What's your DM Shtick?

[shilsen]

I tend to use only the Monster Manual for monsters, but will often vary the descriptions, create new monster concepts using some pre-existing mechanics, and otherwise change things around so even my very experienced players don't know what they are facing (their PCs may, due to Knowledge checks, so I reverse the "characters not knowing what players do" situation).

 

[DragonLancer]

I like using Shadow Dragons, Beholders and Carrion Crawlers.

I also seem to have my campaigns go into the Planes at teen levels and thats usually where the big climactic battle takes place.

I need a new shtick.

 

[Hussar]

I'd have to go with religion. Every homebrew I've done and most of my other games have had a strong religious theme throughout. Whether it's bringing back (or hunting down) lost gods, cults, whatever, if it's one of my games, you can bet organized religion is going to play a pretty big role.

 

[LordBOB]

i wouldnt call this a shtick more like a compramise. The players I play with seem to know the Monster Manuel like the back of their hand, so If I throw them a Balor or some harder demon they " Think " they know its weekness. I will take attackes and body parts from other demons and replace them with others that shouldnt be there. This causes confusion and my players like it.

 

[Starglim]

Dream and vision sequences. More often than not, I'll work some freaky altered consciousness episode into a game I run or adventure I write. I've done cold-sleep neural hallucinations, simple dreams when dozing on a plane, spell-induced visions, out-of-body angelic visitations when technically dead due to cold water drowning, haunting-induced hallucinations and have a major shared excursion into primal id-imagery planned for a future adventure.

 

[Kanegrundar]

There are always lots of undead. Whenever I bring a new monster book to the table, my players wonder what new unholy evil is coming their way. (Sometimes I just bring a new monster tome to freak them out and go in a different direction.) I also tend to use a lot of religious issue like salvation in my games.

Kane

 

[Arc]

I tend to start my campaigns with big, set piece adventures or battles, and then run with it from there. It's mostly a lack of planning, and it tends to backfire when I get too grandoise, too early, and have DM'd the campaign into a corner.

Lots of fun while it's happening though, so I suppose it's all good.

 

[TemplarSaint]

My campaigns have two major differences from the other two DM's I game with. First, I like to give players extra little abilities for some goal accomplished in the game (like the ability to use a spell from annother class' spell list). Second, I am much more likely to use multi-level and split-level battlegrounds when combat starts up.

One of the other DM's excels at flavor text and using terrain hazards. The third throws in a lot more traps and creates the NPC's we hate the most.

 

[Dracomeander]

While my campaigns have an overall theme and goal, the day to day tedium within the campaign is marked by the players foreshadowing their own doom. I like to incorporate the players' table banter and speculations into the upcoming encounters. Take the players' comments, twist them a bit with my own brand of deviousness and wahlah! instant encounter.

 

[DM_Matt]

From what my players say...

1. Bad guys with powers that break the standard rules
2. Baddies who manupulate the PCs to their own ends
3. Evil Children
4. World Wars
5. Evil Populist Politicians