D&D General How Impartial a DM Are You?

[Zardnaar]

I've been described by my players as LN DM.

Dice land where they fall RAW unless telegraphed before hand.

Very organized compared to most it seems. 3/6 players are from groups that self destructed.
My groups dont tend to do that.

I do a session 0 most of the rules are social things. Basically I filter the players. I dont tend to recruit via gamestore or Facebook anymore. No cat piss guys allowed.

Newbies get same input as established players. I dont go out of my way to kill players if it happens it happens. I dont play favorites with the wife. Shes the only fatality we've had last 7 years.

Games lightly scripted. Broadly sowing a plan but each session is reactive to what PCs do. I'll have a rough idea of overall plot, major NPCs and direction. Very sandbox after that.

 

[AlViking]

Anyone who brings snacks has me in their back pocket.

Unfortunately, I only run games online.

Doe doordash count?

Edit - ninja'd

 

[bloodtide]

I'm very impartial. I'm not on the PCs side, or a 'fan' of the PCs in anyway.

I don't care much what happens in the game, I will still make interesting game content no matter what happens.

I don't care about any "story", as the story is just what happens. And I'm willing to take a story in any direction.

Most of the time, I do let the dice roll as they may. I use plenty of Old School tables to decide a lot of things.

 

[Reynard]

So? There's nothing to be gained for sticking to the rules. No one comes over and gives you a gold star or a pat on the head for sticking to the rules. It's like playing RAW... some people may want to do it for whatever reasons they have (and that's fine for them), but it actually does not matter if they do or don't. So long as everyone is in agreement with how their game is being played... whether they follow the rules or don't is completely up to them and they can create a compelling story either way. To think one way is better than the other is purely a personal opinion.

But you didn't say that. You said following the rules was actively worse.

 

[Reynard]

I don't care much what happens in the game

I wonder if this contributes to your struggles with players.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Doe doordash count?

Mexican and Thai food preferred, but barbecue, banh mi and New York style pizza also accepted.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I like the phrasing "be a fan of the pc's" myself - which does mean doing my best to put them through an interesting story, which means making the face challenges. I do hope they succeed, but I try to run the challenge as fairly as possible. If I thumb the scale mid-battle it stops being a challenge and that takes the stakes away.

 

[Whisper-Kitten]

The Dice Gods always decide. I am just their vessel.

This is why you are the Prophet.

 

[Whisper-Kitten]

I love seeing my players enjoy the game so I am always trying to do what I can to ensure that they suceed. Obviously I am not able to do that all the times, and failure is a thing in my games. Regardless, I will try to do things to make sure that they have fun, and that might include fudging dice rolls, or lowering stats to make sure that they survive.

 

[Brotton Goodfellow]

[Note: this is tagged D&D because it is the game most associated with the "impartial GM" -- heck, they even used to call it a referee. Of course you can discuss this in relation to other RPGs.]

When you are running [whatever flavor of] D&D, how important is your impartiality to you? That is, do you try and remove your own desires for what happens, your fondness for the players or their characters, or the needs of the story from your rulings and application of the rules? Or do you curate your own partiality in ways you think makes the game better or more fun? Does it matter who you are playing with or under what circumstances (one shot, home game, con, etc...)

For my part, I wouldn't really call myself impartial. I am a fan of the PCs, and my preferences certainly show up in encounters and the way NPCs interact with the characters. However, once combat starts, I let the dice fall where they may and we roll in the open. Monsters and villains are usually out to kill the PCs, so that's how I play them. I don't know if that counts as "impartial" but I try to be fair.

You’ve more or less described how I run a table. I want there to be tension and danger, but I also want the players, who are my friends, to want to come back and play again. Balancing sessions so that it’s fair and fun is how I try to do it.