I think we need a new DM

[Yair]

Sounds like you want to DM, and aren't particularly enjoying his game. Compete. Set up your own game that you DM, and try to make it so you will play in his game and DM yours, and the other players could join your game without letting go of his too. Perhaps have the game less frequently or soemthing. If your game is better, his game will improve too, or it will felter out.

And this is why you fail.

You do realize the reason he's telling you to look in the cabin is because in his plot it says for you to look in the cabin. Give up the plot, it isn't yours to create. Set up a scenario and watch and as you and the players create one together.

And this is why I hate generalized advice.

You do realize coming up with a plot is a perfectly fine way of DMing? A roleplaying game is a shared social enterprise, so the degree of railroading and who sets the plot depends on the group dynamics. For most groups, I suspect, the DM certainly sets the plot and directs the PCs towards it with not-so-gentle clues. Generally the plot remains the same regardless of their choices, but the details vary. So the PCs might circumvent the horrid wastelands by renting a pirate's boat, but they are still seeking the Golden Chalice hidden in the forest's heart beyond the wastelands, and a capable DM would probably just dress up the encounters and subplots he has set up for the desert with maritime adventures along the same lines (it's easier to adapt then to invent something wholecloth). My players even occasionally ask me out-of-character which directions or decisions I prefer them to make - they want me to have fun too, and don't want to burden me with the need to invent too much on the fly or see my designs go to waste; and when they go in directions I didn't expect, I often take some minutes to think things over or we call it a night so I can come up with a good adventure along these lines. We're working together so all of us will have fun.

You may not play this way. Perhaps you set no plot, just pull on the plotline threads given by your players, allowing them to expand on those they like in the way they like. That's fine, but that's not the only way to DM, or to DM well. It may not be the way he or his players want to play, and in fact it's probably not the way most groups work.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

And this is why you fail.

You do realize the reason he's telling you to look in the cabin is because in his plot it says for you to look in the cabin. Give up the plot, it isn't yours to create. Set up a scenario and watch and as you and the players create one together.

This bears repeating.

 

[Darklone]

He could lose the mullet....

Noone would recognize him anymore

 

[delericho]

So, advice? I am considering DMing myself.

Yep, do that. Your current DM sounds like he would have a lot more fun just playing, and if you're up for running a game anyway...

 

[howandwhy99]

You may not play this way. Perhaps you set no plot, just pull on the plotline threads given by your players, allowing them to expand on those they like in the way they like. That's fine, but that's not the only way to DM, or to DM well. It may not be the way he or his players want to play, and in fact it's probably not the way most groups work.

It's such a shame too. This is the sad standard DMing has become. Either the DM writes the plot or the Players submit them; it can't be seen past. It's like goal setting and decision making skills from real life are forgotten when the game starts.

This is an out-of-game problem. Get the group together. Talk with him out of game. List your grievances. See how each of you can work to make the game better. I'd stay firm on 1,2&4. No unsolicited roleplaying advice. No telling the PCs what to do. No DMPCs. No deliberate mocking the players or their characters. That's pretty typical stuff.

 

[Doug McCrae]

The problem is, he doesn't want me DMing, as I dropped the sample 5th level fighter out of the DMG on our third level party way back when. We were noobs.

What's wrong with that? CR5 is a perfectly appropriate challenge for a 3rd level party, though towards the high end of the scale. NPCs are underpowered for their CR anyway.

 

[DonTadow]

There are some people whom are just better players and some whom are better dms, your dm sounds like a player not a DM. A DM has to get some enjoyment from seeing the player's having fun. If you guys aren't having fun but the dm is having a ball then the dm has a problem. He is trying to play the game as a DM and DMs can't play the game from that perspective without sacrificing the enjoyment of the actual players.

If you try to talk to him and sthings still don't change and the other players do not think its that big a deal then you need to find a game that is more your style. Does not mean that the guy and you and the others can't still remain friends.

What got me to dm my first time was realizing that the playstyle of my current group was not what i enjoyed. I had the same problem with super duper NPCs, railroading and always having my PC punished for nothing but amusement (orc with a bunnytale that would be funny).

I realized my group ran a beer and pretzel d and d game and i wanted a more serious experience. When I tried to run my style with them, it went awful, so i had to find players whom dug that style.

If you really want a new style be prepared to be patient, it took me a year to get the game going that i wanted.

It's cool to have a plot, but be prepared to have consequences for that plot and don't force the pcs into it. I have 4 or 5 plots going in in my games, and there are times pcs opt to do nothing. That is cool, but eventually letting a necromancer raise his undead army will have bad consequences and having the evil kobold warlord become mayor will be bad.

I require my pcs to write backgrounds for each character, that way i can put parts of their background into preestablished plots and build plots around them. Players play d and d to play special pcs not everyday run of the mill guys.

 

[Gentlegamer]

"Railroading"

You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

What's wrong with that? CR5 is a perfectly appropriate challenge for a 3rd level party, though towards the high end of the scale. NPCs are underpowered for their CR anyway.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Yes, it might be a difficult encounter, depending on tactics and dice rolls but it isn't necessarily a TPK waiting to happen.

Olaf the Stout

 

[TheAuldGrump]

And this is why you fail.

You do realize the reason he's telling you to look in the cabin is because in his plot it says for you to look in the cabin. Give up the plot, it isn't yours to create. Set up a scenario and watch and as you and the players create one together.

Heh, for me plot is what the NPCs are up to, story is what the PCs do with the plot. The plot and the story don't always have a lot in common. (Day 4, Baron Middenheap sends his henchorc to the Monastery of Durance to retrieve the Plot Device. Unfortunately, the PCs chanced upon the henchorc on Day 2... need another henchorc. )

The Auld Grump