What would you say are the best perks of being GM?
>>47343944
>perks
>>47343944
You finally get to do something with that world you were building. I love seeing how players react to the stuff I come up with. I also find being a player weirdly stressful for some reason.
That said, you need good players. Being the only halfway decent person in a shit group is 10x worse when you have to be the kitten herder.
Having sex with the players.
>>47343944
The overwhelming satisfaction gained from entertaining others.
Tried it once. Was a huge pain in the ass. Too much management for me.
I do, however, love that I can pick and choose, and morph whatever rules I want.
There are no perks.
You waste huge chunks of your time putting thought, effort, and work into crafting a campaign and a world for players to engage with and hopefully create an experience you can be proud of, only to have them shit all over it and then demand you work harder to entertain them.
The fame, the money, and the women.
>>47343944
Knowing exactly WHO the players just made that seemingly innocuous and mundane deal with, and planning on having it bite them big time much further down the road.
Watching the one player who has also read the lore figure out OOC who the contact they're traveling to visit is, then proceeding to panic as they don't want to metagame and would have zero way to know this person/thing IC, while the other party members are unaware.
>>47344555
/thread
/tripsoftruth
>>47344854
>women
men in skirts aren't women
>>47345249
But if you tell them that their feelings will be hurt and that makes you literally Hitler.
>>47343944
having the most creative control of where the story goes
>>47345249
Anything that lets me fuck it is female.
>>47343944
Playing God.
>>47343944
Even if i do enjoy GMing to some degree, it's still basically slavery.
>>47343944
>perks
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
go die, OP, being a DM is being foreveralone
It's exactly the same 'perks' as being a parent, except you aren't required to love them.
When my players tell me they had fun and compliment the session.
The feeling that all the work I put into the game is worth it, because it brings others so much joy.
Those are the perks, anon. Going to bed exhausted and with a hoarse throat, but a warm heart and the biggest fucking smile.
>>47343944
Hanging out with friends with the knowledge that I directly contributed to making something that they enjoyed and crafting a story with them.
The fact that they always compliment and tell me how good of a job I do is great for the old ego to!
>>47344775
is this really how real life is like? How exactly do they "shit all over it" ?
Being able to explore something I created in my head with others.
>>47345724
Expect to have some control over their role in my story. The cheeky fucks.
>>47343944
Everyone wants you to be your friend.
Which means you get a couple of good friends and a bunch of faggots humping your leg.
>>47346473
I wish that was true for me
>>47343944
Power! Unlimited power!
>>47344775
Maybe you should come to the realization that you just suck at being a gm.
>>47345365
>he wants to fuck animals
>>47346497
it's not your fault you're a cat
>>47343944
Not setting my players up to fail, simply letting them set themselves up to fail.
It's as I constantly tell them, "Actions have consequences". They're finally starting to learn...
>>47344243
>why can't you make a better game anon!
>>47344243
i know your feels, my brother
You don't have to put up with that other GM:s bullshit that forces you to literally backtrack so you can fight the encounter you just sidestepped, because fuck player agency right? The players are just here to ride the roller coaster of fun that is the same fucking encounter with a new flavor of boring.
I can't fucking wait until I go back to GM:ing.
>>47344365
that can SO turn on you
i prepared something from the 0th session in a game i ran and when the big reveal happened not ONE player had a reaction, it crushed me.
i hate players who just want to follow the line to the next fight while blocking out anything not leading to a fight.....like the thing horses wear to not see to the side
>>47344775
so freaking true
a player i had literally told me that i should do more stuff during my non gaming time so that his character have less to do
>>47347530
Those are called 'blinders', and the term seems appropriate for some groups, yes?
>>47344854
fame? you mean instantly becoming the forever GM
money? maybe the players will give you some fries, sometime
women? hahahahahahahaha!
>>47343944
There's really no perks. I enjoy crafting worlds, stories, and NPCs. And am perfectly fine with my players burning it all to the ground if that's what they want to do.
>>47345490
amen
>>47345668
did you find the golden players to say this?
never let them go, never
>>47347530
Which is why I said
>That said, you need good players. Being the only halfway decent person in a shit group is 10x worse when you have to be the kitten herder.
>>47347503
lol, happened to me just last week
sidestepped a fight, monsters literally appeared before us
>>47347551
wait, blinders? hahahahahahahahaha! wow so appropriate i didnt even knew
>>47347586
at least kittens are cute, heh
but i agree, if you find good players, its all worth it
unfortunatly, they seem rarer than adamantine
>>47347593
The best part is that he thinks his encounters are fresh and new....when we solve each one of them the same way.
>Haha, this monster has this gimmick! What will you do now?
>Gee, I dunno. Beat it to death with our weapons and hope it doesn't do the same to us because the gimmick doesn't actually force us to use another tactic?
>>47343944
Losing your humanity
>>47347629
my gm only use custom monster made by him
you can guess the result
ive seen, suddenly changing immunities, status immunity that changed between 2 fights with the same monster, etc
>>47343944
Your better off becoming a QM.
>>47343944
Satisfaction from player praise and regular Out-of-game discussion.
>>47347742
Question Manager?
>>47347751
Quest manager.
>>47347696
As long as it is well done, custom monsters are kind of better.
I find dungeons feel better when they are not standard walls filled with level 2 kobolds and a dragon at the end. Monsters should be scary and dangerous and, well, monsterous.
>>47347785
It depends entirely on the custom monster and what sort of characters the payers got.
If all you got a sword, it's not like a ton of immunities actually forces you to play differently. Furthermore, if the immunities are unknown anyway, you won't actually play differently anyway before you find out, and even then you usually just substitute A with B, where B is functionally the same as A but grape flavored instead of lemon.
What actually forces you to play differently is if the monster attacks you out of your environment. Something as simple as a height advantage might cause that, since now suddenly you have to start climbing and avoid falling.
Getting to choose which system everyone plays, instead of having to settle for whatever they pick.
>>47347827
I fucking hate ropers.
>>47347785
in pathfinder, there's 5 bestiary now
surely you can find something?
and yes i dont mind a custom sometimes
but when all custom monster are basically mutating piles of flesh because the gm wont write down the customs, i just cant have fun
anymore
im venting i guess, thanks for the ears
>>47347839
great low CR enemies, choke that wizard!
>>47347827
Yeah, having a custom monster that is 'Its a x but immune to this!' is pretty awful.
Then again, you don't always have to kill the monster. Something like The God That Crawls or Deep Carbon Observatory with some amorphous pursuing horror can be ridiculous fun. Enviroment plays into it, but its how the monster uses it. Instead of something dull like height advantage, give it a network of hidden tunnels or echolocation.
>>47347841
As much as I want to
>Playing Pathfinder
I will agree that big bestiaries can be great idea sinks. However, they are all designed to be balanced, levelled and slain like some kind of MMO. Why not have monsters be actually scary for once, instead of 'Vunerable to +1 swords!'
>>47347847
My tumble skill is shit.
>>47347853
in my case its more of a lazy gm thing
we fight a shadow monster (custom) a player cast a spell to reveal all weakness
monster is weak to light! awesome, i summon shit loads of lantern archon and then he tell e, oh well, it not light weakness, its positive energy weakness! i asked him to just get his note next time to prevent confusion and he told me he'never write anything down'
>>47347884
>Wizard player detected
>>47347866
are you a call of chutulu player? you sound like one
i made a custom oni once in legend of the five ring, an oni of bad luck all his stats where multiples of 4 and he had invulnerability trait except for multiples of 4 damage
the only thing custom was this and they where much panic and fun
oni even laughed by saying shi shi shi
its a preference thing i guess, i do prefer to use 'legit' monsters rather than possibly totally unbalanced customs that change traits mid fight because the gm doesnt write his shit down
>>47347884
Ouch, sounds unfortunate.
I would say to bear with your DM though, we all have to learn at some point. Feedback is important if presented politely.
>>47347868
paranoia is an excellent counter to lack of tumbling skills
be covered in oil/grease at ALL TIME to foil grapplers!
>>47347952
i play wizard, arcanist, and pretty much all tier 3 classes in the 'official' tier list
i like tier 3 classes most to be honest
also i dont follow character class guides, im ot the optimizing type
Being the Architect of Fates. Bringing players into your game and making it theirs, at least partially. Picking a key to each of them, reshuffling things to fit them and make them feel good adn fitting.You want hack and slash? Hehe, see, these demons are everywhere. Hack 'em up hard. You want some intrigue? The lich claims to be the righteous heir to the trone, local duke has shitty relations with the church, and rebels want to democracy. Lolrandomness is your choice? Welcome to the bard band of happy little boozers. Everything goes as planned, and players completely fucking my plans up is also a part of my master plan.
It's like being a champion of Tzeentch and Slaanesh at the same time.
>>47343944
>When most of your players are good players.
Watching them evovle.
>When most of your players are bad players.
Watching them devovle.
>>47347953
I'm a LotFP player primarily, so I suppose the weird horror preference is kind of the same.
Fluctuating stats are more a GM issue than anything else, although sometimes it is kind of required if your players are tearing through something or being torn through themselves. Just don't show the players the stats while they fight it, the monster dosen't have a HP bar.
Making the players fight everything is also kind of unpleasant. Better to scheme your way around and pick your battles with classic player cunning than spend 6 hours dealing d6 damage to the same enemies.
>>47347961
been years, i done this subtle and then much later blunt as a rock but he just doesnt want to even try not being lazy, heh
>>47348003
ive had this one player, he literally mastered the ways of making his character shoot himself in the foot
super gimp himself at char gen, make obvious bad decision without even noticing it, its sad really
but he is the BEST at making me come up with GREAT ideas. he freaking named half my characters.
>>47348004
i agree on the not just frontlining all encounter part
>>47348036
Once in a while you'll get one like that. I had one who chased sketchy power sources (like lycanthropy, evil contracts, aweful rumours). Of course the downsides almost always outweighed the benefits.
>>47343944
I get to steer the events around the players and single their characters out for special attention. Doing spotlight time is usually the most fun part of the session for me.
I can choose to be lazy. If I don't feel like doing much work for next week I can just text: "Okay, homework assignment: come up with a frame for a mini-scene involving whatever your character gets up to in the downtime between adventures, the prompt for this one is 'obligations'. Other PCs can get involved in each others scenes or not, it's up to you guys. We'll play it out at the table." Then it turns into an hour to an hour and a half of ad-libbing off whatever they come up with and kicking back while they interact before I have to slide some more game in. 80% of my role is riffing off what happens when the players start poking around whatever house of cards they're up against this week.
I mostly don't have to bring food.
>>47343944
All the food you get "bribed" with
ka-bump
>>47343944
When you ship two of your players and a few weeks later they start dating
>>47350236
What does 'shipping' players mean?
>>47343944
I get to be a geek about geeky stuff, hang out with my best friends, AND eat good food with them.
The fuck is not to like?
>>47346667
Rocks, Anon. He fucks rocks.
>>47343944
Never having to endure anything exciting.
>>47348003
>devovle
Double what?
>>47350359
I'm guessing make them friends ('ship as in friendship?)
>>47350359
Putting them on a boat and sending them overseas.
>>47350640
Thanks
What I like most about being a GM is the interested looks I get when I quiet down the room for a new development, and then watching the players celebrate when they've beaten/discovered something. The free food definitely makes it great as well.
>>47343944
Definitely the sex I had with a girl I met through rpgs. She once took her underwear off in a game session and passed it to me as 'a secret note for the GM'.
>when the girl in your group has a crush on you
>when this bothers your players
>when you tell her you already have a girlfriend>when your girlfriend is being a cunt and you start wondering if you would be better off with the girl from your group
>>47351516
This exact thing happened to me 2 years ago. Clearly we need to find each other and become our true intended gestalt form.
>>47347555
What's the matter, don't like fries?
>>47351516
More, or less, attractive?
>>47351516
Be careful mate, lots of RPG girls seem normal in games, but are total headcases away from the table.
>>47345249
C'mon Grandpa, it's the current year.
>>47352088
Girlfriend is more attractive, group girl is a lot more pleasant to be around.
Girlfriend is very independent, group girl feels like she would be codependent.
Girlfriend is great in the sack, group girl might be a dead fish.
I could probably work group girl into something nice, or she might turn out to be a dud. Grass is much greener and all that.
>>47353524
What would you suggest?
>>47353754
You're right about the grass greener. Also this doesn't seem worth the risk.
If you are thinking of proceeding best off to at least hang out with game girl away from the table if that is possible.
>>47353754
Look anon, 9 times out of 10 when people cheat it's because of problems in their relationship and has little to do with the person they're cheating on or with. I don't know you but even from what little you've said it seems pretty clear that deep down you really don't think you'll be happier with this girl, you're just tempted to do it because you know you can. Try to make things work with your current gf and if that fails, end it. If the girl in your group still sounds like a good idea after the rebound part of the breakup is over, THEN go for it.
>>47347557
You I like.
>>47350639
devolve, opposite of evolve
>>47351923
i do, put ive had a rough spot and only thing i got was fries for like a month
i kinda overdosed on them
>>47343944
There's really no perks, but there is delicious schadenfreude when one of the characters fucks up big time. I had one person destroy the treasure that they were supposed to receive for the dungeon (what was essentially a hyper realistic Fabergé dragon egg) because they had been dealing with Tucker's kobolds and she was a paranoid fuck. Thought it was a trap, since she was the only one to realize it was not an actual dragon egg, and picked that shit right up and smashed it before anyone could stop her.
>>47354009
This is good advice, basically don't be a fuckboy.
I feel like I am actually doing something useful
Plus, researching for historical campaigns is fun
>>47343944
The fans.
>>47355412
Why is that robot pretending to be from Jem and the Holograms?
>>47343944
Never missing a game.
I like it because I can force everyone else to drive to my house, and I can get wasted easier on my own materials and my own snacks
>>47355665
That's no ordinary GM
Look at the hair!
>>47343944
>Free stuff from the players
>The ability to world build in a practical manner
>A lot of practical writing experience
>Watching your players trying to figure out shit
>Creating NPC's and their backstories
There are days where I have more fun just making NPC's and building cities than I do actually playing the game. My party is full of obnoxious shits, but dammit they are MY obnoxious shits.
>>47346698
>Not setting my players up to fail, simply letting them set themselves up to fail.
Players fuck themselves over a million times better than I ever could. They're wonderful.
>>47350236
Found the Tumblr Fag
>>47357282
GM question.
>Have one amazing player who does art, writes loads and makes interesting, if off the rails characters.
>Have three players. Two are on the spectrum. All three prefer things to be a bit more simple and murder hoboy
>These three constantly shit on the bright spark.
What do I do? I've told bright spark to make characters a bit more in line with the more mundane goals of the three, but even then they continue to treat him like dirt.
>>47358081
>praise 343 bright spark with gold, roleplay xp, magic items, etc
>watch as he soars
>chastise bad players, when they see that you're giving bright spark more stuff they'll follow his example, especially if they're on the spectrum
>clever.
>source: have autistic cousin who's a manipulative little shit
>>47353524
God I'd give anything to fuck a grill from my D&D group. Any suggestions how to do it? I've enver been laid and I'm uggo as fuck but not fat.
>>47356711
The wizard recently died to Goblin Batman.
One of the earliest adventures they had involved driving out a troublesome goblin den. After clearing out the warriors and chieftain they found the area with the women and children and got to work.
The children, all kept in a pit, were burned to death by the wizard. He laughed. One of the younglings survived and the party let it go. The wizard even dropped a "Yo dawg, I heard you like Batman. So we killed your parents."
Many adventures later, covering a span of years, the wizard was separated from the rest of the group when he ran ahead after some magical artifact. "It's cool", he said. "I've got a bunch of kickass spells. If shit goes south I can teleport out."
He failed all his perception checks, decided to cast invisibility purge when meta-gamed that there was something hiding nearby, then died to a brutal sneak attack as the hidden but not invisible goblin got its vengeance.
>>47358081
That's kinda shitty. If the majority is having fun playing their own way, then your bright spark is unfortunately in the wrong group. If you are getting tired of their shit, then you are DMing the wrong party. If they are all your friends and you don't want to just bail, I'd suggest rewarding your one player for trying harder and the others will get the idea.
I had a similar situation during my last campaign. I had six players and only two of them went the extra mile on their characters and I really appreciated it. The other four players gave me the mandatory paragraph of backstory and just wanted to start killing shit.
>One player made a diplomatic Bard with a lot of well thought out backstory in line with my setting
>Other player made an illusory Wizard that preferred to solve problems without violence.
>Rest of the party is made of hardcore MMO players and they all made Fighters and Rangers.
>The four kept giving the two players shit for making useless characters that couldn't fight well.
>The other four played the game correctly, though they put in zero RP effort.
>The other two began to feel actually useless and started to not put in effort anymore.
An excuse to day-drink
>>47353900
>>47354009
Sound advice from /tg/, as expected. Thanks, bros.
Makes you wonder what other boards would have advised
>>47358472
This is pretty much my situation.
The three will sulk and pout whenver Bright Spark Bright Sparks and gets rewarded for it.
>>47358166
Hopefully this works, or they'll just get salty over the snowflake.
>perks
>constant whining and complaints of railroading if I try to push a plot
>can't make anyone's character have any emotion, even if it's as small as "Set on edge from a loud scream"
>if any npc says anything they deem negative, they either distrust him completely or try to kill him
Yeah, nah
OP youre a damn fool for that image but I hope its the truth that being GM means its easier to fuck your players
>>47358183
What is it about it being a grill in your gaming group? It is great if that is the case, but it usually means your options are pretty limited.
I guess the best thing to do is see if you can find another mutual interest and try and spend more time with them. Also for the love of Christ if they are aloof about it be sure to step back, if it is just how they are then you will get another opportunity, and if it is a hint and you get pushy not only are you not going to get laid, but the grill will be telling all her mates the embarrassing story of you next time she is out drinking. I've seen this a lot, its awful. Spine breaking levels of cringe.
Main perk is that I don't have write the entire story.
Whenever I try to write a short story or whatever I can't stand it because characters don't feel compelling.
I think they don't feel compelling because they're all me.
Players aren't me. They do all kinds of idiotic nonsense. Get into all kinds of situations and approach things in ways I would never think to.
That makes the story enjoyable instead of monotonous. Not knowing how scenes will play out even when you know the overarching story can create a lot of entertainment value.
Secondly pretty much all the playing I get to ever do is just building tons of things. So I have tons of things to try out to see if they're as awesome as thought when I was building them (almost 100% of the time, they are not. Glad I didn't get stuck with that shit for a whole campaign).
>>47358384
>decided to cast invisibility purge when meta-gamed that there was something hiding nearby
That's grounds to throw in a couple extra d6s on the sneak attack.
>>47345237
>trips
It's full house, you fucking mongoloid.
>>47350675
Holy shit, was her name Bethany?
>>47367461
Yeah, she is from London.
>>47343944
The only real perk is ultimate creative control.
Everything else is a tiral.
>>47366122
He and one other player often meta game. I screw with them by applying templates to monsters in order to screw around with stats and resistances, or by having the tougher encounters be against people/creatures with class levels in obscure archetypes.
