I've never even played a tabletop game, let alone GM'ed one. But, it's not like I don't want to. I just haven't yet.
Question of the Day, June 30, 2010
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
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Quite a lot of times surprisingly, despite me not being fan of it, but apparently my friends liked the stories i created.
I never was one of those GMs that plan for weeks, make tons of paperwork with exact stats, maps, places to be and essential plot moments that cant be avoided. Most i ever did was usually just a rough sketch of Hows and Whys and it was player duty to find themselves among it rather than me guiding them by hand from point A to B. Often i would just build the story as it goes, without any serious plans on how it will end.
I remember, several times we held our tabletop sessions in a nice 'alternative' club in my city 4-5 hours before the parties started, i knew the owner so they let us in earlier, and we could use the bar as long as we paid. Usually as people started gathering for the upcoming club events they would join us as listeners, or sometimes even the more curious ones were given minor NPC roles.
Sadly thanks to conservative politics and loopholes in law the club is no more because it was percived as "immoral" just because it was LGBT friendly place.
I never was one of those GMs that plan for weeks, make tons of paperwork with exact stats, maps, places to be and essential plot moments that cant be avoided. Most i ever did was usually just a rough sketch of Hows and Whys and it was player duty to find themselves among it rather than me guiding them by hand from point A to B. Often i would just build the story as it goes, without any serious plans on how it will end.
I remember, several times we held our tabletop sessions in a nice 'alternative' club in my city 4-5 hours before the parties started, i knew the owner so they let us in earlier, and we could use the bar as long as we paid. Usually as people started gathering for the upcoming club events they would join us as listeners, or sometimes even the more curious ones were given minor NPC roles.
Sadly thanks to conservative politics and loopholes in law the club is no more because it was percived as "immoral" just because it was LGBT friendly place.
While not nearly as frequent as I used to because of grown up family life, I did every friday night for 5 or so years. Not including off nights.
I have GM'ed many many times.
I have tanked horribly sometimes and soared into the sublime other times.
There is something incredible about it when you get into "the zone". The place where reality and fantasy blur where your friends are no longer their boring selves but colourful and larger then life heroes. That moment when the character takes over and the player steps back. The in-game discussion that keeps on going. Some of the best moments as a GM is when you can just sit back and see as the characters interact and create a world around themselves. The moment when you are just a spectator. I have been known to pause the story completely because the interaction is so tasty. When emotions get played out and conflicts are allowed to escalate. Glorious.
I have tanked horribly sometimes and soared into the sublime other times.
There is something incredible about it when you get into "the zone". The place where reality and fantasy blur where your friends are no longer their boring selves but colourful and larger then life heroes. That moment when the character takes over and the player steps back. The in-game discussion that keeps on going. Some of the best moments as a GM is when you can just sit back and see as the characters interact and create a world around themselves. The moment when you are just a spectator. I have been known to pause the story completely because the interaction is so tasty. When emotions get played out and conflicts are allowed to escalate. Glorious.
It's been a long, long while but I ran a few games back in the early days of D&D (1st edition.) Mostly, they wound up being one-on-one games where I'd run an NPC and my best friend would play through the adventure. Then we'd switch roles. Managed to flesh out a good-sized home-brewed-world before the Forgotten Realms came out wherein we devised a portal that alowed a one-way trip to the Realms, where we played for years (together and with our larger D&D group.)
A few years back that same friend was visiting me and as he was flipping through some of my 3.5e stuff he says "We should play, run us through an adventure!" and after a short bit of character-generating I did and it was a blast, just like old times!
I'd often thought of trying my DM-hand with my last D&D group but never got the chance and it has since dissolved. Maybe someday with a new group, if I happen upon one.
A few years back that same friend was visiting me and as he was flipping through some of my 3.5e stuff he says "We should play, run us through an adventure!" and after a short bit of character-generating I did and it was a blast, just like old times!
I'd often thought of trying my DM-hand with my last D&D group but never got the chance and it has since dissolved. Maybe someday with a new group, if I happen upon one.
36% of all people in the poll have been a GM? Yeah, right.
Relatively few people even play tabletop games to begin with, the average gaming group is made of more than 3 people, and GM is usually the least popular role to play (often even below "the guy who gets the snacks and drinks"). I honestly do not believe that, even on a forum filled with geeks of all kinds, over one third of all people is a regular GM.
Relatively few people even play tabletop games to begin with, the average gaming group is made of more than 3 people, and GM is usually the least popular role to play (often even below "the guy who gets the snacks and drinks"). I honestly do not believe that, even on a forum filled with geeks of all kinds, over one third of all people is a regular GM.
I've GM'd many times, and the main thing I've learnt is to improvise. Players being players, they will find something you didn't expect, go off in an entirely random direction or do something that just invalidates pages and pages of plot notes. When this happens you need to be able to deal with it.
One of the best examples is from a Mage I'm running at the moment. The players are staking out what the believe is the hideout for a group of enemy mages, and want to see if any of the locals have seen anything odd. It's during this that one of the players realises her powers let her talk to just about anything, regardless of what it is. What followed was a half hour of her wandering round talking to (among other things) a herd of cows, various plants and the pub next door (the building, not the patrons).
One of the best examples is from a Mage I'm running at the moment. The players are staking out what the believe is the hideout for a group of enemy mages, and want to see if any of the locals have seen anything odd. It's during this that one of the players realises her powers let her talk to just about anything, regardless of what it is. What followed was a half hour of her wandering round talking to (among other things) a herd of cows, various plants and the pub next door (the building, not the patrons).
I tend to find that after a few games, a lot of people want to at least try their hand at GM'ing. I'd have said that figure was a little low by my experiences (I'm part of a large group of gamers, and I'd say around three quarters of us have GM'ed at one point or another).Hurr Durr Derp said:
God Bless you Gary
I'm...*rolls dice*...pleased to meet you.
The man that made me into the geek I am today.
(Well, him and Tom Baker, of course)
I'm...*rolls dice*...pleased to meet you.
The man that made me into the geek I am today.
(Well, him and Tom Baker, of course)
I have done it once. I am honestly really bad at it. I am sure if I put effort forth I would get it going well but I just don't have the initiative.
That is the one I would vote for.Plinglebob said:I'm surprised there's no "I tried, but crashed and burned" option
No, but I'd like to. However, the kind of people I'm playing with right now - I'd rather not. My ideas might be a bit "out there" in some cases, at least in relation to generic fantasy settings.
If I had a group filled only with people I do not despise for various reasons, then yes.
If I had a group filled only with people I do not despise for various reasons, then yes.