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<blockquote data-quote="Jer" data-source="post: 7633076" data-attributes="member: 19857">I regret that I have only one XP that I can give for this post.The power dynamic of the group at the table - including the ages of everyone involved and how everyone is related - plays into how the DM can handle the situation.&nbsp; If you don't have a handle on that dynamic, and you just follow generic DMing advice, you are as likely to make things worse as you are to fix a problem.Over the years I have DMed in a lot of different situations - I DMed a few different friend groups in junior high and high school and college.&nbsp; I've DMed for complete strangers who later became friends.&nbsp; I've DMed for complete strangers who showed up for one session and decided it wasn't for them.&nbsp; I currently DM for one group adult friends I've been gaming with for nearly 20 years and have two other groups that I DM that are pre-teen and teen kids (one that is my kid and their friends, another that is my kid and some cousins).&nbsp; The dynamics of each of these groups are different because of the personalities involved and my relationships to them.&nbsp; With the kids I can and sometimes have to play the role of the &quot;adult in the room&quot; because that's part of my job - I'm not just the DM, but I'm also the adult responsible for making sure a fight doesn't break out or that their lack of interpersonal skills doesn't have one going off in tears because their older brother said something mean to them or whatever.&nbsp; Since I'm the Dad/Uncle/Family Friend In Charge I have a level of authority that is outside of my DM role and group of responsibilities that I have to deal with in addition to the usual DMing ones.The dynamic is completely different with friends - if I start playing &quot;Dad&quot; to a group of my adult friends they would likely laugh at me, call me an old man and make some Dad jokes at my expense.&nbsp; If I had done that when we were in junior high or high school I likely would have started a fight instead of ending it.&nbsp; If I were to do it with total strangers who knows how they'd react - probably poorly and deservedly so.&nbsp; If someone were to pull something like that on me I'd react poorly too.&nbsp; I don't want to be treated like a kid by someone my own age - nobody reacts well to that.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jer, post: 7633076, member: 19857"] I regret that I have only one XP that I can give for this post. The power dynamic of the group at the table - including the ages of everyone involved and how everyone is related - plays into how the DM can handle the situation. If you don't have a handle on that dynamic, and you just follow generic DMing advice, you are as likely to make things worse as you are to fix a problem. Over the years I have DMed in a lot of different situations - I DMed a few different friend groups in junior high and high school and college. I've DMed for complete strangers who later became friends. I've DMed for complete strangers who showed up for one session and decided it wasn't for them. I currently DM for one group adult friends I've been gaming with for nearly 20 years and have two other groups that I DM that are pre-teen and teen kids (one that is my kid and their friends, another that is my kid and some cousins). The dynamics of each of these groups are different because of the personalities involved and my relationships to them. With the kids I can and sometimes have to play the role of the "adult in the room" because that's part of my job - I'm not just the DM, but I'm also the adult responsible for making sure a fight doesn't break out or that their lack of interpersonal skills doesn't have one going off in tears because their older brother said something mean to them or whatever. Since I'm the Dad/Uncle/Family Friend In Charge I have a level of authority that is outside of my DM role and group of responsibilities that I have to deal with in addition to the usual DMing ones. The dynamic is completely different with friends - if I start playing "Dad" to a group of my adult friends they would likely laugh at me, call me an old man and make some Dad jokes at my expense. If I had done that when we were in junior high or high school I likely would have started a fight instead of ending it. If I were to do it with total strangers who knows how they'd react - probably poorly and deservedly so. If someone were to pull something like that on me I'd react poorly too. I don't want to be treated like a kid by someone my own age - nobody reacts well to that. [/QUOTE]

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