Post/Author/DateTime	Post
WishFish 10-03-06, 10:50 AM	What do you like most about your DM? What do you hate most about your DM? Im interested in your comments about his storytelling, judging, rules interpretation, voice, music he plays, game speed, duration, involving emotions, privacy, anything that can be related to your DM. Is he to slow, to predictable, unimaginitive... or maybe there is something that is especially good about his style. On the "What's a DM to do" sub-forum, DMs are talking alot about you, players (complaining usualy :)). I cant find here that you talk much about DMs. We need your feedback to get better :) --
RobbyPants 10-03-06, 11:35 AM	My biggest 2 complaints: railroading and extreme fudging. A lot of this stems from that when I play, it's always 1 on 1 (but not when I DM). The railroading is annoying in that he makes fairly linear adventures and uses uber NPCs to "keep me in line". He does tend to talke with me OoC to make sure the the premise is something my PC would even be interested in. The extreme fudging comes from that I'm the only one in his group, so if I die, so does the campaign. He has this tendancy to put me in fights that are way too challenging. The kind that the only way I win is by rolling very well (and they can't roll too well either). So what happens is things start out nicely, then I roll 2 crappy attacks back to back, and things start to go south. Then he rolls an attack roll, stares at it for a minute behind the DM screen, and asks me "how many HP are you at?". What's the point!?! If I can't die, then the whole game becomes a bunch of metagame cheese!!! :rant:
trebor_rjf 10-03-06, 08:51 PM	the problem i have with my dm is he uses the same hook EVERY time and even though we are both new to the game he wont make an effort to learn the rules but he is the only dm and im the only player so there isnt much i can do do you have any suggestians
RetiredThief 10-03-06, 11:45 PM	DM1: Knows the rules, and how they interact, like a swiss engineer knows clockwork. Eerie. Not so good about storytelling or involving descriptions. Great sense of humor and willingness to have fun vs obeying every single rule. DM2: There's a cool story inside this guys head, and it's trying to get out. But, there's errors in translation, the radio connection is staticy, and the world, while nicely moody, just may be a bit like a Hollywood set, ie: step very far out of the story line and there may just be an empty expanse behind the facades. Still, cool setting to develop cool characters in, and things are still percolating. DM3: Down to earth. Not so solid on the rules, but good at winging it. His world has the same feel, so that works. However, his world is also kicking my ass, so I'm a bit grumbly about it. :) Me: Learning the ropes. I've got some ideas for campaigns, but want to be more seasoned before shoving my camels nose into this DM crowded tent. Suspect I'll always be a bit sloppy on the rules, but able to paint a mental picture, and able to develop worlds with new takes on the old memes that can blow peoples minds. Time will tell.
Magus Gar Kan 10-03-06, 11:48 PM	The DM and I don't see eye to eye on several houserules and whether or not to use errata. Aside from that my only complaint is that there is little fear of death in his campaign unless you do something monumentally stupid. As well, when there is a chance to be raised it is always by true ressurection.
TheMeanOne 10-04-06, 12:13 AM	Pro: She knows the rules inside and out, and explains things well without slowing up the game. When she doesn't know, she hands the book to someone else to heck while she continues unless we absolutly need to stop to discuss it. Pro: Tailors to the party. All skills get used at some point. Everyone gets a chance to feel like the hero. Pro: A great storyteller. The story is always there, but the Players are really in complete control of their characters and the way the story unfolds (or doesn't). When the characters have been sidetracked and forget about their goal she finds a way to bing us back into the story. Pro: She encourages real role-play. As players you come to know your character like a second self. The interpersonal relationships between characters and between characters and NPC's feel real (A close NPC died recently and it was a somber experience at the table). She always listens to what the characters want to do, and as a result we become aware of our characters motivations and personal goals in a very real way. Pro: Despite serious story and role-play we fight things all the time. Fun things, challenging things, annoying things . . . Con: At higher levels the villians get harder (obviously) and it becomes difficult for the party to defeat the big villians. Walking away from several taunting fights in a row while good for the story is a little disheartening. Con: She hates to let a character retire. Death exists, but when she knows there is a character who the group will not try to bring back she won't kill them. Our barbarian has died twice no problem, but the annoying Necromancer must have been at (a quesionable) 1hp 4 or 5 times before she finally died and recieved a shallow grave - the player wanted the character to die, she wanted a new character. One player wanted to try something new but the DM convinced them to go on a rebuild quest instead of scrapping the character. The character of a player who left became a reoccuring NPC. Really, she's a great DM. We're a lucky group.
kelvinaw273 10-04-06, 10:24 AM	Hmm... previous DMs I have had would include: "Simon": Good D&D DM, knows his stuff, dismisses nothing out of hand but agrees to consider it, taylors campaign around the characters to some extent but does not let us off our mistakes. "Derek": Knew his rule systems well, tended to use a lot of produced material though. "Harry the Bastard": Best. GM. Ever. Knew systems backwards and was not afraid to wing it. Knew world backwards. Knew characters forwards and backwards and made the adventures personal to them! Waved a flag in front of our faces of what was to comne and still blindsided us with the contents. Reduced a grown man to tears and still had him coming back for more ... had his plots hijacked by players more than once and still flew them brilliantly! :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:
Plane Traveler 10-04-06, 10:43 AM	Current DM: Great DM! 1. Enjoys being DM. 2. Runs a fun and interesting homebrew campaign. "Roll initiative" are the two terrifying words we love to hear. 2. Knows how to run NPCs. 3. Lets PCs play their game, meaning we can get killed if we're not careful. 4. Not interested in "winning" (as in "killing all of the PCs). 5. Keeps the game moving. Combat rounds, while not rushed, move swiftly. 6. Keeps to the time. Game starts mostly on time and ends mostly on time. 7. Keeps players informed about if and when the game will be played. I drive a considerable distance in really bad traffic to play in my current group. It's worth the effort. It's a fun game. He's a good DM.
Torp 10-04-06, 07:50 PM	Pros: Good DM, crafts interesting stories Wants the party to survive, but is not afraid to kill off characters Uses only a limited set of books (Corebooks+Complete) (yes, I consider this a plus, and agree with his reasoning: It's not which prestige classes your character has that makes the character, but how you use and roleplay him) Cons: From what I've heard, a bit too much of a fan of low-level games.
Cincinnati 10-05-06, 08:52 PM	What do you hate most about your DM? -- RANCID FARTING !!! I'm not kidding... :D
RobbyPants 10-06-06, 03:53 PM	Pros: Good DM, crafts interesting stories Wants the party to survive, but is not afraid to kill off characters Uses only a limited set of books (Corebooks+Complete) (yes, I consider this a plus, and agree with his reasoning: It's not which prestige classes your character has that makes the character, but how you use and roleplay him) Cons: From what I've heard, a bit too much of a fan of low-level games. Sounds a bit like me... LOL I don't use a lot of the books (although I also use psionics), but one thing my players hate is that I'm more comfortable at lower levels. My adventures tend to fall apart after about 10 - 14 or so...
Cornbread 10-06-06, 04:24 PM	DM1: Stories are sort of bland. NPCs are sort of bland...it just feels like info is being passed on, not like we're interacting with characters. Can't adequately challenge the party because we think faster than him. Plays fair and honest, though. Likes to play by the rules and doesn't change up the way the world works on the fly (a good thing to me). Suffers from Gygaxian "dick with the players" game style sometimes. DM2: Tells a good story, has great NPCs and likes to do voices. Much more immersive games than DM1. Ruins it all by completely frustrating party members with crazy insta-houserules, incorrect rules interpretations and making stuff up on the fly because it made sense in his head or seemed cool at the time. He gets an idea in his head about how a fight should go and no matter what you do it will go that way. If the BBEG gets outfoxed by you, the BBEG will suddenly have a tool to thwart your plan so that the fight can continue until the DM is satisfied that it seemed "tough enough". Makes it difficult to give a crap about what is happening in the combat because it will just happen as he wants it in the end anyway. Only very rarely allows a character to die.