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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The mentality of being a DM
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<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 8238862" data-attributes="member: 52734"><p>I feel like my job is gamekeeper. I’m keeping track of the campaign world, the setting and the passage of time. I am the one who sets the scene before the players and then decide how the environment reacts to their presence to the best of my ability. If how something will turn in is in doubt, I reach for the dice to help determine which way things go.</p><p></p><p>The dice are a tool to neutrally determine the outcome of the character’s actions and interactions so it isn’t me unfairly choosing. However, sometimes they simply produce stupid results, and I may need to change, rethink or otherwise alter their results.</p><p></p><p>I’m not the friend of the players when I DM, but I’m not their enemy either. If I realize I’ve misconveyed information, I may provide additional clarification to rectify my mistake, or remind them of information their characters may know (often information from previous sessions).</p><p></p><p>I don’t hold back on character death - if a combat or other situation progresses to the point a character dies, sorry, but them‘s the breaks. Time to make a new one or save up the gold to find a way to bring them back if you care about them that much (most of the time, players have just moved on to a new character).</p><p></p><p>However, I’m not much of a clinical person. If during play players come up with an interesting idea or action, I’m not against changing the state of the game to inject a bit of fun into the game - whether it’s a player’s misread of two unrelated facts, a bit of untoherefore known piece of lore or something otherwise interesting, I just might add it to the game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 8238862, member: 52734"] I feel like my job is gamekeeper. I’m keeping track of the campaign world, the setting and the passage of time. I am the one who sets the scene before the players and then decide how the environment reacts to their presence to the best of my ability. If how something will turn in is in doubt, I reach for the dice to help determine which way things go. The dice are a tool to neutrally determine the outcome of the character’s actions and interactions so it isn’t me unfairly choosing. However, sometimes they simply produce stupid results, and I may need to change, rethink or otherwise alter their results. I’m not the friend of the players when I DM, but I’m not their enemy either. If I realize I’ve misconveyed information, I may provide additional clarification to rectify my mistake, or remind them of information their characters may know (often information from previous sessions). I don’t hold back on character death - if a combat or other situation progresses to the point a character dies, sorry, but them‘s the breaks. Time to make a new one or save up the gold to find a way to bring them back if you care about them that much (most of the time, players have just moved on to a new character). However, I’m not much of a clinical person. If during play players come up with an interesting idea or action, I’m not against changing the state of the game to inject a bit of fun into the game - whether it’s a player’s misread of two unrelated facts, a bit of untoherefore known piece of lore or something otherwise interesting, I just might add it to the game. [/QUOTE]
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