The 5+ Styles of DMing: Contrasted/Compared/Mocked

[MerricB]

Were they stacked like cordwood?

I was just following the rules!

I rolled up a 10' x 10' room on the random dungeon generator. It was on the 2nd level of the dungeon, so I rolled on that monster table, and got told to go to the first level table and double the number of monsters. So I did.



No, I've never actually done that. I have done the following, though:

Newbie: You arrive at the Keep on the Borderlands. Stableboys appear and take your horses away to area 3.
Player: But we don't have any horses!
Newbie: But it says they take your horses away to area 3.
Player: Is that like Area 51?
Newbie: I don't know! **wails**

Well, not quite like that. But something similar.

Cheers!

 

[Emiricol]

I used to be a planner, but over the years became more and more winger. Now I almost entirely wing it. But I never lack for a name of NPC

 

[Woas]

Someone should write up a DungeonMaster Personality Test to take on the net like the alignment test one WotC has.

 

[tonym]

...Stableboys appear and take your horses away to area 3....

Haha, MerricB.

I'm happy to see a "Killer DM" such as yourself indulging in some friendly abuse-the-DM humor. When all the abused D&D Players of the world rise up, cast off their chains and judo-flip their cruel DMs into the Pit of Repentance, you will be spared.

RangerWickett, yes, I'm the guy who does the Zogonia strip in Dragon Magazine. I don't have much of a website--to answer your question; just a simple page at zogonia.com. It's there to remind me that if I ever have the urge to sell a Zogonia mousepad, I have a place to put my ad.

* * *

Here's another DM comparison/contrast, regarding a chest:

PLANNER : You open the chest and find a long sword with an iron skull at the end of the pommel. The skull is painted red, with white eye sockets. Three orcish runes have been scratched into the blade: the symbols for sleep, fear, and darkness. Also on the bottom of the chest is a small pile of silver coins and a wooden cup.

WINGER: You open the chest. It’s....um......empty.

SADIST: WHAT?! You opened the chest???!! Too late, you already said you did it.

RAILROADER: As you approach the chest, it opens of its own accord.

NEWBIE: You open the mithril chest. Inside is an AT-AT, like those from “The Empire Strikes Back,” only you don’t know to call it that. It’s small, about 10 inches long. You also see a Command Word written on a scrap of paper...

 

[Quicken]

Every DM should take a level in newbie and a level in sadist. It keeps the players on their toes.

When I DM I'm definetly planner more than winger. But mostly I just like to creat e the world the players are in, a few of the key allies and enemies and then just see how it all pans out. I might map out a dungeon or predefine how many guards are at the gates. But too much planning is always wasted.

I've mapped out dungeon's before that the whole party has walked past. At the same time I've winged an encounter on a rainy night that turned out on of the spookiest events in the whole campaign and actually made sense with nearby events.

I've played under a DM who was a pure planner. That made for a very railroaded campaign but since everyone was playing disgustingly lawful good types it worked. I've had a DM who was a pure winger that was generally fun but too hard to do any planning on my end as a player. And a DM that was too keen to hand out magic items and enemies far too difficult only to fudge the results to avoid TPK.

 

[Caspian Moon Prince]

RangerWickett, yes, I'm the guy who does the Zogonia strip in Dragon Magazine. I don't have much of a website--to answer your question; just a simple page at zogonia.com. It's there to remind me that if I ever have the urge to sell a Zogonia mousepad, I have a place to put my ad.

I'm with RangerWickett here..your strip is hilarious. I haven't been able to read it in a while(I let my Dragon membership go). I believe the last strip was with the lich and kev turned into a frog.

 

[Loki_wolf]

I think after reading all those posts, I could be classified as a:

Planner/Winger/Sadist/Director GM.

what can I say? it's so much fun going into loads of detail creating a story that will ultimately torture, errr challenge, the PCs. of course, you have to be flexible enough to handle any changes the PCs WILL come up with to your well laid plans.

 

[Dark Jezter]

 

[Piratecat]

RangerWickett, yes, I'm the guy who does the Zogonia strip in Dragon Magazine.

You totally rock. That strip is good stuff.

 

[MerricB]

Haha, MerricB.

I'm happy to see a "Killer DM" such as yourself indulging in some friendly abuse-the-DM humor. When all the abused D&D Players of the world rise up, cast off their chains and judo-flip their cruel DMs into the Pit of Repentance, you will be spared.

Thank you, Tony.

I like your mushroom.

I've spent a lot of my time in gaming as the DM, and there are quite a few stories I can tell against myself. They should be told as well, because people can learn from them WHAT NOT TO DO!

Cheers!