A question about DM-ing styles

[Email2085]

I like it when the DM rewards good role playing. My group's current DM doesn't really do that. We're running Pathfinder's Rise of the Runelords campaign. I'm playing a cleric of Desna. When I have the option I try to conduct myself as I feel a cleric of a good aligned deity should. His normal response to this is "You can do what you want but it won't really matter." He's the DM. I get it. Just rustles my jimmies sometimes. Plus he made us feel guilty about killing a guy that, at that point of the story, our characters had no other option but to kill him.

[Dilvish the Deliverer]

As far as magic systems go, one of my favorite ones was from a homebrew system my group cobbled together. Mages used magic words as building blocks to build spells. Vas pyrus grav bal (greater, fire, area, ranged) would be a fireball for example. There were 30-40 words total IIRC. Of course once a charecter knew a dozen or so, there was no stopping him/her. Magic was broken in that version.

 

Xp in that system was given on a session basis. Depending on what happened, how the adventure was advanced and frankly how much fun was had by all, the GM would award an equal amount to each player.

 

Some games would be fairly combat driven and others would mostly be Roleplay. We used a shared world and would rotate GM duties around. It worked very well for us. Man I miss those days. We now get together once or twice a year and use 3.5/Pathfinder/4E. Shorter/more infrequent games = more combat less RP due to time constraints.

 

Basically whatever is enjoyable for the group.

[dsmiles]

As far as magic systems go, one of my favorite ones was from a homebrew system my group cobbled together. Mages used magic words as building blocks to build spells. Vas pyrus grav bal (greater, fire, area, ranged) would be a fireball for example. There were 30-40 words total IIRC. Of course once a charecter knew a dozen or so, there was no stopping him/her. Magic was broken in that version.

That sounds like the 'words of power' alternate system from Pathfinder.

[smokingwreckage]

Or Ars Magica, and there's one a bit like it in Burning Wheel Magic Burner (but it's not really on-the-fly).

[buglips*the*goblin]

I like it when the DM rewards good role playing. My group's current DM doesn't really do that. We're running Pathfinder's Rise of the Runelords campaign. I'm playing a cleric of Desna. When I have the option I try to conduct myself as I feel a cleric of a good aligned deity should. His normal response to this is "You can do what you want but it won't really matter." He's the DM. I get it. Just rustles my jimmies sometimes. Plus he made us feel guilty about killing a guy that, at that point of the story, our characters had no other option but to kill him.

 

 

I don't even think in terms of "reward vs. punishment" any more. For me it's become "what you do will matter". The outcome may be good or bad, depending on how it should logically play out. Some DM's only enforce the bad consequences, which is a negative reinforcement and easily comes off as manipulative.

 

I play it fair both ways. If you make a friend, the friend will appear again and possibly be of help. Maybe not even directly or obviously (like showing up to save the day). It could be as simple as that peasant you saved way back in the first adventure later hiding you in his home if you're in trouble with Duke Dunderhead's evil twin brother who has usurped the throne and put a bounty on you.

 

I'm also not a big fan of "everything will betray you". That one is grotesquely common, and the cheapest of all hack plot twists. I might rarely have one or two trusted people turncoat, occassionally that works. But I will also provide many loyal and stalwart henchmen/followers/retainers that can be trusted. Players will, I've found, generally treat a useful and capable NPC they can give orders to pretty well. And the better they interact, treat them, and care about their wellbeing, the more loyal said henchman will become. It's possible to gain such loyalty that a henchperson will obey orders with full trust and without question, even if said order carries extreme risk to themselves.

[smokingwreckage]

A betrayer should be a plant (even if retconned) leading to a HUGE plot hook or invaluable intel; or under extreme duress... leading to a good, visceral, revenge plot... or a major plot hook, or invaluble intel. And yeah, for my money, people who get paid to write and who write for an audience that loves petty drama still very rarely make a betrayal look anything but stupid.

 

Betrayal will always look cheap so it needs a big payoff, and my preferred method would be either "it wasn't a cheap betrayal because you were tricked by a really evil bastard and here's your chance to turn his spy" or "it wasn't a cheap betrayal, some bastard has your guy's family, time to show them what happens if they mess with your people."

[galladril]

My question is: What type of DM are you/do you enjoy and, if you DM, what motivates you to run a game ?

 

The kind who spends too much money on gaming stuff...

 

Killer DM? No, not at all. I have come close, or knocked PC's down to negatives, or 1 or 2 HP, but I honestly believe I have only killed about 5 PC's in 15+ years of DMing. Maybe I'm a softie?

 

I try to encourage my players to think outside the box. If they can come up with a cool tactic that I haven't seen before? They get an XP reward, to encourage that type of behavior. All it does it help to add to the story in which **everyone** is taking a part, and creates circumstances which we can all remember and laugh about, years later.

 

ex: A paladin, during an interrogation, asking a pirate "What's your business plan?" In fairness the player had just graduated with an MBA....and we still laugh about it...and it led to this being photoshopped:

 

 

I will say that I do think I go the extra mile when trying to get my players "hyped up." For instance, a week before our game, I sent them all a letter, to their homes, which I printed on parchment paper and then sealed with a wax stamp. They went to their mailboxes and saw something...special. Of course, I adressed it with their PC names.

 

I bought Dwarven Forge just so they could have something cool to look at as we play. I paint their miniatures for them. I send them articles from different sites, or answer questions via email.

 

I told them, when we first began playing, "I am not against you, I am not for you. I am simply here to help describe what you see, and it is up to YOU to determine the actions you take...and to make sure those choices fall into the realm of believable context, as much as you can from a fantasy game. I'm just here to help show you how it all plays out."

 

They want to climb over a wall? They have rope? I'm not going to say they can't.

 

They are wearing full plate mail and have 600lbs of stuff in their backpack? Their swimming is going to be more of "falling to the bottom, rapidly."

 

When there are rules discrepancies, I view things this way, they view things that way, we come to a group concensus, but I don't let myself get railroaded, either.

 

I ask at the end of each session, "Did everyone have fun?" I ask if there are things I could be doing to help improve their playing experience.

 

Communication between players and DM is paramount. If your DM doesn't take suggestions, and is going to railroad you all into doing something you don't want to do? Find a new DM.

To me, what it ultimately comes down to is that everyone has an investment in this, wether it's giving up half of a Sunday, and driving 60 miles to someone's house to play, or spending money and time painting something cool for an upcoming encounter. I want to make sure that time is spent as well as it can be, and noone leaves the table thinking, "Well, that was a huge waste of my time."

 

With that in mind, if you aren't having fun, because of your DM, because of the campaign, or for any other reason, I would advise walking away from it. Games are supposed to be fun, and if you aren't having it, then why are you there?

 

What motivates me? I wanted to be a published author. Creativity kinda flows from me, and I can just take a simple idea, and run with it. D&D allows me to create that world, that is ever evolving, instead of remaining static, AND, I get to share it with others. It's also a good reason to get out of the house, see some friends, and just have a good time. There is something to be said for sitting across from someone at a table, laughing, rolling dice, flipping through pages, and collaborating and thinking with others, that just doesn't happen when you are sitting in front of a screen, punching keys on a keyboard.

[dsmiles]

My question is: What type of DM are you/do you enjoy and, if you DM, what motivates you to run a game ?

 

The kind who spends too much money on gaming stuff...

I feel your pain.

 

Also, I get most of my DMing advice from John Wick's "Play Dirty."