Post/Author/DateTime	Post
sean conners 06-25-04, 05:49 AM	What part of your campaign gives you the most amount of satisfaction. For me it is about designing the stories. Having that initial idea and building of it. I call it the onion because as you peel away the layers and there should be and always are many of them you edge closer to the middle.
Gothic_Demon 06-25-04, 06:00 AM	The most satisfaction I get as a DM is as my players begin to figure out plot-lines, and the looks on their faces as they realise what they're facing/who they've been working for/what's really going on dawns upon them. My players can get violent at this point, so the satisfaction has to be taken quickly before I duck for cover.
Greldinard 06-25-04, 06:53 AM	When at the end of the day the players say things like: "Whoa, that was a great session!"
Starboy36 06-25-04, 08:07 AM	Definitely designing campaigns (over adventures). With campaigns you are able to do more in terms of a plot. The one I am building right now has a fair amount of episodes that deal with the BBE, though they party is not even going to have a clue that all these episodes were related until about 1/2-3/4 the way through the game. Also, the party is starting out in a small town, exploring the region, and will eventually end up back in the small town, where it turns out the BBE originated from. In fact, the first adventure will have the PCs standing in the summoning chamber where the BBE came from, though they won't know it at the time. The best part is going to be the string of revelations the group is going to have. :)
jaspercrey 06-25-04, 08:15 AM	Okay, this is going to sound REALLY cheesey, but here goes anyway . . . I get the mot satistfaction/enjoyment out of those rare occasions when I get my players so into things that they almost forget it's a GAME . . . You know --- those times when rules, game mechanics, numerical stats and dice are temporaraily forgotten and the players actually display an emotional, "in-character" attachment to either themselves, an NPC, or the campaign itself. That is what makes D&D a thousand-times better than a video-game RPG. And that 's when I know I've done my job as a DM.
Hathorym 06-25-04, 08:42 AM	I will have to agree that the look on the faces of my players once a realization hits them is definitely worth it. Also, watching the players get so into character they forget about everything else. Those moments are great, and often suprising. I had an NPC who caused no end of trouble to the PCs, either by putting them in bad situations or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was foul-mouthed and obnoxious, but also very giving and kind. One day, I killed her off in a most glorious and spectacular way - and half my group started tearing up. We had to break for twenty minutes while I was forced to explain why I was killing her off. Now THAT'S role-playing.
Scaer_Vieliss 06-25-04, 10:29 AM	I get the most satisfaction and enjoyment out of creating the NPC's and the campaign environments. It's great to create NPCs that the players connect to and interact with in a realistic way. The same with the campaign; the most fun is creating the intricate places and histories, even if the players don't interact with those places.
Luminous Crayon 06-25-04, 10:38 AM	It's little things. When I get players so involved that they express an emotional attachment. When a player says, for example, "Damn that Fletch Blackadder, I hate that filthy elf!" I know I've done a good job in making an effective NPC. They don't hate her because they're supposed to, in-game, they hate her because she's absolutely hate-able. I'm a world-builder as well as a GM. I've been working on a campaign setting for a year now, and running games within for a few months. Recently, I started playing in a D20 Modern game run by a friend of mine, who's a player in my game and has helped me design some countries for my campaign setting. In his D20 Modern game, we encountered the huge warehouse of a New York-based company that makes huge profit by shipping items all over the multiverse: holy water to Ravenloft, electronics to Faerun, healing potions to the middle-east, etc. Everywhere. One character pauses to examine a random crate in the warehouse. The packing slip reads: "Temple of Betha, Santiago, U.R." That's a city I made, and a temple I made, devoted to a deity I made, and they're showing up in someone else's game. My setting has become a part of the multiverse. That felt good.
Sparks The untouchable 06-25-04, 11:32 AM	For me its thoughs few moments when the party has an ephimy. The look on their faces when that little light inside their heads finally turns on. Can't beet it.
ezze88 06-25-04, 11:54 AM	i think when they beat the bbeg and they free the small town and get a good reward, i think that when they do that and not chicken out of adventures and get rewarded for that, the DM feels the adventure has gone right and thats the greates feeling a DM can get
Whyldman 06-25-04, 02:52 PM	My favorite moment that doesn't have to do with the game directly is during an all important battle. The d20 is rolling and it stops on a 1 and the entire table groans and falls back in their chairs, or a 20 shows up and every body cries "oooooh" In game moments are usually when the players make an assumption or think they've figured everything out but they're way off. That lets me move around a lot better. In the first adventure I ran with this group there was a "special" stable hand who kept showing up in unexpected places. They were convinced he was the one behind the strange happenings in town. I mostly just enjoy watching to how the players intrepret and react to what I give them.
Lxarth 06-25-04, 03:46 PM	I love making the adventure/campaign, and when i play something it is really awesome in my head..then the players come along a squish it! I like when a player is RPing and 'hands' an axe to a newbie player who actually reaches for it then keeps her hand clenches as if she is holding something...its great. But, back to work...nice post idea!
hfolkense 06-25-04, 03:57 PM	I like when I see their hands and watch how they start to sweat. That happens when I am running one of my trademarks "capture the hill" adventures, when there is nothing more than hold or be killed. Seeing them waiting for the next monster to appear when youn got no spells left, no HP and your items are all used is one of the biggest assets in the game. I usually hold this "peace before the storm" a lot and that's when they start worrying. Then i throw them the troll, and they start fighting in new ways, thinking of every strategy possible to keep alive. I am not a killer DM, i do this only a few times in a campaign, and none of my players have been killed in this kind of encounters, but i feel they have learned a lot in the few they have been through. The same can be said about the time when they get captured by foreign troops, making them roleplay or die has taught them a lesson in diplomacy towards NPC's. I can hear them shouting the foul mouth of a player who was just going to say the wrong thing that could have made them get killed. I like how a fast paced dungeon crawl can get overly exciting to them, almost rushing themselves room after room... and only because i said hem "quick, choose a level to pull!". But for the most part i like the learning curve of my DMing. I see the past years and how i have become from a very bad DM (nobody wanted to play with me) to a wery well known in the area. Almost all of my players go tell their friends about their climatic encounter with this monsters, or how this NPC screwed them in he most inteligent, unthought way. I love that, i love being reknown for this. I also love that mostly my players and I have changed the way DnD is seen in the area. Now it's not a Nerds or freaks game anymore as it used to be. Gaming is now considered an interesting activities for smart people played by smart people, who don't neccesarily are fat 35 years old's virgins. It used to be, now I have to bring my DM's "box-o-pc killin' " to each party i go to :P I love that each player pours all of their imagination at making a character, and when in the sad moment it dies, they remember it like the hero or villain they made it, and start another one with almost the same or more incentive. i like that my 3 spawned DM's are also perfoming very well. But what do i like utterly the most? Watching their eyes as the red old great wyrm dragon expands its wings into the sky. Worthless, priceless. I love DnD :P
LukiLoki 06-25-04, 04:03 PM	Agree with most of the posters: Those moments when it gets really immersive and everyone's completely in character and you almost forget its a game. That's the most satisfying. But I also love making maps and populating locales, figuring out who lives where and what they do to survive. I find myself getting way too detailed about areas the PCs might never go, because I have to know what it's going to be like. It's almost like a mystery story, except the ending is up to me.
SweetMeats 06-25-04, 04:12 PM	I like my games to be difficult so I get the most enjoyment when the players are successful or find interesting ways around the problems they face.
Miles 06-25-04, 05:53 PM	I enjoy a few things the most. Primarily, when the players do something completely unexpected, but great. I give extra experience points for suprising me in a good way to encourage this. I love it. Also, I like when the players figure out puzzles that I've created. Especially if afterward they say "Hey, that was a really great puzzle. I liked it." I also like creating odd magical items. In my games I've included magic cups that change water into whatever you want to drink, a paint kit that never runs out of paint, and other things that while they don't give much game rules wise, they are fun to have. Miles.
Tusz 06-25-04, 06:18 PM	I like RPing peaceful encounters between the party members and... interesting... NPCs. Also, coming up with ways of suprising the players in a non-we're-going-to-die kind of way is always good, too.
Cyric 06-25-04, 07:09 PM	I love making characters. I spend hours on NPC's. Only thing I like more is when my players figure out some way to defeat my 20th level BBEG before he can even do anything productive. No matter what I do they figure out some new way to beat him.
Xyplex 06-25-04, 07:13 PM	I think my most enjoyed moment is when the PCs start to create their own stories within the framework of the campaign that I've set up ... like devising their own castles, guilds, schools, etc. The most memorable of these was a great moment ... a character put on a Helm of Oppositite alignment thinking it was a helm of Teleptahy ... the interesting thing about this helm was that it could be used repeatedly, but not on the same person ... so ... they proceeded to turn half the party under the noses of the other half of the party. It was great seeing this kind of change happening and I wasn't in control of it (entirely) and it made the game feel that much more alive ...
Tanuki, the Bewildered 06-25-04, 07:22 PM	I like the worldbuilding part - creating races, nations, monsters. I enjoy playing several of my more interesting NPCs. I LOVE when my players surprise me, and force me to adapt.
Lord Ikrik 06-25-04, 07:28 PM	I love DMing, thats for sure but what I like most is the creation side of things whether its new spells, items, creatures, fortress maps, dungeons, story lines or NPCs.
Lincoln Hills 06-25-04, 07:37 PM	"To crush my PCs: see them driven before my monsters: and to hear the lamentations of their henchmen." (I'm sorry, I know that was a rim shot, but the opportunity was irresistible.)
Edymnion 06-25-04, 07:38 PM	What do I take the greatest pleasure in? The same thing I hope my players find enjoyable in my game, seeing how the story unfolds. I essentially have the skeletal outline of a campaign made out when I start one. I have the first part where everyone meets up planned, I have a few big things here and there planned, I have the ending of the campaign planned, but I don't know what is going to happen in between any more than the players do. Oh sure, I know whats going to happen before they do, I couldn't keep the game going on for long if I didn't, but I can't tell you where the game will go as soon as the players leave the town they just found. I will see how they play, see what they want to do, and I'll plug in whatever I think fits best given the situation. Got lots of stuff sitting around waiting to be used, some well mapped out, some no more than the basic concept that doesn't go beyond "Haunted Mines" in the description. So I can get some exploration and excitement too. :)
Great_Ceaser's_Ghost! 06-25-04, 08:18 PM	I take pleasure when the P.C.'s talk amongst themselves in character about things that have nothing to do with the matter at hand. When I have a P.C. in the temple and the rest are at the inn talking about the barmaids hair, or the time they Found the cross dressing Druid. I like that they aren't stacking dice, or doodling, or talking about Seinfield.
was_fired 06-25-04, 08:38 PM	When an NPC actually is capable of inspiring some emotions in a character, be it hate or friendship. Then right after that creating a world which is real enough that the players want to make themselves part of it. The second I still can't do and the first I consider myself lucky for the few times it has happened.
fruits and vegetables 06-26-04, 04:36 AM	i like twists. Not normal twists either. I am talking unpredictable twists. Twists that make the players hate me but later love it. My grand, all time greatest example is this.... The players were 4th level. One of the player's background was that he was kidnapped and enslaved as a kid. So the adventure began with that in mind and the group was chasing a person known for such a thing. They got to the town he was in, burst in and was greeted by the NPC. A moment later i told them that right behind you some more people burst in. They turned to see that this group looked exactly like them. I am sure at this moment they had some thoughts bumping around in their heads....... ........The wizard then told the party to kill the group. They were in ponderance now and i said they must comply. They got slaughtered. When the first one was slayed and i explained that he dissolved into snow and ice with his gear intact. One of the players figured it out but did not say anything and was in shock because he thought this was the end-game, one-shot deal. After they all were slayed i told them the NPC of course escaped and explained that they were all simulacrums and then gave them the 8th level characters i used on them as their new characters. Now this was a little tricky because during the week before the game i was trying to understand through conversation what they wanted their characters to be. Also, i let them redesign to a degree their 8th level characters. They did get to keep their 4th level character's loot. You know you have done something unique when other DM's start using modified versions of what you did. It was awesome. They were hating me because they thought they were just gonna get killed. After the fact, they loved it because among other things they were really gonna play 8th level characters.
Drone23 06-26-04, 10:58 AM	Two things I really love: 1. Coming up with a room feature that doesn't do anything but completely baffles the players and makes them paranoid. Two examples, a dungeon room with a black circle painted in the middle. Is it a gate? A summoning circle? Nope, just somebody painted a black circle on the floor so they can test out their golems ("Golem, stand in the black circle.") Another: a dungeon room in the lowest level of a dungeon in the middle of a vast badlands. The floor is completely covered in white sand. What the frell?! It's nothing, just something to throw the players off and make them paranoid. 2. A really good, unexpected villain. I'm not talking about the villains most people make. The half-dragon lich necromancer with a legion of undead, the half-fiend warlord and his army, etc. My favorite villain ever was a female dwarf (barely a teenager in dwarf years) Ari1/Wiz1 that had plagued my players for years. She used NPCs to mislead the players into thinking they'd finally killed the infamous villain that was after them only to show up with another NPC using her name and making their lives hell again. She never confronted them openly or revealed herself until the final battle with her. And an unexpected true strike spell and a short sword with deathblade poison on it killed one of the PCs. They killed her, of course, but were very surprised when she went down after the first blow landed.:devil:
Damien19 06-26-04, 04:25 PM	The most satisfying part of DMing is when the players start to invest themselves and their time in my campaign world. They start to create PrCs that aren't just vanilla, they found organizations and acquire lands and titles not because it brings them more power but because it's what their character would do.
The_EvilDungeon_Master 06-26-04, 05:38 PM	The look of pure joy on their faces when they roll damage for a critical hit. :smirk:
Mattux 06-28-04, 03:17 AM	I love when I can evoke emotions from the players that relate to whats happening. And I also feel good during game prep when I can take a prewritten stand-alone adventure and modify it so it fits PERFECTLY into our campaign. It gives me goose bumps. :) Another thing I like is right now I'm laying the groundwork for the BBEG to become the most hated thing for the PC's. The BBEG doesn't really know the PC's are going to be his direct enemies yet but still manages to mess with thier heads somehow. :)
Ashtar 06-28-04, 05:43 AM	That during a game, you forget your body exists here and you become your characters / world in your mind. You realize that suddenly for you are not playing with Chris, Bruno, Roxane and Angelo [RL people], but you are playing with Lia the Psychic Archer, Grumsher the Gladiator, Nephtee the fire cleric and Erina the Preserver. Your players are their characters at that moment, they Roleplay in character and react in character to everything that happens. They even start asking for additional sensory input like smells and textures as they walk down the mysterious halls of imagination. That's when I'm happy. -- Ashtar
Thanqol 06-28-04, 05:48 AM	When the players truely realise the full scale of hell I'm about to put them through with a sudden plot twist. They all get pale faces, start to shake, and ask the wizard if he knows or can guess how to cast teleportation. But then, they all forget about the mere humans they once were. They fall entirely into character, and the level of planning and struggle they go through to preserve their characters is amazing! They use all of their mental energy to figure out how to save their characters from 99% chance of death. And it usually works! It's also amusing when I am forced to kill off a character for blatant stupidity and the player sort of slumps... and attains a look of pure defeat. They fall so completely into rollplaying that they cannot bear to have their characters die... it's forfilling when this happens. It's always fun to watch people blanch as you rub your hands and cackle. Evil genius at work