I'm good with GMing all the time. On the rare occasions I play--I guess I don't never play--it's to help someone try out a new game or playtest somethng. That's enough for me. The GMing's what I really enjoy.

Quote from: jhkimI guess a general question for those who elaborate by post is what they think about the state of things.  i.e. Is it the way you want things?  If not, then what would you prefer and what are your problems with how things are?

I wish some of the players would step up and run a game. One tried, and bombed really badly and ever since then despite my encouragement for anyone to do the same no one has expressed the slightest interest in running a game.

One night per week I run D&D. Thats Mentzer/RC edition, modified unintentionally by years of play (the way D&D gets).

Another night we play another game, mostly the same group, with someone else GMing. Thats usually a short campaign (one to four months or so). Gives us a chance to experiment. I've run the occasional one off in the other session, but to be honest running one campaign at a time is enough for me.

Quote from: jhkimI guess a general question for those who elaborate by post is what they think about the state of things.  i.e. Is it the way you want things?  If not, then what would you prefer and what are your problems with how things are?

I'm happy with the way things are in my group and can't really think of a better way to do things.

I'd like to game more regularly, first off, and do so alternating between GMing and playing.

The fact that I don't game regularly is rather annoying.

My regular group has a weekly game, and we rotate GMs between me and one other guy, mostly, but on a long-term basis.  He runs a long-term campaign, then I run a long-term campaign, then him, lather, rinse, repeat.

I love the mix of wide/narrow focus it provides for both of us.

We also occasionally do a hard-core, three or four-day gaming weekend with a bunch of players (like, 9 or 10 - yikes). The next one we'll be running will probably be a combo with me and Chris alternating the primary GM role, with the other person playing complex NPCs, crunching combat, and the like.  :cool:

Quote from: ReimdallWe also occasionally do a hard-core, three or four-day gaming weekend with a bunch of players (like, 9 or 10 - yikes).

A few years ago, for a few years in a row (when I had more vacation time to burn), several friends and I would take 4 Fridays off in a row during the summer to play a 4 all-day session mini-campaign (in part, so a friend who couldn't play on the weekends could play with us).  We did a fantasy game, a Western, and a space game.  All went really well.  I can't really do multiple days in a row anymore, though.

Quote from: ReimdallWe also occasionally do a hard-core, three or four-day gaming weekend with a bunch of players (like, 9 or 10 - yikes). The next one we'll be running will probably be a combo with me and Chris alternating the primary GM role, with the other person playing complex NPCs, crunching combat, and the like.  :cool:

I need to weasel an invite for your next big Epic meetup.

Quote from: Serious PaulI wish some of the players would step up and run a game. One tried, and bombed really badly and ever since then despite my encouragement for anyone to do the same no one has expressed the slightest interest in running a game.

I think fear of failure holds back a lot of potentially excellent GMs.  A lot of players don't understand that most seasoned GMs (in my experience) have a long string of average to poor games punctuated by a few excellent ones.  The veterans in the field are just the folks who stuck it out despite falling flat on their face.

Currently I am in two groups.  There is some intermingling between them.  Our usual GM is running one game, a different person the other.  While I am usually a player, I have also GMed our group from time to time. So I picked option #2.

Quote from: Zachary The FirstI need to weasel an invite for your next big Epic meetup.

Oh, indeed! :cool:

Quote from: jrientsI think fear of failure holds back a lot of potentially excellent GMs.  A lot of players don't understand that most seasoned GMs (in my experience) have a long string of average to poor games punctuated by a few excellent ones.  The veterans in the field are just the folks who stuck it out despite falling flat on their face.

This is true. It reminds me of what a writer was saying about people's ability at things. Basically, there's "I suck", "I do alright", and "I rock!" Almost no-one rocks in the beginning, lots of people do alright and so don't bother trying to do better, alright's enough, and then there are a heap of people who try something, suck at it, and give up because they suck - so they never get better. But most of the people who do alright, and all of the people who rock, they once sucked, too.

In GMing, as in any other skill, you've just got to push through that time where you say, "wow, I suck at this", and eventually get better. Like any other skill, you have to be trying to improve - some people suck forever because they won't take feedback. They go all Rain Man: "I'm an excellent GM, definitely an excellent GM."

ME , the GM the majority of the time.

 There was one time I let(encouraged?) one of the players GM two sessions of the campaign, same ongoing story, same set of characters.

BIG MIstake - but not because of him. We had a rather new player who has his balls tieed up into who is "in Charge" of the group. Him seeing me NOT as the GM  or authority figure ...he started to act stupid..therecwere problems...when I took back over as GM , things went better.

 Didn't help that I was playing one of the recurring FEMALE NPCs as my character during those two sessions. That visiting player has chauvinist or maybe even misogyny issues that he tries to hide. (I rolled at random ahead of time whichj of the 4 or 5 recurring NPCs that we had that I would play as my character when I wasn't the GM)

 That one guy is no longer a player with the group. The player who was guest GM for 2 sessiuons is still part of the group - he plays the engineer character of the Maggie Thatcher.

- Ed C.