Ever had a game stolen from you?

[TarionzCousin]

Obviously if your wife says "It's me or the game" you may need to cancel, but if it happens often don't be surprised if you lose players.

"May"??? Dude, pick your battles.

Unless it's her birthday, anniversary, or some special event, this is not a conversation you want to be having. If your wife says this often, counselling is your last chance.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Personally I would think that having an exam the next day is a perfectly good reason to cancel DM'ing a game. I would not want my DM to fail an exam just because he stayed up late playing D&D with me instead of getting some rest and/or studying.

Olaf the Stout

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Personally I would think that having an exam the next day is a perfectly good reason to cancel DM'ing a game. I would not want my DM to fail an exam just because he stayed up late playing D&D with me instead of getting some rest and/or studying.

Olaf the Stout

Mind you, if he knows the exam/midterm is coming up then he can give decent notice - a cancellation at the last moment is very different than telling folks 'sorry, no game next week - midterms 'n' crammin'.'

The first game that I ever ran, back in the '70s, was because we had booted the old DM. I have no doubt that he felt that the game was 'stolen' from him, even though everyone had brought up the same problem with his game, multiple times. (The DM's best friend used Charm Person, and essentially played everyone's characters, and the DM allowed him telling Charmed PCs to fail their next save vs. Charm. We booted him at the same time.)

I have also seen a game where the players just stopped coming to the game. All of them. On the same week. (Controlling Storyteller, who never gave the PCs time to spend their XP.) No collusion between players, they all decided to stop showing at the same time.

If that many players are acting out then the DM has a problem. (I have never had a game implode like that, gods grant that I don't. *Knocks wood.*)

The Auld Grump

 

[S'mon]

Weird - I would consider all those to be perfectly valid excuses.

For a GM to cancel a game? On the day?

 

[S'mon]

"May"??? Dude, pick your battles.

Unless it's her birthday, anniversary, or some special event, this is not a conversation you want to be having. If your wife says this often, counselling is your last chance.

My wife has never said this to me. Obviously I make sure not to have a game on special occasions for her - eg she's American and this year 4th July falls on a Sunday, game day, so no game that day. And I didn't get any gaming for roughly the first year after our son was born. She's still a bit grudging about letting me out of the house twice a month, but I do various things to make up for it.

 

[S'mon]

Personally I would think that having an exam the next day is a perfectly good reason to cancel DM'ing a game. I would not want my DM to fail an exam just because he stayed up late playing D&D with me instead of getting some rest and/or studying.

Olaf the Stout

My position would be that he knew or should have known he had the exam that day, he should have scheduled around it - either not scheduled a game that day, or did his revision in advance. Obviously if the game is a late night session with much beer the not-scheduling option is best.

 

[Mistwell]

S'mon, to me, gaming is not serious business. It's just a normal casual social event. Life can get in the way of such things, and as long as it does not happen habitually, and there is an understandable reason (not nearly as dire as the examples you gave), it's fine to cancel.

Take for example the exam. Sure, in an ideal world you would prepare for it well in advance, and not need extra time. But we do not live in an ideal world, and sometimes you cannot get the exam prep time in you wanted, or sometimes the prep time takes longer than you anticipated. The exam is more important than a D&D game. Of course you cancel the D&D game if you think it will hamper your exam. To put the D&D game ahead of the exam seems, to me, to be putting your priorities all wrong.

 

[Tewligan]

For a GM to cancel a game? On the day?

Yes.
- I find out that morning that a friend I haven't seen for a long time is in town for the day? Game gets canceled.
- A public transit problem is going to add a couple hours of travel to and from a game that's going to go four hours, max? Game gets canceled.
- I realize that I'm still not up to snuff on the material on tomorrow's exam, and I need another night to study? Game gets canceled.

Really, I don't see how any of these AREN'T reasonable. If I had a DM who had something like these examples come up but didn't cancel the game, I'd find that really odd.

 

[catsclaw227]

My wife has never said this to me. Obviously I make sure not to have a game on special occasions for her - eg she's American and this year 4th July falls on a Sunday, game day, so no game that day. And I didn't get any gaming for roughly the first year after our son was born. She's still a bit grudging about letting me out of the house twice a month, but I do various things to make up for it.

I work from home, so my wife and I have an agreement that I get out of the house 1/week to do something with the gang, and she can do the same. We don't always do this, but the option is always there.

We love each other very much, and our toddler is #1, but when you are around someone all day, every day, it becomes unhealthy for the relationship to not get away from each other regularly.

For people with a regular job away from home, being gone 9-10 hours a day, I can see how getting out with the guys once a week would be a problem.

</tangent>

 

[catsclaw227]

Yes.
- I find out that morning that a friend I haven't seen for a long time is in town for the day? Game gets canceled.
- A public transit problem is going to add a couple hours of travel to and from a game that's going to go four hours, max? Game gets canceled.
- I realize that I'm still not up to snuff on the material on tomorrow's exam, and I need another night to study? Game gets canceled.

Really, I don't see how any of these AREN'T reasonable. If I had a DM who had something like these examples come up but didn't cancel the game, I'd find that really odd.

I totally agree on all three points. Being a consistent, trustworthy DM is important, but when life sends you curveballs, you can't just walk away from the plate.