Who was your first ever GM, and how do you think they influenced your playstyle since, if at all?
I started out GMing. I didn't get to sit down as a player for another 12 years. That campaign lasted one session before I was begged to GM the group again. It was another three years before I could be a player again.
I have GM'd so long, through so many games, that now sitting down as a player leaves a sour taste in my mouth, like I failed at a necessary role at the table. I have been conditioned. I have been trained. I will never again not GM.
My first GM was an anal-retentive rules-lawyer that seemed to outright punish creativity if you were doing anything even slightly not covered by the rules.
I eventually found much better GMs, but my first GM has forever turned me off to caster-classes for refusing to let magic be used in any way other than direct damage or stat-buffs (and arguing with me at every opportunity even on THOSE things, even when the rules were perfectly clear).
Yeah... I just cannot play casters now. Too many memories of complicated rule-fights and generally not being allowed to do anything interesting.
I miss being a GM. The first time I actually played as a player the GM was very devoted to "sandbox play", which basically meant 100% lolz random shenanigans all the time.
I think it really made me aware of the importance of well-placed rails.
My first GM was incredible. He has spoiled me for everyone I've played with ever since. All of the ones I've played with since have been very combative anytime I try to do something creative and also total railroaders.
My first GM did such an amazing job, that I now follow in his stead as Forever GM.
My first GM was great. Actually my roommate now. I think the main thing he did was set a serious tone for the game. We never had a murderhobo problem at his sessions.
>>43982114
This is the third day in a row there's been a relevant thread for this. Something's not bloody right here.
As for how it affected my playstyle? Well, I defintiely know what NOT to do...
My first GM was in a D&D 3.5 game. He didn't tell us what monsters we were fighting, even if they were super common.
>"Three monsters attack."
>"What are they?"
>"Little humanoids with flat faces, broad noses, pointed ears, wide mouths, and small, sharp fangs. They walk upright, but their arms hang down almost to their knees."
>"So what are they? Goblins?"
>"You have to figure that out."
Also every monster fell unconscious. Every single one. Even when it made no sense like undead and constructs. Half of every combat was, still in initiative order, walking around and delivering a coup de grace against every enemy until they were dead.
I thought all this was normal for the longest time, and it's how I ran games. The first time I played a game with a completely different group and the GM said, "You stab the goblin for 5 damage, and he dies," it blew my mind.
Our first GM was a mutual friend of the group (Not anymore due to That Guy shenanigans). It was my first game ever and it was very fun.
The only problem is that the LOL SO RANDUM U GUYZ theme carried over to the rest of the games and now that I GM most of the time it's hard to have a serious game.
I have fond memories of my first DM.
I was a nerdy kid with very few friends and an active imagination, and D&D was what saved me from total isolation growing up. The first DM I had was a bit older than us, and had a talent for storytelling. We played AD&D, but he was the kind of guy that ignored the rules if they didn't fit his story. I remember playing with a sense of wonder.
Growing up, his style started feeling a bit constrained. We had a running joke that no party ever got over 5th level, because either he led us to TPK or he broke down for personal reasons and disbanded the group for months. Meanwhile I had grown up to a well-adjusted adult, started playing other games with other people while he was stuck on D&D. The party drifted apart, and the last games we had together ended on some bitter notes.
He influenced me, in the sense that I'm more than willing to bend the rules of whatever we're playing in order to give something cool to the PCs. I'd like to think I have become a better GM than he was, though.
>>43982114
A current player of mine. He facilitated what the party wanted but kept a solid view of his world.
I started with a group of friends and ended up as the first GM basically because I was the only one who read the rulebook PDF we shared.
I was our only GM for the first two years or so, but ever since our group has started rotating which I think is the ideal situation most groups want. Everyone is passable with a different style, though I suspect all of us secretly think of ourselves as the best GM.
My first GM had no idea what the fuck he was doing, was a petty jackass who randomly dealt damage to your character if you weren't paying enough attention, and didn't grasp the concept of a survival horror game (Going into a ghost ship with no signs of life and possible freaky shit aboard? HERE HAVE WHATEVER GUN YOU LIKE.)
He is why I became a GM myself, because if he could do it I could easily outdo him. It's gotten to the point where I dislike other people running games, because I know they'll fuck something up or be a shithead.
>>43984466
>Going into a ghost ship with no signs of life and possible freaky shit aboard? HERE HAVE WHATEVER GUN YOU LIKE
Actually, "the characters are heavily armed, but find out about encountering the threat that their weapons are useless" is a staple of the genre.
My first GM was 40 years older than me, a grognard form ADnD who was a rules lawyer and thought he was god.
He wove a great story, but his story involved 5 level one pcs fighting 3 level 7 pcs. even now, a decade later, I powergame due to the scars.
>>43984528
The problem is they weren't useless. In fact, we shredded a werewolf that if our GM had a clue should've torn us limb from limb quite handily with them.
Then he arbitrarily punished us for shooting a second because it was a little girl in its human form. Never mind it was going to play jump rope with our intestines.
>>43984466
>a petty jackass who randomly dealt damage to your character if you weren't paying enough attention
That's a dick move although if you're happy to go meta then reinforcement is better than punishment. +1 to attack rolls if the player is prepared and paying attention.
You could even not tell them, see if they figure it out or improve unconsciously.
My first ever GM was my dad bringing me in on AD&D 2nd ed and eventually getting me all the stuff I needed for 3.5 for my later birthdays. MY father was always a firm believer in letting people dictate their future in the stories he created and often had games with me, my mom, and friends of mine and theirs where we go off on tangents and forget about the main plot only to have the world end around us because we ignored clues and hints long enough. He was also a fan of ignoring the rules for enjoyment or creating home brew classes, spells, items, and creatures to add more uniqueness to the game. I like to think I live up to his style.
>>43984643
Keeping it secret wouldn't have worked, it was nWoD. The second one of us got a free die we'd have twigged something was up.
His game was so shitty I got tagged with some bashing damage for looking longingly at the 4e game across the way.
inb4 >4e
>>43982238
Are you me?
