Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
GMs: What lessons have you learned from playing/other GMs?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Oryan77" data-source="post: 4209497" data-attributes="member: 18701"><p>Things I've learned to avoid:</p><p></p><p>1. Coming in with a big ego as if I own the place. I've been in the presence of a few of these kind of guys and I really didn't enjoy being looked down upon as a player. </p><p></p><p>2. Be prepared and keep all NPCs stated up before playing. I've seen guys pull crap out of their butt just so their NPC doesn't die or so they can thwart your creative thinking. If a PC casts a spell that is going to mess up my plans, my NPC won't magically have the perfect counter spell or scroll to thwart the PC unless it's on his NPC sheet.</p><p></p><p>3. Not having a real adventure ready for the players. I've played in a game where the DM kept running dull situation after dull situation that didn't benefit anything. I think I spent 5 hours of game time being told that my character is training in town, practicing & learning his powers, eating in the mess hall, & walking around town meeting neighbors. It was extremely boring & pointless. I don't think he had any kind of solid plot line for me and he expected me to explore the town and create some kind of scenario myself. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Things I learned to incorporate:</p><p></p><p>1. Describe action. Players seem to get a kick out of being told in detail about what an attack looked like other than that "you hit". </p><p></p><p>2. Describe sounds & smells rather than just visuals. I try to do this more when describing an environment.</p><p></p><p>3. Root for the PCs. I make sure that I come across as just one of the guys and that I'm rooting for their PCs (while still showing that I'm not afraid to beat on their PCs). When I've seen DMs like this, they really make the players feel like their PCs are cool. It makes it more fun to play with a guy that makes you feel like you have a cool PC rather than just you thinking your PC is cool.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oryan77, post: 4209497, member: 18701"] Things I've learned to avoid: 1. Coming in with a big ego as if I own the place. I've been in the presence of a few of these kind of guys and I really didn't enjoy being looked down upon as a player. 2. Be prepared and keep all NPCs stated up before playing. I've seen guys pull crap out of their butt just so their NPC doesn't die or so they can thwart your creative thinking. If a PC casts a spell that is going to mess up my plans, my NPC won't magically have the perfect counter spell or scroll to thwart the PC unless it's on his NPC sheet. 3. Not having a real adventure ready for the players. I've played in a game where the DM kept running dull situation after dull situation that didn't benefit anything. I think I spent 5 hours of game time being told that my character is training in town, practicing & learning his powers, eating in the mess hall, & walking around town meeting neighbors. It was extremely boring & pointless. I don't think he had any kind of solid plot line for me and he expected me to explore the town and create some kind of scenario myself. Things I learned to incorporate: 1. Describe action. Players seem to get a kick out of being told in detail about what an attack looked like other than that "you hit". 2. Describe sounds & smells rather than just visuals. I try to do this more when describing an environment. 3. Root for the PCs. I make sure that I come across as just one of the guys and that I'm rooting for their PCs (while still showing that I'm not afraid to beat on their PCs). When I've seen DMs like this, they really make the players feel like their PCs are cool. It makes it more fun to play with a guy that makes you feel like you have a cool PC rather than just you thinking your PC is cool. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
GMs: What lessons have you learned from playing/other GMs?
Top