I DM Standing up

[Talmun]

Any one else do this?

I stand up while running combats. We play sitting around a table built for playing minitures games (SFB actually), so I have to stand to reach certian parts of to battlemat, I also find that I emote and communicate the actions of battle if I'm standing. I sit the rest of the time, though, it seems to be more comfortable for role-playing...my players don't seem to mind, at least they haven't said anything yet...

 

[Ed Cha]

I also DM standing up, but generally only during combat. It's easier to see the players' dice rolls that way. I do narrate a scene standing up sometimes, especially for convention games because of all the noise from other tables. It also helps for dramatic effect, I think. A pain on the legs though.

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

When I'm the GM, I generally stay in one place. At one friend's house, that place was the big comfy overstuffed chair in the corner, because I could perch on the back or the armrest, or sit curled up in the middle of it with my notebook on my lap. At another friend's house, I claim a pillow in front of the fireplace, so I can roll dice on the coffee table and pile books next to me. Can't GM without all the tools right there, y'know.

But when I'm just a player, I'm all over the room. I stand up, I pace, I wander into the kitchen and back, I sit or lay down on the floor with a pillow, and do all my dice rolling on the back of a book laying on the floor.

Occasionally one of our regular GMs who is in the market for a house says that he's looking forward to having a big dining room table we can game at, and he looks pointedly at me when he says it. But it won't help, and he knows it; we played around an actual table in college, and I was still the guy who kept standing up and wandering around, or turning his chair at an odd angle and sitting in it sideways, or tilting precariously back against walls.


But then, my inability to sit in a chair like a normal person has become a running joke in our group. I'm just not any good at it. If I sit the way you're supposed to, it feels awkward and really uncomfortable.

--
besides, i've done it enough at work to last me forever
ryan

 

[Galethorn]

Standing up is contrary to my height...well, ok, also to my laid-back approach to life in general. I'm the kind of guy that likes sitting around...so, I DM from a chair. We always play at a nice, high table (ever since our failed first session in a living room at a coffee table), and I frequently have lots of notes to go over, which I usually keep on my laptop. I would stand, but that would remove me from the action, so to speak.

 

[Zulgyan]

never knew what a chair is while DMing... just a place where to pile up my books I think...

 

[Maldur]

I prefer sitting, but I am lazy

I do prefere a big table for gaming, I hate those coffee table affairs.

 

[Stalker0]

I stand a lot. I feel like I can get into characters easier, it makes me more involved with it, and when I'm more involved, so are my players.

 

[RuminDange]

I'm standing while DMing about 60% of time.
During the longer combat resolution, I might sit down to take notes or look at NPC notes, but them I'm back up describing the results and moving on. The area we game is cramped (most of the apartment is), so there isn't a lot of room to move around, but I make use of it.
I also sit while doing a lot of RP one-on-one stuff or while the group is debating what to do next. I mainly listen, throw in comments from NPCs that are present or update notes and such until time to move on.

RD

 

[Ricochet]

I don't get it..

If you guys are standing up all the time, doesn't your players think it's weird?

I have ONCE been in a game where the GM was standing, and we all thought it was rather silly, and I have been in many different games over the years. Also, myself and several other players love to roleplay and get into character, but the time with the GM standing up all the time, it was hard for us, because it was somewhat intimidating and also kinda' silly.

Is it because you use minis, and can more easily move around your figs when standing, or what is it?? It seems the norm is standing up, so I would really love to "get" why this is.

 

[frankthedm]

most times i stand up during combat or when i take a player out of the room for privialed information / away from party roleplaying. During high RP situations with the entire group i sit if the negotiations are praceful or the NPC works better siting [beaurocrat, lazy, reading NPCs] but stand if the RP is in a hostile situation, if the player should be intimidated or the NPC is standing, [NPC military commander, royalty, or monster.