I wanted to make this thread as a follow up to the What kind of player are you thread I saw a few days ago...
Ok, so here are the categories; some of them are pretty analogous to the player types, some not so much:
The World Builder: This kind of DM spends a ton of time on their world. You can tell by how rich and deep the lore is. There is usually various kingdoms and politics and long history that this DM is happy to recite to the players whenever possible. Usually this DM will have detailed overworld maps with all sorts of locations for the players to ponder visiting.
The Dungeoneer: This DM is all about the dungeon. It is in the name of the title after all. Expect a lot of dungeon crawls through detailed and varied dungeons with nice looking maps and tokens. This DM is a master of traps, puzzles, secret doors and of course encounters. They are happiest when the party is either engaged in a finely crafted and balanced combat encounter, or crawling through the ancient tomb of a long forgotten elf king leading up to it.
The Storyteller: This DM is obsessed with telling an awesome overall story with their campaign. They will inject betrayals, drama, romance, hope and despair all leading to an epic climax. Their game is a movie, and the players are the stars.
The Actor: This DM gets really into the NPCs. They typically spend a lot of time mastering various voices, personality quirks, goals and motivations, etc for all of their NPCs and make them as memorable as possible. Expect to have long back and forth roleplay situations with this DM between the players and the NPCs, with meaningful outcomes.
The Casual DM: A casual DM could be either a newer DM, or just any DM who isn't there to take it super seriously. Their games can be humorous and tend to gloss over the more tedious details of the game, where the rule of cool trumps RAW. There is generally more laughs and side chatter at their tables than others.
The Villain: The villain DM can be a bit prickly and rub you the wrong way from time to time, but that is part of the reason their game is enjoyable. They tend to pay careful attention to things like how long your character has gone without food or sleep for instance, or how you are capable of doing this or that. They tend to be rules lawyers and at times will push their players' buttons. Also they don't tend to be merciful with things such as PC death or the like.
So which of these describes you, or if you haven't DMed before, which interests you as a player or potential DM?
As for me, I’m a dungeoneer and actor mainly, and tend to flip flop between the two after a good dose of the one or the other. Also a bit of world builder but only in the immediate vicinity of the players.
Heavy world building,high improv dm,Games are usually full of homebrew.Exploration makes most of my games and my views on dnd 5e combat encounters are a bit complicated.
The story makes the world and the world makes the story. I'm in the middle between Storyteller and World Builder, and I suspect anyone who's either will have something of the other in them as well.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I first created my setting long ago. It has been constantly changing and growing for all this time, and I am very proud of it. I have looooooong document that I wrote, as much to get things sorted out my own mind as anything else. I hope my players will read and enjoy it. That's a Worldbuilder the way I see it.
At the same time, I am a Villain. I am a Rules Lawyer, I passed the bar, and I am licensed to practice anywhere English is spoken and D&D is played. I keep track of lots of small things, like encumbrance, food and water, coin weight, and how difficult it is to find a store to sell your loot. I want the environment the players travel through to be as dangerous as the monsters they fight once they reach their destination, and I'll be sure to make getting home again just as difficult. I'm perfectly happy to help the players enjoy their roleplay, I'll base sub-plots on backgrounds and backstories, I'll cater to their wishes if they want to play something normally forbidden in my setting. I'm pretty nice for a Villain.
I have been a GM for almost two years now, but due to COVID, I have only ran about maybe a dozen sessions for about eight or nine months before COVID hit.
As a GM, acting seems the easiest and most natural thing for me to do. I do want to homebrew and world build, but it seems daunting, so the most world building homebrew I have done so far is just something small, creating my own patron and organization that employs my party.
Definitely Actor with shades of Villain. Roleplay is king in my games, but story and worldbuilding are not: the latter in particular I think takes focus off the players. And I don’t pull punches, though at the end of the day I’m cheering for the PCs. What sets me apart from other DMs is a fast pace with lots of tough encounters, but a roleplay focus with distinct voices and personalities for every NPC. I wish I could be a dungeoneer, but alas, my 5-room dungeons and 3 Deadly encounters per day, while often disguised, are iconic enough to be a bit of a meme for my players.
I am the kind of DM that realizes that any and all of these arbitrary categories can't classify any DM for any particular encounter, let alone session.
BTW, where does the DM style of "D&D would be better without players" qualify under?
I am the kind of DM that realizes that any and all of these arbitrary categories can't classify any DM for any particular encounter, let alone session.
BTW, where does the DM style of "D&D would be better without players" qualify under?
I am the kind of DM that realizes that any and all of these arbitrary categories can't classify any DM for any particular encounter, let alone session.
Categories can be useful, even if they are imperfect. The term "species" is far from perfect in the real world, but it's still used because it's useful and the best tool we have. This thread is for fun. To quote a post recently made by a moderator in another thread "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".
BTW, where does the DM style of "D&D would be better without players" qualify under?
Probably the "I shouldn't be playing a cooperative storytelling game" style.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
I'm a Storyteller, Worldbuilder, and Actor (even though I suck at voices and am awkward in social roleplay), and have a bit of the characteristics of the "Casual DM", like more or less ignoring rations, water, ammunition, and other similar aspects of the game that I find trivial (and my players agree, so it works out well for us).
I over-plan the story, create more lore for my worlds/campaigns than any group could ever explore, and give way too much personality to extras that will never be seen again. It's a blessing and a curse.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
All of them except villain. I'm one of those old men that played a lot during the 80's and 90's, had a loooong break, and came back as forever DM with 5e.
And I'm really happy to discover that my earlier persona as villain DM is gone. I run a sometimes thematically serious, but technically relaxed game with fun in focus for old friends. Putting work into the world, NPCs and story is part of my fun, I really enjoy prepping.
I love looking at the poll results. It's pretty much what I expect to see, but completely at variance with my experience. In my long years of gaming I've run into far more Casual DM's than all the rest of the other kinds combined.
I am the kind of DM that realizes that any and all of these arbitrary categories can't classify any DM for any particular encounter, let alone session.
BTW, where does the DM style of "D&D would be better without players" qualify under?
Think of it as a measure of where a DM is choosing to spend time, either in preparation for the game or during it.
Of course it isn't perfect, but every DM skews at least a little bit in one direction.
I’m still very new to DMing, but I would say I’m a very big World Builder. I love coming up with history, locations, kingdoms, factions, religions and all types of other elements for my world. I also like going through all the various creatures and NPCs (both official and homebrew) that I plan to use and come up with a few paragraphs of how they behave and live in various parts of my world and how different creatures interact with one another.
Id throw in a bit of Storytelling and Dungeoneer. I love telling cool stories, both those the players partake in as well as stories from my own world. I also like creating cool combats and dungeons as well though I wouldn’t say I’m the best at it.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
I'm a mainly mix of world builder and storyteller. I would love to be more of an actor and like to create plenty of "supporting role" NPCs (both helpful and antagonistic, plus some there just to add flavor to the world/story) but I'm not very good at voices, accents, etc. I'm getting a little practice as a player in a game I just joined by playing a character that's a teenage girl (I'm a guy with a rather deep voice), but so far most of the difference between "her" voice and my own is a slightly softer inflection and I'm trying to adopt a different rhythm for her words. It's a work in progress.
I wanted to make this thread as a follow up to the What kind of player are you thread I saw a few days ago...
Ok, so here are the categories; some of them are pretty analogous to the player types, some not so much:
The World Builder: This kind of DM spends a ton of time on their world. You can tell by how rich and deep the lore is. There is usually various kingdoms and politics and long history that this DM is happy to recite to the players whenever possible. Usually this DM will have detailed overworld maps with all sorts of locations for the players to ponder visiting.
The Dungeoneer: This DM is all about the dungeon. It is in the name of the title after all. Expect a lot of dungeon crawls through detailed and varied dungeons with nice looking maps and tokens. This DM is a master of traps, puzzles, secret doors and of course encounters. They are happiest when the party is either engaged in a finely crafted and balanced combat encounter, or crawling through the ancient tomb of a long forgotten elf king leading up to it.
The Storyteller: This DM is obsessed with telling an awesome overall story with their campaign. They will inject betrayals, drama, romance, hope and despair all leading to an epic climax. Their game is a movie, and the players are the stars.
The Actor: This DM gets really into the NPCs. They typically spend a lot of time mastering various voices, personality quirks, goals and motivations, etc for all of their NPCs and make them as memorable as possible. Expect to have long back and forth roleplay situations with this DM between the players and the NPCs, with meaningful outcomes.
The Casual DM: A casual DM could be either a newer DM, or just any DM who isn't there to take it super seriously. Their games can be humorous and tend to gloss over the more tedious details of the game, where the rule of cool trumps RAW. There is generally more laughs and side chatter at their tables than others.
The Villain: The villain DM can be a bit prickly and rub you the wrong way from time to time, but that is part of the reason their game is enjoyable. They tend to pay careful attention to things like how long your character has gone without food or sleep for instance, or how you are capable of doing this or that. They tend to be rules lawyers and at times will push their players' buttons. Also they don't tend to be merciful with things such as PC death or the like.
So which of these describes you, or if you haven't DMed before, which interests you as a player or potential DM?
As for me, I’m a dungeoneer and actor mainly, and tend to flip flop between the two after a good dose of the one or the other. Also a bit of world builder but only in the immediate vicinity of the players.
Heavy world building,high improv dm,Games are usually full of homebrew.Exploration makes most of my games and my views on dnd 5e combat encounters are a bit complicated.
Check out my homebrew subclasses spells magic items feats monsters races
i am a sauce priest
help create a world here
The story makes the world and the world makes the story. I'm in the middle between Storyteller and World Builder, and I suspect anyone who's either will have something of the other in them as well.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
I first created my setting long ago. It has been constantly changing and growing for all this time, and I am very proud of it. I have looooooong document that I wrote, as much to get things sorted out my own mind as anything else. I hope my players will read and enjoy it. That's a Worldbuilder the way I see it.
At the same time, I am a Villain. I am a Rules Lawyer, I passed the bar, and I am licensed to practice anywhere English is spoken and D&D is played. I keep track of lots of small things, like encumbrance, food and water, coin weight, and how difficult it is to find a store to sell your loot. I want the environment the players travel through to be as dangerous as the monsters they fight once they reach their destination, and I'll be sure to make getting home again just as difficult. I'm perfectly happy to help the players enjoy their roleplay, I'll base sub-plots on backgrounds and backstories, I'll cater to their wishes if they want to play something normally forbidden in my setting. I'm pretty nice for a Villain.
<Insert clever signature here>
I am casual and actor.
I have been a GM for almost two years now, but due to COVID, I have only ran about maybe a dozen sessions for about eight or nine months before COVID hit.
As a GM, acting seems the easiest and most natural thing for me to do. I do want to homebrew and world build, but it seems daunting, so the most world building homebrew I have done so far is just something small, creating my own patron and organization that employs my party.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
Definitely Actor with shades of Villain. Roleplay is king in my games, but story and worldbuilding are not: the latter in particular I think takes focus off the players. And I don’t pull punches, though at the end of the day I’m cheering for the PCs. What sets me apart from other DMs is a fast pace with lots of tough encounters, but a roleplay focus with distinct voices and personalities for every NPC. I wish I could be a dungeoneer, but alas, my 5-room dungeons and 3 Deadly encounters per day, while often disguised, are iconic enough to be a bit of a meme for my players.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
I am the kind of DM that realizes that any and all of these arbitrary categories can't classify any DM for any particular encounter, let alone session.
BTW, where does the DM style of "D&D would be better without players" qualify under?
I believe it’s a Dungeon Mastur...
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Categories can be useful, even if they are imperfect. The term "species" is far from perfect in the real world, but it's still used because it's useful and the best tool we have. This thread is for fun. To quote a post recently made by a moderator in another thread "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".
Probably the "I shouldn't be playing a cooperative storytelling game" style.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I'm a Storyteller, Worldbuilder, and Actor (even though I suck at voices and am awkward in social roleplay), and have a bit of the characteristics of the "Casual DM", like more or less ignoring rations, water, ammunition, and other similar aspects of the game that I find trivial (and my players agree, so it works out well for us).
I over-plan the story, create more lore for my worlds/campaigns than any group could ever explore, and give way too much personality to extras that will never be seen again. It's a blessing and a curse.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
All of them except villain. I'm one of those old men that played a lot during the 80's and 90's, had a loooong break, and came back as forever DM with 5e.
And I'm really happy to discover that my earlier persona as villain DM is gone. I run a sometimes thematically serious, but technically relaxed game with fun in focus for old friends. Putting work into the world, NPCs and story is part of my fun, I really enjoy prepping.
Wouldn't that just be you telling stories to yourself that you've made up?
I love looking at the poll results. It's pretty much what I expect to see, but completely at variance with my experience. In my long years of gaming I've run into far more Casual DM's than all the rest of the other kinds combined.
<Insert clever signature here>
If I had to pick one of these, it'd be world-builder, I guess. But I'm not sure I solidly fit into any of them.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Think of it as a measure of where a DM is choosing to spend time, either in preparation for the game or during it.
Of course it isn't perfect, but every DM skews at least a little bit in one direction.
I’m still very new to DMing, but I would say I’m a very big World Builder. I love coming up with history, locations, kingdoms, factions, religions and all types of other elements for my world. I also like going through all the various creatures and NPCs (both official and homebrew) that I plan to use and come up with a few paragraphs of how they behave and live in various parts of my world and how different creatures interact with one another.
Id throw in a bit of Storytelling and Dungeoneer. I love telling cool stories, both those the players partake in as well as stories from my own world. I also like creating cool combats and dungeons as well though I wouldn’t say I’m the best at it.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
I'm a mainly mix of world builder and storyteller. I would love to be more of an actor and like to create plenty of "supporting role" NPCs (both helpful and antagonistic, plus some there just to add flavor to the world/story) but I'm not very good at voices, accents, etc. I'm getting a little practice as a player in a game I just joined by playing a character that's a teenage girl (I'm a guy with a rather deep voice), but so far most of the difference between "her" voice and my own is a slightly softer inflection and I'm trying to adopt a different rhythm for her words. It's a work in progress.
What I truly enjoy abut this forum is the utter lack of a sense of humour. I can post the most absurd comment, and it is taken at face value.
Getting taken at face value for absurd things is a form of Sarcasm, not an utter lack of a sense of humor.
<Insert clever signature here>
Here's why: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PoesLaw
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms