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Ellen the Ex-Drow
Acolyte
USA
9 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Dec 2006 : 18:02:43
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My friend David who's an avid DM himself (and an extremely sarcastic one) once said there were 2 styles of "mature" gaming. In the first style, the DM takes it upon him/herself to be as ZOMGEDGY as possible--the whole thing is a sex/violence overload and anyone who doesn't enjoy it is just a prude. The second type believes that combat is for mindless munchkins and does as little of it as possible, relying completely on roleplaying abilities and anyone who doesn't enjoy that is an unsophisticated meathead who should be playing [insert "immature" RPG here.]
My own question: How do you break it gently to someone that it feels like her own style is sliding toward the second option? I love my DM, I really do. It's just getting to the point where she seems to regard combat as a total waste of time--heck, we hardly even do skill checks for anything. The last campaign she DMed was so much slinking around without any clue of what we were doing that I found myself longing for some totally mindless dungeon crawl just for a chance of pace. Has anyone else's group had conflicts of interest like this in the past, and how have y'all dealt with it?
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"Hey, did you hear about that ancient Lovecraftian city they just discovered off New Zealand?"
"Really?"
"No, R'lyeh." |
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Sanishiver
Senior Scribe
USA
476 Posts |
Posted - 09 Dec 2006 : 18:49:50
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Well, I haven't had conflicts on that level in my current campaign.
What little advice I can offer though would be to break it gently to your DM that you like her and want her to be your DM (right?) but that you are simply not having any fun.
DnD spends a lot of time and space on the rules for combat because that's where much/most of the mechanics of the game are used. What's the point of all that print space if it's never going to be allowed into play by the DM right?
Now some people enjoy dice-less play and even brag about not having to roll a single dice all game long (which infers constant, supposedly excellent roleplaying all game long), but quite frankly this style of play can be as **boring** as hell for players.
The point of play is to have fun and DMs need to remember that regardless of how deeply emersed they are in their campaign/game world.
Good luck Ellen.
J. Grenemyer |
09/20/2008: Tiger Army at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. You wouldn’t believe how many females rode it out in the pit. Santa Cruz women are all of them beautiful. Now I know to add tough to that description.
6/27/2008: WALL-E is about the best damn movie Pixar has ever made. It had my heart racing and had me rooting for the good guy.
9/9/2006: Dave Mathews Band was off the hook at the Shoreline Amphitheater.
Never, ever read the game books too literally, or make such assumptions that what is omitted cannot be. Bad DM form, that.
And no matter how compelling a picture string theory paints, if it does not accurately describe our universe, it will be no more relevant than an elaborate game of Dungeons and Dragons. --paragraph 1, chapter 9, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene |
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Zimme
Learned Scribe
Denmark
209 Posts |
Posted - 09 Dec 2006 : 19:29:05
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| Yes break it to her easy, but break it! The game needs to be fun for all involved, try to find a place "in the middle" where dice-rolling and Roleplay is evenly spaced. sounds like the solution for your particular gaming group. |
Sometimes I feel like Beshaba is sitting on my back, devoting her entire attention to me!
Rannek.
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LucianBarasu
Fellaren-Krae Co-ordinator
USA
214 Posts |
Posted - 10 Dec 2006 : 06:50:32
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I agree with Zimme. Break it to her gently but do it and do it soon. The more she goes unchecked or unchallenged, tells her that her style and the way she is moving to, is okay with everyone at the table.
i'd start off silently making a small list( don't go nuts) but when a time comes where a skill check SHOULD have been done,the notate it. Then if she does get defensive, offer the list to her. Don't put it in her face and then sit back, folding your arms in defiance, But explain each one, and how important the dice are to YOU to make YOU feel like you're playing DND, just not sitting around and talking. Let her know that it is called ROLEplaying, but sometimes, it HAS to be ROLLplaying. |
Lucian "The Bringer" Barasu
Fellaren Krae Project Co-Ordinator
"Why do you cry?"
"He is Conan, Cimmerian. He won't cry... So I cry for him."
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 10 Dec 2006 : 15:38:36
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Most DM's I know of ask for feedback at the end of a session or between sessions. That would be a good time to break it to him. Also you might want to see if the other players feel the same way, could be it's just you. If everyone feels the same, then I would approach the DM one on one and discuss it with him.
As a DM and a player I'm not a big fan of "story" games. I prefer the character's to drive the events of the game not the other way around. |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Edited by - dwarvenranger on 10 Dec 2006 15:39:37 |
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Besshalar
Learned Scribe
Finland
166 Posts |
Posted - 10 Dec 2006 : 16:17:41
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| The thing to remember with this is that it's supposed to be fun ! When gaming isn't fun something has to change as for breaking the news to him you should probably tell her what is fun about her games and what you would like more. |
The large print giveth , and the small print taketh away.
-Tom Waits |
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A question on DM styles
