How do you determine a "Real Bad Dungeon Master"

[Henry]

OK, an RBDM is a "Rat Bastard Dungeon Master." This is a GOOD thing. A "Really Bad Dungeon Master" doesn't even DESERVE an acronym.

What's a bad Dungeon Master? The guy who holds up his hand and says, "THIS IS THE HAND OF PLOT, TELLING YOU THAT YOU CANNOT DO THAT ACTION." Takyris related this story, and even though this individual has a problem that I'm not denigrating, that was an example of a VERY bad DM.

Milder examples include people who run nothing but flavorless combats, people who offer no reward for great risk, and those who railroad to the point of where all you're doing is naming PCs who become bit characters in a grand forced narrative. Thankfully, I haven't run into many.

 

[carpedavid]

One of the worst DMing behaviors that I've ever seen is the "pet NPC." Usually, this NPC is at least a few levels higher than any of the characters, privy to information that the characters are not, the "leader" of the group, and unusually "lucky."

This NPC is the one that saves the day, gets the glory, takes the magical McGuffin for himself, and is the center of the story. One particularly egregious example:

In a Spycraft game, the NPC was, in fact, two levels higher than all of the characters. He was the leader and got to call the shots. The DM wanted the NPC to have a pair of Desert Eagle pistols, but couldn't afford it, based upon how much money the NPC was supposed to have.

He, therefore, gave one of the enemy NPCs, who the PCs were supposed to kill, a pair of Desert Eagles. Unfortunatly for him, one of the characters claimed the guns, once the enemy was dead. He then had the temerity to demand that the PC hand the guns over to his NPC.

 

[Jupp]

Same DM who in the same module let us eat stat boosting apples from an evil god and not telling us the additional flavor text involved that might have dissuaded us from doing so. Ten minutes later he tells us, "Oh, and Tharizdun owns your souls now." Way to go.

Priceless

 

[Shemeska]

Priceless

Indeed. The first PC to meet Tharizdun and eat the stat boosting apple came back to us munching on it and going, "Dunno who that was, but he's pretty cool! He gaze me an apple!"

So immediately all of us jump on the stat boosting apple bandwagon and munch on them with smiles on our face only to hear as an afterthought from the DM, "Oh and Tharizdun owns your souls now."

It's one of those 'Woooooaaaaaaa, you never said anything about that!' moments.

 

[Harmon]

The NPCs are more suited to the campaign then the PCs.

Buy the rule book, three hours later running a campaign- without first reading the rule book.

NPCs are more important then the PCs.

Personal feelings intrude into the game, so the disliked Player has to continually make a new character cause he's keeps getting ambushed by giants.

 

[dougmander]

Oh, so many kinds...
Here's my rogue's gallery of bad DMs, presented as archetypes culled from 25 years of play:

I'm-not-only-the-DM, I'm-also-a-Player: His NPCs are actually pet characters who never seem to fail their saves, have special powers not available to the PCs, and use the actual PCs as extras in their own epic stories, which the players have to watch passively from the sidelines. Often displays the traits of the Railroad Tycoon, too (see below)
Warning Signs: Makes disclaimer that he doesn't favor his NPC party members; never shows you their dice rolls; talks at length about what his pet characters are doing, at the expense of the PCs' screen time.

Railroad Tycoon: She has the plot already figured out, and you're just here to admire it. Please keep your hands in your pockets as this DM takes you on a no-stops tour of the pre-determined story line. Also known as Look but Don't Touch.
Warning Signs: Often tells you what your character is doing or thinking; gives strong hints for or against certain courses of action; throws extra monsters at you when you win a fight you're not "supposed to" win.

It May be an Imaginary Universe, but it's all Mine: He may be a powerless loser in real life, but when he puts up his DM's screen, he owns you, brother. Your PC will be subject to every degradation and humiliation he can think of at the hands of his super-powerful NPC villains. How many times must he achieve a TPK before you realize that your primitive dice are useless against him? Can't understand why he can't keep players interested, because after all, he presents them with such challenging scenarios.
Warning Signs: Tolerates no questioning about his judgements, even in after-session discussions

And then Everyone was rescued, by, let's say, Moe: Her campaign is not a persistant world, just persistently confusing. Whimsical does not begin to describe her breezy attitude towards continuity. You can't depend on any story element, NPC, or location to be the same from week to week; she never writes anything down, or remembers significant events from the last game session.
Warning Signs: Relies on players to recap last session; pleads "authorial license" when called to account for contradictory story elements.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Same DM who in the same module let us eat stat boosting apples from an evil god and not telling us the additional flavor text involved that might have dissuaded us from doing so. Ten minutes later he tells us, "Oh, and Tharizdun owns your souls now." Way to go.

I have encountered a DM who never reads the flavor text to the players, paraphrasing instead. This wouldn't be so bad, but he leaves stuff out of his version, then berates the players for not acting on the part he didn't mention. And doesn't believe the players when they tell him that he left it out. (He was also one of the two 'stoner DMs' that I have ever played with... Considering how many bad DMs I have encountered I am sometimes amazed that I still like the game. But I not only nurse a grudge, I raise it through childhood, send it to a good college, and arrange a proper marriage so that it can have little grudges of its own someday.)

The Auld Grump

 

[der_kluge]

I'm willing to overlook most things, but the big thing that even a DM who isn't prepared can control is the pacing. DMs who have ADHD, can't keep their focus, or who aren't engaging the players are the worst IMO.

Keep the pacing high, and keep everyone engaged, and I'll overlook most other things.

 

[GlassJaw]

Rat Bastard DMs(some consider this laudable)

I was called this last night! I was shocked to learn my players don't like to be grappled by kuo-toan monks while underwater.

The things that really get me about some DM's is not necessarily their lack of rules knowledge but their lack of wanting any kind of help in said department. Some DM's brandish the Rule 0 like a king's scepter. Rule 0 is to make the game run more smoothly, not to jam square pegs into round holes.

I also have a problem with DM's that create too many house rules, especially when combined with a lack of rules knowledge. This is a recipe for disaster.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Oh, so many kinds...
Here's my rogue's gallery of bad DMs, presented as archetypes culled from 25 years of play:

I'm-not-only-the-DM, I'm-also-a-Player: His NPCs are actually pet characters who never seem to fail their saves, have special powers not available to the PCs, and use the actual PCs as extras in their own epic stories, which the players have to watch passively from the sidelines. Often displays the traits of the Railroad Tycoon, too (see below)
Warning Signs: Makes disclaimer that he doesn't favor his NPC party members; never shows you their dice rolls; talks at length about what his pet characters are doing, at the expense of the PCs' screen time.

I have to admit to have wandered this path when I was first starting out back in 1975 or '76. When I noticed that the PCs were following his every suggestion I let him be the one to wander into a stone block trap. *WHAM!* End of problem. Though at first the players thouht that I was somehow going to let him survive... until they saw the red stain oozing through the brand new cracks in the ceiling in the room directly below his doom.

A variant is the DM who uses his or her old PCs as his or her NPCs.

Another one to watch out for is the DM who revises what happened in game if they don't like it. Not because otherwise the game is going to be tossed into the crapper, but just because they didn't like some of the consequences.

DMs who are completely clueless about the time period that they are running games in.

The Auld Grump