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

[Darkwolf445]

I hate being a player and I truly suck at making twinky/min maxed characters.

I DM almost all the time, though, and can make challenging monsters, npcs, and situations very easily.

As a player I get bored easily and find myself wanting to move the game along, but I am unable to get the group moving.

As a DM, if things get slow, I speed it up to the action. If plots fall apart, I create new paths to be explored.

I like deciding what new rules/books to use and seeing how players interact with my world.

 

[Weregrognard]

I'm there with the lot of ya. I ceded the DM seat to a player that wanted to try his hand at DMing and now I'm regretting it. I just tell myself I need to cut him some slack since he's making the same mistakes I did when I started DMing almost 17 years ago and instead focus on my own faults as a player, many of which seem similar to those others have posted above.

An maybe it is time to also reflect on my faults as a DM

 

[el-remmen]

THREAD NECROMANCY

I was hunting around in the archives and while I have not had a chance to play a PC on the regular since I first created this thread. .. I think it is still true - and something worth asking the community about again. . .

I cast Thread Necromancy five years after it dwindled away - so now I am casting it again, an additional 14 years later! I find it an interesting subject.

 

[TwoSix]

I generally think I'm a better DM than a player, as long as I stick to my wheelhouse, which is relatively short, high velocity games. My main weaknesses as a DM are impatience and an abhorrence of detailed prep, so my games tend to start well and then accelerate quickly until we end up in some high-powered climax.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Two thoughts on this:

I'm playing now with a group I've only been a DM for. It is honestly difficult to sit back and not try to facilitate! I'm also finding that I have to do a lot of sketching or other creative stuff to keep myself occupied when it's not my turn. On the other hand, I can relax and drink more!

This reminds me a lot of being a teacher. If you ever want to see a room full of very ill-behaved students, look for a classroom full of teachers! During teacher training, we are whispering to each other, passing notes, looking at our phones, interrupting, getting off topic... I feel like sometimes those who are used to being in charge really let go once someone else steps up!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I usually DM about 60% of the time. It's probably true that I'm better at the one than the other. I am a "helpful" player - in that I tend to help both the DM and the other players by trying to keep everyone engaged. I can see how it might be possible to step on a DM's toes this way, but I've never had anyone complain to my face, while I've had DMs thank me, so I think I juggle the act well enough.

But... to add a new tangent to this discussion: I have discovered since the pandemic that I am a terrible player in live online gaming. I just can't get into it. I fall asleep, I web-browse, I don't pay attention. My group has been playing by MS Teams, and I HATE EVERY SECOND of it. (I mean, it's better than NOT gaming, but still!) I'd be better at DMing those games (at least I wouldn't get distracted), but I hate it so much that I don't want to DM. My heart's just not in it.

 

[billd91]

I don’t know if I’m a better DM than player, but I’m a little more confortable as DM. I think it’s because I want to know what’s going on. Not knowing, while fun in its own way, is a bit more stressful.

 

[aco175]

I like to think that I'm a better DM than I was in 2002AD when the thread started. I would like to play more and now appreciate the DM more and would think that I would help propel the game and aid the DM more.

Think about how many tool are around now compared to 2002. The amount of information on the internet and sites with help are increasing. The 3pp sites and companies with maps and such. The campaign help and things that help the player. I hope things have not plateaued out.

 

[J.Quondam]

Used to be, I was a better DM, I think because inhabiting a single character for the long haul is not terribly interesting to me. And similar to TwoSix, I also prefer DMing shorter campaigns... probably because inhabiting a single setting for the long haul is not terribly interesting to me.

But in fact, I've done so little significant gaming in the last decade, that I don't really know anymore.

 

[prabe]

I know I'm a pretty good GM. I try to run games I'd enjoy being a player in, and that seems to make for games lots of people enjoy playing in.

I think I'm a pretty good player. I try to be a player I'd enjoy GMing for. I do run into problems as a player, some, because I have ... strong preferences for what I want in/from a TRPG--and though lots of people seem to enjoy those things as players (see my first paragraph) it is difficult to find a GM running that way; and I can and do get frustrated when I don't align to the game I'm playing in.