Post/Author/DateTime	Post
pita 11-02-06, 08:35 AM	Hello. Let's start from the beginning. I've been playing D&D 8 years (2 years of barnyard with my brother, 1 year of my sister, and the rest with friends, about half the time it was barnyard, until a friend's dad got him the MM and I found printable character pages), mostly DMing (for the 6 years not with my brother). Now, I've recently quit DMing for my friends, stating that "I've had enough". It was taxing seeing as most of them played for 3 years(ever since D&D was translated into hebrew), playing all the time, where I DMed for 6 years. I enjoy playing more than DMing. Now, they have respected my quitting, but since then, it seems like they are annoyed. They use the excuse "Because I'm DM" more than ever, stating that when I DM, I'll show them how to do it. Now, I don't know what to do. On one hand, I hate DMing, on the other hand, I can't play when half of my actions count on rules that existed in my games, and when my actions are changed because people are frustrated. I can't leave the group because A) They are good friends of mine B) The other D&D players near where I live are stupid. I mean stupid. And nasty. An inexperienced. C) I do not have an easy carpool for other places. What does thog/me do?
Escef 11-02-06, 08:51 AM	Barnyard? :confused: As for the rest of your problems, what kind of house rules were you using that the other players aren't? It may be your houserules were less well recieved than you thought.
CharlieRock 11-02-06, 08:54 AM	Sounds like they may not have a handle on some of the rules. I had a DM that used to be a player (when I DMd) ,his evil wizard did not have high enough INT to cast the spell I got hit with. I went along with it until the encounter was done and pointed it out. You may have to 'coach DM' for a little while if that is the case. Or, if you feel you can avoid meta-gaming issues, participate in the dungeon preperation as a consultant type. Does that sound helpful, or did I miss my roll ? ;)
pita 11-02-06, 08:55 AM	I had WAY too many house rules. I forgot most of them by now. One I remembered(To make combat a lot more simple), was to remove defensive casting and preparing attacks, and substituting things(For the spears and tridents) Barnyard is basically without any books or dice. EDIT- You sorta missed it. The new DMs are a bit annoyed at me, and we never have a serious long game like we used to when I DM. Everyone in the group knows I'm the best DM there. So some of them ask me for advice every now and then, but I stay out of making the campaign. I'm making a "Last Adventure" for which I have asked for advice a few times on the forum, each time for a different thing.
CharlieRock 11-02-06, 08:58 AM	No way!! You played without dice? Wow. :eek: I've made my own games up before (no books) but still needed some kind of dice (even making some out of paper). :)
Tyveil 11-02-06, 09:00 AM	Barnyard is basically without any books or dice. EDIT- You sorta missed it. The new DMs are a bit annoyed at me, and we never have a serious long game like we used to when I DM. Everyone in the group knows I'm the best DM there. So some of them ask me for advice every now and then, but I stay out of making the campaign. I'm making a "Last Adventure" for which I have asked for advice in many subjects. It's time to go back to the books and dice. Seriously I think you'll find DM'ing a lot more fun when you follow (most) of the rules presented. If you still would rather not DM then have your new DM do the same (follow the rules) and bear with them if they don't get everything right all the time.
CharlieRock 11-02-06, 09:01 AM	Well, I hope it is just a case of amatuer DM (that is a pain). If they don't get better with practise ,then I dunno what to tell you. Every DM is waa-ay different. It may be their style (unevolved as it is now) will turn out that you do not appreciate it. Hope not,though . Sorry I couldn't help more :( P.S. Let them know about this site. They can ask here for help (though in a way that might screw them up more) ... just don't read their posts ,LoL
pita 11-02-06, 09:24 AM	They are on this site. sreuiajur has allowed me to mention him, but the other one hasnt. My home rules made DMing more fun and less of a headache (at least for me), and they did not just remove my home rules, they made their own, which complicated matters more (And I'm a bit too stupid to follow combat as is, even without their "Making Sense" idea).
CharlieRock 11-02-06, 10:49 AM	Come to think of it ,I did do a few games with no dice, but they were strategy-tactics games ,not RPGs. As to what to do ... roll with it, see if it gets better or worse as they get more practice. :cool:
malakaiunseen 11-02-06, 11:12 AM	Hmmm Pita, what to do with this one. I had a very similar problem to this a while ago. I had to deal with a few things. One of them was convincing the group of players that I started playing with that I was as competent and confident a DM as their last one, who was going to be a player in my group. At first I wasn't, and it was tough trying to fill his shoes. I was used to a different play style, and very under experienced. I asked him for a lot of advice, which he gave me in his own way, and I asked him a lot of questions, which mostly he didnt have answers to. He was a drama student who had grown up without telly and had read almost every fantasy book that my parents stocked in their bookshop by age 17. SERIOUSLY. He'd go through about 3-4 books a week. He'd also been playing DnD since he was like 14 and he was seriosuly good at winging encounters and giving really cool and interesting descriptions of combats. This was exactly what his players had gotten used to. It took them a while to get used to playing the game my way. Actually making a skill check other than hide, move silently, intimidate, or sleight of hand was pretty much new to them. They were also used to having to keep all their plans secret from the old DM, who would have his NPC's foil their plans if he knew what was going on. I found that too adversarial, and always kept my meta-game knowledge seperate. This took a while to sink in for the players. Thankfully however, the old DM was all too keen to FINALLY become a player, and he always worked with practically everything I could throw at the group, role-playing superbly, if always with deviant characters, and generally being a role-model player. This is what made the transition run smoothly in the end, and it worked out well for all involved. For about another 4 years, I DMed practically non stop, playing in one of the old DM's games only once when he again had the motivation to run another game. Recently(a year ago) one of the other players told the group the group that he'd been interested in DMing for ages, and would like to give it a shot. The guys generally considered me a good DM and we had good games and we were all hesitant to change DMs. I must point out, this guy was pretty thick. Like a genuine Int7 or 8 kinda guy. Every game he constantly took a battering from other players who, in good humour would practically laugh at everything he ever did. Some examples to show the point are: When the party was on the first ledge in the Sunless Citadel game, this guy, named Roger, was playing a half-orc barbarian. While making their way down the ledge, the group was attacked by 3 dire rats. He hid. On a ledge, with a barbarian confronted with rats. On another occasion he was playing a monk in an 12th level game. The party was confronted by a VERY menacing column of chaos warriors in heavy armour and heavy cavalry with lances "with glowing blue blades" and they were being followed by a huge champion wearing red armour with magic runes etched over it and a mind flayer with a gnarled looking staff in his hand. While the main tank of the party was admittadly a half-ogre barbarian-frenzied beserker with a huge attack bonus and enough cleave to wipe out half of the cavalry, Roger was playing a monk. In the first round when the tank, archer and sorceror were engaging the front row of heavy cavalry, Roger made his character skirt around the side of the whole column of infantry, and run towards the mindflayer, hoping to take out the commanders in the second round. I literally had no other choice but to wipe him out. HE was in charge range of about 8 lvl6 ftrs decked out in magic gear, AND the champion AND within 30ft of the Mind Flayer. On another occasion, his goliath bard was killed in his first encounter when, after repeated strong warning s from me, he attacked a spectre without any special weapons or the like. This guy consistantly fled when he was capable of masacring his opponents, and always charged into absolute certain death. AND HE WANTED TO BECOME DM. So, the group was supportive however, and they let him DM an encounter or two. I didnt play in either but instead prepared the next encounter in my own game once, and used the time to study without pressure to DM a game on another occasion. Needless to say that while the group had enjoyed their time playing with Rog, it was chaotic and disorganised, and mostly just served to make them appreciate my DMing more. I think the moral to this (very offtrack) story, is that wether or not you choose to DM very often boils down to how good the backup DM is. If he's alright, and you can sense traces of brilliance underneath the veil of uncertainty that is lack of experience in DMing, then work with him. Including plenty of time before the rest of the players com together. Just talk about what rules he wants to keep and which ones he wants to change, and why. Make sure he understands about tailoring the game to the players desired gaming style. And encourage him throughout the game and help other players as often as you can without coming across know-allish. On the other hand. If your next best bet is severley lacking in the gray matter or imagination required to be a decent DM, then you have to ask yourself if you'd rather continue to DM or simply QUIT, at least for a while. Most DMs will find that in the long run, quitting is not the desirable choice. Sometimes, you're better off figuring out what it is that makes you not enjoy DMing so much any more and sorting that out, rather than struggling with power succesion problems when you have no worthy heir... EDIT: I would also agree with it being a VERY GOOD idea to use a change of DMs to get back to rules basics. A change of style is the best occasion to change rules back to core. Obviously keep a small few house rules that have worked well, but urge the new DMs not to add any new house rules untill at least their second adventure. Let the palyers get used to the new DM with normal rules first, then let him inflict his own style on the game...
pita 11-02-06, 11:58 PM	It used to be alternating DMs. It wasn't *I step off the stage* *Other person goes on*. It was *I step off the stage* *People annoyed that I'm the only one not on the stage and they think they wet themselves (or something)* They've had their adventures DMing before I left the stage. They all said that they understand my decision, but they were all annoyed (except for one person who stopped playing). Now, I've announced that the first adventure of my "Last campaign" is starting in a week. But they still aren't happy and in their games, try annoying my character more than other players. Malakai, your problem was a simpler one than mine. Do you have one like mine?
malakaiunseen 11-03-06, 02:07 AM	I think the real question is why you've had enough of being a DM. I've gone through stages of not being as motivated or inspired to work on campaigns, but never thought that I'd like to totally give it up. I mean, you could try playing in a game or two here on the REAL Adventure boards. They're a lot of fun. And you can be very specific about what kind of players you'd like to attract and add any house rules you like(almost everyone has a few). If you don't want to stop playing with your friends. Try to analyze why they're getting annoyed at you. Is it just cause they want the best DM back in the hotseat? If so, why do you not want to DM? Because of player problems? workload issue difficulties? declining interest? Or do you simply just want to be a player for a while? If the answer to this last one is yes, well try playing a game or two online whilst continuing to DM for your group. I admit that I've never really had a problem of friends getting annoyed at me(especially not in-game) because I didnt want to DM anymore. Mainly because I've never wanted to not DM. I love playing, and play in other DM's games whenever I can, but I also love the creative expression in DMing so I will probably never give it up. The real issue here is what has driven you to deciding to give up DMing...
pita 11-03-06, 02:52 AM	I don't like playing online. I've had enough of DMing because it just isn't fun any more, and I can't get myself motivated. My friends are annoyed because they don't like DMing that much too. I'm planning on making a comeback, and one of my friends is making fun of me by saying "So, you DMing this one?" I also enjoy playing much more than DMing.
Carai_al_Caldazar 11-03-06, 11:42 AM	Our 'problem' is that we have to many DM's... Within our group of 8/9 people we have 6 DM who are running 1 or 2 campaigns. This is nessacery because not everybody is always present, and it usually is the keycharacter of that moment in that campaign. (the wizard in an arcane part, the ranger in the wilderness, etc). We have 3 primairy campaigns, the rest is backup.