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@boohoow

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the great content. So far, you seem to me, to be one of the very few D&D youtubers, who aren't poisoned by a salty and misunderstood adversarial view of PC and GM. TL;DR: I like your style, and I pity those who have to get their D&D on, with antisocial man-babies. I am new, playing in my second campaign with 4 friends. When I seek out funny D&D stories, and content in general, I get the sense that sadly there is in D&D communities, a tendency towards this weird dysfunctional or antisocial dynamic. Luckily for me and my friends our GM's, like you, are interested in creating a fun and interesting world, for us to explore and develop out characters in. And we as players, have a profound appreciation for our GM's and the wonderful job they do. I hate to enforce a stereotype, but I get the unpleasant feeling, some D&D communities are plagued by individuals with horrible social skills. I suppose it's caused by the typical low self esteem and what have you, but this kind of thing can spread like a cancer of e.g. a very adversarial dynamic. That is why I love it, when I hear from people like you, who don't seem worn down by bad experiences, and frankly seem to have a healthy social life, and social skills.

"They're not going to be a Skyrim guard..." One of my Players rolled a nat 20 on an attempt to hide after a not-quite-enough stealth roll caused a guard to hear them coming and check on the noise. I pantomimed searching for a second, shrugged, looked her in the eye and said "must have been the wind..." I also had an NPC tell them "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this." And hand them a couple potions (should have saved it for a sword). We're all gamers in our group, so the references are plentiful.

@TheSmart-CasualGamer

2 жыл бұрын

The amount of times I've had an NPC say "Wake up Sonny, looks like you're not too far gone..." must be in the tens at least these last few years.

@keyboardstalker4784

Жыл бұрын

I can smell the Soylent on your breath through the screen

I have been really a author/narrator, I'm building an expansive world, but for my players to explore.

@soggynuggets1332

4 жыл бұрын

same

@josephdawson8073

4 жыл бұрын

I think that's the ideal type. I actually played with a GM who was kind of a combination like this. She would recycle the same world a lot but somehow every story felt different as she tailored it to the group. By far my favorite GM.

@dot620

4 жыл бұрын

as long as the driving question when worldbuilding is "what can players do to interact with this place/person/group and how can i make sure that interaction is meaningful" then I would say that's the best kind of GM.

@peppermintpearl5962

3 жыл бұрын

@@josephdawson8073 i aspire to be this person

1:21 Rules Interpreter 5:58 Galactic Force 12:25 Narrator 15:47 Author I once knew a GM who once in a while deliberately did a session as "Rules Interpreter", especially when learning new systems, with the argument that we better know the rules before implementing home brewed modifications! Interesting that Guy state to be closest to being a "Narrator" when 'the Great Game Master' he teach in the videos is far closer to the "Author"! Let us see what the second part brings...

@alexandreboutaudvalarini5638

5 жыл бұрын

He gives us prompts to build a world "Author"-style, but I have heard him reinforce several times that the focus of the game for him is to create a story. From what I understood from this video, the "author" is more of a tour-guide than a storyteller. World-building and lore developing can be a great scaffolding for story telling, as demonstrated by Tolkien amongst others, as long as you don't lose your focus and forget the fact that it's scaffolding for your goal, not your new goal.

@AssasinZorro

5 жыл бұрын

Considering that the next part will give us: Villain Player No-a-GM Actor Moduler It's possible to see which of them you are as it is. But without detailed explanations, it's hard to decide how much of each kind of GM you are. I, however, have fallen into some pitfalls of Author GM for sure, I've made my world and I was very fond of it, lead two groups through it and they've had very different experiences. The second group had it better since they've created characters with backstories that I could use for their campaign. The first group didn't feel included enough at the end of their campaign and I know that it's somewhat true. Funnily enough their actions did affect the world, but I didn't do good enough job displaying it and my players felt like they didn't affect situation at all.

@larsdahl5528

5 жыл бұрын

When I look through the comments, I see most people consider themselves to be in the "Author" category. Second place seems shared between "Rules Interpreter" and "Narrator" Only a few in the "Galactic Force". Most of those who do not consider themself to be in one category only, say "Narrator" and "Author" combination. I ponder if Guy made the categories correct. "Narrator" have "Directs plots". And "Author" have "Story focused". I ponder are those two swapped? Depend at what we understand with the words. As I see it, then: Plot is the GM's. - Thus it should be for "Author" (As "PCs are not included"). And Story is the PCs's. - Thus it should be for "Narrator" (As "PCs are central").

@robertnett9793

5 жыл бұрын

I hope myself to be in the "Narrator"-nieche. I like and use rules - but at the end of the day, they are just the vehicle to transport the story. And if they fail to do so, they must be changed. However - I understand the argument about knowing the rules. The apprentice learns the rules, the journeyman knows the rules, but the master knows when to break them :D Or in other terms, you should really know your rules, before you break them.

@anytimeanywhere7859

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you Lars - this is a useful post.

Guard: gets affected by Mayhem and kills all other Guards Player: hides Guard, seeing all the dead bodies: 9:47

I'm just jumping into the world of GMing, and videos like this one have been invaluable to the learning process - right up there next to the actual experience of just playing and learning. Thanks, Guy!

@jenniferperez7074

3 жыл бұрын

Hi! So nice meeting you here :) Love your channel.

I'm completely the Author/Worldbuilder style to a tee. Even got to the point where I sheepishly facepalmed as he was describing it because it was just so accurate to the point of comical. I'm drawing maps, literally constantly in my spare time, even ones I don't end up using are just fun to design. Planning out every village, city, or other settlement in a country, detailing their histories, diplomatic factions, kingdoms, alliances, crafts, traditions, trading goods... often times with zoomed in street maps of the more major areas, and ideas of who lives there and what they generally get about doing, NPCs which the players might come across if the visit there and what're they like, etc... It gives me reassurance that I'll have something ready if ever asked, and the ability to give players complete freedom to go wherever. Biggest frustration with this is always when players don't press limits because they don't trust that I'd have something for them if they went down [x] route, and I've overheard players sometimes discussing among themselves that they would have gone somewhere different but expected to have been narratively invisible wall'd so hadn't bothered trying. Biggest actual problem is managing to focus players towards the actual plot if there's a lot of irrelevant flare sitting around to also be discovered.

@thealmanancy9020

5 жыл бұрын

well, being a worldbuilder gives us the opportunity to *not* need to focus the players towards the plot, raillroading or not. this is just my opinion here. but I find the most interesting thing when running a campaign in a world of my own that I created is all the little stories that exist in tandem, all existing at the same time. if you're having trouble with your players not following the main storyline, then why not make the majority of quests, no matter how big or small all lead towards the main story? it hasn't failed me before

@16m49x3

5 жыл бұрын

@@thealmanancy9020 Yeah, I usually focus on the status quo of the last session and come up with a story that fit the direction they are going in that is bound to cover the next couple of sessions. Then when they move in a completely different direction in the next session. I do the same again. Planning a full story ahead of time is a lost cause.

@cristiaolson7327

4 жыл бұрын

I feel your pain. I build like an Author. I have whole cities each populated with dozens of NPCs who all have names, personalities and motivations. I know all the distances and geographies, and I have bunches of maps. I run the game as more of a Narrator though. I made a huge world so that as my PCs explore, I don't have to come up with stuff on the fly, and I can let them poke around and find the fun easter eggs I've hidden. There is a story going on, and some things will happen even if they don't interact with it (or I should say especially if they choose not to interact), but their involvement and choices have a massive impact on the world, and I'm making a point of including their backstories and taking their decisions in-game into account as the story flows. I'm trying to keep the long term plot fluid, and only let myself get carried away with location-building and NPC-naming because I'm afraid I will railroad my players if the long-term story gets set too hard into stone, but I find myself then making a zillion if-then plot tree forks like I'm authoring a choose-your-own-adventure novel (or making a plot tree for a Mass Effect type game).

When people complain about others ignoring reality, most of the time they have a valid point. It regularly boils down to whether you are being consistent with your ignorance.

@jakeand9020

3 жыл бұрын

IMO consistency is far more important than realism, applying unconditional realism to a world with dragons, chimera and magic is a bit... silly.

I feel like any GM would be upset if the players said "I don't care about the world" I was DMing and there was a fight between the party and an underground resistance group which saw the empire the players were working for a tyrannical force, the players were mostly unaware of this however as they didn't see fit to look into it. Then they complained that the enemies were one dimensional and one note.

@billkennedy6761

5 жыл бұрын

I too had a group where I created a mastermind villain who orchestrated encounters for the group to attack various enemies to keep them busy while he worked to gain power. The players eventually complained my game was just mindless combat and where bored. I had the mastermind gloat to them about his machinations. The players all were wide eyed and fully hooked with this new realization. I did have to point out the clues they missed along the way. It's easy for players to become complacent and you have to hit them with the stick of plot reality.

@raymondthrone7197

5 жыл бұрын

Something I need to remind myself is that subtly is hard to work into a Tabletop RPG, since the players are only really seeing the story in motion at the moment and can't go back to read things or remember exactly what happened. So yeah, if you have a Machiavellian villain working in the background, it might be difficult for the players to put all the threads together on their own if you don't make it obvious for them.

@bonzwah1

5 жыл бұрын

Well, its kinda your job to deliver that kinda info to them. You couldnt have just had the rebels call the party evil during combat? Shout "for freedom!" at the beginning of initiative? Show heroic tendencies toward each other like prioritizing defending and rescuing injured comrades over killing enemies? None of which would require any investigation by the party. If they are complaining that your enemies lack depth then they clearly desire that depth. But you gotta recognize that players sometimes dont have that initiative to actually go and do things for themselves. Many groups require you lay out options in front of them for them to choose from. Maybe its a symptom of the 3 different colored endings era of video gaming that we are in, but ive found that some groups of players, especially newer ones, want options laid out in front of them before realizing that they can make a choice. Its a gradual process teaching them that they have freedom in every moment of the game and how to express that. They just cant arrive at that conclusion on their own.

@kholtsclaw5266

5 жыл бұрын

If your having this problem you need to push a clue into their lap earlier because your players aren't examining things as you expected sometimes you need to adjust to your players.

@piemaniac9410

3 жыл бұрын

@@billkennedy6761 the trick to clues in D&D is this, your clue is a coffee mug sitting on the table. If the players don't notice the mug you grab it to bring attention to it. If they still don't see the coffee mug you hit one of the players over the head with it, hard to miss then.

I'm a narrator through and through, I only build my worlds out a little ways off from my players at any time. I tend to lay a foundation and then build what I think is most likely for the players to interact with. This channel has been super helpful to me as I refine my skills. Thanks Guy!

You fucking really are just SUCH an articulate, well-mannered and structured commentator. I am honestly amazed at how much I enjoy your videos. Thank you for doing this.

"Huh, galactic force kinda sounds like me, though I'm not impartial to my players. Oh, nope, author, definitely author."

"There is no right or wrong style" really surprised me at the end. As DM, I have been all these styles, even all of them at one game because sometimes that's what it takes to make every player happy. It does not work well, but if you met my players, you'd understand. They argue constantly with each other and I'll do anything just to have a fun game. Other than those times... I'm a narrator/ world builder. I prefer the big, cinematic game.

@SuperGoose42

3 жыл бұрын

Your party sounds similar to mine. My players consist of a combat-or-nothing guy, a "hand me the spotlight so I can act" guy (who often derails and throws me for a loop), and a player who despises combat and is all about characters and plot (and hates rules, many of them are confusing. We don't even use spell slots, we use spell points from DMG). Any advice?

@candiedginger8729

2 жыл бұрын

@@SuperGoose42 your players sound like some of the characters from the a-team. Let me hit something = B.A., hand me the spotlite = Faceman, the last one reads mostly like Murdock though if this player has good problem solving skills could easily be Hannibal. I think your group might be suited to political intrigue as a hit team, or maybe as bounty hunters.

When you started talking about Author I felt embarassed since you talked about eeeeverything I do in my adventures. :D

@enderbold7038

5 жыл бұрын

Same I'd say I'm a mix of author and narrator

I'm mostly a narrator and an author. I just love the fluff of games, and I want my players to build their stories in the world I give them. I write down every last group of influence before my games, who they are and what they want. In world-building, I focus mostly on the NPCs: I want them to feel like *people*, I want my players to be able to explore who those characters are and what they want. But even with all of this, I always try to make sure that the focus is on the PCs themselves. Anyway, I guess that's why I like Chronicles of Darkness: it just... fits that, for me, at least.

@nadiabairamis3854

5 жыл бұрын

U sound like my kind of dm!

I never GMd but I can totally see myself as a combination of the rule interpreter and a galactic force. Mostly because I put the game part first and foremost and the narrative second. It's a game after all and not a book.

@joshuaperrine2019

4 жыл бұрын

After watching a bunch of Guy's videos, I have no idea why he plays roleplaying GAMES. He seems to dislike/disregard all the game aspects.

A great DM is a blend of all these types.

I am definitely a mix of those. Rules Interpreter: I try to use the RAW but I have yet to find a perfect game system and will almost always add in some house rules to better suit my GM'ing style and group of players. When it comes to the dice, I do let them fall where they may but if a random NPC gets in a lucky shot that kills a PC, I use a "Blaze of Glory" rule where that player knows their character is going to die by the end of that session but I allow them to decide when and how the character will go out. Grid combat can be a useful tool, especially when trying to determine attack range or area of effect but I'm not there to run a tabletop simulator and try to focus more on describing what happens instead of staring at plastic pieces on a mat. Galactic Force: I think this was more my style when I was younger. I wanted a rule to cover every situation and would spend countless hours reading through 300, 400 or 500 page rulebooks. (SpyCraft 2.0). Now I still let the dice fall where they may (as pointed out previously) and I don't really believe in fudging the numbers or pulling punches. I roll all of my dice where the players can see them and they recognize and respect just how dangerous the world (Savage Rifts Earth) can be. Narrator: This is probably where my GM'ing style fits best because in the end, I just want to tell a memorable collaborative story with my players. In many of my campaigns, I create a beginning, build up with various plot points and an epic ending. My players are the stars of the series and they can effect real change in my world. I'm okay with that as long as it helps build upon the story. I run my NPCs as my characters, asking what is his motivation, where do his loyalties lie, how would this character act or react? And then run that character to the best of my and that character's abilities. Something I told my players years ago was that the mountains (in Forgotten Realms) were known to be the home of red dragons and warned them that if they went into those mountains as Level 1 characters, there would be a chance of them running into one. By the same token, I told them that just because they were level 20, it wouldn't mean that they would never see another group of Kobold bandits that needed to be dispatched. Author: This is the GM'ing style that I relate to the least and honestly don't care for. I am simply not interested in world building or working out fine details for content that the players will most likely have no interest in. As a former player of an Author GM, I feel like the entire campaign was on rails. What we did as players simply did not have any impact on the world or the story. Yes, we killed some random evil sorceror but then another random evil sorcerer would step in to take his place. We even went as far as begging the GM to make some changes to his world to better suit our gaming style by placing less focus on religious and political monologues and more focus on combat but even that was out of the question, at least at first. After explaining, as nicely as I could, that I wasn't having any fun and wanted to quit his campaign, he made a few changes to allow for more minor combat encouners but I think by that point, the ship was already sinking and we as players, were all ready to jump overboard. Now years later, we are all still friends and he told me recently that he despises combat in RPGs and will do whatever it takes to avoid it. I told him that was definitely a problem with our group of murder hobos and the two of us laughed it off.

I am the primary dm in my group of friends. I have used a lot of source info to make my games even better. I've watched a lot of your videos and I take a lot of notes. As a result my friends are always eager to play in my games. Being a great gm really comes down to taking the time to just study being better. So thank you for being a great source of info. You have helped make my games great!

My favorite DM/GM is my best friend, who's a mixture of author and narrator, with a pinch of RAW and galactic force thrown in. I bet most of the best ones are a mixture.

I loved this video. I find your channel very useful for narration and improvisation. But I am definitely the Galactic Force GM. I can't have fun in a game if I think the world is from someone's head. Any time I become lucid in a dream, suddenly the dream breaks. If I realize that the world around me is subjective, it's not a game any more and my agency feels tainted. And because of that I am definitely the GM to sit in for hours planning guard routes, weather, the orbit of the moon or moons. It leads to many games that never happen at all or peter out because my players want more time in sessions that i have to meticulously prep. However, in the best of cases, it can lead to players becoming overjoyed that their agency discovered the secret den of ninjas, or kept the party fed. They scraped and bled against the world and won for at least this moment. I love that feeling as a player and it's what I seek to share with people who maybe haven't ever felt that yet. You've done a great job of explaining my perspective without belittling it, despite us being absolutely opposite in how we conduct our games. And I think just maybe you helped me understand a little more about why I have the style that I do.

Something that I like about these types of videos is that it allows me to put words on what I'v experienced or feel in rpg. Can't wait for the second part!

truely one of the best creators ive found for this topic so far thank you so much

When I GM I see myself as a story teller. I build the world for the players with minimal details and give the players an overview of what is going on in the world and a quick run down on what to expect. I then ask the players to write down a few bullet points as to where their characters fit in. Once that is done I try and weave the story plot line in and around their own characters.

I like your new mustache style

I am just getting back into gaming, and I am finding this channel invaluable. Keep up the good work.

Very interesting segment. I classify myself as a mixture of each of these. I'm a Galactic Force, Rules Interpreter, and Author primarily. I create and simulate a world with the rules of the chosen game system rules at its core, using real world physics as a fall back for rules that are not covered and to inform what rulings I should make. I also hold my players to consequences of their actions while simulating the world around them even if they're not there. That is, if they leave a plot hook dangling, that plot continues to advance, life goes on, and if the players return or end up in a place that plot has evolved into, they can see the consequences of not intervening. There are no rails in my games, but there is always something happening with or without the player character interactions. I would say that I'm least part Narrator because the story that is created is not the one I'm forcing onto the players, but the one that we create together that is influenced by the stories I want to tell (and may ultimately need to alter as a result of those interactions). The story and content is largely focused around what the player characters end up experiencing, even if that means I'm writing or simulating 90% of the stuff that they don't see to make it happen.

I am our groups backup DM, and usually only do so when our main DM needs/wants a break. I definitely see quite a few of these different types in myself, mostly Rules Interpreter (which is how I got the position), a little bit of the Author and Narrator. Also a small touch of Galactic force at least from the combat perspective. I can't wait for part 2

@jamesc.7988

5 жыл бұрын

+1 just for being a backup DM and giving the regular DM a break when needed. We could all use more players willing to step up and run the game from time to time.

@lisliaer7999

5 жыл бұрын

@@jamesc.7988 our main dm loves playing as much as I do so I understand him wanting to have an I just need to relax weekend. He just calls me up ahead of time and I throw something together or if last minute break out World's Largest Dungeon pick a random section have them level appropriately. But sometimes we also have a 7 pc table so in those cases I can also assist with some side stuff or battle also the resident "rules lawyer" so if there's ever a question of what the rules say or its something odd and he's unsure what rules apply or how it would/could work he bounces stuff off on me. Like tripping underwater in 3.x DnD there really isn't a rule for it.

I'd really say I'm a hybrid of Author/ Narrator. I've built a whole world full of lush history, a core to each city and reasons characters and landscapes are the way they are. That said, I intentionally leave questions unanswered even for myself to allow myself the open-minded-ness if my players decide to do something unexpected. The world has a story, but the story follows the players as they travel the world. I want them to feel the structure but also get a feeling of freedom and power in knowing "we can change this, we can shape the world as we walk through it". Its a beautiful thing to watch my players feel both accomplished and free with every decision made

Cant wait for more of these types. It feels enlightening to classify the types of game masters objectively.

I'm mostly an Author but also a bit of a Narrator. And I'm trying to include my players more and more with every-time we play. I just love worldbuilding so much

Out of these four I definitely sound most like the author GM. I'm well known for wanting to run a game specifically for exploring a unique setting of my own design (or inspired by somebody else's creative work), and arguably infamous for modifying or even completely overhauling rules systems to fit the themes of the campaign. The two D&D campaigns I'm running are really barely D&D in some ways; I view pen and paper RPGs as platforms that are open to whatever degree of modification is desired for the table rather than a concrete set of rules to be followed to the letter, and I'm always experimenting with new things. Despite this, however, I like to share a lot of the control of the game with my players. Good roleplaying and creative problem solving on their part can easily override RAW, including my own modified rules. The story is allowed to meander and the next steps are always up to the players; ultimately I'll eventually nudge them in a particular direction to discover the next part of the world and eventually the endgame, but they are invited to help build it on the fly when there's a situation I hadn't prepared for or they have an idea that's better than what I had planned. If they ad lib something via roleplaying it usually becomes canon on the spot. Of course, for all of this to work you need particular types of players. I always make sure these are all things they're into beforehand, otherwise there's not much of a point. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@thealmanancy9020

5 жыл бұрын

as a fellow author, reading this comment has finally given me some inspiration on how to give my player a rebuttal when they inevitably say that I altered too much. I've been working on a D&D world for a few months now and I personally try to create story hooks literally *everywhere* and creating an extremely complex web of quests. I should be finished with my world soon enough and I', excited to finally run this with my group.

I appreciate your material and thoroughly enjoy your presentation. Thank you kindly for the fantastic videos! Hopes for health and prosperity sent your way.

I am strongly both an author GM as well as a narrator GM. Where I differ is I have the incredibly detailed world but I don't need to explore my world by player proxy; I walk in it every day. I also want my players to interact and form their own story. I bring the plot, they bring the story. They can change my world. I want them to leave a lasting legacy. I will plan goals and events and slightly lead along but I also depend heavily on improvisation.

I think this is a great video! It has really made me reevaluate some of my past campaigns and say, "oh, I wasn't the right GM for that group at that time." I think I have been all of the types you have listed at different times, based on the campaign I was trying to run. I like being aware of this as a way to look at different styles of GMing so that I can better accommodate my players. I have already taken steps toward this the past couple years by doing a session zero, but this has definitely helped me understand the difference in how I have been running my campaigns! As usual, on point!

I'm in love with this video. I never had a extended time as a GM but I always loved doing it. Funny to see very aspects of these styles in the video I use. This makes me happy. I don't understand the player, villain and non-gm so I'm eager to the next video to see some new aspect that could help me improve. In all honesty, I never was a Vilain but I'm dying to be one in a special arc I'm planning for my players.

I am thrilled to have found this channel.

Personally, I am a huge proponent of grid combat regardless of GM style. As a spellcasting fan (currently playing a Bard in D&D5e), there's a lot of times when you have varying AOE spells, spells designed to provoke opportunity attacks, etc that all call for tactical use, especially in my group (which features 5 PCs and a DM who often incorporates friendly NPCs in varying roles). I find I (and others in my group) always have great difficulty keeping track of what's going on in theatre-of-the-mind combat, sometimes to the point where it slows things down. Though I have yet to actually GM (having had issues with life that have called my attention away from plans in that regard), I'd expect it to be easier for GMs, too, since GMs have to keep track of where all of the combatants are in order to adjudicate things. But I don't get to decide what the GM decides until I am the GM, so...yeah.

@carsonm7292

5 жыл бұрын

This comes down to the party preferences. One of the groups I'm running right now is all about the grid combat, so they get a lot of complex grid combat. The other group, though, has a mix of people who like and dislike grid combat and so I focus more on exploration and do a mix of grid and theatre of the mind. Theatre of the mind I think is easier to run for adventuring but harder to run for combat, so I have a lot of admiration for GMs like Griffin McElroy of The Adventure Zone who can do creative and entertaining action without using a map.

@emmet_harris

5 жыл бұрын

The funny thing is that it truly is a matter of troupe preference. If the WHOLE troupe goes along with a high narrative, low RAW style... I’ve seen multiple groups go in excess of 15 years without anyone needing more for combat than a rough scribble on a piece of paper - no grid, no ruler, no tape. And the same groups go many, many combats with small numbers of participants without more than a general description. Personally, if I had to play with plenty of different people, I would fall back on a grid to help minimise a certain sort of set of disagreements.

@NoJustShutTheFuckUp

5 жыл бұрын

It depends both on the group and on the system used, really

@huehuecoyotl2

5 жыл бұрын

Theater of the Mind and Grid Combat are tools in my GM tool box. I use them, or components of them, when and where it gets the job done. If it's for instance, a bar room brawl in a room full of people, chairs, etc. and its not planned, or crucial, just theater of the mind. If its an important fight against formidable enemies, I'd grid that out. And even with Theater of the Mind, I'll often still use some visual guide, to help with general positioning, there's just not square counting, etc.

@justins3136

5 жыл бұрын

Personally I've never even gone near theatre of the mind as like you said it's way more work during the game and it helps so much in a tactical sense. Recently our other DM lost his grid tiles and it's almost impossible to understand the layout of the field or do stuff like flanking when he DMs. I heavily reccomend a grid of some kind.

I love "PC's are Irreverent," I actually lose interest when my character is treated specially, just cause there is a player behind them. If my character is to standout I want to work and do something outstanding; not have have prestige and influence thrusted upon them just cause they are a main character. When I GM I make sure to add things like the the bar keeper is a retired dragon slayer, or similar.

@jsnel9185

2 жыл бұрын

Last night my players managed to possibly sully their budding reputation by leaving behind what looks like a murder scene and doing a piss poor job (rolled a nat 1) hiding the mess. Now they went from hopeful helping hands in a Savage frontier land to maybe hiding their halfling or else they will end up in jail. A halfling footprint in blood is obvious.

@hellentomazin6488

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, me too. That's why I tend to get upset with narrator type of GM.

Fantastic topic for a video! Very entertaining and I'm amazed how many types of GM you've been able to identify. I think I'm probably the 'narrator' type, although I actually do a decent amount of planning in case I need to fall back on it.

Definitely Author. I had to learn to create only a starting point, and let everything from that point be whatever it would become. So I had the comfort of my rules and sense of history while allowing the world to grow organically from that point.

I have to say, thanks for talking about the Narrator. I've been with a group for a few years now and we've taken turns GMing over the years and I have always been very self-conscious of my games. My friends are all Authors and the results are these very intricate and layered worlds, and mine always seemed flat by comparison. This vid helped put some of the differences into an easier to understand context.

These styles remind me of the old 'player archetypes'. The Rules Interpreter tracks with Power Gamer on the player side....similarly you have the Galactic Force/Slayer, the Narrator/Story-teller and the Author/Actor. Not sure if/how long that will track, but it's good to think about such things. Thanks for cracking the tin on this, Guy.

Game Designer: Focused on combat and mechanics that make combat feel dynamic and fun, designs encounters using mechanics as a way to make them more engaging and challenging and simply just cool and memorable.

I tend to be a bit of a , Galactic Force, Author and Narrator GM: I have the players start out as inconsequential, but then throughout the campaign, their actions start to take effect in the world, making their role gradually more important. And if they die, the changes they've made will carry on, allowing new characters to emerge and play within that evolving world.

I find some of all 4 of these in how I run games. I do lean more towards the narrator. I love the story of the game, as do my players. When they talk about the game its rarely the combat things that come up. It's usually how someone role played their way out of or into a situation. i love this channel I tell all my DM/GM friends about it. Can't wait for more content.

Oh shite. I am an author. I don’t know how I feel about that. Thank you so much for the vid! Sitting on pins and needles waiting for the next. Most enlightening sir

I’m totally an author gm, with plenty of narrator tendencies thrown in there. Where I differ from this description of author gms is that I design world I use in rpgs specifically to be played in. If I wanted to control every detail I would just write a book or movie (which I also do). What’s really important to me in my rpg worlds is leaving blank spaces and lightly developed concepts for the players to develop themselves. It really helps them to integrate themselves and their characters into the setting better than just ‘playing in someone else’s backyard.’

I'm a mix of author and narrator. The world is ready so my players get an answer to all of their questions regarding the world. I want my players to get the best experience possible.

I'm a narrator that uses a grid for combat, mainly because it's so much easier to keep track of what's happening and I like painting miniatures.

I am a mix of Author and Narrator but I also enjoy having my players have an important role in my world so every campaign I’ve had is cannon in history and I’ll even rewrite events and legends if players take a path that I did not expect.

I guess im a galactic force. Cuz that line you had about the player thinking "well if i did that in real life i would die so the game is probably going to kill me" really speaks to me. Of course, the characters are hyper competent so they can do like action movie stuff most of the time, but i like the idea of using what a person thinks would realistically happen to guide their decision making and not written rules because they trust the rules will be decently aligned with that realism.

It's early in our campaign, but our DM, from what I can tell is a mix of Narrator and an Author. So far she's been more interested in what would make the campaign fun, as opposed to how the rules would apply to us. We really appreciate what she's doing for us and she's enhancing our characters' stories with her words. She just floored me, last session 2 weeks ago with a decision about my character's lineage and me, being the hardcore fan of roleplay that I am was feeling all kinds of positive emotions over this developement! (And the positive emotions do include being wrecked by the tragedy of my fighter's existence).

I have been all of these GM's at one time or another. Different game systems and worlds encourage different styles of GMing and playing. For me, the game-system, the players, the world, the story-idea, my GM-goal(s), and my personal mood, all help to decide what sort of GM I'll be in any given game in the future. DCC is meant to be the, I feel, Rules-Sim, where characters get crushed by the wheel and no one in world (nor should they out of world) sheds a tear. Blades in the Dark is extremely abstract, IMO, and meant to be narrative, but is another game/world where characters die and no one sheds a tear (and yet the rules are designed so that the players decide when the character dies). In 7th Sea (1e) the players are meant to be big damn heroes, narrative driven, and the system is more abstract than Blades in the Dark, but less abstract than D&D. Then there's my current favorite, Cypher, where the rules very abstract and light, and the characters are meant to be big damn heroes. And then in 7th Sea 2e is super abstract, the characters literally can't fail unless the player says so, and is designed to encourage the GM to leave the table during "Dramatic Sequences" because the players have complete control over these scenes.

You, sir, deserve a lot more subscribers.

I'm pretty much a mix of author and narrator. I love creating complex, detailed worlds where I can just unleash my players, and I know that anywhere they go will be an interesting, unique, and hopefully fun place to explore. I also create overarching plots, but very skeletal ones. Basically just coming up with the bad guys, whattheir plans are, and what I think would make for an epic climaxe to the campaign, and then just letting the players dictate the story for the most part. I really enjoy creating stories and write a fair amount in my spare time though, so I find I have to make a conscious effort to not come up with too much of a plot so that I dont railroad the campaign.

I can’t wait for the second half, Guy. Personally, I’m a Rules Interpreter first and foremost, but as far as the story goes I let the players take the wheel. We work together to tell a wonderful story, while letting the dice fly in the open and providing the story with challenge. Of course, there can always be exceptions to the rules, IF it makes sense and IF it is interesting enough.

I am a mix of Narrator and Author who doesn’t do as much planning as I probably should. But homebrew is fun and building massive things is fun.

I feel I’m a galactic/world builder/narrator type of GM. I run a home brew sandbox world but it’s well developed as far as wheels within wheels of plots and politics. I use calendars to loosely track antagonists actions and keeping time relevant. I love descriptions, NPCs and consequences. Great video here!

Definitely an Author/Galactic Force here. I have an entire world set up before players are allowed in and then the players work within the reality of the world thus presented. That said, it allows players to do pretty much whatever they want (within reason) and I can then accommodate that story by setting consequences in motion.

Great Job!

I felt like he read my soul when he was talking about the author.

I'm currently learning how to DM so I can do my first campagin. I can already tell you I'm going to be a mix between a narrator and author. XD

See on one hand I'm an author dm (extreme detail in worldbuild and love unique mechanics) but I'm not at all premade story driven, I want the players to explore and do their thing, learning and interacting with the world on their own. I think the fun of it is letting the players stumble on something that interests them, then spinning a story from that.

I feel like I'm a bit of a Galactic Force with the consequences and realism but I also really appreciate The Rule of Cool. I'm also a Narrator because I LOVE LOVE LOVE themes, investments by the PCs, and making them feel like they're impacting the world. I feel that it feeds into the consequences and realism as well... The character struggle tends to be the most important part of my game.

Just had the first session of my first custom world and campaign last saturday. I will definitely say that I'm probably fairly equal parts Author/Narrator/Rules Interpreter. I built my own world, and I long to have my players explore it. But the world isn't all, it is a forever unfinished painting that my players and I will continually paint together as the stories progress. For this purpose I push my players to write back stories using your six questions, so that I can more easily place them in my world in a way that they like. To explore this world we use the rules of the books, with some homebrew that we try out as we go along.

I'll third that, love these videos. I've learned so much.

I’ve learned that I’m so much of an author, and a slight narrator. Most of the things you said are spot on. Wish I can be more of a narrator but I suck at RP.

Am I the only one who comes here to just listen to Guy's voice. It is so nice.

Great video. So much usefull insights. Thank's a lot for sharing :).

I think many GM's fit in between these hard-set "types". For example, By your very specific descriptions, I am neither an author, nor narrator; rather, I fit perfectly into the middle of the two. I build worlds filled with lore, and locations; not so that I can explore my own world with their characters, but so that I can guarantee they have an interesting journey. Like a narrator, I will keep details vague, unless specifically asked, or a PC rolls for further information. Then, they will be given all the information they desire. I center my GM'ing around the players, while keeping them contained inside my world. I find this style to allow me to give out great pieces of information to those that care for it, while also keeping all details the players don't care about out of the way. This also speeds up things at the table.

Next week?! We need it now!

Just found this video. Interesting discussion to have. On to part II. I already know I'm not gonna be a modular GM but we'll see which one I think I am MORE THAN the others, so to speak.

Author for sure. Haven't DM'd yet (hopefully will get there next year) but can't wait to start

I'm pretty much a Narrator built off of the foundation of a Rules Interpreter. I made a world for my players to tell their story, but a consistent interpretation of the rules helps players find their place in the world. Usually If I'm changing RAW I write it out in the Document of house rules for that campaign.

I really think I'm the galactic force, and I know that has rubbed a party or two the wrong way in the past. I thank you a ton for pointing out which of my edges are a bit too rough! I'll work on sampling the party better and seeing what I could do better.

World Builder/Narrator hybrid here. World-building is about eliminating the human-error element of ad-libbing new stuff. It's basically a Narrator who's been burned too many times.

I'm kinda a galactic force, I care a lot about prepping the world, making all the grid maps by hand, NPCs sorta takes a back seat to the level design because I really want to make areas that are interesting to navigate and play in.

So, roughly speaking, these four headliners can be classified on a 2-axis system - on one axis, you have story/simulation; on the other, you have world/player. So Galactic Force and Author are both about the world, while Narrator and Rules Interpreter are about the players; and both Author and Narrator are focused on the story, while Galactic Force and Rules Interpreter focus on the simulation aspect of the game. Or that could just be me looking for patterns that aren't there...

@michaeldoucet-morokael

5 жыл бұрын

6 months old, but I gotta say it... You are suggesting DM alignments. We need to run away from this idea as fast as possible. =) The arguments would be hilarious though.

@audiofox5104

5 жыл бұрын

@@michaeldoucet-morokael your alignment does not match your comment.

@raymondthrone7197

5 жыл бұрын

I'm afraid the penalty for shifting DM alignment mid-comment is 1 level's worth of EXP and a Penance spell purchased on the reverse of a Mountain Dew label before resumption of duties.

@SuperGoose42

3 жыл бұрын

I like this idea. This might actually help me understand my style and where I want to be.

Haha...I am such an Author DM...i've been playing in the same homebrew world since 1986. The good news is I am very Narrator with my players in the game....I just know a whole lot about the world.

I'm a bit narrator and a bit rules interpreter. I like the "it doesn't say I can't" type of thinking. Gets a lot of creative ideas

Galactic Force/Author/Narrator seems to be where I'm sitting. Certainly makes for interesting times for me, although so far I've mostly been working the Author/Galactic Force muscles in our group's campaign whilst 2-3 other GM's running the actual sessions, one of which falls into Rules Interpreter and the other gives me an Author/Narrator feeling. So far this setup has been working well enough, since it means we can cover most situations, whether we need new rules made; new backstories written; or someone to cover a session.

I've been mostly a Rules Interpreter for most of my GMing career. I always use grids when I can, if there's no reason to break or bend a rule I won't, but I've definitely become more flexible as I aged. I'm more willing to do things just entirely outside the rules, I'm willing to bend or break rules in service to story (or just cool stuff), and I generally favor the PCs. But I think that's where I do something weird, I want to PCs to succeed, but I don't want it to be easy. I want them to really struggle, to always be against overwhelming odds, and to be the underdog at all times. I think it makes things more compelling, and everyone loves an underdog after all. I think I've slid more into the narrator style lately, with some left over rules interpreter and a splash of author.

I think it's important to gauge what kind of campaign your players want from you before specifically going in with a particular style in mind. For example, I prefer roleplaying and storytelling, so if I were to join a campaign it'd likely be one with little (if any) focus on combat, and all the focus wold be on character interaction and development. So I'd go to a DM that is at least 90% narrator.

So far I have tried bits of all three. Where some bits I really enjoy I very much dislike others. I like world building, but hate players not being the center of the story and changing the world. I like RAW because it gives a good system of adjudication when there is a question, but some of the rules for these games just seem bulky and silly. Finally, I enjoy things like falling damage, line of sight, or tracking rations, but I dislike how such things can often drag a session or a combat on much longer than it needs to. Each style sound be explored so far. Doing so will add to your GM tool box. On a final note I really didn't understand the bit about Galactic Force style. Thanks Guy for all your hard work. I love this channel!

I'm a hodgepodge of all theses things. great video.

narrator and author all the way. ive got grandiose plans and plots and im going to LOVE exploring the world through my players interactions

I like the Galactic force GM's a lot

First of all thank you for your amazing videos, they help me a lot and have greatly improved my GMing. For the past two years i've been running a campaign in a warhammer v2 setting. My players and I have spend lots of time in this universe so I decided to create a whole new group of islands within the warhammer world, which revolves about the city of San Silvo. This city is at war with a group of black elves (thats the main plot) who are occupying an ancient island called Atalante (which is inspired by the myth of Atlantis) and are using the power of Atalante gods and magic to try and destroy San Silvo. At the moment we are coming to the end of the campaign, the PCs arrived to the island of Atalante and are currently confronted to ancient magic and gods as well as the black elves. The problem is that I'm too much of an author GM : I spent so much time setting this end campaign, by creating myths and legends as well as strong black elves antagonist, that now I feel like i'm forcing my story on my players. I realy hate plot inconsistencies, for me it's an immersion breaker, but now there's so much plot going on that i have to prep everything to give sense to every details i've set up, and i'm afraid that my players feel like spectators of the story. I want them to give them way more freedom for this end campaign but i fear it might completly screw up all the settings and the story. Do you have any advices onbhow an author kind of GM can give more freedom to his players while still keeping a hand on the main story ? (Sorry for the long post anyway)

I am a narrator, I like fixed sets of rules as a sort of compass, I am not a world builder, but while preferring pre-existing worlds (like the Forgotten Realms) I interpret and fill them in a way I like.

you forgot the 10th one. god. the gm is literally just god.

i am not fully through the video but thus far i definitely relate to the galactic force and narrator for some balance with tons of world building. The system i run really excels with simulation type gameplay, as you can and SHOULD die in the system(the system is horror-esque with an inevitable death vibe, so dying is expected and encouraged actually as it can be a huge source of character development) So having a colder attitude towards whether they die or not is quite useful. I really love this series of videos, makes me feel validated lmao.

I am definitely the 'Narrator' GM in these examples - themes are very common in my games and I expect a good amount of player cooperation/buy-in to make the game more engaging for everyone. I never railroad but I have complex, evolving, ideas about the story and the world.

I always use a battle grid. False modesty aside I am more tactically competent than my players. This works quite well, I adjust depending on the encounter, goblins mob, orcs are individualistic looking to prove personal prowess, neither really tend to employ strategy or tactics, but do play different. Hobgoblins, in my world, are militaristic and tend to be tactically sound if not overly creative and so on. As I am more tactically a acute than my players I give players who's characters have applicable skills advise and/or dumb down enemies to artificially improve their own tactics.

I'm personally a narrator-author hybrid. I put players above everything else. What they want to do is what's going to happen. I've ensured my world can accommodate everyone's play style so no one is left out. It's entirely sand box with the ability to have a smaller campaign to happen if they aren't sure what they want to do, but aren't forced to finish it, or finish it immediately. I want to ensure everything is flexible so I can adapt to the mood. I made places specifically for fighting, for exploring, fighting and exploring, negotiating, fight negotiating; whatever they please. I really want them to feel like they're making an impact on the people they meet, and those people they meet may request their service again. Edit: Also thank you so much for all these videos. You're very clear in everything you say and I can follow easily. It's helped me understand myself as a GM

I'm a new GM, so I haven't had much time to figure out which one I am, but here's what I know so far: -oh, quick context before I start, the tabletop RPG community I'm in relies almost exclusively on homebrew. No pre-existing books are followed, all rules and worlds are made manually. One of my friends even has a whole multiverse built out of their various games. It's a surprise when someone says they'll host a D&D campaign instead of something of their own creation. I'm definitely a bit of a simulator/galactic force. I added a limb-specific health system just because I like realism, and in my game, if you don't have enough food, it's not gonna end well. I tend to create realism through my rules, and often have had to simplify them just because I had them too complex. That said, I'm definitely a sucker for cool stuff, if someone wants to do something really cool I'll generally allow it. I *try* to be unbiased, but I really don't want my players to die, as I love GMing. I'm also a bit of an author, but only because I like worldbuilding and hate it when my players don't explore. As a player, I absolutely enjoy exploring, so I expect them to explore just because I like it, and then when I add too much to do in my first town I'm disappointed when they don't go past it. That said, there's one thing that I absolutely don't fit into with either of those, and that's story. As a player, I don't really care about the grand story or cutscenes or whatever, I just want to have fun going around and doing whatever. My last (failed) game relied entirely on that. This time, I'll integrate more story and more written campaigns, while still trying to keep the journey and even what story they choose as open and free as possible. I plan to set a map in front of my players and choose the campaign based on what they find cool. Basically, I'm the last person that you'd expect to railroad my players, and the first that you'd expect to say "You find this new town, there's a couple of shops and stuff like that. Go crazy."

I know this is a couple of years old, but it's still very engaging, like all of your content. I am a mix of Galactic Force (strong simulationist tendencies from years of running Champions), Narrator and Author. I love world building, but I finally figured out that if you wait until they build their characters and then build the world AROUND them, you can build anything you want and they love it because it's all about them. They'll climb any mountain and swim any sea to discover that they are the true special ones. But a Rules interpreter I am not. I will gladly throw away any rule or die roll if it helps the characters have fun or advance my plots.

I am certainly a mix of 1 & 2. I expect a very consistent world and my players expected it to be so. I guess it would have been down to my player base all coming from the military and were happy in a regimented world. 25 years plus running multiple campaigns using various rules systems simultaneously suggests that we all had a very similar mindset.

After watching this video, I'm mainly Galatic Force, Narrator, and Author, with a little Rules interpreter. My main problem is making my world to a precise point and knowing where everything is to make it the most enjoyable experience that I haven't been able to get close to completing my world.

I’m absolutely with the start of the author… but my world is crash tested. I know what’s there, and developing and exploring what’s there is the fun part for me - but story wise I just have prompts, with the expectation that the players are going to do whatever they want. The outcome isn’t scripted - the players have to engage with the world and make whatever outcome they want, provided they can thingdo effectively