GM Merit Badges

[Desdichado]

My games are gonzo and can include lots of strangeness.
Huh? lol

I didn't pick that particular tag for my GMing style, but only because I don't do it necessarily, and I don't do it in the setting I've been working with lately. Some of my past games are extremely gonzo, and it was a feature (not a bug.)

For example, in one game I ran not too long ago:

1) One character got turned into a talking gorilla pirate.

2) One character got turned into Fast Times era Phoebe Cates. Before that, he was the incurable womanizer.

3) One character wielded a gigantic, gilded, magical phallus statue as a bludgeoning weapon.

4) One character--a burly low charisma half orc gal--managed to get a major NPC villain to fall head over heels in love with her and sing the lyrics to Gunther's "Ding Ding Dong Song" to here while motorboating.

5) The characters spent some time in the Lost City of Naked Amazon Hotties Who Ride Dinosaurs Into Battle.

6) One character accidentally sold his soul to a demon princess on a whim.

7) The characters inadvertently jump-started the apocalypse of their world before riding off into the sunset at the end of the campaign.

8) The characters were involved in an epic pie fight in a giant bakery, at one point.

So, gonzo can actually be quite fun. It's not my "default" mode, though. But it's one I dip into on occasion.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

[MENTION=10479]Mark CMG[/MENTION]: thanks. Must spread Xp, etc. or would.

 

[The Monster]

Not a bad idea - the icons are nicely done. Some label besides 'merit badges' would be better, since they reperesent no inherent, earned, or demonstrated merit of any kind, but labels of preference and habit.

Here's what I clicked on:
Tactics are an important part of my games. (Almost as a rule.)
My games will tell an interesting story. (If it's not an interesting story - at least to me - it's almost certainly not worth taking the time.)
My games are safe and you don't need to worry about content or character death. (These might be better to separate; for example, I'm willing to have characters die (although it rarely happens and is not a goal), but steer away from offensive content.)
I will mirror back player ideas that I think are interesting in game.
The GM is in charge in my games and rule zero is in effect.
Characters in my game are destined for greatness, not random death.

There were several others that I do sometimes, or even often, but wouldn't strictly adopt as a label:
My games use a pre-made map and pre-scripted content. (As already asked, is this intended to label railroad GMs? Because I pretty much always have some map and plot prepared, but how the players act is up to them.)
My games rely on improvisation rather than pre-scripted content. (Like I said, I always have some idea of where things are going, so this doesn't strictly apply.)
I roll dice in the open and don't fudge results. (Often, but again, I can't say nearly always.)
My game focuses on espionage and politics. (I almost clicked this one. It's hard to imagine me running a regular campaign that doesn't have espionage and politics heavily involved, but as the focus of the game? Only sometimes. And one-shots I run are frequently investigation- and combat-focused.)
My games focus on interesting characters and drama. (Like the politics one: hard to imagine running a campaign without this element, but as a focus of the game? Only sometimes.)

Not saying this isn't a bad start, but the list needs refining: separate out some things that are lumped together, clarify some things, remove some duplication/overlap. Maybe replace 'focus' with 'feature' or something - maybe it's just me, but when I see 'focus' it implies a prominence which tends to exclude anything that's not a focus (having too many foci is just a recipe for confusion). And then there are the ones which look opposed, but I can see claiming both. I play by the book and rule zero is not used to alter existing rules and I frequently tinker with the rules of the game both apply to my GM style, because I play by the book, but tinker with lots of stuff on the margins of the system, such as (in 4e) diverse kinds of minions, or free adaptation of skill-challenge rules.

Over-analyzing a whimiscal idea, I know, but that's what we do.

 

[Umbran]

Actually, Umbran, the only reason they call them merit badges was because the graphics they created kinda looked like them.

And, if they'd called them "GM Style Icons" I'd have not batted an eye. I can see a use for the basic idea in certain settings, but the implication in the name's annoying.

 

[wedgeski]

Some of your options are a bit off-putting ("My games use a pre-made map and pre-scripted content"... I have a map of the campaign and often prepare adventures in advance, but they're far from "pre-scripted"), and some would be better answered by the players than the DM ("My games will tell an interesting story." which, I note at the time of posting, has the most votes)... but otherwise, interesting poll.

I like the idea of the badges but in deference to the nerdish propensity to over-analyze the whimsical... you need to change the name.

 

[GSHamster]

Some of your options are a bit off-putting ("My games use a pre-made map and pre-scripted content"... I have a map of the campaign and often prepare adventures in advance, but they're far from "pre-scripted"),

I think that option was trying to get across a DM who mainly used published modules/adventures, but then tried to widen the scope a bit more.

 

[Desdichado]

And, if they'd called them "GM Style Icons" I'd have not batted an eye. I can see a use for the basic idea in certain settings, but the implication in the name's annoying.

Well, you can't please everyone. I'm sure they'll survive the knowledge that you've been annoyed.

 

[Desdichado]

Some of your options are a bit off-putting ("My games use a pre-made map and pre-scripted content"... I have a map of the campaign and often prepare adventures in advance, but they're far from "pre-scripted"), and some would be better answered by the players than the DM ("My games will tell an interesting story." which, I note at the time of posting, has the most votes)... but otherwise, interesting poll.

I like the idea of the badges but in deference to the nerdish propensity to over-analyze the whimsical... you need to change the name.

They're not my options... as I said, I'm posting a phenomena that's taken the RPG blogosphere by storm the last few weeks.

In any case, I find the compulsive need to over analyze the whimsical to be much more off-putting than the wording on any of the options could possible have ever managed to be.

 

[Dice4Hire]

How much can be unclear before it falls into the realm of meaninglessness?

 

[nedjer]

A few of the questions aren't great but the easy presentation of info in an amusing way is going to work well sometimes.

Especially when the GM's panel lights-up: scary, strangeness and disturbed all sat in a row