The GM's code of Ethics? What should it include?

[just__al]

Another Thread mentioned the gm's code of ethics


What should be part of the code? I'll start...


If at all possible anything that happens during a session should be possible via the rules and within the bounds of versimilitude.

NPCs should not exist to outcool the PCs. Outrank, outwit, and outclass certainly, but never outcool...

 

[Mouseferatu]

Not to be negative from the get-go, but I can't agree with your first point. Sometimes, there's a reason for things to happen that seem impossible via the rules. It shouldn't happen arbitrarily, but the ability to occasionally bend or break the rules should always remain a tool in the DM's arsenal. A good DM knows how not to abuse it.

I do fully agree with your second point, though.

 

[just__al]

Not to be negative from the get-go, but I can't agree with your first point. Sometimes, there's a reason for things to happen that seem impossible via the rules. It shouldn't happen arbitrarily, but the ability to occasionally bend or break the rules should always remain a tool in the DM's arsenal. A good DM knows how not to abuse it.

I do fully agree with your second point, though.

I did say "if at all possible"

 

[Mouseferatu]

I did say "if at all possible"

Heh. Guess you did. That's what I get for skimming.

 

[Merkuri]

To know the wants of one's players, and to make a reasonable effort to make sure that everyone at the table (including the DM) is having fun.

To be fair, but firm, while not interfering with the above rule.

To recognize one's players are human, and to understand they will make mistakes.

To understand that one's self is human, and to admit the possibility that one may be wrong.

To know, to the best of one's abilities, the rules of the game one is playing. If the rules cannot be memorized, at least be able to look them up quickly.

 

[SpiderMonkey]

Thou shalt not bend the rules of reality (see preceeding verisimilitude comments) to smash the party into your pre-conceived plot.

Thou shalt not play the "screw the players over via lack of specificity" semantics game.

 

[cybertalus]

Well for starters off the top of my head:

• Be fair.
  
• Don't play favorites among the players or characters.
  
• Don't have fun at the expense of the players' fun.
  
• Don't let the players have fun at the expense of your or the other players' fun.
  
• Don't use the game to work through your personal traumas.
  
• If everyone is having fun, you're doing it correctly. Keep it up, no matter how loudly someone outside the group tries to tell you you're having Wrong Bad Fun.

 

[Lanefan]

Ethics? DM's have ethics?

That said...

Well for starters off the top of my head:

• Be fair.
  
• Don't play favorites among the players or characters.
  
• Don't have fun at the expense of the players' fun.
  
• Don't let the players have fun at the expense of your or the other players' fun.
  
• Don't use the game to work through your personal traumas.
  
• If everyone is having fun, you're doing it correctly. Keep it up, no matter how loudly someone outside the group tries to tell you you're having Wrong Bad Fun.

Agree completely with 1,2,5, and 6. 3 and 4 are much more subjective; it's a given that some parts of the game will be more fun for each player/DM than others...the trick lies in somehow balancing it out, not always possible and almost never easy.

Lanefan

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Thou shalt not suffer a ninja to live. Or anyone wielding a katana. Or a drow, especially annoying dual-wielding 'but I'm a good Drow' ones. Or a half-dragon/half-anything.

Oh, sorry. That's part of the RBM Code of Ethics.

Keep it fun for everyone, *including yourself*. If it starts to become a chore, it'll show.
Don't allow one person to ruin the game for everyone else.
Rules are for players, not DMs, but you should strive for fairness and consistency.

 

[cybertalus]

it's a given that some parts of the game will be more fun for each player/DM than others...the trick lies in somehow balancing it out, not always possible and almost never easy.

Granted. I didn't mean every single second of every game session. That's unrealistic. On the whole, however, there should be a pretty even distribution of fun.

I could reword it so that it goes something like "Avoid any behavior which will lead your players to posting a thread on ENWorld asking if you are a bad DM." Because that was really what I was aiming at.