I am a better DM than a player (THREAD-O-MANCY)

[BryonD]

I indulged my munchkin tendencies

Yeah, and isn't that GREAT!

I tend to prefer RP a bit over power gaming, but isn't a high level pick-up a great time to just forget about everything else and go at being a super powered butt kicker? You can still role play being the SPBK, but you don't have to unless you want to.

 

[Gospog]

I'm not only a bad player, when I play in our regular group, I'm downright awful!

My biggest fault is that I'm bossy. I get very frustrated when the other players won't follow my orders. Can't they see I know the RIGHT way to do all this, because I'm usually the GM?

My other big problem is that I see where the plot is going, decide, in my GM-ness where it should go, and when it does not go that way, I get pretty frustrated.

Whew! I feel a lot better now. Confession...good for the GM!

 

[Jeremy]

may none of my players read that abomination of a weapon

Could be worse, I played in a game with a keen vorpal brilliant energy scimitar +1 that kept getting greater magic weapon'd up to +5. He had reach and great cleave and improved crit and he'd just spin around in a room and all the heads and bodies would hit the floor.

Not that we weren't all powerful at that level too, INCREDIBLY powerful. But when the baddie grunts have 200 hp apiece and they are dying at a rate of 3 or 5 per round... It's impressive. And frightening.

 

[takyris]

I find my problems lying at the other end of the spectrum. I've gotten bored watching my players make all the safe, ordinary character choices, so when the opportunity comes for me to play, I haul out the most un-min-maxed character of all time, roleplay him to the hilt, and attempt to prove to the players not only that you can roleplay anything if you try hard enough, but that I can out-minmax them even with un-min-maxy characters.

They thought that my dwarven Brb3/Clr7 was underpowered right up until he used a large number of his daily spells and became a combat inferno. The fact that up until that time he'd been comic relief (a cleric of a Water God who is a) Not built for swimming and b) Five hundred miles from the nearest large body of water) was even better. One minute I'm using my wilderness lore skill to find crawdads (those four-legged, tree-dwelling crawdads with the furry tails. I think you call them "Squirrels"), and the next I've unloaded Bull's Strength, Endurance, Fly (Travel Domain), and am winging my way around the battlefield, dual-wielding a pair of Icy-Burst warhammers.

My dwarven Druid/Bard talked like Sean Connery. His badgers, Bloodfang and Mister Snuffles, were occasionally used as ranged weapons.

And Mirk Dilliwaddle, the half-orc raised by halflings, was fabulous comic relief, and the players thought he was pretty much useless until they got into a boxing match with him and discovered that a barbarian/rogue with Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Ambidexterity, Two-Weapon Fighting, and Extra Stunning can really be a bit formidable.

-Tacky

 

[Forrester]

Could be worse, I played in a game with a keen vorpal brilliant energy scimitar +1 that kept getting greater magic weapon'd up to +5.

Which immediately causes the DM in me to do some quick math . . . +4 for Brilliant Energy, +5 for Vorpal, +1 for Keen, +1 for regular enhancement . . . that's a +11 enhancement bonus! In other words, Epic, and completely illegal (or way way too expensive) under normal rules. For shame .

The thing is, brilliant energy isn't actually that good for most PCs, because it doesn't ignore natural armor. But apparently you guys face a lot of armored up foes . . . in which case it's tre cheaty.

 

[maddman75]

I got to third Piratecat and Forrester. Being a player usually just brings out the rules lawyer and power gamer in me. The first works in our group, as I know the rules better than the rest of the group put together, so when someone else DMs they look to me as rules-guy.

Power gamer, well I just can't resist . I always do it to fit the background and character though - if he's a dwarven warrior blessed by the gods to find his family's lost heirloom, then dammit he's going to *fight* like he's been blessed by the gods!

The group is terrible with tactics too, especially when it comes to spells. Ever seen a 15th level party who walked around without Continual Flame and never thought about Greater Magic Weapon? That's my group. No matter how many times they got their butts handed to them by DR creatures and darkness. Oh well .

 

[Gargoyle]

I'm a much better DM than a player, but also for different reasons. As a player I tend to hog the spotlight; being accustomed to DMing, I guess I'm used to getting all the attention. And even though I can easily offer tactical advice to the players when DMing, I sometimes make terrible tactical errors when playing, and I'm not sure why. I'm not a patient player either; a DM who runs a slow moving game really gets on my nerves and makes me want to knock him out of his chair so I can "run things right" even though the other players are having fun. I also get tired of playing just one character and tend to get interested in what all the other characters are doing.

I guess I'm just so used to DMing that it's hard to be a passenger instead of a driver, no matter how much fun it is to enjoy the scenery. Also, I think that playing the game well (that is, contributing to the party in both a tactical and in a fun roleplaying way) requires more skill than we DMs sometimes realize. It's just a different type of skill.

Good post, Nemmerle, very insightful.

 

[kkoie]

Interesting, I've never had much of a problem switching between my DM personality and my Player personality. If I do have a problem as a player, its remembering that when I create the character, I have to do it the good oldfashioned way, and actually roll up the stats, rather than just assigning them in a semi-random way. Although I do understand the bit about biting your lip about making judgement calls about rules, when you're not the DM.

 

[DDK]

I'm a horrid player. Much like the rest of you, I've DM'd mostly and have some very bad habits that I'm barely conciously aware of let alone able to break.

I not only second-guess the DM, I halt play and argue the ruling until I feel a fair and reasonable adjudication has been made.

I point out errors on the behalf of other players and dob on them for rules violations.

I tell others what they're characters SHOULD be like and how they, as people, SHOULD be playing them.

I refuse to play if things aren't satisfactory and, in many cases, have walked out on a game due to minor annoyances such as the DM GIVING away 35,000gp items at 1st level for NO good reason.

I have annoying quirks like 'only on the book' and I flip my pencil CONSTANTLY in the air, often dropping it or making it fly towards other players, or the DM's eye by sheer lack of hand/eye co-ordination.

I also make my opinion well known about everybody elses roleplaying ability, which usually is completely suckful and pathetic.

I once abused a DM for wasting four hours of my life on his piece of crud game and told him where he could put his d4.

In fact, I've never once complimented anyone on their DM'ing ability in a game that I've played in because no-one has ever come even remotely close to my lowest standard of DM'ing ability.

And the number one, worst and most despicably intolerable thing that I do, is roleplay my characters REALLY well

Now you're all probably thinking I'm an , and you're probably right, but it should also be known that, as a person, I'm devoting resources to a hobby that is supposed to be fun. My standards aren't THAT high and anyone who puts in a modicum of effort can reach them. So when someone doesn't meet my standards, I get miffed because it is a sign of disrespect, a sign that they aren't willing to go the distance. Things that peeve me off are DM's who don't know basic rules or players who have one thought running through their heads, which is, "I LIKE SWORDS!" Such people are a waste of my time and since I'll most likely die young, (probably by someone I pissed off), my time is precious

 

[Shadeus]

I'm just the opposite. I can DM, but I don't like to. The biggest problem for me is keeping the overall story arc interesting from start to finish. And inevitably I'll get bored with it and lose interest, etc.

But as a player, I enjoy the intellectual challenge of overcoming obstacles. Most of all enjoy delving into the background of my character and using their strengths to their best advantage while guarding their weaknesses.

Also on the flip side, I know the rules very well. I don't like it when DMs make mistakes on clear rules (like trip attacks or spells they haven't read very carefully). Then I get labeled as a troublemaker/rules lawyer.