Take, take, and take and never DM. What do players bring to a gaming group?

[sniffles]

A some people have already pointed out, there are many things you can do to reduce the workload of the DM. Of course the DM has to let the players do it.

In a previous campaign, I would do things like prep maps of local areas (the PCs local hangout pub, my own characters's home, etc.), bringing extra minis, draft rules summary sheets for the other players, stating out minor npcs, and so on. It can really work well if the DM actually brings the characters onboard in some of the aspects of campaign creation (non-spoiler material only as to not ruin any surprises). As a player, I enjoyed games much more when I had actually helped invest work in them as opposed to just running my character.

Players can bring much more to the table than many do now as long as they AND the DM are willing.

I completely like this idea. I'm a bit concerned right now that one of my GMs is prepping a homebrew setting, and isn't asking for any player input yet. Unfortunately he tends to be a somewhat 'railroad engineer' type of GM, so I fear his homebrew is going to be all about what he likes and not about what the players enjoy. Some of that will overlap, of course, but if the GM is just there to entertain himself then he might as well play a video game.

 

[merelycompetent]

My biggest fear as a DM is losing my perspective as a player. I almost exclusively DM - real life has greatly reduced my free time, and almost all the players/DMs I know would rather play in my games than run one. Still, I manage to squeeze some play time in every few years.

When I'm a player, I try to bring food and play-tools (like a PC cheat sheet for how turning works for a player whose memory is scrambled) both to contribute to the overall fun and to show my appreciation of the DM's and other players' efforts. I also make sure to thank the DM and our host (if they're not the same person) before I leave. I try to make the DM feel appreciated for all the extra work in the way I'd like to feel appreciated.

If I have one criticism of my current group of players it's that I have to wait until 2-3 days after the session before I'll hear anything good or bad about it. And by then, I'm already halfway through planning the next one :/.

 

[rgard]

I posted this as a humor category because it's not that serious, however at the end of our gaming session last night I got to talking with my players about what it is that "they" bring to the group. Most of my players DM a few times per year or run games for the RPGA, but all of us shared what it's like to be in the DM's chair with players who never give back (aka, never DM for ANYONE else). One guy just experessed that he's had it with Living Greyhawk..I reached that point a couple years ago so I sympathized.

We all agreed (even the players who never DM) most players take and take and take and don't give back much.

If a DM burns-out, they blame the DM for not knowing how to handle rude players or they blame the DM for not knowing when to say when or blame the DM for not organizing enough games. We've seen that this is ESPECIALLY true in the RPGA or convention environment where DM's are treated like cheap whores and it only takes one blood-sucking-tick at a table to burn out a DM.

What DO players who never DM bring to our gaming groups?

jh
NOT MEANT TO BE A TROLL..FEEL FREE TO VENT

..

They bring NPCs for future campaigns! I usually get copies of the players' character sheets and file them away as NPCs for future campaigns.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I just wish they would actually read the rules before they bitch at me about how the ruling I made sucks.

Yeah. I had one of these. He lasted two sessions before he was uninvited. Didn't know half ot the rules, never bothered to ask about my houserules, assumed the houserules they used were used here as well. And every time I told him how it is ruled here (which meant in many cases that I told him how it was ruled in thousands of games, because it's the RAW), acted like a spoiled brat.

 

[Airam_A_Thesius]

I've found that the DM's stoke the players fire, and in return, they do the same for the DM. Nothing gets a smile on my face like seeing my Players tremble at some monster, or scream for joy when they kick it's ass. In my opinion, if the DM takes the time to weave the players and their characters into the gameworld, the players will react by being more involved in the story. Sometimes it takes a bit of manipulating, but if you can play off the players emotions and their characters beliefs, you can make the game 'matter' just a little bit more to them.

 

[Acid_crash]

For a rant thread there's not too much ranting going on.

I shall therefore rant for me and perhaps other DMs that feel like they just don't get enough appreciation for all that they do by their players.

First, I think part of it comes down to the personalities of the individual people within the group. If the DM doesn't stress up front how the game is going to work, or doesn't have a conversation with the players on how he opperates his games, or if the group should bring money and together figure out the food and snacks, or if each person should just bring whatever they want for whomever they want... INO, if he just doesn't say much on the subject, then when he doesn't get enough support from his players and doesn't give much information on what he would like, or expect, from his players, and then nobody brings any food or nobody tells him thank you... in this situation, it's his problem and not the players.

As for personalities, there are just some people that feel like the DM should contribute everything, from the game experience to the food to the fun, and if the DM should happen to not have everything the player expects, that's a problem with the player, not the DM. Some people are willing to bring things, but sometimes they have no money (or, more likely, they have the money but would rather spend it on another video game than 5 bucks for the groups benefit)...

Then there are those people that don't mind contributing for the group, but when some other players realize this, it turns out that only that person who's willing is the one that brings food and snacks for others to mooch off of... and when one of the moochers is the DM, that just pisses me off (yes, this happened to me and yes I did quit that game after telling the DM to shove it up his ... well ... you know).

But, when I DM, I try to have this conversation with the group. I have it, everybody agrees to bring a few bucks, or everybody agrees that everybody should bring snacks, or something... but then one player doesn't have any money... and then the next week a different player doesn't bring anything... etc, etc.

So, I hate, as the DM when a player expects me to contribute everything. All the hard work I put into the game, the many hours I put into it, and then they still have the audacity to complain that I should have brought the food and snacks, and the maps and the miniatures and the books and the paper and the dice (yes, had a player like this)... and this person has a job, has the money, but spends it on video games but doesn't have enough money to even buy his own copy of the PHB... that just pisses me off to no end.

I love to DM, I like to play (I prefer to run the games, I am a bit controlling and it fits my multiple personality disorder I am working on ).

I hate players that give me crap for all the hard work I do. I dislike players that put all the expectations on me when they show up. I believe that players should put in some focus on their characters, and when I ask for a character background, typed if need be, and it could take maybe up to a half-hour to an hour of a person's time, I don't see the problem. Especially when I spend ten hours of prep time drawing maps, working on npcs, working on stat blocks, working on situation encounters for their characters so each character has some chance to shine in the spotlight in the adventure/session... after I do all that, the last thing I want to hear is a player whine about having to spend an extra half hour in character design by thinking of, and writing, a character background.

Some players just don't have a clue as to what us DMs go through, for them, so they and us all together can enjoy a game... some just don't care, some are clueless, some are braindead idiots that don't even deserve to play (those are the ones that always find something to complain about, no matter what is happening... and those that just sit at the table and drool out of his mouth for six hours... saw this once, I quit that game).

Whew, I ranted. Felt good.

 

[smerwin29]

I posted this as a humor category because it's not that serious, however at the end of our gaming session last night I got to talking with my players about what it is that "they" bring to the group. Most of my players DM a few times per year or run games for the RPGA, but all of us shared what it's like to be in the DM's chair with players who never give back (aka, never DM for ANYONE else). One guy just experessed that he's had it with Living Greyhawk..I reached that point a couple years ago so I sympathized.

We all agreed (even the players who never DM) most players take and take and take and don't give back much.

Much of what a player can give back during a D&D campaign is creative contribution. They can map out areas of the world, create their own NPCs for the DM to borrow, imagine the PC histories which can in turn fuel the DM's creativity.

In an RPGA game, the players are denied this avenue of contribution on a large scale. So the best you can hope for (outside of actual physical gifts) is for them to work to add to the fun of the game at hand, be courteous, and thank you at the end of the session. I have run a large amount of RPGA events since 2001, and I can almost count the BAD tables on one hand, and the bad tables are usually caused by one or two bad players.

My biggest pet peeve are the complainers. Since I also write a good number of adventures for the different RPGA campaigns, I often have the opportunity to see a large number of people interacting with the game. In fact, the following is a true story.

I was watching another table play an adventure I had co-written at a large convention a couple years back. One of the player's at the table was a notorious complainer. The players and the judge appeared to have a great time--they were laughing and joking during the lighter parts of the mod, and they were concentrating and really getting into the intense parts. They left the table smiling.

Two days later the complainer is on one of the RPGA forums complaining about the adventure. I judged the same player about 3 months later, and despite my going out of my way to tailor the adventure I was running to the style of the complainer and the complainer's tablemates, and despite them seeming to have a great time again, I did not get a thanks. Since there were no complaints on the RPGA forums two days later, I guess it was OK.

For RPGA events, especially those running at conventions, the players are actually paying for the opportunity to play, so I don't hold them to as high a standard as a home game group. But still, all players, no matter what, should be trying to contribute to the fun of the table.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

If I didn't have any players, then who else could I torture with the horrible, horrible things happening to their characters?

DANCE, MY PUPPETS, DANCE!!!

But seriously, I live for those moments of dawning horror when the players realize just how much I have screwed with their characters. And I am getting better at achieving these moments. Two examples from my current Exalted campaign:

- A character learning that she has inadvertedly given a Fair Folk noble to drain some the self-control of every inhabitant of a city with 30,000 people.

- Another character learning that the same Fair Folk noble has started a cult worshipping him (i.e., the PC) as a god (which very much went against his personal beliefs) - and upon confronted with this, the Fair Folk noble implied that two other PCs knew of all this and approved of it.


Screwing with PCs... really, you don't get that much entertainment even for money.

 

[Imruphel]

My three main players, one of whom I have been DMing for 22 years, are great. The "veteran" buys and paints miniatures for everyone and the other two always provide food (and not just junk food... real home-cokked food). Also, until I moved to Singapore, they also played at my house to save me having to carry my stuff somewhere... now we're just working out the mechanics of playing over the 'net.

Anyway, even if they did none of that, there's nothing quite like a loyal group of players who stick with your campaign.

 

[Reynard]

And last night they suprised me with a Collosal Red Dragon they all chipped in on for me as a thank you.

Tell us when you "thank" them back.