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

[Leopold]

I'm a pretty good DM and really good evil player. I went the whole munchkin route once and did a rogue/assassin dual shortsword deal and got bored quickly. as a DM i CAN go that route as many times as i want and enjoy it! I can throw out twinkies at the PC's and rejoice in their slaughter of them! Yea!!!


The tough part is finding a race/class combo i haven't been and playing that WITH weakness. Oh that gnome cleric of the Strength domain? He's only got an 8 STR and 16 Wis but a 18 CHA though! To me it's NOW up to being something and roleplaying it and saying to hell with how he fares in combat, play something interesting and amusing and just have some fun with the rules....ahh a githyanki barbarian, why the hell not!

 

[Kyramus]

it's been so long since i have been a player that I wouldn't know if I am a better player than a better DM.

I have my present players that think highly of my skills at DMing. I have that comfort at least.

 

[Jeremy]

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.

Epic game and VERY Powerful.

 

[Forrester]

Epic game and VERY Powerful.

Well, if you're playing an Epic game, then I don't think it's too powerful -- I mean, what does that weapon cost, a couple million?

Epic NPCs will, I hope, have at least mod fortification on their armor (which, bcs it protects against crits, will protect against vorpal attacks). Epic creatures -- well, they have their own ways of defending themselves .

 

[mearls]

Wow, Nemmerle. Based on the Warhammer FRP I ran I'd say you were an excellent player. You really got into the role, and I thought you did a lot to make the scenario come to life.

However, I feel the same way with respect to GMing and playing. I don't feel as into the game when I have to play. I almost always would rather DM. I like to run a wide range of characters and tend to get bored if I have the same role over and over again. When I do play, I like to go for flashy PCs with obvious, weird hooks: a gnome jester, a paranoid fighter, a power mad wizard, stuff like that. Yet, invariably those characters wear thin. OTOH, when I DM I can skip from NPC to NPC, keeping things fresh while the game moves along.

Really, I derive 90% of my enjoyment from RPGs while creating things. I like making up villains, towns, or adventures. It feels cool to come up with a very cool scene for a game and watch it play out, or keeping track of the campaign world as the players wreak havoc with the NPCs' carefully laid plans. I love looking over a campaign world and picking out all the things the characters changed: a malignant druid's grove burned down here, an orc army turned back from Dead Dog Pass there, things like that. As a player, I miss the control and options I have as DM.

 

[wolff96]

I'd have to say I'm a better DM than a player for a very simple reason: attention span.

I love creating characters. On my work computer I have a file of nothing but character ideas -- stats, characteristics, thumbnail backgrounds -- that contains nearly 150 ideas from the mundane to the bizarre.

When I run a character in a campaign, I have fun. But after a few weeks, I'm already thinking about what character I'll bring in if this one dies...

I can stick with a character, but I'm always wondering how another one of my character ideas would have panned out.

I think the real problem is that I need to be playing in about seventy different campaigns to try out all my ideas!

 

[Darrin Drader]

nemmerle, I too feel that I am a much better DM than player for most of the reasons that you posted. I tried being a player a while back and honestly it wasn't holding my attention as much as it normally does when I'm running the game. The main thing that was going on in the back of my mind the whole time was, what can I do to that the DM won't expect or be prepared for? That's great when you're presenting an adventure, but isn't the best for functioning in a group and helping the adventure to move along.

I think it comes down to the ability to be more creative as a DM. I've had players that have tried their hand at DM'ing and people were in a hurry to switch back to me in some cases. I think there's really two different modes of play and some people are noticeably better at one mode than another.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I've been running games pretty much twice a month for about 13 years now, and I've run into many of the barriers that Piratecat, Nemmerle, and Mearls have run into, as well as having the same over-compensation tendency as Forrester...

What I find is, as both player and DM, I'm not very good at utterly min-maxing a PC/NPC. Nor do I want to min/max them. I try to catch myself at any opportunity, and I'll tend to depower my own PC if I feel he's getting out of hand.

I'm very good with the rules, but I try hard not to rules-lawyer things. Luckily, in the groups I play in, short rules discussion is not frowned on (though it is kept short) and all the various DM's are comfortable with someone bringing up a rule. I actively try to NOT bring up specific rules when I play, however, in favor of aiding play.

I've found that playing the really out-there PC can be a trap. Often-times, they can be really interesting until the "twist" gets over-done or over-used, and then they get dull. Playing a PC that isn't all that outlandish on the surface allows for freedom to play more normal sorts of challenges. A PC whose quirks is hatred of Mind Flayers will get boring if Mind Flayers aren't frequently on the menu. A PC who can't keep track of his funds and always needs financial bailing out will always have some thing to roleplay.

I try hard to not monopolize the spot light. In some of my groups this is harder than others. I've always got ideas on what to do, and it's hard some time to let someone else lead.

Spending most of my first decade in the game as a player probably helped me develop that way, learning the game from the player side before taking on a big game as DM.

Mind you, my Fighter PC with the Keen Scimitar and improved crit can do 100 pts in a round too, so I'm not immune to a little twinkie-ness myself! It's not the damage; it's how many points can you put into Power Attack and still hit...

 

[barsoomcore]

I'd love to know if I was a better DM than a player. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to play in something like 15 years, so I just don't know.

I buy campaign settings and read them because I'd LOVE to play a character in one of them. Leave them out for my friends as hints.

Sigh.

 

[Dagger75]

I may get to see how I do. I may get to play in Kalamar game with a bunch of newbies. While I was working during Christmas I made 2 characters, one a half elven ranger. I read so much how half-elfs are nerfed and so are rangers, might as well play them both together. The other was a Grey Elf Wizard with and effective intelligence of 22 (spell casting prodigy, grey elf +2 int, 32 point buy for stats) at first level. Now I am geared up to playing the ranger. The wizard has possiblities. I am holding up to see what the new players will make. I told the DM I will not say anything to them on what they should play. If they ask me, I will give them advice.

I know I am not a rules lawyer in other peoples game. After years of RPGA I have learned to live other DM's rules interpratation.

My problem I see is patience. I know the rules, these new people will not. I will have to remeber that.