If You Do Any of These 10 Things - Don't DM!

my favorite story was when I was told that I should never be a role player well I didn't listen to them but you should listen to this if you are even thinking of being a GM DM narrator Storyteller Creator whatever you want to call it if you're thinking of running games and you have one of these don't hello and welcome to this week's episode of how to be a great my name is Guy these are the 10 things that if you possess one of them you really should reflect and see if you can overcome it remove it because if you can't you shouldn't DM these are no particular order number one you take yourself seriously if you take yourself seriously and everything you create is this epic epic narrative this glorious creative literature that no one else is capable of creating and that is absolutely Flawless and will topple Tolkien or Martin or whomever you worship as a literary God I'm afraid you're in trouble your game is only as good as you and your players if you take yourself too seriously you're going to try and make everything revolve around what you want as an outcome rather than where the story is going role-playing is not a serious game folks we're a bunch of adults pretending to be elves and fairies and pixies and goblins and gnomes and Orcs running around in the bush this is make-believe [ __ ] folks this is not a serious adult activity so if you take yourself seriously I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed number two if you cannot let the stuff that you've created be destroyed the door is over there seriously that that's that's where the door is to the studio you can see behind me there's no other doors it's it's right over there if you cannot let the stuff that you have created be destroyed and destroyed in Stupid Ways and ridiculous ways in rubbish ways or maybe even destroyed because no one even knew that they were there you're in trouble your entire job is to create opposition to the player characters and watch as they obliterate destroy or overcome that opposition you create a magnificent castle for the Dark Lord watch as they vomit from a distance never entering into those corridors that you filled with beautiful traps if that is something that is going to make you angry upset or unhappy the game is all about adapting on the Fly adjusting going with the flow and enjoying watching the Carnage there is no way a player will ever destroy the perfect dungeon that you have designed their character might flood it might wash it out might turn it to Mud might completely ignore it but you will still have it in a box or on a Digital hard drive somewhere but you have to let go don't try and force them to go to places or see the things you've created number three it is you the great Creator who is solely responsible for the game story and for the game's final outcome that is a giant pile of [ __ ] as they say you are not the only one you are not the most important one at the table and if you think you are you are wrong yes you are the only one who can theoretically Run the game because you are the leader of the game as it were but that is as much power as you have you are part of a team and if you don't like working as part of a team if you don't like other people contributing to your space contributing to your environment if you don't like other people making suggestions or even just assuming and adding things to your game Space don't be a DM go and write a novel okay just don't this is a collaborative thing you really really can't role play as a DM on your own it's just not possible I'm very sad about number four because I would love to do a demonstration of number four where I just laugh and laugh and laugh for minutes and minutes and minutes but my ribs unfortunately will not allow me to do this demonstration you need to learn to laugh at yourself because again this is us being a bunch of kids sitting around a table telling a story I don't care how complicated your narrative is or how amazingly wonderful your performances are as NPCs you are still doing make-believe we are having fun you're gonna try and do silly voices or you're not going to do silly voices you're going to try a cool idea and discover that it was actually dumb you're going to try a puzzle and your players are going to go I have no idea how to solve this you're like but it's perfectly obvious if you just use the inverted algorithmic cosine rule you need to learn to laugh at yourself and go oh oh I I made a mistake that's on me my bad guys I won't use Advanced algebraic math again my bad moving on if you can't offered yourself don't play the game five if you think that you and your NPCs are the same person and you get upset when your NPCs are made fools of or are embarrassed or are defeated don't be a DM I know I know what it's like you've got your favorite NPC that you've set up as being this glorious superpower and the players walk in and you do your beautiful monologue that would make Shakespeare himself tumble to the ground and shame for not shall he ever see such a performance again and the player characters go um I pull my pants down and I Moon the big bad and then I fire a bolt a guiding bolt through my legs at him don't be insulted don't go why that's ridiculous it might be but that's what the player character wants to do and you've got to roll with it your job is not to be insulted that they are simply demeaning your performance your job is to go well how would the big bad react with shock with disgust was distaste well you've got to deal with the mechanical effect first and then decide what to do with that and the more you empathize with your NPCs the worse it's going to get you need to look at NPCs as an extension of the game and you should want to torture them just as much as the player characters want to do it put them in awkward horrible situations I know it feels uncomfortable but if you are really uncomfortable doing that and you will use sneaky tricks or powers to position them so that they don't happen don't be a DM uh number oh I I don't like keeping track of stuff I I don't make notes I don't write anything down I I don't even remember stuff I mean that's for the players right if you don't keep track of stuff and this hurts me because I am not great at keeping track of stuff but by goodness I keep track of stuff I write it down I have learned over many many years that you have to do this doesn't matter how complicated or how simple those notes are as long as you can recall what happened in the last session and your players are not having to remind you as the DM what's going on then that's fine but if you don't like keeping track of stuff if you just couldn't care don't become a GM it's going to be so frustrating for your players that they basically have to run the game and they're using you effectively as a mechanical device that's going to ask for calls and things that's not a GM that is what an AI is going to become and replace you with by the way number seven although if you have got to number seven you may not suffer from this but do not become a GM if you don't like listening to others if you find it difficult to listen to other people talking because your own head wanders off doing other stuff you're in trouble the whole game is about talking whether it is online or around a table you have to listen to the people sitting next to you and you actually have to understand what they're saying if you find it difficult to listen to them do not become a GM because there is nothing more frustrating than you outlining your plan of what your character is going to do and the DM going um sorry what what do you want to do again that's awfully bad etiquette you really shouldn't do it I know there are times when I find myself doing that I stop the game I apologize to the player and then I refocus on what the player is saying it is critical to be able to listen in this game and if you are not a good listener either learn how to become one or you can join the others at that door number eight if you don't let other people finish talking because you interject you cut in front of or you anticipate what they're going to say why you shouldn't do that in real life anyway that's just Bad Manners but around the gaming table how dare you try and anticipate what your players are gonna say let them say it remember you're supposed to be listening to them so if you're cutting them off well that's just bad there's no another way to say it if you cut people off if you don't like letting people finish what they're saying if you don't like them if you want to keep pushing them and rushing them because you're impatient dming is not for you dming is all about being patient it's about waiting for the players to finish making up their minds it's about waiting for the players to take actions it's about waiting for the right moment not about rushing the right moment when you try and rush it you will find your game feeling like you are pushing the players in directions that they don't want to go in and it is no longer role-playing it's now a game of I'm trying to steer these cats out the door number nine if you like salad out the door that's all if you are someone who becomes impetuous or if you pout or if you are a bad loser and you make up ridiculous things because while you're bored or you're just over it that is discourteous to your players if you were getting to a point where you are feeling frustrated with the game or with the players or with the outcomes you need to step back ask the players to take a moment and perhaps even heaven forbid discuss it with the players hey guys I'm getting a feeling that your characters are very irreverent of the situation and I feel like you wanted to play a investigative Series where King Charles is running around investigating stuff but you're not taking the whole monarchy thing seriously you're not behaving like monarchs would behave is that a problem for you is that something and if they go no this is cool we're having fun either you have to adapt or or you need to say to them well this is not the game that I wanted to run so would someone else like to run it don't try and force it back to the way that you want to run it don't try and punish the players for doing what they're wanting to do this is a failure to communicate just as decided as a failure to provide food or nourishment or sustenance for anything other than you know whatever it is that can survive on salads you need to be able to listen to your players adapt to what they're saying and question what they're doing it's a two-way street here folks and if you can't do that you're going to have a very very unhappy time and as a result your players will have an unhappy time and the whole thing will just dissolve number 10 the last one this is the one that I feel puts the most pressure on DMS it is also the one that I feel is the wrong one it is this notion that the DM is solely responsible for the fun at the table if you feel that you are burdened with creating fun at the table and that is your sole aim is to entertain people at the table step back step back because you are not an entertainment peace you are not providing a service for your players unless you're a professional DM in which case shut up and provide your service because you're being paid for it okay you are not there to provide entertainment you are there to enjoy and engage with your fellow players to collectively create entertainment for all of you the fun at the table is just as much your responsibility as it is everybody else is at the table so if you feel like you have to go in with jokes and with gags and with amazing ideas and all this kind of stuff and that the players just have to sit there and either absorb what you're giving them or they are not responsible at all you are setting a very bad precedent and that is something that we don't want you don't want it either if you wanted to be a stand-up comic go out that door and be a stand-up comic you'll have more fun trust me those are my 10 little things about what you should not do if you want to be a dmgm Storyteller Creator narrative director author whatever those are the things that I would say are the biggest bug Bears what are your big bug bits what do you think is a trait that people should not have if they want to be a DM or a GM what do you think put it in the comments down below let's discuss and explore this option it could be a long list maybe you're like I only eat salad what the hell are you talking about you bloodthirsty Carnival sure that's fair too absolutely if you only present the same stuff over and over again if it's only steak every single day that's going to be just as boring anyway before I go down that rabbit hole of an analogy a massive thank you to all of you for watching all the way through to the end a huge thank you to our patrons as always love each and every single one of you and until next week I wish you and yours the happiest of Gaming

Channel: How to be a Great GM

Views: 179,614

Keywords: creating the campaign, campaign creator, how to be a great game master, how to gm, great gm, campaign creation, dnd campaign, dnd campaign design, dnd campaign ideas, rpg campaign design, rpg campaign ideas, rpg campaign, role playing campaign, campaign design, fantasy campaign, running the game, game master guide, dungeon master guide, gm tips, dm tips, epic guide to creating campaigns, one D&D, DM

Id: J5DgMm14ioc

Length: 14min 52sec (892 seconds)

Published: Mon May 08 2023