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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Phosphoros" data-source="post: 1546089" data-attributes="member: 19414">Greetings Lokishadow,I'm new here as well (second post) but I am also not new to RPGing.  I've been doing it since '81.I'm a little late to this conversation (15 pages late lol) but I wanted to share some of my experiences and comments on this, IMHO, very important topic.A friend of mine of quite a few years is a DM.  He mainly does AD&D 2ed and Alternity.  He'll play any game though except for super hero games and I've even gotten him to try that.  He's not a bad player and is a pretty decent person but he can't roleplay to save his life.  By this I mean develop a character, play the character and effect the changes that would happen to a person during such adventures/horrors/battles/etc...  It's always the same character. Shallow, whiny, total Chicken sh*t.  Unfortunately, this wouldn't be that bad if the player himself wasn't that exact character.The real problem starts when he DMs.He is the pinnacle of Killer Dungeon Master.  A real Marque de sade type of DM.  His characters are center stage and they are uber powerful.  They have all the goodies and they want to use each one on your character.I remember the last I played a AD&D campaign with him.  Me and my "team" where scouting a forested area Unexplored for Millenia (even though the village that was being attacked was only 200 feet from the edge of the forest and all the house where wood and mud types) when we where jumped by a "creation of his own mind".  It was called a Kur.  I know he didin't make this up and I remember that exact creature from a book, just don't remember what book.  Anyhow, we get attacked by 6 of these intelligent, magic using, phase shifting, 8th level creatures.  We are a party of 3rd and 4th levels.  Me being the highest at 4th.Of course these things rape the party.  I'm in single digit HPs and I land a perfect 20.  No mods, nothing.  Guess what?  It dodged.  It's base dodge he informs me +18 so it only needs to roll a 2 or higher to dodge. Of course it did.After the adventure if you could call it that, I hung around until everyone had left (I didn't want to nail him infront of the other players) I informed him that while I value his friendship it would be a cold day in hell when I let him DM me again.  This was not an isolated incident.  It was jsut the last straw.The roleplaying part of his games and many others I've played in has gone by the wayside in favor of Munchkining your character to death and hack and slash. I love hack and slash just as much as the next person but I don't want it all the time.As a DM I try to make compelling storylines, interesting plot twists, and well devloped characters.  I always make an effort to make it a challenge without trying to kill them.One thing I always say to my players before a new game, especially if they are new, is I will never put you in a situation you can not get out of.  There is always a way to get out of a situation.I also reward role playing with something that fits the mecanics of the given game.  Is my Fantasy campaign (AU) I reward with a hero point or extra experience.  I let people know it too.  They see others getting rewards for bringing the character to life they will more than likely do the same.In my Babylon 5 Campaign (before I gave up since all anyone wanted to be was a Psi-cop or Ranger) I gave creds.The last example (I know this is long, apologies if you're completely bored) is a modern day horror game I ran.  It was heavily modded.  I had basically taken the original rule book (Kult RPG) and spent several months redeveloping it.I had two player. I'm the most proud of this game as it was heavily based in role playing.  The players learned to trust me for basics as they brought their characters to life. And I must say, it was better than any game I've ever played.... ever.  The role playing was intense and fun.  At one point a main character that the PCs had dealings with and was a main DM (me) character died.  The role playing was done so well that there was tears and it was acted out to it's conclusion.  The great thing is that about 10 minutes after the session was over.  We where cracking up and ordering another pizza.  I ended up getting a friend to make me two fake Oscars and giving to them the last night of gameplay after 8 years of play.So anyhow, Lokishadow.  I know how you feel.  it's really to bad all of us Role players can't get together and have a game together.  I bet it would be great.Hopefully if the thread drifted I didn't pull it off to far.If you got this far, congratulations!Phosphoros</blockquote>

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