this is why D&D has a DM shortage

>be me the DM
>prepare plenty of food fot the table
>prepare the game
>they eat, but no one say they enjoyed it
>we play 4 hours, but no one say they enjoyed it

it's a job with no pay, nor reward, nor gratitude

I hope 6e VTT has a paid DM progrtam, so at least I will be paid for the trouble

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I'm a terrible cook and DM
    or
    I need new friends

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Perhaps even both.
      But for real if that's the way OP gets treated by his players there has to be an issue.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous
  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    u are a prostitute

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    DnD doesn't have DMs because it's a shit system that's god-awful to DM for. I've seen 90 page PbtA games that are less of an asspain to DM for than DnDogshit.

    Unironically, DnD is two decades behind advancements the rest of the industry has made.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >because it's a shit system that's god-awful to DM for
      you got a point anon

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Then get good, my players are always telling me they enjoyed the game and thanking me for running.

      5e is the easiest game for me to run because of the sheer accessibility of it, I can use tools to import npcs and just tweak existing NPCs to work how I want or change the name of something to use it, compared to what I usually run where I have to sit down and literally make every single NPC from the ground up which takes hours upon hours of prep since NPCs and PCs are built exactly the same and it's classless point buy.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >Then get good, my players are always telling me they enjoyed the game and thanking me for running.

        I'm trying.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >Hours and hours of prep to make NPCS
        >Because of classless point buy
        Dare I ask what you're running? Because that don't seem right.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Digimon Digital Adventures. No monster manual, and I need to make a variety of NPC digimon so I'm not just throwing the exact same 3 builds at the party. The most of the work is moving them to roll20 since I have to manually copy everything over. Again, unlike 5e, where I can just import shit from 5etools and I've already got all my houserules and homebrew to sort the actual system out to make it playable (to the point I've gotten complimented by a PF2e guy about my changes making it the only reason he even bothered to join up). I love DDA. It's my go-to system to run and play. But good christ has it taught me that best to start saving all the NPCs I make as .json files to import into other games so I don't have to make new NPCs every time once I've run a few games.

          >Then get good, my players are always telling me they enjoyed the game and thanking me for running.

          I'm trying.

          If you're legitimately giving your best and your players aren't even giving you a thanks, find new players who don't treat you like shit. Players are a dime a dozen, GMs are a hotly contested commodity.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Alright just curious. I don't know a damned thing about digimon so I really have no space to content.
            I'm curious because I'm a terminal GURPSgay and find the situation completely opposite in my case. I'd pull my fricking hair out trying to deal with making things in 5e, or running it in general.

            >DMs are expected to be an epic storyteller, know all the rules perfectly, coordinate everyones schedules, prepare food and a place to play, and to bow to every whim of the players

            >players are expected to show up

            Any group that expects you to do all that shit while they contribute nothing isn't a good one.
            The GM isn't special, he's not an entertainer, it's not a job, and as far as I'm concerned I have borderline the least responsibility of anyone at the table.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            How the frick is there no monster manual for a setting where the monsters are the whole point?

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              >How the frick is there no monster manual for a setting where the monsters are the whole point?
              Because those monsters are inconsistently depicted. Not even their fricking size is consistent. Also,

              >Dare I ask what you're running?
              homebrew setting, low level (3rd), low magic
              problem is not making npc but making a credible plot

              [...]
              >Players are a dime a dozen, GMs are a hotly contested commodity.
              indeed

              [...]
              >GM isn't special, he's not an entertainer, it's not a job
              a "than you" from time to time doesn't hurt

              [...]
              >You have no obligation to feed your players
              it's a deal we made, once every session one of the group make the food
              this week was my turn

              [...]
              >How the frick is there no monster manual for a setting where the monsters are the whole point?
              digimons are charcaters? not monsters??

              . Your Digimon is YOUR digimon partner. You play the human AND the digimon, and each digimon has its own unique personality. This shit isn't pokemon where you have a bunch of moronic animals that can only say their name, the digimon are just as much characters as the humans.

              The big example the handbook uses is with the Weapon quality (+1 to attack pools/damage per rank, with max ranks dicated by evolution stage); wheras the Agumon from Digimon Adventure (the first anime season) would not be able to take the quality as it lacks a fighting style/martial arts or a literal weapon, the one from Savers/Data Squad could because it's a close quarters brawler and emphasizes that in its fighting style. Both are agumon, but they are drastically different creatures and characters.

              It's a strength of the system, I can build any digimon however I want (though the system rewards all your digimon's stages having around the same ratio of spending on stats and qualities/powers, i.e. if your stats are 3/5/4/4/4 at rookie, making them 5/7/6/6/6 at Champion would be better than making them something like 9/4/4/6/7 with a compete shift in playstyle from melee to ranged) and it not only keeps the game from becoming samey as a player, but also keeps the game from being predictable like games with a monster manual are (the players can read the MM and it can lead to metagaming). The downside is that you need to sit down and stat every single NPC digimon, and if you have human NPCs god help you cause they need to be statted too.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                This just reads like you're making excuses for their laziness.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                It's a classless point-buy system, and the GM has to build characters around the party. It isn't 5e where there's a CR system, every single player digimon is going to be unique.

                It's impractical to make a monster manual because of just how crazy characters can get. I play in a game where some guy made a pure support digimon that has like 20d6 dodgepools and is basically untouchable in a fight and we've only gotten to champion/adult while the rest of us are fairly standard, the games I run have one guy who made a seriously strong damage dealer and the rest of the party are just sorta average to sub-par in combat with a non-combat twist of some kind.

                You have to make encounters to fit your party, like any good classless point-buy system. DDA has its problems, but not having a monster manual isn't one of them. In fact I prefer it because rather than relying on shitty monster manuals like DND I can custom-tailor all my encounters.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >Dare I ask what you're running?
          homebrew setting, low level (3rd), low magic
          problem is not making npc but making a credible plot

          Digimon Digital Adventures. No monster manual, and I need to make a variety of NPC digimon so I'm not just throwing the exact same 3 builds at the party. The most of the work is moving them to roll20 since I have to manually copy everything over. Again, unlike 5e, where I can just import shit from 5etools and I've already got all my houserules and homebrew to sort the actual system out to make it playable (to the point I've gotten complimented by a PF2e guy about my changes making it the only reason he even bothered to join up). I love DDA. It's my go-to system to run and play. But good christ has it taught me that best to start saving all the NPCs I make as .json files to import into other games so I don't have to make new NPCs every time once I've run a few games.

          [...]
          If you're legitimately giving your best and your players aren't even giving you a thanks, find new players who don't treat you like shit. Players are a dime a dozen, GMs are a hotly contested commodity.

          >Players are a dime a dozen, GMs are a hotly contested commodity.
          indeed

          Alright just curious. I don't know a damned thing about digimon so I really have no space to content.
          I'm curious because I'm a terminal GURPSgay and find the situation completely opposite in my case. I'd pull my fricking hair out trying to deal with making things in 5e, or running it in general.

          [...]
          Any group that expects you to do all that shit while they contribute nothing isn't a good one.
          The GM isn't special, he's not an entertainer, it's not a job, and as far as I'm concerned I have borderline the least responsibility of anyone at the table.

          >GM isn't special, he's not an entertainer, it's not a job
          a "than you" from time to time doesn't hurt

          You have no obligation to feed your players and GMing is supposed to be fun for you too, if you don't enjoy it why are you doing it?

          >You have no obligation to feed your players
          it's a deal we made, once every session one of the group make the food
          this week was my turn

          How the frick is there no monster manual for a setting where the monsters are the whole point?

          >How the frick is there no monster manual for a setting where the monsters are the whole point?
          digimons are charcaters? not monsters??

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >a "thank you" from time to time doesn't hurt
            Of course, a group that isn't showing appreciation for each other isn't doing well.
            My point was more that, as the GM, you're not special enough to have to hold yourself to ridiculous standards.
            The first published RPG ranting and raving about how fricking hard being the GM is and how important and laden with responsibility you are has caused fifty years of collective brain damage.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              >The first published RPG ranting and raving about how fricking hard being the GM is and how important and laden with responsibility you are has caused fifty years of collective brain damage.
              harsh true

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              >My point was more that, as the GM, you're not special enough to have to hold yourself to ridiculous standards
              You're literally the one doing the most work at the table. Without you, there would be no game.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                I'm really not, anon. The hyper-active GM/passive player dichotomy is not, by far, the only way to run a game. I'm not meat-based skyrim for other people to show up and be entertained by, and I can't imagine what sort of shitty games and play cultures people come from where that's what seems to be going on.
                >Without you, there would be no game.
                Sure there would. Someone else would do it. It's not some herculean endeavor in basically any game with even the slightest modicum of GMing skill. But then I can forgive that last bit because major published games have been teaching people wrong as a fricking joke since forever.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                >The hyper-active GM/passive player dichotomy is not, by far, the only way to run a game
                The GM creates the setting, they decide on the houserules and homebrew, they create the NPCs, and so on and so forth. Players make their characters, show up, and play the game.
                >I'm not meat-based skyrim for other people to show up and be entertained by
                That's right, the players are the ones who are there to entertain you.
                >Sure there would. Someone else would do it.
                No they fricking won't, GMs are incredibly rare because most people are too fricking lazy to GM.
                >It's not some herculean endeavor in basically any game with even the slightest modicum of GMing skill
                It's a huge effort. You have to craft a setting, set up a date and time, make NPCs, and constantly, constantly adapt to the stupid shit players do on the fly along with playing every single NPC.
                >But then I can forgive that last bit because major published games have been teaching people wrong as a fricking joke since forever.
                I don't run published games. I run indie games in google docs or my own homebrew also in google docs.

                Co-Gming is moronic nonsense that only works in loot and stab skirmish games like Dungeons and Dragons (all editions).

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                Well, you do you.
                If your anecdotal experience is completely counter to my anecdotal experience, there's not much for it.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                I'm the player in a campaign, and I've written like 4,000 words of custom rules for the campaign I'm in. I know most players aren't like that, but it's rarely so dramatic a difference between work from a player and GM.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >digimons are charcaters? not monsters??
            These aren't mutually exclusive categories???

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I've GMed like 20 different games at this point and 5e still takes the cake for most prep time. Sure, there's a shitton of resources for it but it's still clunky as frick to prep.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I've been enjoying PF2e and all the Foundry integration is pretty swag

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >DnD is two decades behind advancements the rest of the industry has made.

      Advancements like?
      And what makes are these alleged advancements actually better?

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >Advancements like?
        Having actually functioning rules, having tools to generate content, and not foisting basic rulebook responsibilities onto an already overburdened GM.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >Having actually functioning rules

          Thank you for the answer but that bit is a bit on the nose. You're implying that tens or hundreds of thousands of people didn't play B/X, BECM, AD&D (both editions) in the 70s through 90s. Those rule sets are more than 30 years old at the youngest. They had functioning rules and, since the rules being printed on paper with little revision are more or less invariant over time, they continue to have functioning rules.

          >having tools to generate content
          >already overburdened GM

          This seems like a matter of taste, we used to like making our own stuff up and we did it without help.

          Some of the people were so good at doing it that TSR published stuff people had made for their own campaigns as things like Greyhawk and the Realms. Those DMs were better at the adventure making stuff than me and most other people but they did it. But I can understand that some people like random tables or geomorph tiles or even, I suppose, computerised tools

          >basic rulebook responsibilities

          I don't know what you mean by this. AFAIK the basic responsibility of rule books is to detail the rules, which D&D does. D&D rulebook often don't do a great job of teaching the rules but that's because they were regarded as reference manuals, not instructional manuals. However, the B of BECMI is regarded as a highlight of the teaching style and it appeared 20 years before the two decades behind the times date you or other anon criticised.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >PbtA
      >Advancement
      Bait.jpg
      I have nothing against shared narrative systems but first of all they are frick old so not an "advancement" in any measure or form and, second, assuming they fill the same niche with sandbox-oriented ttrpgs is asinine.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >DnD doesn't have DMs because
      Allow me to correct that for you GURPS-gay.

      NuDnD has a problem with DM's, AD&D 1e and 2e, as well as BECMI and OSR type games DO NOT have such a problem. The old school versions of D&D do not have this problem because they do not suck and do not try to make the DM into a fricking Life coach for the players.

      5e and such try to make the DM the fricking servant of the players, and that's where the problem lays. The old school versions of the game make it fricking clear as crystal that the DM is the one who runs the show, and gives them to tools to make the game more fun for the players and the dm both. So the obvious solution here is obvious. Reject Modernity... embrace tradition.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I'd go so far as to say that OSR games have the opposite "problem" where everyone wants to GM their own shitbrew B/X clone.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      What parts of the industry?

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It's like being a moderator.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      a moderator with no pay, reward, or gratitude

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        ~he does it for free~

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        A moderator or a jannie?

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Run shit games get shit players. Not complicated.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Run shit games get shit players. Not complicated.
      ouch!!, I felt that

      believe or not, worl of darkness players are worse

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I believe you e-girlgay.
        Get out of there before it grinds you down. You're running the game, you can run what you want. It takes time and patience but eventually ending up with a group you like who you can play a variety of games with is much better than running a game you don't like that much for players you despise.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        The players have been what kept me away from it. Ever since I played Bloodlines I wanted to try out VtM but every time I even just look in the general direction of the WoD fandom I am met with unrivalled cringe.

        Doesnt help that the one time I had contact with a WoD GM, they were unironically the worst GM Ive ever had the displeasure of playing with.
        Like I had several bad ones giving me a couple of horror stories but man that one just took the cake by sheer inability to produce even a fabric of engagement.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          I meet drama and dysfunctional relationships

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          You made the right decision. The last WoD group I was in all unanimously decided that they were going to start banging the group bicycle and somehow she convinced them all to start a polygamist relationship with her, basically forming her own little moronic simp coterie IRL which I promptly got the frick away from as fast as possible. Last I heard they (unsurprisingly) had a collective autistic meltdown and the group imploded instantly.

          Sometimes it makes me wish I just had normal hobbies like fishing.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            oh my lawd. There's stereotypes and then there's reasons for stereotypes.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Did you join in

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            Sounds like you're just jealous.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        This is just my take on it but wto players> vtm 20th/R players> mage players that can pull their head out of their asses> 5e D&D players >wta players > vtm 5e and 2e players > mage players that edition war with each other (which is like 70% of them).

        Vtm 5e players are...special.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I prefer the weird WoD players to the D&Dtards, personally. Don't get me wrong, the WoD crowd is an ascendant level of cringe, but they would at least give me gifts and weirdly lavish praise for 'hosting our dark gathering' n shit. One guy who never broke character would bring me things like ritzy alcohol and his girlfriend would give me weird costume israeliteelry she made. It was weird and a little uncomfortable, but it sure as hell beats getting "oh yeah, sure, it was fun. see you next week" with zero acknowledgement that I went out of my way to be a good host.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Yup host the game, provide snacks/beer and dm for 6 hours.

    I changed groups this year though and learned my issue was that I was not playing with functional adults.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >I was not playing with functional adults
      I could be making the same mistake honestly

      I need people with the common courtesy of saying "thank you" sometimes

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >DMs are expected to be an epic storyteller, know all the rules perfectly, coordinate everyones schedules, prepare food and a place to play, and to bow to every whim of the players

    >players are expected to show up

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      are expected to show up

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      are expected to show up
      And somehow that's the biggest issue hindering games.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Players are expected to show up
      >can't even do that half the time

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >>can't even do that half the time

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      And guess which of them is more likely not to uphold their end of the deal.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      are expected to show up
      And most of them can't even manage that.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        harsh but true

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        It just means your game is boring and they have better things to do.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      are expected to show up
      Had a one-shot game with randos on Saturday. Seven slots, planned weeks in advance. A week before one of them said he couldn't make it to the game because he has to focus on school. So he can't make it to a six-hour one-shot. 24 hours before one guy remembered he has to work on Saturday. 6 hours before one guy cancelled because he got covid and can't make it to an online game.
      We ended up playing with four players, all functioning adults, which was the appropriate amount of people for the adventure. And I have the strong impression that the DM used the flaky PCs as the first victims in the murder mystery. It was a blast.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Learned this after a while.
        Dont want to get your game stopped by flakers who ditch right before begin of a campaign?
        Add two more people than intended if your playing with randos, there is bound to be at least one person who ditches last second.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          are expected to show up
          Had a one-shot game with randos on Saturday. Seven slots, planned weeks in advance. A week before one of them said he couldn't make it to the game because he has to focus on school. So he can't make it to a six-hour one-shot. 24 hours before one guy remembered he has to work on Saturday. 6 hours before one guy cancelled because he got covid and can't make it to an online game.
          We ended up playing with four players, all functioning adults, which was the appropriate amount of people for the adventure. And I have the strong impression that the DM used the flaky PCs as the first victims in the murder mystery. It was a blast.

          >invite 6 randos to a game
          >2 never show up
          >1 more leaves after the first session
          >invite 3 more people
          >2 never show up
          >several weeks of this and I finally have a semi-stable group of 4 players

          Online play is absolutely fricked, but at least there's always more players out there.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      GM= male
      player= female

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      You'd think so but there's plenty of gms that barely put more effort into the game than the players.
      Sucks when you find out the module they were running was actually good but they basically skipped half the cool stuff because it would require them to read it before the session started.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >I had to work today bro!

      We all had to work today, we're almost 30, this isn't an excuse anymore I'm so fricking tired of this I cannot believe I am the sole reason I can't make friends

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I have a long running friend group and we're pretty open over what our scheduled is. two in the healthcare field and might get called in, least they tell us when they do have call days. Only one that gets assfricked is our 'meat guy' and apparently having 0 fricking scheduled lined up for the week because his boss is a moron. Again, atleast he tells us when he dose have a last second change unlike our old DM who never did any of this shit, thank god we dumped his ass.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      And every other system has a player shortage.

      It's a problem that that's the only thing expected from the players. When they try to contribute in any other way, they're not taken seriously.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >When they try to contribute in any other way, they're not taken seriously
        Oh frick off, and what this "contribution" amount at? Playing a moronic mishmash of archetypes into one? Because as far as it goes that is ALL the "contribution" the average player is willing to do but as soon as you try to advertise the notion of shared world building or such they will start rolling their eyes and revert to thinking about their superspeciul oc donut steel.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          You know, I was going to say something counter to this.
          But then I remember in a thread a few weeks ago I was talking about how happy I was my GM leaves me space to worldbuild, the example having been just having 'what dark elf culture is like beyond the broad strokes,' thrown to me since I was playing one.
          And the people in the thread immediately started opining about how fricking awful my GM must be to 'make' me do 'his job.'
          So yeah. I imagine deprogramming average players must be hard.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Recently: creating maps (and more than that) for parts of the city the campaign is set in that are relevant to the player. Making a subsystem to replace the one in the adventure that wasn't working.

          But in general: adding character backstory that can actually amount to pertinent worldbuilding and story hooks.

          But no, GMs are stuck in their lazy ways and just do the bare minimum while being control freaks.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >But no, GMs are stuck in their lazy ways and just do the bare minimum while being control freaks
            I would LOVE to have that kind of investment by the players that i have encountered (and those that have usually end taking the extra step directly into gming) but for the most part people tend to be more driven in exploration rather than creation.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              And I'd love a proper GM instead of the most recent idiot who cared so little he let the /misc/ack talk over him and argue with everyone. And I'd also love to take a proper plunge into GMing if people were actually interested in playing something besides 5e published adventures.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Bend over backwards for your players
      >Why don’t they respect me?
      I have never once played in a game where the GM hosted and bought food for the players. Generally the GM and host (if not the GM) is exempt from food duties in my experience.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        He's not bending over backwards. He's bending forwards. There's a little fricking sign written in cursive planted over his ass hole that says "Bless All Who Enter" with a goddamn garden gnome on the fricking lawn.

        As far as I'm concerned, the players better literally worship me with prayers and supplication before I lift a finger to run anything for them. Like. I require them to speak the pleading words of an actual prayer out loud in my presence, directly and explicitly begging the favor from me. Like how people say grace before eating.

        I have a waiting list of more than six people trying to get a seat to play at my table. I do not tolerate SHIT. Ever.

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >DM for club
    >People get up and walk around/do other shit and stop paying attention if the narration takes more than 2 minutes
    >Always pulling up loud videos on their phones while one person tries to talk to an NPC
    >Literally can only get them to focus on combat and even then only on their own turns
    >Talk about how much fun they're having/how much they enjoy it still

    At least I'm getting paid. Not much but if people behaved like this in my personal, vetted game they would not be invited back.

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >Build a nice world
    >Have some fun
    >Talking with players about these cool ideas
    >They join in
    >Make characters from scratch that fit well into the world and story
    >Two sessions in and already having issues with scheduling and people missing sessions without a reason
    >Some drop the campaign
    >By the 6th session the party is entirely different, no one in it was part of the initial group and each character was tackled along to keep things running
    >The same issues continues
    I understand this is a bigger problem with online play, but I don't have a choice. Still, I like to DM, but if I'm going to sink several hours preparing something (which is fun, honestly), I want to see it through. But I can't do that because people can't commit to a weekly game. Thought something cool for a PC? Watch them become absent for 3 weeks straight. Really important plot point? Yeah just half of the party shows up, the same half that won't be here next session.
    Oh, and good luck finding anyone to play something that is really low effort. One-session adventures? Nope. If you're not offering the full course year long campaign with Matthew Bludgeon no one cares.

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    My players bring food/beer when I DM. I bring food/beer when they DM. It's only polite.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      This, you don't pay for the food/beer if you are the DM, For god's frick wich kind of players do you have?

  11. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    You have no obligation to feed your players and GMing is supposed to be fun for you too, if you don't enjoy it why are you doing it?

  12. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    cant imagine not thanking them, every time i am hosted without fail i thank the host graciously, as they deserve for giving me a slice of their time and home and charity

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      indeed
      it's basic courtesy

  13. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I agree, they should pay me

  14. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Being a GM is a cucked thing to do no matter the system.

    Play solo. You literally don't need players.

  15. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >GM a game
    >offer water and potato chips
    >players bring cookies
    >prep for 30 minutes because all I need is a sword&sorcery adventure prompt and a cool adventure site
    >players all thank me after visibly having fun

  16. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    No d&d has a dm shortage because 5e players (for the most part) are lazy and demanding casuals that got in the hobby following a fad and not out of genuine interest. They are not there to play a game, they are there to be entertained.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      d&d has a dm shortage because 1. the rules are overly complicated, enough to require a bunch of thick books (which would be seen as downrigh stupid for any other common traditional games) 2. it requires that you spend a lot of money on books and parafernalia 3. the game is incredibly prep heavy and you need to spend a lot of time prepping for a campaign or already have thousands of hours dming to be able to kind of make it up as you go
      In fact most books, articles, etc. about dungeon and dragons that you find online try to solve one of these problems.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        I admit to not being familiar with 5e in general and with the 5e DMg in specific but surely it can't be more difficult to run than older edutions (or than 3.5e for the matter).

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          5e is slightly easier than 3.5 which didn't have this problem because 3.5 never appealed to anyone except autists who don't care that the rules are a leviathan of jank and preparing a session requires writing half a fantasy novel and then doing hours of homework for it. Compare to the real D&D where there's jank but all you need is a hole full of orcs, or other Skill Rolls & Storytellers games where the rules can be a few pages if you want, or real storygames where the rules are made to work for you and the story emerges from them.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            I'd say that 5e is more similar with 4e than 3.5 really. In 3.5 there really isn't that much guard rails when it comes to multiclassing as you aren't guaranteed to be +2-6 gooder at whatever the shit you're proficient in.
            The autism is the only thing that makes dnd fun, it is bland as hell oherwise unless you get into alternative settings like dark sun, planescape or what have you.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >which would be seen as downrigh stupid for any other common traditional games
        Player book, GM book, other book is a very common setup.
        Wargames tend towards core rules and army books for larger franchises, who would be the common traditional games. You don't get into single book games until you get into /awg/ and indi rpgs. Even then the more recent indi darlings have been large books.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >Player book, GM book, other book is a very common setup.
          No it isn't. D&D is the only game on my shelf that requires three books to play. If I remember correctly Pathfinder needs at least two. GURPS is one book split up into two because it'd otherwise be 800 pages long (and arguably you can get away with just the first book). Every other game I own crams everything you need to play in just one book. Call of Cthulhu, Deadlands, Savage Worlds, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Goblin Slayer, Fantasycraft, Mouseguard, Shadowrun, all one book needed to play.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >all the common other books are one book
            >except all the common other books that arent like gurps, pathfinder
            >here is a list of much smaller things
            >ignores other table top first commented on for wargames
            lol

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              cope

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                whoever smelt it dealt it

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >d&d has a dm shortage because 1. the rules are overly complicated
        moron alert

  17. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    the fact that my players didnt outwardly appreciate my effort more often legitimately makes me upset
    there was almost never that bit of praise to push me forward, never a gift or sign of appreciation for all the work i put in (and it was a moronic amount i'd never do again)
    as the campaign wrapped, they all said things like
    >"this is the best game i ever played in, you're the best dm i've ever had, etc etc"
    it may sound vain, but little compliments and kindness would've done a lot for me running that shit. especially when i'm exposed to posts and pictures of other players showering their dms with thoughtful gifts and heartfelt messages

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >the fact that my players didnt outwardly appreciate my effort more often legitimately makes me upset
      same
      I'm on the 8th session, no one had complained, but no one has said somting positive to me about the game

      we are just playing in automatic mode

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        now imagine that for 3 years
        with a passive group of players that are content to sit in silence without a "entertain us" type of gm playstyle
        mentally exhausting to say the least

  18. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >Group of 4
    >we all take turns GMing because we all have ideas and systems we'd like to try
    >artists in the group make art for the characters
    We're all kind of amateurs at GMing but we put our hearts in it, gosh darn it

  19. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Sure you should thank people for the food, but why should you be thanked for gming? Aren't you supposed to be enjoying it as much as everyone else? If it's such a chore to do that you need thanks and encouragement to pull through, maybe that's why nobody wants to GM, not because people are thankless.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Also i should point out yes i am no games yes i have no idea what gming is like, i play boardgames not rpg. I am genuinely trying to understand.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        as people said before being a GM is like being a moderator, an arbiter, you are not "playing the game" per se
        and you have a big amount of responsability, If you perform bad, everyone has a bad day

        when you play board games, if you perform badly, YOU had a bad day

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >If it's such a chore to do that you need thanks and encouragement to pull through, maybe that's why nobody wants to GM, not because people are thankless.
      To answer seriously gm is very fun actually but can lead to burnout easily if not approached carefully (do some solid prep work in advance, have some modular ready to go scenarios to throw-in as soon as your players do something absolutely unexpected to gaign time, and so on). Also different expectations at the table are a whole b***h to deal with and, to be honest, compromise is always sub optimal, hence another leading factor in gm burnout.

  20. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >DM for a group of friends I've know for years and are all adults who played TTRPG and boardgames their entire lives.
    >Everything is smooth and I even get help throughout the campaign

    I will never go back to posting games online to DM.

  21. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    If preparing adventures isn't fun for you, don't be a gm.
    Simple as.

    I gm because I enjoy it.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I do enjoy it

      but how do I know if the other people is liking what I do if they don't say a word

      you can be DM for ten years, but if no one say you are good at it, maybe you had been a horrible DM for ten years

      this is the reason why OG D&D masters though they where good roleplayers, the suystem let them kill the PC over and over and they thought that was what the players wanted

  22. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I've been playing with my current group weekly for years, spent hundreds of hours prepping sessions and handouts, players are hyped and talk about the campaign betweens games, our session are loads of fun, but I don't think they've ever shown spontaneous gratitude. Tbf, we're all emotionally stunted europeans. Would feel nice though.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >players are hyped and talk about the campaign
      that's a kind of gratitude

  23. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    DM because you enjoy it not out of some misplaced sense of entitlement or obligation.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >enjoy coming up with worlds and adjudicating systems of play
      >have basic fricking standards that would exclude 99% of online troglodytes from ever playing with me
      >have no irl friends who play TTRPGs
      NeverDM is the only feeling worse than ForeverDM.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >have basic fricking standards that would exclude 99% of online troglodytes from ever playing with me
        >have no irl friends who play TTRPGs
        Are you me?

  24. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    D&D has a DM shortage because it's a fricking dogshit system and anyone with the brainpower required to DM has since moved on to greener pastures.

  25. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Take the monthly sessions-pill

    >sessions are no longer a common weekend activity that will be there again the following week, they are an important monthly event, if you flake, gotta wait untill the next month to play
    >suddenly the game has a higher degree of importance for everyone involved
    >you have more time to prepare, therefore, you run better sessions

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >monthly sessions
      Bruh I want to play more, not less. I can't even imagine trying to go through a single dungeon in like 6 months, or trying to remember what the frick happened in a session two months ago.

      >you have more time to prepare, therefore, you run better sessions
      Implying I'm not just going to last minute prep the night before anyway lmao

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      All this does it make it *more* likely players will forget about this and schedule other events over it and, well, those other events are going to win out. Especially if they're scheduled with the SO.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Not in my experience.

        >What Saturday is everyone free for the game this month
        >Players tell me what days they're free
        >"Okay put that day in your calendars so no one forgets or schedules something else."
        >The week of text everyone and remind them again that game is this week

        I very rarely have someone cancel when you ask them when they're available and making them do something as simple as putting a calendar event in their phone.

  26. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    The modern 5E DM is basically expected to be a performer/storyteller that is there to weave his players into his plot railroad. Players aren’t invested because they know the outcome is largely preordained.

  27. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    My players thank me after every session, more or less.
    And my guests always thank me if I've cooked

  28. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    in my group each person is responsible for their food and beverages that is an unspoken rule

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >>in my group each person is responsible for their food and beverages that is an unspoken rule
      >

      You have no obligation to feed your players and GMing is supposed to be fun for you too, if you don't enjoy it why are you doing it?


      >>You have no obligation to feed your players
      it's a deal we made, once every session one of the group make the food
      this week was my turn

  29. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I'm guessing this is some manner of bait thread, but I will note that lack of feedback can be really disheartening to a GM. Post-game player discussion is fuel in the proverbial tank, and it sometimes helps foster new ideas.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Post-game player discussion is fuel in the proverbial tank, and it sometimes helps foster new ideas.
      my tank is almost empty

  30. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >GM for 5e
    >Players get their own food and drinks
    >Prep for 30 minutes to an hour a week for the session once or twice a month
    >Everyone eats during set up, maybe has a drink during the game
    >We play for 4-5 hours
    >Sometimes the players say they had fun, sometimes they don't.
    >Always try to tell them when they handled things well or things I was pleasantly surprised they did
    >Players are excited to finish this game and they want to try other TTRPGs after we finish this game (because of Wizards and the OGL stuff from a couple months ago).

    Feels good man. Play with friends, not randos.

  31. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >Be the DM
    >Meet in a cafe backroom
    >Outsource all food and drink needs
    >Actively seek feedback and act accordingly

    You just need to make your own luck, anon.

  32. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >not only dm but also food provider
    if you also play at your place, you are masochist, learn assertivemess

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      no, it was not my place
      I have a minimum of self love

  33. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    ... Why the frick would the GM make the food?

    If you aren't being paid, the players are obligated to at least feed you.

    Ghost them. by which I mean literally kill them

    Remember, kids, never work for free. Ever.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      GMs are my slaves.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Yeah you play a lot of games, don't you. You play all the time.

        Sometimes even twice a day.

        Yeah.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Yeah.

          And you?

  34. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    We play online so no food, but I’ve been playing weekly sessions under one DM for around 2 years and I’ve made sure to say thank you at the end of every session. There’s a DM shortage because DMing fricking sucks. The only reason I ever DM is to give my own DM a break.

  35. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I'm one of those people who genuinely enjoy DMing more than playing. I don't mind the extra homework, to me that's the fun part. I enjoy designing encounters and writing puzzles and all that shit. I enjoy having to weave all the disparate backstories together into some kind of cohesive narrative. That's fun for me.

    But still, it wouldn't kill me to hear a little gratitude now and then. I try to compliment players when they do things that are clever or interesting. But since it's just assumed as a DM you're going to be putting in a lot of effort no one really thinks it's especially noteworthy.

  36. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >be me, G
    >4 players, campaign has been going for 9 months
    >Players are finally taking the fight back to their list of enemies, gathering allies
    >My brother, one of the players, quits playing because he wasn't happy with 1 decision, in 9 months (he's 26 y/o. I temporarily restricted his druidic connection to spells because he murdered a captured enemy "because". His primary deity is fickle by nature, and the captive wasn't a bad guy, just fighting for the wrong side. They knew all this.)
    >Decide to play without him this weekend. Players siege an enemy fortress
    >Design tactical rules inspired by turn-based strategies, weekend session goes well
    >"anon, you truly outdid yourself this time, that was great".
    Genuinely feels good. I was doubting myself after my brother booted off. It does have its reward if your players appreciate you.

  37. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Give me AI DMs or give me death.

  38. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >DM shortage
    Schizo take invented by nogames who would rather clog up /tg/ and whine rather than working on personal problems that affect their ability to keep a group together.

    Every time I see someone repeat this forced meme, it's always just complaining about how running a game requires more effort than being a player, which is obviously true, but when you call it a "shortage" that's just mental gymnastics to pretend like it's some kind of recent trend and not a personal problem.
    >B-b-but I'm expected to feed my players!!
    Wrong. Personal problem.
    >B-b-but I'm expected to know all the rules!!
    Wrong. This take's also a red flag because it implies you don't know what to do if you don't know a rule.
    >B-b-but I'm expected to prep!
    Yes, and? How much preparation depends on the DM and the game, so this is another personal problem
    >B-b-but I'm expected to be a storyteller with a grand plotline and story arcs for all the characters!
    I'm starting to think there's an imagination shortage. People in this thread can't even imagine sorting this shit out with their players like adults.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Schizo take invented by nogames
      Which is exactly why Wizards themselves have decided they need to solve the issue with their virtual video game tabletop with AI GMs. Because it's currently very easy to onboard their massive fanbase that consume youtube videos.

      Idiot.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        You're actually moronic if that's how things are framed in your mind.

        Wizards is just trying to expand their fanbase and target audience by bringing in people who enjoy the idea of D&D but don't like playing it all that much. They've been doing this since 4th edition D&D. This still doesn't change the fact that the effort required to GM is anything but a personal problem, it just means that nowadays there are more idiots like you, screaming into the void about their asinine expectations of what the hobby is supposed to be like.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      You're absolutely right. People complaining about being 'forever GMs' are victimizing themselves, it's a 100% self-imposed problem. Frick those whiny twats.

  39. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Just take turns hosting homie damn.

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