I want to be the best DM...

[weem]

...at least the best that any of my players have played with.

I have recently been looking at my connection to this game with a more critical eye, trying to determine what it is that keeps me so into it. Particularly the fact that I love DM-ing and, if required to,I would never actually "PLAY" (as a non-DM) again if it meant I could continue DM-ing. I was asking myself, "what makes you devote so much time to a game that you technically don't 'play' in yourself."

Now, of course DM-ing is rewarding in its own way - obviously for me it's more rewarding than actually playing it - so I am definately not questioning that aspect at all. I develop stories, play the part of NPC's and Monsters - all those and many more goodies that make DM-ing fun... but, there was something MORE than that. Something has me reading about other peoples games, their houserules, listening to podcasts and focusing on how to make my game better - it consumes quite a bit of my free time. Not only am I soaking in the lessons of other games, I am critiquing my own each time... what did I think went well and why... what didn't, and how am I going to fix/avoid it next time, etc.

Why was this? After all, if I stopped learning anything new about DM-ing years and years ago, I could still DM and would still be having fun with it today.

That's when it hit me... my brother told me recently that I am the best DM he had ever played with... and he has played with plenty... at which point a friend of ours said the same thing. I have not DM'd for him in years, and he has played and run many games of his own. I realized at that point that this was what was driving me... I don't just like DM-ing - I want to be a damn good one, if not the best someone has played with.

It was a very strange realization for me. I have never cared to be the best at anything. I am a web designer/developer. I do (I am told) very good work... but I have never cared at all about being good at it. I have played many video games... none of which I ever master, very few of which I ever beat. I played football in Highschool and earlier, but being the best or even winning for that matter never really mattered to me.

The fact is, there is no other activity in my life that I work so vigorously to be the best at than being the best DM, or at least as I mentioned, "the best my players have played with".

What about you DM's out there...

...is DM-ing something you strive to be very good at? The best at?

Or is it something you do for the enjoyment of it (of which there is plenty), and being considered good or the best doesn't really matter?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I always try to do my very best. At one point, when I realized I had been "phoning it in," I shut down the campaign. I was burned out, and I didn't sit behind a screen again for years.

Because if I don't do my best, the players won't be having fun either. And if its someone I've DMed for before, they'll notice my lack of prep or attention and get pissed off.

 

[Rechan]

I just want my players to enjoy themselves. I don't anticipate I'll ever be "the best". But I want to be good.

Problem is that it's almost like you DM in a vacuum; players just don't want to volunteer their opinions. You ask them, and they say "It was good". getting anything more is pulling teeth.

Also, I DM a lot for two reasons:

1) If I didn't, it feels like I'd never get to game at all. Hard to find a game! My first time really Gaming beyond a few sessions was me picking up the DM screen and saying "Let's do this" because of that frustration.

2) I've been fairly unsatisfied as a player for many DMs. Namely the campaign wasn't as engaging/enjoyable, and the DM's flaws were a little in my face. Or the campaign fell apart. So, I just try to do it Better.

 

[rexartur]

Because if I don't do my best, the players won't be having fun either.

This!!
I love games of all varieties. I have run an every Saturday game for almost the past 10 years, typically playing from 8 - 10 hours per session. Many of the players have changed, some are the same. For me, when we agree to play a session it is a social compact, and my responsibility is to provide the best framework for fun that I can. Even when not running a game I'm thinking about games and how to offer that fun while still challenging everyone, seeking other points of view and realizing that not trying some is as important as giving other approaches a shot. (I have many game philosophies revolving around great reward cannot be enjoyed without great risk, "no" is a perfectly good English word and should be used judiciously rather than discarded altogether, and that creative minds benefit from some restriction as much as complete freedom.)

The best compliments I can receive are being told the players had fun and they'll be back next week.

Except for that one guy who, after one and a half years in my game I had asked him to be a little more focused on the game instead of playing WoW on his laptop, sent me an email in which he referred to me as Hitler no less than 3 times. I hope he was exercising hyperbole at least to some extent.

It is my great hope that the digital age will eventually leave people missing something and return to seek out actual human companionship and fun.
It is my great goal to still be running games for people when that happens. Make up a character. I'll introduce you to everyone. Play as long as you want. I hope you had fun and will come back.

Z

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I want to be the very best that no one ever was...

 

[NewJeffCT]

I don't think I'll ever be what I consider a great DM, as I don't have the personality to create the colorful NPCs and great villains that, IMO, make a campaign great. Not that my bad guys aren't challenging, they just have blandly evil personalities.

However, I always try to get a little bit better over time and try to play to my strengths (preparation, encounter building, long-term plot) and downplay my weaknesses (NPC/villain flavor and thinking on my feet).

 

[Herobizkit]

I want to be the very best that no one ever was...

To catch them is my real test; to train them is my cause.

I thought the same thing when I first saw the thread title.

As for myself, I have DM'd mostly solo campaigns over the past decade with one exception (a group of three players brought together through our various jobs to enjoy my twisted d20 Urban Arcana campaign). I know what my player enjoys, what he doesn't enjoy, and we can spin some really epic stories together when we're in the zone. When we're not in the zone, however, it makes neither of us want to play at all. And we don't. For months. My d20 Urban Arcana group all moved away, so I can't relive the glory days with them.

Lately, I've just been trolling gamer blogs and EnWorld.

 

[Mark]

I want to be the best DM...

Sorry, position filled. Goodday, sir.

...at least the best that any of my players have played with.

We'll be in touch. I said, "Goodday, sir!"





The better you are at non-DMing, the better a DM you will become.

 

[Nonei]

Problem is that it's almost like you DM in a vacuum; players just don't want to volunteer their opinions. You ask them, and they say "It was good". getting anything more is pulling teeth.

I want to be a great DM too... I want each session, adventure, and campaign to be better than the last one. And the above factor is a huge hurdle. Most people don't give good feedback when asked - they may not even know what parts they liked or didn't like, or they may be unable to express why.

So I have gathered suggestions from reading threads and also from my knowledge of active listening and teaching (I am a nurse that does health teaching, I train people to my job, and also a CPR instructor), and I have come up with a little list of suggestions that help me evaluate myself.

1. The players will tell you what parts they like and don't like if you watch them: pay attention to the players' body language. Are they sitting forward for the parts that are supposed to be tense? Are they smiling and involved in the stories? Are they interacting with the NPCs? Are there any signs of boredom when there shouldn't be, like acting out (more than usual lol)?

2. Take notes as you go along in a session. In addition to basic story, include names and basic characteristics of the NPCs you made up (Joe, blacksmith, gruff, older human) so you can be consistent if they come back and want to talk to Joe the Blacksmith again.

3. After a session, write down what you think went especially well, and what you think went badly, or even just "OK" - and why. Think about what you could do differently in that situation in the future that would make it better. If you're not sure what happened, you can brainstorm: is it an ongoing problem (they never like to talk to NPCs) or was it just once? What else was happening?

For example, our last session, I had the players teleported to a location that surprised them; they didn't know the intended destination, and were unaware that an evil being they had rescued had 'adjusted' the destination. When they questioned why they were there, the (knowledgeable) NPC that met them commented "Didn't you tell the little man you were looking for a way home?"

That was OK, but it would have been even better if the NPC had said "You were supposed to arrive on the surface, I'm not sure why you're here." - so the PCs could figure it out for themselves what had happened. Which brings me up to:

4. Show, don't tell. Sometimes NPCs or documents are needed to tell the players something but if there is any possible way you can give them other sorts of clues, then do it.

For the person that said he/she plays down their weaknesses and emphasizes their strengths: that's great too, but also use the opportunities you have to practice doing them the way you want to. Liberally steal from anything and everything that sparks your imagination .

So as an extension of the original question: What do you all do to help yourself improve? How do you know what you are doing well and what you need to work on? How do you figure out what it takes to improve?

 

[Wormwood]

Two things improved my DM skills more than anything else.

1. Practice.
2. Playing under crappy DMs.