Is it harder to go from DM to character?

[fakename]

I don't find it hard to switch to beinga player at all - in fact I enjoy seeing alternate GM styles. I don't care too much about rules interpretations, but the techniques used to build atmosphere/suspense and keep things under control, differ a lot. Especially different is the amount of leeway GMs give people when it come to players adding to the detail of the world with their descriptions - some GMs can't stand this, some love it.

 

[Ferox4]

As has been said, basically we are talking about two problems and one of those has got little to with a difference between DMing or playing. A DM should know the rules and if the DM does not know the rules he should not mind a player politely pointing out what the rules are.

A much bigger problem is the feeling you would have done the plot differently and that you would have used different tactics. I try to keep my mouth shut during the game. After the game though I do discuss it with the DM. He has a right to know what type of game I like as a player and improve his skills. When I do something wrong in this regard as a DM I fully expact my players also to step forward and tell me after the game.

Right on, Madfox. I switch from DM to PC in 4-5 week intervals on a regular basis and I like the differences in DM style. I feel it keeps the game fresh and that the friendly competition between DMs promotes challenging, sensible play. If you're willing to share the immense role of DM with someone else then part of the responsibility still falls on you to provide a good game. Do this by helping one another out with rules clarifications, creature motivations, mechanics, etc.

"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's no good, and just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it don't make no sense."

 

[Shallown]

I Play in one game and run another each week and the Gm of the other game is my player so this presents some interesting crossovers.

One is we are always play threatening each other. You kill me I kill you type of stuff.

We have a funsy sort of competition for rulkes errors the other makes. Soprt of like. "Did you know..." Which is good since it is competitive but educational since we both know the rules so much better.

If I disagree with his ruling on mechanics in his game I say "Technically..." which he knows means "but the rules say you can't do that" but I try as hard as possible not to argue. I just throw it out so he knows. Sometimes he'll explain more than neccessary, like I will disagree but say it could be seen either way. And he'll keep defending his position when I see his point I just don't agree.

In my game I tend to make mistakes and all the players watch for me. Mostly technical stuff like skipping somone in initiative. Not intentional and If I do I uslaully back up if possible if Not I give them a bonus to whatever they are doiung as a "I'm sorry" but I also do this for the bad guys so the players watch out for mistakes for and against them.

We have a lot of fun and Late nights (To our wives chagrin) discussing plots in both are games. Since we are both the movers and the shakers in the games we play we can eek out new information this way without getting into wasting game time.

 

[BlackMoria]

Strange...... after reading this thread, I find myself in a distinct minority.

I have DMed for 26 years, and I have been a player off and on (more off than on) for the same amount of time.

I have absolutely no trouble taking off my 'DM hat' and putting on my 'Player hat'.

I realize that whomever is DM will have his own style and his own way of doing things. Including, different house rules, sometimes.

That is absolutely fine - I don't want 'DM - Attack of the Clones'.

Maybe my attitude comes from fact that when I am the DM, the game runs by my rules, my style of DMing and I expect not to be questioned or called to account by the players on every difference of opinion.

As a result, when I put on the Player hat, I automatically extend that level of respect to the guy on the other side of the screen. It is his world, his rules, his style of DMing.

And I don't have any problem with it. I can completely divorced myself from making conscious or unconscious comparisions with the way I run my game to the way the other DM runs his game.

Which is why I am amazed to find that in regards to the people who have posted so far on this thread, I am in a very distinct minority.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I've run into this problem a couple times, even tough i rarely DM any more, in th efirst case the DM was completely inept, he had a very basic almost non-existant grasp of the rules. A friend of mine and i were plaing a one night adventure with him and when his robots(yes, I said robots) started doing crazy stuff to beat the crap out of the players( one was spinning around real fast hitting every one, no whirlwind attack by the way, but wasn't changing faceing when it whipped around in circles. Another one grabbed a PC and did a fling piledriver for massive damage with nothing but an attack roll.) which got us poed, so we took the low road and whipped up a rules lawer frenzy, something nether of us would normally do.
In the second case the problem was no where near as sever, in my regular gruop my DM, and he freely admits it, just isn't very good with tactics and a lot of the time i wish that icould take over and kill the gruop. For the most part though he's real resptive to players help.