Poll of the Day > I watched this video and it kinda made me want to play D&D

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDT0QW7TZGU" data-time="
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I've played a good amount of a 40k game before the gm abandoned it.
Finished one pathfinder game and half of another.
Like 2 rushed and crazed sessions of d20 modern.
And I started a star wars game that I had to put on hold because of school. Halfway done, hopefully will put my friends back into the meat grinder after class is done late november.

Table RPGs can be super fun with the right people. If you can find a group to play with just remember that arguments and disagreements ingame and real life happen. Doesnt always mean doomed. I'm lucky enough to play with friends. I mean they do argue. I once put them in the situation where it's run or fight, two of them where arguing over what to do. Lead to some separation and one of them dying. Good times
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It is VERY dependent on your group. You have to have a like minded group with play styles that compliment each other.
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hypnox posted...

It is VERY dependent on your group. You have to have a like minded group with play styles that compliment each other.

Having played D&D before, no, none of that is true.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

hypnox posted...

It is VERY dependent on your group. You have to have a like minded group with play styles that compliment each other.

Having played D&D before, no, none of that is true.

Sounds like you either played oneshots or VERY short stories then. Because if you play a multiple session game without a group that compliments each other(not characters but players) then it is going to fall apart very quickly.
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hypnox posted...

then it is going to fall apart very quickly.

If this happens, the DM isn't doing a proper DM job.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

hypnox posted...

then it is going to fall apart very quickly.

If this happens, the DM isn't doing a proper DM job.

The DM is not like a principal of a school of teenagers. The DMs role is to create a world and narrative for the players to play in. Not to play ring leader for the group of players.
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hypnox posted...

The DMs role is to create a world and narrative for the players to play in. Not to play ring leader for the group of players.

The DM is also supposed to make sure the game is fun for everyone so that they can play how they like. Which is part of creating a world and narrative. There's a section about it in the DM guide. the DM needs to know what kind player the players are so that they can adjust the campaign accordingly.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

hypnox posted...

It is VERY dependent on your group. You have to have a like minded group with play styles that compliment each other.

Having played D&D before, no, none of that is true.

Having RPGed across multiple systems with multiple players for nearly 35 years, yes, all of that was true.

Different players and different groups RP in different ways. Games work best and are the most fun when players mesh well and have similar expectations for the game. Games can also explode spectacularly and leave players so bitter that they never want to RP again because the group dynamics were so absolutely fucked right from the very start.

A huge key is to make sure everyone involved actually wants and expects the same things out of the game, and aren't going to run into a massive brick wall if their interests directly oppose someone else's. This is actually why most experienced players will suggest new groups and new DMs run "zero sessions" with no RP of any kind and no characters, where everyone involved gets a feel for what the people playing actually want out of the game. If you've got a group of players where one person wants deep narrative interaction and socializing with NPCs while another player doesn't care about anything other than rolling dice and smashing monsters, those players are likely not going to enjoy playing together, and even the best DMs who've ever lived will have trouble crafting a campaign to satisfy both of them (and like it or not, there are very few DMs that good anyway).

Done right, you can have a group that becomes almost like family and plays sessions that everyone involved remember fondly for years. Done poorly, and RP can literally end friendships and relationships.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

hypnox posted...

The DMs role is to create a world and narrative for the players to play in. Not to play ring leader for the group of players.

The DM is also supposed to make sure the game is fun for everyone so that they can play how they like. Which is part of creating a world and narrative. There's a section about it in the DM guide. the DM needs to know what kind player the players are so that they can adjust the campaign accordingly.

The DM is also a player, in a way. Unless they're being paid, they're under no real obligation to run a game they don't enjoy running. A narrative, world-building DM who wants to craft a political mystery with tons of social interaction and faction-influence is going to come to loathe their regular session if all of their players are combat wombats who don't even ask NPCs their name before stabbing them. Conversely, players who want an awesome story and emotional peaks (ie, the kind of players who bring 47 pages worth of character backstory to the first session) are going to start hating a game run by an oldschool grognard DM who views the game as the DM having the obligation to murder the players while the players must min-max/optimize every stat and ability synergy just to survive.

If a DM isn't having fun running a game, then that DM should find a different group, and that group should find a different DM.

Yes, it IS the DM's role to run a game that players want to play, but different DMs specialize in different types of games, and different groups do better (or worse) with different DMs.

Personally, I've run games that have gone dozens of sessions without a single die roll or combat of any kind. The people I ran those games for loved them. Other players would absolutely hate them.

And no one is objectively "right" or "wrong" about what a game SHOULD be. If players are having fun, then the game is being played correctly. If some or all of the people sitting at the table are bored or miserable or outright dread game night, then that game is absolutely being played wrong, even if you're following every rule written down in the book to the letter.
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