D&D General What DM-skills are you bad at?

[prabe]

I suck dealing with technology. My few forays into online ttrpg have been frustrating failures as a player and a DM.

There might've been other factors, but technology was definitely a common denominator.

In the spirit @Campbell showed, suggesting a way around:

I run my games these days on Discord, using a voice channel and a text channel, and when I need to I share pictures into the text channel--including pics of a battlemat I have on the table I'm sitting at, when there's a combat. No VTT stuff.

 

[J.Quondam]

Protip: Always use High Gygaxian to describe rooms. Use a combination of really old or 25 cent words that your players likely don't understand (such as vermillion) with words you just make up (like lacofite).

The beauty of it is that no one wants to appear stupid; so they will just nod their heads as if they understand what the room looks like no matter what you are saying.

This backfires massively when that player whips out their PC's char sheet and points to "High Gygaxian" listed in the spot for Languages.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I suck dealing with technology. My few forays into online ttrpg have been frustrating failures as a player and a DM.

There might've been other factors, but technology was definitely a common denominator.

In one of my brief moments of unfortunate seriousness, I have to say that this it doesn't have to be just dealing with technology. I am perfectly capable of setting up and running games (or playing them) on the intertubez; I can use all the good computer stuff.

I just hate it. I really, really hate it. Part of the problem, for me, is that TTRPGs have always been a solace from technology. I already spend so much time at work and at home on screens and working on computers, that the idea of spending additional hours (whether it's a dedicated gaming system, or discord, or whatever) on the computer for my non-tech hobby is anathema. I can't. I won't. I refuse to.

So on the one hand, I feel you. That would be frustrating. On the other hand ... there are worse things than not using tech in D&D.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

This backfires massively when that player whips out their PC's char sheet and points to "High Gygaxian" listed in the spot for Languages.

Perhaps! But did the player know that you were not only speaking in High Gygaxian, but you were also ....

USING AN ALIGNMENT LANGUAGE???

Game.
Set.
"Alignment language is a handy game tool which is not unjustifiable in real terms."


Hear that? NOT UNJUSTIFIABLE! That's, like, almost close to justified. And everyone know that almost close to justified summons the spirit of Timothy Olyphant.

 

[Ace]

For me my biggest weakness is accents. I'm SO bad at them, that I don't even try.

What's the DMing thing you're worst at?

Prep. I rarely bother with it. Second, I basically refuse to use any tech more sophisticated a spreadsheet and rarely that. This may be because online play defeats the entire point of TTRPG, that is getting together with people.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm not super comfortable with accents either so rarely do them.

 

[el-remmen]

Edited to clarify: I am bad at thinking I am bad at any DM skill. Not being bad at anything cannot be true.

 

[Steampunkette]

Can relate. Have stammer.

high five!

Heck, yeah! Shared tribulations!

 

[S'mon]

I hate* puzzles in RPGs, so when puzzles come up in an adventure I just kinda throw my hands up. I'm always amazed when players eagerly solve what looks like an indecipherable load of rubbish to me.

*I love Skyrim with its 'puzzles' that a gerbil could solve. Just my level.

 

[David Howery]

Tracking time.

yeah, me too, was never good at it. I always had a vague idea of the time of year, but other than that... nope.

I was like uhhhhhh something about hunting a legendary alligator and like 2 of you got married to the moonshiner's daughters?

uh... wow. That's some campaign....