Just going along with the DM

[Tinker Gnome]

While I have been a DM for a while. When I did play I tended to go along with whatever the DM wanted for us to do. For instance to get to a place we were going to take a boat, now I had a teleportation spell, as I was playing a Wizard. I could have used it to get to the island, but I chose not to as I knew the DM probably had something fun and adventurous set up on the boat. So I decided not to bypass it and not use the spell. Are there any other players here at ENWorld that generally just go along with the DM? Cause my current batch of players do not.

 

[Telperion]

*raises a hand*

I like stories and seeing what the DM has planned for the session. If the party just by-passes everything or goes off on its own adventures we never run into anything more interesting than random encounters and on-the-fly scenes. My DM is a good storyteller, so I usually let him have his way, even though it sometimes costs me some resources I otherwise would have liked to keep...*shrugs*...well, such resources can be regained later on, and the DM is in the habit of giving us more experience when we follow "the story".

 

[fba827]

me too - i generally just go along (unless it just seems soooooooooooooo out there for the character to agree with/do)

 

[ElvishBard]

I also go along with the story because I am usually the DM, and making the other people mad when they are DM will just put me behind the screen more lol. It's annoying and rude I think when people ignore what the DM wants to do all the time and go do their own thing, and means the DM wasted time doing all the work for the other plot.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I learned a good trick from Robin's Laws...flowcharts. When I set up a story, I break it up into scenes. Then I chart out how to segue from scene 1 to scene 2, from 2 to 3, etc. I give a likely reason to get to scene 2, like "a rogue from the fight in scene 1 runs away, and the ranger will probably be able to track him to scene 2". Then I think about how my players will bugger that up. Maybe they kill everyone, maybe they capture the rogue instead of tracking him, maybe the ranger rolls a 1, etc. Then I have a couple backup plans that provide alternate routes. I try to avoid Deus Ex Machina-style routing, but rather provide big open doorways that my players can feel clever about noticing and walking through.

Perhaps the rogue they were supposed to track instead has a bunch of funny potions. A bit of gather information later, and they find that a certain alchemist makes them, the alchemist remembers the rogue, and also notes that he hangs out at the Grisly Griffon tavern, aka Scene 2. Plus they get some nifty potions out of the deal. If they don't clue into the potions, I move onto the next item on my list of backup segues, which is probably less than five items. If you break everything down into scenes and segues, it becomes easier to figure out how to provide backup segues to get between scenes. Not only that, the players don't have to feel like they're "playing along" even though they actually are.

 

[BSF]

Wow, I will be the voice of dissension here. I even DM, so I know what work a DM puts into things. In the somewhat recent past, our DM had an adventure planned that would have had us hiking through a variety of terrains. Multi-day journey to get where we were going and all that. The thing is, it was imperative that we arrive at our destination as expeditiously as possible, preferably undetected. We have access to Wind Walk, why would we hike that journey over several days when we could cover it in less than 6 hours using Wind Walk?

Since I am the one that suggested it, maybe that makes me a problem player? I don't know. What I do know is that the character would not waste time when there is a more expedient method of reaching the goal.

 

[Alhazred]

I usually go along with the DM because, like others have already said, I am usually the DM and am glad when the players go along with my plans. To make things easier on myself and my DM, I tend to play impulsive characters ready to partake of any sort of adventure which comes along. That being said, if what the DM proposes is too outrageous (or just plain stupid) I will refuse to be led. When the DM railroaded the group into seeking magical aid from the party's archnemesis for no reason other than to force an encounter, the party rebelled and threw the session into chaos.

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

For instance to get to a place we were going to take a boat, now I had a teleportation spell, as I was playing a Wizard. I could have used it to get to the island, but I chose not to as I knew the DM probably had something fun and adventurous set up on the boat. So I decided not to bypass it and not use the spell. Are there any other players here at ENWorld that generally just go along with the DM? Cause my current batch of players do not.

Huh. Weird.

Me, I try to keep the GM informed about what I'm planning to do with my character, and about the things I really enjoyed in previous sessions. I like giving the GM enough information to be able to actually make plans in advance for how to deal with what we're going to do in the game.


What makes your example seem so weird to me is that the last time we played D&D I was playing the wizard and finally got access to teleportation. I pretty much never play spellcasters, and this was the first game where we'd ever played long enough to get to the levels where teleport was actually available, so I made a big deal out of it. I made sure the GM knew that I was really looking forward to using this spell. I made sure the other players knew I had gotten this spell and was looking for places to use it. When we made in-character plans for how to get somewhere, I was laying out all kinds of teleporting strategies. Teleportation magic is cool, y'know? It lets a party jump past a bunch of tedious wilderness encounters and get right to the good part. It lets them take more downtime in an interesting city without falling behind schedule on saving the world or finding the mcguffin or whatever it is they're supposed to do before the deadline arrives.

I figured the best thing to do was to make sure that our GM wasn't ambushed by this; if the GM knows we can and WILL teleport, then all the planning and preparation will just go into making sure that there are cool, challenging, fun, and interesting things to do at the final destination, and no time will be wasted statting up a bunch of travelling encounters. No reason to try and wheedle or force the party into not teleporting to their goal if you're actually anticipating that they will teleport to their goal, right? Plus, it lets the GM try out fun stuff that can only be done with a teleporting party (really short deadlines, normally-inaccessible adventure locations, tricks and traps to foil teleporters, etc.).


And as a GM, I'd much rather have players who told me what they liked and what they were planning on doing than have players who ignored things their characters could do and just did whatever I set in front of them. Even if they were good-natured about it, it would worry me a little.

--
advance warning and collaboration seems more fun to me than 'just going along with it'
ryan

 

[dreaded_beast]

Speaking as a player and DM, the thing I enjoy most about DND is being able to do virtually anything.

I like being given options, choices, etc. I don't like the feeling of having to go a particular route all the time (railroading). Although the town captain asks us to clean out the sewers, I like the idea of saying no and going to the local dungeon to save the blacksmith's daughter instead (or just wandering out into the wilderness and looking for adventure). As a DM, I always tell my players that they are always free to do whatever they want, with the warning that if they do, just don't be surprised if my descriptions are not all that great or everything seems a bit "rushed". I want my players to have the same sense of freedom that I crave when I am a player.

That being said, I understand that always going against the DMs plans is counterproductive and frustrating. I try to work with the DM and the players in regards to the goals I want for my character and the goals they have for themselves. When I play, I don't purposefully try and do different things just because I can and I hope my players won't do the same either. Just as long as what they do is in the spirit of fun and not of disruption, it's all good for me.

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

Work with the DM? Always.

The point is that your adventurers and heroes! You want a loner, angsting, forced-into-heroism character, play vampire, you weak necked sissies! Conan spits on you!

But - the DM should always know the players abilities, and adjust for them. If they have teleport, journeys no longer have much significance. (Though I'm a great fan of the journey itself being part of the game, and the feeling that people have travelled and seen new things.)

Characters who don't bite shouldn't expect special treatment. It's like the single kid sitting out from the group so he can be noticed and given hugs.

As a DM, if you want special treatment you work for it. I expect a well thought of character history. I expect roleplaying. Then you get special treatment.

Work with your DM. He is, after all, god.