Game Mastering Style
If you are a GM, what is your style of running a game?
If you are a player, what style of game do you prefer to play in?
As a GM, my style is player friendly. I reward good ideas and outlandish stunts, and tend not to punish the players unless they do something really stupid. Simple foolishness is no reason to go for a total party kill.
I am quite willing to fudge a GM die roll if the roll does not suit the scene. If a die roll result will cause something to happen that will ruin a dramatic scene, or prevent the characters from gaining something they've worked hard and well for, I will cheerfully ignore that number and go with what makes the scene work for maximum enjoyment.
Role-play is king in my book. The dice aren't used much until it comes time to get into the mechanics of the rules.
As a player I prefer to be in a campaign ran in such a way. If I am playing with a GM whose style is more "let the dice fall where they may," I tend to not form an attachment to my character (because I know at some point it will be killed).
Gamer style
Hi
I like shooters and action--avdenture games. I love games like Tomb Raider, Bullet Witch, Stranglehold... I use strategy guides to help when I play games the first few times then I try to go solo. It frustrates me sometimes when I do die...especially when I die over and over again.. I also like to explore games I play
question
I am new so bear with me..what is GM?
Wow, it's been ages since I
Wow, it's been ages since I was a GM--I can do it, but I really prefer to play. But when I did GM I tried to avoid killing PCs, because my players had invested work in creating them and I wasn't going to waste that work because of a badly-balanced scenario or unlucky dice roll. (On the other hand, if the character was willfully stupid...)
Nancy Sauer
L5R Story Team * Minion
"I CALL DIBS ON THE SCYTHE!"
Player-Driven
While there is a time and place for character death, it shouldn't happen often or at the mere drop of a die.
The 7th Sea (put out by AEG) rules are really cool when it comes to PC death...basically, they say that it should never happen unless it's dramatically appropriate. I dig that. While I have no misgivings about killing a PC, it shouldn't happen with no reason.
As for rules in general...I like to think of them more as guidelines. When playing with our group of friends, I like house rules, I like flexible rules. Of course, it helps to know which rules are in effect, because I dislike silly disputes.
When we're running convention games, we tend to stick fairly strictly to the rules, but we'll bend in the player's favor if anything. We also allow PC death, but always have additional characters at the ready so the player can get right back in the mix. We even give out rewards for "most deaths."
Somebody already said it, but it's really all about role-playing. After all, that IS what it's called. If all your doing is sitting around dissecting the rules and crunching numbers, you can't truly be roleplaying.
Rule 0 is your friend :)
You don't have too many serious disputes if you remember rule #0 - the DM is the final word, the rule, the law, the judge, and the jury. Anything that goes on for more than a minute or two, just make a ruling, and it's final until the end of the session - end of argument. invite the players to make their case later, after the session is over, so that they aren't disrupting the game - rules lawyering isn't fun.
Style?
I tend to play very fast and loose with the rules (i.e. ignoring them a lot in favor of a good game), and for this reason, prefer rules-light systems.
I'm also very player friendly, as I started out my gaming career playing in games with GMs whose sole goal was to smash and crush our characters as soon as possible, and if you've ever made Champions characters you understand how heart-breaking it can be to see that much work destroyed in the first session.
Well, I am still very new to
Well, I am still very new to running games, and I'm not sure if I have a "style" yet. I know that with the current group that I have, they like to hack and slash a lot, so I've been running some published adventures (currently running them through Heart of Nightfang Spire).
Personally, I like to see some actual roleplaying of characters so I try to make sure to award them when they do something interesting character-wise.
When I'm a player, I like an equal balance of hack and slash, and character development.
I switched this to a story
I switched this to a story because I think it's a good story topic as well as getting discussion going.
I run games similarly but sometimes I vary flexibility based on group size. A group with 3 or 4 people is probably perfect for giving the most flexibility because you can give everyone a chance to get some spotlight time each session.
For my D&D games, I follow somewhat of a formula in that I believe every session should have a role-play (ie. diceless) scene, a puzzle solving or dilemma situation, and a combat-type encounter. It seems like everyone has different moods for gaming on occasion, so I figure this way I can catch at least one thing for every player in each session.
Depends on the game. With
Depends on the game. With games like D&D, I pretty strictly follow the rules. Doesn't help that I have a couple of rules-lawyers in my group who have no problems calling my a$$ to the carpet if they think I'm fudging the rules.
But in soft RP-style games like BtVS or Serenity, I'll routinely chuck the book rules and house-rule a story line.
I agree with MikeIT. Smaller groups make it easier to be flexible as a GM. Right now, my group is about 8-9 PCs. That's really too big for my tastes, but I'm not going to turn a gamer away. As long as they are enjoying the stories, I'll keep writing.