Crazy GOOD DMs - Inspired by Gamili [Archive] - Wizards Community

Crazy GOOD DMs - Inspired by Gamili [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
KillerGM
03-11-07, 04:41 AM Ok, so here's the balancing thread for the "Bad DM" Thread.

Post things that were awesome that a DM did while you were playing in the game - not that you as a DM did, or you as a player did, but what the DM did.

This is a thread to praise *other* DMs, not ourselves... :P

One DM I had, who in his first real D&D campaign, ran d20 Rokugan. He had a crazy party (all Shugenja of different elements), but he kept it simple and told a great story. He made each character shine in their own way, and kept everyone involved in saving the universe.

I enjoyed that game so much because it was simple and within his understanding. He didn't try to be everything all at once, he really got into motivations for the universe, and he had a great sense of humor about everything! It was great to see him make a story and get it from beginning to end!!

:D
UAMDB
03-11-07, 12:58 PM I would have to say my current DM. He loves the game, and just wants everyone to have fun. He spent the time to create legacy weapons/items for everyone in the game that fit their playing style and character concept. Now I must admit, I must change a few things with my character since from the time he made the items to the time he handed them out my character died. (I dont like making the same character when one dies). But he spent the time to make a weapon that he thought my old character would like, and it would only take a few changes on my sheet.
kelvinaw273
03-11-07, 04:22 PM Best DM I knew had the nickname of "The Bastard" because he could and did plan plot threads literally years in advance, and used them at the prime moment. He also used RPing to psychoanalyse people, and could make plots twist so much you could say hello to yourself in passing as you followed them (and we did, once).

In the course of a three year campaign, he got so far in side one player's head that they quit (needing therapy, they didn't like what they had found out about themselves), drove away the rules-lawyer-munchkin player and reduced one player to tears after the Dark Fate flaw he took at the start of the campaign showed up two years later ... with all the warnings conveniently ignored and misunderstood.
Sterling
03-12-07, 09:42 AM I'd have to go with the fellow in our group who DM's all but one of our many campaign settings. He's run everything from Marvel Superheroes to all of White Wolf's storyteller games. He has a gift for extended, winding plots, fun NPC's, and taking things from PCs backgrounds and weaving them into the story. There are a few things he does that I could live without, but most of the time, we're having so much fun we don't care. He does everything from emotionally charged serious moments to far out entertaining scenes.

My favorite Marvel Superheroes moment so far: The superpowered Scottsman NPC riding a dinosaur helping us fight alternate universe Nazi versions of our characters. Crazy, but surprisingly well crafted in terms of story. Good stuff.
Pizzini3000
03-12-07, 10:57 AM I'd say the DM i liked the most I also disliked the most.

My characters got picked on.... ALOT (example:my bard was given to the guest PC assassin on his RL birthday then traded to a ***** island, but before that...raped by an orc)

But we also had the most fun. The game always ran at a good pace. We had a lot of fun with humor and the game itself. 1-on-1 situations were handled well. He had a really good story that spanned 2ed->3ed. He was just overall, an extremely skilled DM.
InterSilva
03-12-07, 05:30 PM My current DM is awesome. Just yesterday we had a quest based on a Loreena McKennit song. I couldn't help but metagame, because I knew the song. :D
Shan_TheBabau_Burke
03-12-07, 07:38 PM I had a DM that ran a well crafted solo campaign that took my character from Rogue to Watch Detective to Paladin in a fantastic quest that spanned several planes, an alternate universe and forty levels.
Sometimes we sit and chat about characters in the game as if they were the people down the street.
She (my DM) has taken to running a campaign for a different group, using the same world and people. It's ten years after my quest ended, and I like to sit in sometimes just to see what the old gang's up to. Sometimes, if I'm around, my character makes cameos and helps the party, though its only ever with info. A thirty-five level difference is too big a stretch for any other kind of help.

Hats off to you fair DM, you rock! Maybe we can do it again sometime?
On_the_wings_of_TPK
03-12-07, 07:40 PM Best DM I ever had was a fellow by the name of Manni. The first time he showed up to DM he had nothing with him. Not even pen and paper! But **** was it good. Everything down off the cuff, on the fly. Didn't matter what you did, were you went there was always something there. From stealing the thrown, and deed to waterdeep, to dealing with the foot crime gang. All the PCs were meshed in together well. My wife adds: Manni kicks ass, you never knew what would happen next, and neither did he.
navar100
03-16-07, 04:26 AM In a 2E game back in college, a DM let me try out a lawful good undead cleric. The idea was since evil likes to corrupt the good, good fights back by "corrupting" evil. If there existed today's deathless back then it would have been perfect, but the DM worked with me in getting a playable character that would not unbalance the game. It was a roleplaying experiment on my part, and if Vow of Poverty existed back then too it would have fit the character concept. I'll always be greatful to that DM for letting me play the character. He was a lot of fun.

I like my current DM for letting our characters really affect what happens in the game world. Our actions have consequences, for good when we are successful and for ill when we are not. Our characters can become Persons of Importance, and we get to play the character as such, as opposed to retiring them to NPCdom. Last campaign my cleric became Baron of his home city and then Duke of the Western Realm. Even after becoming Duke the campaign continued on.
Shan_TheBabau_Burke
03-16-07, 02:56 PM Jeez! C'mon people! There's gotta be more than a dozen good DMs out there, right? Right?!
Please tell me that all of you aren't playing under DMs that you hate! What's the point?
Cardinal Teplin
03-16-07, 04:58 PM I had a good DM, who would arrive at a session with a clearly thought-out background, game world, game style, optional rules the better to fit into the style, three or four NPCs so detailed and alive you sometimes forgot who you were talking to, and sufficient backplot to last for months of play.

Every single session, he'd have all that. Playing with him is a wonderous immersive experience.

For all of three sessions, then he'd get bored or depressed, and arrive with an entirely different detailed world, game, rules, etc.

It was like playing in a game store and just pulling random product off the shelves. Except that everything was good, and no two titles were in any way related.
The_Basilisk
03-16-07, 05:23 PM I play with a DM, and there's a quality I like about him. His encounters are dangerous, and you HAVE to think. He uses smart enemies and/or large numbers. If your strategy is, "I attack the nearest enemy, then I attack the nearest enemy. If I kill him, I attack the nearest enemy" you will die. Often. There's always interesting terrain that can be used to advantage, friend or foe.

Beats another DM I used to play with. Every encounter with him was a huge, powerful monster in a giant, featureless room.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
KillerGM 03-11-07, 04:41 AM	Ok, so here's the balancing thread for the "Bad DM" Thread. Post things that were awesome that a DM did while you were playing in the game - not that you as a DM did, or you as a player did, but what the DM did. This is a thread to praise other DMs, not ourselves... :P One DM I had, who in his first real D&D campaign, ran d20 Rokugan. He had a crazy party (all Shugenja of different elements), but he kept it simple and told a great story. He made each character shine in their own way, and kept everyone involved in saving the universe. I enjoyed that game so much because it was simple and within his understanding. He didn't try to be everything all at once, he really got into motivations for the universe, and he had a great sense of humor about everything! It was great to see him make a story and get it from beginning to end!! :D
UAMDB 03-11-07, 12:58 PM	I would have to say my current DM. He loves the game, and just wants everyone to have fun. He spent the time to create legacy weapons/items for everyone in the game that fit their playing style and character concept. Now I must admit, I must change a few things with my character since from the time he made the items to the time he handed them out my character died. (I dont like making the same character when one dies). But he spent the time to make a weapon that he thought my old character would like, and it would only take a few changes on my sheet.
kelvinaw273 03-11-07, 04:22 PM	Best DM I knew had the nickname of "The Bastard" because he could and did plan plot threads literally years in advance, and used them at the prime moment. He also used RPing to psychoanalyse people, and could make plots twist so much you could say hello to yourself in passing as you followed them (and we did, once). In the course of a three year campaign, he got so far in side one player's head that they quit (needing therapy, they didn't like what they had found out about themselves), drove away the rules-lawyer-munchkin player and reduced one player to tears after the Dark Fate flaw he took at the start of the campaign showed up two years later ... with all the warnings conveniently ignored and misunderstood.
Sterling 03-12-07, 09:42 AM	I'd have to go with the fellow in our group who DM's all but one of our many campaign settings. He's run everything from Marvel Superheroes to all of White Wolf's storyteller games. He has a gift for extended, winding plots, fun NPC's, and taking things from PCs backgrounds and weaving them into the story. There are a few things he does that I could live without, but most of the time, we're having so much fun we don't care. He does everything from emotionally charged serious moments to far out entertaining scenes. My favorite Marvel Superheroes moment so far: The superpowered Scottsman NPC riding a dinosaur helping us fight alternate universe Nazi versions of our characters. Crazy, but surprisingly well crafted in terms of story. Good stuff.
Pizzini3000 03-12-07, 10:57 AM	I'd say the DM i liked the most I also disliked the most. My characters got picked on.... ALOT (example:my bard was given to the guest PC assassin on his RL birthday then traded to a ***** island, but before that...raped by an orc) But we also had the most fun. The game always ran at a good pace. We had a lot of fun with humor and the game itself. 1-on-1 situations were handled well. He had a really good story that spanned 2ed->3ed. He was just overall, an extremely skilled DM.
InterSilva 03-12-07, 05:30 PM	My current DM is awesome. Just yesterday we had a quest based on a Loreena McKennit song. I couldn't help but metagame, because I knew the song. :D
Shan_TheBabau_Burke 03-12-07, 07:38 PM	I had a DM that ran a well crafted solo campaign that took my character from Rogue to Watch Detective to Paladin in a fantastic quest that spanned several planes, an alternate universe and forty levels. Sometimes we sit and chat about characters in the game as if they were the people down the street. She (my DM) has taken to running a campaign for a different group, using the same world and people. It's ten years after my quest ended, and I like to sit in sometimes just to see what the old gang's up to. Sometimes, if I'm around, my character makes cameos and helps the party, though its only ever with info. A thirty-five level difference is too big a stretch for any other kind of help. Hats off to you fair DM, you rock! Maybe we can do it again sometime?
On_the_wings_of_TPK 03-12-07, 07:40 PM	Best DM I ever had was a fellow by the name of Manni. The first time he showed up to DM he had nothing with him. Not even pen and paper! But **** was it good. Everything down off the cuff, on the fly. Didn't matter what you did, were you went there was always something there. From stealing the thrown, and deed to waterdeep, to dealing with the foot crime gang. All the PCs were meshed in together well. My wife adds: Manni kicks ass, you never knew what would happen next, and neither did he.
navar100 03-16-07, 04:26 AM	In a 2E game back in college, a DM let me try out a lawful good undead cleric. The idea was since evil likes to corrupt the good, good fights back by "corrupting" evil. If there existed today's deathless back then it would have been perfect, but the DM worked with me in getting a playable character that would not unbalance the game. It was a roleplaying experiment on my part, and if Vow of Poverty existed back then too it would have fit the character concept. I'll always be greatful to that DM for letting me play the character. He was a lot of fun. I like my current DM for letting our characters really affect what happens in the game world. Our actions have consequences, for good when we are successful and for ill when we are not. Our characters can become Persons of Importance, and we get to play the character as such, as opposed to retiring them to NPCdom. Last campaign my cleric became Baron of his home city and then Duke of the Western Realm. Even after becoming Duke the campaign continued on.
Shan_TheBabau_Burke 03-16-07, 02:56 PM	Jeez! C'mon people! There's gotta be more than a dozen good DMs out there, right? Right?! Please tell me that all of you aren't playing under DMs that you hate! What's the point?
Cardinal Teplin 03-16-07, 04:58 PM	I had a good DM, who would arrive at a session with a clearly thought-out background, game world, game style, optional rules the better to fit into the style, three or four NPCs so detailed and alive you sometimes forgot who you were talking to, and sufficient backplot to last for months of play. Every single session, he'd have all that. Playing with him is a wonderous immersive experience. For all of three sessions, then he'd get bored or depressed, and arrive with an entirely different detailed world, game, rules, etc. It was like playing in a game store and just pulling random product off the shelves. Except that everything was good, and no two titles were in any way related.
The_Basilisk 03-16-07, 05:23 PM	I play with a DM, and there's a quality I like about him. His encounters are dangerous, and you HAVE to think. He uses smart enemies and/or large numbers. If your strategy is, "I attack the nearest enemy, then I attack the nearest enemy. If I kill him, I attack the nearest enemy" you will die. Often. There's always interesting terrain that can be used to advantage, friend or foe. Beats another DM I used to play with. Every encounter with him was a huge, powerful monster in a giant, featureless room.