Their souls, for starters. Hopefully those will buy me more rpg stuff.

Quote from: blackstone on April 16, 2025, 11:27:34 AMHey DM Nick/Blackstone here: what I want out of a game from a player's perspective:

- immersion: for me, I like an immersive experience. A good DM/Referee can invoke a sense of place and time within their setting with just a few words. That gives me as a player a way to connect to the game world the DM has created. I think immersion goes with verisimilitude: it's believable as well, but you can have an enjoyable immersive experience without verisimilitude.

-knowledge of the rules: there is nothing more off-putting than playing in a game and the DM doesn't know the rules. I'm just talking the basic stuff: combat, skill checks, etc. I don't expect him to know everything, but I'd expect he'd know where to look it up, and if there isn't a rule for it...

-make a ruling: I'd like a DM to have confidence enough to make a ruling on something if there is no rule for it. As long as it's fair and logical, I'm all for it.

All good stuff.  If you know a GM in your life that doesn't have access to How To Game Master Like A Fucking Boss and Advanced Game Mastering Like A Fucking Boss, I encourage you to show them the PDFs. 

Quote from: honeydipperdavid on April 16, 2025, 11:38:38 AMHot and cold running virginal blonde sacrifices before I DM a session.

Blondes on ice... I'll write that down. 

Quote from: Zalman on April 16, 2025, 11:42:39 AMAs a GM, I want various levels of engagement from my players:

* Level 1: show up on time
* Level 2: bring snacks
* Level 3: pay attention
* Level 4: know the rules
* Level 5: discuss game events between sessions
* Level 6: create game content for GM approval (new spells, etc.)


As a player, the thing I want most from the GM is consistency.

Ok, mostly basic stuff.  I'll have to think about facilitating the discussion of game events between sessions.  I suppose some online message board or campaign platform is what a lot of gamers use.

I don't have anything on creating game content away from the table, but I'll give that more thought and come up with something.  Thanks!

Quote from: Steven Mitchell on April 16, 2025, 11:48:45 AMI'm thrilled when I get everything on tenbones' list.  That's my positive stuff.  However, I'm content with a more laid-back, casual approach too, most of the time.  So as long as I get a little of the positive stuff, it's all good.

My more hardcore list is all in the negatives: 

- Being considerate, showing up on time or letting me know when there is a problem.
- Keeping the OOC game chatter outside of contentious topics.
- Don't derail the game with a complete lack of attention or driving it where the other players have no interest.

Basically, I want a certain amount of meta-gaming instead of immersion.  You can delve into your character as much as you want, but remember there are other human beings at the table too.

Ok, there's a lot there to unpack.  I have some advice/tools on meta-moments, but this helps clarify things - and the meta-moments should help with immersion, rather than hinder.  I'll keep thinking about all of it. Thanks for the comment!

Quote from: Spobo on April 16, 2025, 12:20:16 PM*Pay attention and don't interrupt the game with personal business to the extent possible
*Know what you're going to do on your turn and make an effort to learn the rules
*Try to keep the tone somewhat consistent, don't be wacky for its own sake
*Come up with your own ideas of what your character wants to do next and think creatively on how to do it, as long as you're not deliberately sabotaging the game or trying to be an edgy psycho

Good stuff.  Abide the vibe... that's important!  Thanks, hoss.

Quote from: tenbones on April 16, 2025, 02:52:25 PMHow did I read that wrong? Ignore everything I said. Fuck you players. You get what is served. NOW ROW!!!!!

I'm happy to hear from GMs, too.  Anyone and everyone involved in gaming.  I've written so much on GMing and so little on playing, that this new book will redress the imbalance... once and for all!

Quote from: Jason Coplen on April 16, 2025, 05:15:30 PMTheir souls, for starters. Hopefully those will buy me more rpg stuff.

With these tariffs?  In this trade war?  You'd be lucky to get a few coppers, good sir!

Everybody has given pretty good suggestions and I'll add mine, which are kind of specific to my experiences as a GM who tends to run open table games in public.

1) We are all here to have fun, not just fun for one person. Several times I've had to deal with players whose idea of fun is to piss off everyone else at the table. Unfortunately, often times when you realize that this is happening - the game has already been killed by their antics.

2) Know your limitations as a player, but be willing to try and exceed them. There have been a lot of people who play comic relief characters that do not have a sense of the comedic. Their characters then proceed to derail the game. If you are not funny, don't try to be at the expense of the game.

Quote from: VengerSatanis on April 16, 2025, 05:24:51 PMOk, there's a lot there to unpack.  I have some advice/tools on meta-moments, but this helps clarify things - and the meta-moments should help with immersion, rather than hinder.  I'll keep thinking about all of it. Thanks for the comment!

Not exactly what I meant.  If everyone just embraces the meta as a necessary thing (to a certain point), then they can quit chasing immersion so hard that it takes the game in places that the characters like but that the players (or at least some of them) didn't want to go.  Jeff's answer has some good example of what I meant, especially the second one about trying to be funny when you just aren't.  That kind of thing happens in all sorts of ways with characters.

Another way to think about it is that it is not merely people using "just playing my character" to be an asshole. Sometimes, it's "just playing my character" is boring, or stupid, or the like--not so much to mess with people as a lack of self awareness.  Whereas, if you don't fight the meta side, and think about the other people for a few seconds, then the whole table can relax and get on with whatever they are doing--be it immersing or beer & pretzels hacking or anything in between.

I have an interesting point of view on this one, partially because I have a background in book publishing and creative writing.

What Lesson Do You Want Your Character To Learn In This Adventure?

This is a pretty standard bit of character development for creative writing, but the best way to make a story feel satisfying is not for the guy to get the girl, but for a character to learn a lesson. It doesn't always have to be a positive lesson, either, although dark lessons tend to push characters strongly towards antihero or villain lines. The basic idea is simple; as a GM, I ask the player to provide 2-3 lessons they want their character to learn in roleplay over the course of the campaign and I will see if I can work them in. Typically, when I get writer's block on how to proceed with the campaign, I will look at the list of lessons I need to teach characters and a light will click on eventually.

The odd thing with this one is that you kind of need to have a group which handles metagame communication well. It's almost impossible to write a PC learning a lesson every session (heck, 1 in 3 feels dense), so you need to communicate to the players which player character will hopefully learn which lesson on their character sheet bucket list during which session.

A last thing to remember is that it doesn't feel natural unless the player character goofs their lesson up at least once early on in the session or several times earlier on in the campaign. You kind of need to reinforce the point that this is a character flaw the character needs to overcome, and the campaign will become an opportunity for the player to beat the character flaw out of the player character like a smith forging a sword.

Something I haven't seen skimming through the replies is inquisitiveness.  I want players who are curious about the world/setting.  They should want to know what's around the next corner, why things are the way they are, who is in charge, etc.  when players are curious, they create all kinds of situations that make for good adventures and good roleplaying hooks.  If they are just passive lumps that only go wherever the DM pushes them, it can kill a game fast...

Quote from: Ruprecht on April 16, 2025, 04:40:31 PM

Quote from: VengerSatanis on April 16, 2025, 10:55:03 AM...Well, this reversal is asking GMs (and other players, let's not forget about them) what they want from their players?

I don't think people read it wrong, the question starts one way and then adds the second what do players want in a later paragraph so both are legit.

Yep, he asking from both sides of the DM screen. Dur...



I guess I had a "Senior moment"

Quote from: Eirikrautha on April 17, 2025, 07:39:35 AMSomething I haven't seen skimming through the replies is inquisitiveness.  I want players who are curious about the world/setting.  They should want to know what's around the next corner, why things are the way they are, who is in charge, etc.  when players are curious, they create all kinds of situations that make for good adventures and good roleplaying hooks.  If they are just passive lumps that only go wherever the DM pushes them, it can kill a game fast...

To add to this, bold. Inquisitive and willing to explore the world created.

I'm sick of the overly paranoid players who won't even go to the shitter without full armor, a vacc suit, and multiple weapons. The ones who automatically assume that every NPC they meet is a Terminator or The Thing. The ones who think that there are Xenomorphs around every corner and a Predator is invisible right next to them. You could have spent hours creating the most entertaining adventure for your group, and it gets shot to Hell because "just to be safe" the players fireball each room as soon as they open the door.

Now, as a DM, what do I expect from my players:

-engagement, within a certain comfort level: some people like to role play. Others don't. My group has a mix of players like that. I think it comes down to experience. Some of my younger players aren't comfortable role playing their PC. As long as they tell what the character is doing, I'm totally cool with that. Over time, some of them have leaned more into the role playing aspect. It's just a matter of being comfortable around one's peers.

-attention: nothing peeves me off more than players not paying attention to what is going on. Sure, you might not be directly involved, but there might be crucial info I may say to the group. Not everyone is going to catch everything said, so the more ears paying attention the better. Plus, I have repeating myself. It really bogs things down.

-give feedback: every so often I asked my group over the year how they think the campaign is going. If there are ways I can improve and make the experience better, I will do it. I'm always learning how I can be a better DM. I can put my ego aside and take a unbiased view of how I'm doing through the feedback I get. I trust my players enough that they'll be honest and not say things out of spite.

-HAVE FUN!