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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7758161" data-attributes="member: 45197"><p>Hiya!</p><p></p><p>(Didn't real the whole 10 pages...so I'll just address the title question)</p><p></p><p>DM's are busy with their own games. Kind of an obvious answer, but true. On top of that I fully blame 3.x/PF for the "downturn" of good (or hell, even mediocre) DM's due to two factors: </p><p></p><p>One was that it was just FAR too much "fiddly mechanical bits" to keep track of and make notes for (re: prep and creation). The 3.x/PF systems do NOT lend themselves to what I call "horizontal additions". The 3.x/PF systems were focused mostly on "vertical additions". Think of a "horizontal addition" type system as a sort of jig-saw puzzle. You have the base pic...but you can add bits on to the edges, or take out a couple pieces in the middle and add new ones in their place. Things are tangentially tied to each other, but nothing so much that it "breaks". Now with 3.x/PF's more "vertical additions" its more like a Jenga tower. You had a tight core rules (Class, Level, CR, d20 roll, Feats) and everything was built upon those...so you built 'upward' on top of those core things. If you wanted to add something, you added it on top of these things. Eventually, every single time IME, the "jenga tower of the d20 system" would come crashing down...unless you refused to add/change anything. This overall "upwards towards eventual failure or stagnation" was NOT a very alluring song to sing to perspective DM's.</p><p></p><p>The second was, IMHO, that the 3.x/PF game pretty much treated the DM as "just another player". Actually, it treated the DM as <em>less than</em> another player in some ways. A DM in those systems had it hammered into their brains constantly: "Your job as DM is to make sure the players have fun". This was echoed in the umpteen supplements written primarily for the Players to buy, the Players to use, and the DM to "Just say Yes". This is NOT a good way to foster solid Dungeon Mastering! When the books basically back up the Players first and only touch ever so occasionally on "Oh, but the DM may decide...", that little DM nod is mostly without teeth. DM's of 3.x/PF (new ones, who learned DM'ing from those systems), IMHO and IME, have tended towards the "mediocre" side of the batch. They may be able to run combat encounters, and may even have some cool ideas for stories and "backdrop"...but it's all hampered by their constant re-evaluating and self-depreciating take on their Players during the game. A DM may have a kick ass combat encounter he can use that involves flying lava monsters, a decaying rope bridge over a river of lava and random eruptions spewing semi-solid boulders up out of the river...but it will all be for naught if the PC's start to get the burnt end of the stick and the Players start getting all grumpy-faced at how "unfair" or "hard" it is...then the DM caves and starts fudging/cheating so that the players can "win"...or, "Have fun". Because that is what the DM has been brainwashed into believing is his primary job: "To let the Players have fun" no matter the cost of HIS/HER fun or the cost to his/her campaign in the long run.</p><p></p><p>So...less DM's now. They've been weeded out or beaten down from 3.x/PF. Yes, I know, opinionated and totally in my opinion, but I'd bet many other long-term DM's out there can at least see where I'm coming from. Thankfully, 5e has given the DM a new set of sharp, chompy dentures with which to really bite into the whole DM'ing side of meat! I'm very glad that 5e puts so much emphasis on DM's. Now maybe someone will start to feel pride in their creations and actually WANT to keep creating stuff for their campaign and their players. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>^_^</p><p></p><p>Paul L. Ming</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pming, post: 7758161, member: 45197"] Hiya! (Didn't real the whole 10 pages...so I'll just address the title question) DM's are busy with their own games. Kind of an obvious answer, but true. On top of that I fully blame 3.x/PF for the "downturn" of good (or hell, even mediocre) DM's due to two factors: One was that it was just FAR too much "fiddly mechanical bits" to keep track of and make notes for (re: prep and creation). The 3.x/PF systems do NOT lend themselves to what I call "horizontal additions". The 3.x/PF systems were focused mostly on "vertical additions". Think of a "horizontal addition" type system as a sort of jig-saw puzzle. You have the base pic...but you can add bits on to the edges, or take out a couple pieces in the middle and add new ones in their place. Things are tangentially tied to each other, but nothing so much that it "breaks". Now with 3.x/PF's more "vertical additions" its more like a Jenga tower. You had a tight core rules (Class, Level, CR, d20 roll, Feats) and everything was built upon those...so you built 'upward' on top of those core things. If you wanted to add something, you added it on top of these things. Eventually, every single time IME, the "jenga tower of the d20 system" would come crashing down...unless you refused to add/change anything. This overall "upwards towards eventual failure or stagnation" was NOT a very alluring song to sing to perspective DM's. The second was, IMHO, that the 3.x/PF game pretty much treated the DM as "just another player". Actually, it treated the DM as [I]less than[/I] another player in some ways. A DM in those systems had it hammered into their brains constantly: "Your job as DM is to make sure the players have fun". This was echoed in the umpteen supplements written primarily for the Players to buy, the Players to use, and the DM to "Just say Yes". This is NOT a good way to foster solid Dungeon Mastering! When the books basically back up the Players first and only touch ever so occasionally on "Oh, but the DM may decide...", that little DM nod is mostly without teeth. DM's of 3.x/PF (new ones, who learned DM'ing from those systems), IMHO and IME, have tended towards the "mediocre" side of the batch. They may be able to run combat encounters, and may even have some cool ideas for stories and "backdrop"...but it's all hampered by their constant re-evaluating and self-depreciating take on their Players during the game. A DM may have a kick ass combat encounter he can use that involves flying lava monsters, a decaying rope bridge over a river of lava and random eruptions spewing semi-solid boulders up out of the river...but it will all be for naught if the PC's start to get the burnt end of the stick and the Players start getting all grumpy-faced at how "unfair" or "hard" it is...then the DM caves and starts fudging/cheating so that the players can "win"...or, "Have fun". Because that is what the DM has been brainwashed into believing is his primary job: "To let the Players have fun" no matter the cost of HIS/HER fun or the cost to his/her campaign in the long run. So...less DM's now. They've been weeded out or beaten down from 3.x/PF. Yes, I know, opinionated and totally in my opinion, but I'd bet many other long-term DM's out there can at least see where I'm coming from. Thankfully, 5e has given the DM a new set of sharp, chompy dentures with which to really bite into the whole DM'ing side of meat! I'm very glad that 5e puts so much emphasis on DM's. Now maybe someone will start to feel pride in their creations and actually WANT to keep creating stuff for their campaign and their players. :) ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]
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