Rant: Players who don't DM

[JesterPoet]

Reading between the lines here, it sounds to me like you see DM'ing as work, and don't want to do it all the time, and want to spread that around more. If you don't like to DM, you should just stop. It's not mandatory that everyone who plays D&D has to DM.

Whoah cowboy! Nononono... I LOVE DMing. Actually, the only reason I even wanted someone other than me or Dude1 to GM is that I wanted to play at the same time as Dude1. Otherwise, the arrangement we have is just fine.

 

[Umbran]

Here's the thing, though, that still makes it a sticky issue for me. As a child I was taught that you can't claim to dislike something until you try it. These players, have not stepped up to even try.

Aside from the problem expecting other folks to live up to things that you were taught as a child...

That philosophy works well for spinach and asparagus, where a solid try takes all of two minutes. It works somewhat less well for things that take many hours over multiple days. This is a leisure activity, and if they've found a way to enjoy it, that should be enough.

Respecting the player more (or less) because of their DMing (or lack thereof) is a bit silly, IMHO. While doing both can give a person perspective, the activities and skill sets are pretty disparate. Liking to play, and doing so well, really doesn't say anything about how well you DM, and vice versa.

And, perhaps most importantly, one of the better litmus tests for DMs is whether or not the find the idea of doing so interesting and intriguing. If these folks are not interested, that probably means they'd not have a grand time DMing.

 

[Arnwyn]

It seems weird to be have a group of all reluctant DMs...

"Reluctant DMs" doesn't even describe my group - it's all "non-DMs". All 6 of my players refuse to DM because "it's too much work".

(Not that I'm really complaining, though. While I do miss playing, I'm quite happy to be a full-time DM... and in any case, if my players DMed even twice as good as they play, they'd still be abysmally horrid. )

 

[JesterPoet]

Aside from the problem expecting other folks to live up to things that you were taught as a child...

I think that was a bit more melodrama than I was prepared for with this issue. Really, my point was that it takes guts to try. Especially to try something you're not 100% comfortable with. I respect that courage a lot.

I mean, geez... it's not like I'm saying I don't want to be friends or game with these people anymore. I'm saying they could contribute more if they'd give it a shot.

Hell, I didn't want to try Karaoke. But I got up there and tried it. And you know what? I still can't stand it. But I got up there and did it. And sucked. Sucked a lot.

 

[Wombat]

I have been THE GM for my group for the past couple of years. I told the gang I needed a bit of a vacation, so three of them volunteered. The other three did not and I see no problem with that.

One point is to our game group is that we can only game every other week; if everyone acted as GM we would either have to have very short campaigns with no real development or we would have a very long time between GMs. The three guys who want to GM for a bit each have a short idea -- #1 wants to run for 4-6 sessions (Mage), #2 for 2-3 (D20 comedy), and #3 for an indeterminate period (Fuzion/Sengoku), possibly as long as 10 sessions. That means that I won't be GMing for quite some time, at which point we will move on to using Arcana Unearthed, although not in the Diamond Throne world.

As I say, we'll just see where things go

 

[Fauxargent]

Eh, what really drives me nuts is people who refuse to DM and then piss and moan about other people's DMing. And then refuse AGAIN when the entire group says "ok fine; you run, then."

Spot on.

I don't mind some players never DMing. Some of them are actually the best players that make my job as a DM easier and highly enjoyable.

 

[Desdichado]

You're mad at them because they don't want to try something and you don't want them to say that they don't like it if they haven't tried it?

What, do you game with your own children or something?

 

[JesterPoet]

I have been THE GM for my group for the past couple of years. I told the gang I needed a bit of a vacation, so three of them volunteered. The other three did not and I see no problem with that.

One point is to our game group is that we can only game every other week; if everyone acted as GM we would either have to have very short campaigns with no real development or we would have a very long time between GMs. The three guys who want to GM for a bit each have a short idea -- #1 wants to run for 4-6 sessions (Mage), #2 for 2-3 (D20 comedy), and #3 for an indeterminate period (Fuzion/Sengoku), possibly as long as 10 sessions. That means that I won't be GMing for quite some time, at which point we will move on to using Arcana Unearthed, although not in the Diamond Throne world.

As I say, we'll just see where things go

Well, this has spawned the idea for a new thread....

 

[dren]

Be careful what you wish for...A good DM usually makes for a good player. But a bad DM often makes a terrible player.

Do you really want a bad DM, who when they return to being a player doesn't stop being the bad DM. I've seen it. Players who are constantly in your face, "telling you oh the rule on pg ..." Even worse, meta-gaming statements by the player, "Oh that creature has a AC 18, I can easily hit this!" Someone people, once they learn the stats or special weaknesses of the creature never fail to take advantage of their DM knowledge.

Be considerate for what you have. A good meaningful player, who wants to be that. As long as you have at least one person willing to share duties, then you have a 50% break in the duty.

 

[JesterPoet]

Be careful what you wish for...A good DM usually makes for a good player. But a bad DM often makes a terrible player.

Do you really want a bad DM, who when they return to being a player doesn't stop being the bad DM. I've seen it. Players who are constantly in your face, "telling you oh the rule on pg ..." Even worse, meta-gaming statements by the player, "Oh that creature has a AC 18, I can easily hit this!" Someone people, once they learn the stats or special weaknesses of the creature never fail to take advantage of their DM knowledge.

Be considerate for what you have. A good meaningful player, who wants to be that. As long as you have at least one person willing to share duties, then you have a 50% break in the duty.

Now that's a REALLY good point I never thought of. Don't know if it would apply to our group or not, since we all seem to run different stuff. But it has happened in another group, and is worth being cautious of.

Hmmmm... really good point.