What do you think the hardest part of being a DM is? As a newbie DM I'm finding it to be:
Patience, I have all these potential avenues and things the party could potentially do sketched out but as a new party and campaign, I have to wait until they get there to see what avenue they decide to take! I know how the story COULD go, but I know they will probably go in some other insane direction, but I have to wait for them to get there!
Or
Not coaching and influencing them in a given directions because its the way I want them to go for the over arching story I have planned, or, more insidiously, its what I would have done as player! I know I have to let them make their own decisions and paths, and it will be a better experience and story if they do, but I know all the cool stuff they COULD do if they go the right directions and don't want them to miss them!
What do you find to be the hardest thing about being a DM?
Players who want to run a 'complex' character but won't learn the rules.
Players who don't show up.
Preparing for the next adventure. Having a story arc etc. isn't hard for me but I don't like being the DM who has to constantly look up stuff. I try to put the stat blocks for the bad guys onto paper to have them close at hand. If the party gets a map, I draw or print it out. And then, almost without fail, the party will take a hard left at Albuquerque and mess it all up lol!
And then, almost without fail, the party will take a hard left at Albuquerque and mess it all up lol!
A while ago I had set up a fairly classic dungeon exploration event as a little side excursion from the main story line. They've been grinding pretty hard and had a few really tough encounters lately in the main story quest, and it got a bit dark with an ally NPC they have dealt with for a while getting killed so I thought they could use a little old fashion dungeon crawl as a bit of a palate cleanser. So I spent a bunch of time mapping it out in detail, set up a diverse array of traps and bad guys that would have played to each party members strengths and weaknesses that they'd each get a chance to shine, set up a BBEG that would have been challenging and fun to RP with and a lair that would have made for a really interesting fight that they could use the environment, and rolled some choice loot that would help them in some upcoming events, laid the bread crumbs out in the conversations with the villagers they were having aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand they decided to buy some horses and head out to continue on to Waterdeep so they could tell their NPC friends family about his death... lol
My D&D friends are newbies and don't know how to make characters, so me, THE DM, makes them for them. They also don't know the rules or the fact that the story is basically at their fingertips. They have continuously asked me what to do. Meanwhile, I'm making characters for them for their other campaigns.
Players who want to run a 'complex' character but won't learn the rules.
Oh for the love of Pete! I see this so much on these forums.
"Hey, I'm new to D&D and roleplaying and I want to play this whackadoo race and janky class, and my DM has given me this magic item. Any suggestions on what armor I should wear?" Every time I want to reach through the screen and shake them and yell "Just stick with the PHB!"
I'll admit, I have more free time to learn the rules than most, so I don't expect everyone to learn every rule. However, when your character is BUILT around a concept, it would be nice if you learned how that part of the game works!
'I want to try to Stealth up behind the guard to kill him.'
'Okay...Stealth will be at Disadvantage because it's broad daylight and even though his back is turned, you have next to no cover. There's also not much noise in the street to cover your footsteps.'
'This shouldn't be too bad...my Stealth is at + 6 after all.'
Players who want to run a 'complex' character but won't learn the rules.
Oh for the love of Pete! I see this so much on these forums.
"Hey, I'm new to D&D and roleplaying and I want to play this whackadoo race and janky class, and my DM has given me this magic item. Any suggestions on what armor I should wear?" Every time I want to reach through the screen and shake them and yell "Just stick with the PHB!"
I'll admit, I have more free time to learn the rules than most, so I don't expect everyone to learn every rule. However, when your character is BUILT around a concept, it would be nice if you learned how that part of the game works!
'I want to try to Stealth up behind the guard to kill him.'
'Okay...Stealth will be at Disadvantage because it's broad daylight and even though his back is turned, you have next to no cover. There's also not much noise in the street to cover your footsteps.'
'This shouldn't be too bad...my Stealth is at + 6 after all.'
'Shall I explain how Disadvantage works again?'
i feel like the trick is to ask what they think would happen if they, the player, attempted this action on a stranger in the grocery store. replace daggers with 'an open jug of milk' as applicable. as they tippy-toed down an entire well-lit and busy aisle, would they feel watched and judged? nervous? resolute? okay, now imagine it's not a customer but a security guard. any reconsidering now? or are you used to being tackled, charged with assault, and escorted up the stairs to a hasty wallyworld-brand gibbet?
jeez, what is it about guards that make them such lightning rods for rogues? like they're easter decorations waiting for someone to come get the candy.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
One of the hardest things for me is I keep wanting to try out these super cool magic items, so I go "It's just a couple" and then everyone is too powerful XD. I really need to work on my self-control. Also, I struggle a bit with warning my players about things e.g. one of the players didn't understand my 6 warnings and lit the ground they were standing on, dead grass and bushes, on fire via fireball. I also struggle with players who don't think things through and do the dumbest stuff. I had a barbarian plot to kill a paladin NPC for his plate mail armor.
Players who want to run a 'complex' character but won't learn the rules.
Oh for the love of Pete! I see this so much on these forums.
"Hey, I'm new to D&D and roleplaying and I want to play this whackadoo race and janky class, and my DM has given me this magic item. Any suggestions on what armor I should wear?" Every time I want to reach through the screen and shake them and yell "Just stick with the PHB!"
I'll admit, I have more free time to learn the rules than most, so I don't expect everyone to learn every rule. However, when your character is BUILT around a concept, it would be nice if you learned how that part of the game works!
'I want to try to Stealth up behind the guard to kill him.'
'Okay...Stealth will be at Disadvantage because it's broad daylight and even though his back is turned, you have next to no cover. There's also not much noise in the street to cover your footsteps.'
'This shouldn't be too bad...my Stealth is at + 6 after all.'
'Shall I explain how Disadvantage works again?'
i feel like the trick is to ask what they think would happen if they, the player, attempted this action on a stranger in the grocery store. replace daggers with 'an open jug of milk' as applicable. as they tippy-toed down an entire well-lit and busy aisle, would they feel watched and judged? nervous? resolute? okay, now imagine it's not a customer but a security guard. any reconsidering now? or are you used to being tackled, charged with assault, and escorted up the stairs to a hasty wallyworld-brand gibbet?
jeez, what is it about guards that make them such lightning rods for rogues? like they're easter decorations waiting for someone to come get the candy.
'I used to be an adventurer...but I took an arrow to the knee!'
One of the hardest things for me is I keep wanting to try out these super cool magic items, so I go "It's just a couple" and then everyone is too powerful XD. I really need to work on my self-control. Also, I struggle a bit with warning my players about things e.g. one of the players didn't understand my 6 warnings and lit the ground they were standing on, dead grass and bushes, on fire via fireball. I also struggle with players who don't think things through and do the dumbest stuff. I had a barbarian plot to kill a paladin NPC for his plate mail armor.
Sadly, you cannot teach common sense. Darwinism says that any player who wants to do dumb things after many warnings deserves to die...
One of the hardest things for me is I keep wanting to try out these super cool magic items, so I go "It's just a couple" and then everyone is too powerful XD. I really need to work on my self-control. Also, I struggle a bit with warning my players about things e.g. one of the players didn't understand my 6 warnings and lit the ground they were standing on, dead grass and bushes, on fire via fireball. I also struggle with players who don't think things through and do the dumbest stuff. I had a barbarian plot to kill a paladin NPC for his plate mail armor.
Oh man do I feel both of these. I am a total magic item slut, lol, i have to constantly watch myself that I'm not going crazy.
My players drive me NUTS with ignoring hints. To the point where I'll basically say something like "There is a person shaped outline of burned residue on the wall opposite the door, you failed your perception check for traps but THERE IS A PERSON SHAPED BURN OUTLINE ON THE WALL OPPOSITE THE DOOR" and then they will just run up and throw the door open and be genuinely shocked when they get blown against the wall by the blast trap!
jeez, what is it about guards that make them such lightning rods for rogues? like they're easter decorations waiting for someone to come get the candy.
Right?!?! Dudes are just doing their job and my rogue is like "I stealth and sneak attack from behind" But he isn't even stopping anyone going through the gate, its just a regular guard on sentry duty, the castle isn't on alert, you aren't wanted by anyone, the castle is open to the public currently. "Stealth and sneak attack!!"
For me, it's basically what you expressed. I'd call it subverting my own expectations. It's easy to see a path forward. What's hard is getting out of the way when players see a different one. To my mind, every other problem stems from that original source...
You could always reuse the dungeon. Make a convenient dungeon entrance appear everywhere they go lol
I did wind up using it eventually and at the end one of the players had the audacity to say "wow, that was a really fun dungeon, I wish we had done this a while ago!" lol
One of the hardest things for me is I keep wanting to try out these super cool magic items, so I go "It's just a couple" and then everyone is too powerful XD. I really need to work on my self-control. Also, I struggle a bit with warning my players about things e.g. one of the players didn't understand my 6 warnings and lit the ground they were standing on, dead grass and bushes, on fire via fireball. I also struggle with players who don't think things through and do the dumbest stuff. I had a barbarian plot to kill a paladin NPC for his plate mail armor.
Oh man do I feel both of these. I am a total magic item slut, lol, i have to constantly watch myself that I'm not going crazy.
My players drive me NUTS with ignoring hints. To the point where I'll basically say something like "There is a person shaped outline of burned residue on the wall opposite the door, you failed your perception check for traps but THERE IS A PERSON SHAPED BURN OUTLINE ON THE WALL OPPOSITE THE DOOR" and then they will just run up and throw the door open and be genuinely shocked when they get blown against the wall by the blast trap!
XD lol, also what are the stats for the blast trap, I kinda want to try that.
One of the hardest things for me is I keep wanting to try out these super cool magic items, so I go "It's just a couple" and then everyone is too powerful XD. I really need to work on my self-control. Also, I struggle a bit with warning my players about things e.g. one of the players didn't understand my 6 warnings and lit the ground they were standing on, dead grass and bushes, on fire via fireball. I also struggle with players who don't think things through and do the dumbest stuff. I had a barbarian plot to kill a paladin NPC for his plate mail armor.
Oh man do I feel both of these. I am a total magic item slut, lol, i have to constantly watch myself that I'm not going crazy.
My players drive me NUTS with ignoring hints. To the point where I'll basically say something like "There is a person shaped outline of burned residue on the wall opposite the door, you failed your perception check for traps but THERE IS A PERSON SHAPED BURN OUTLINE ON THE WALL OPPOSITE THE DOOR" and then they will just run up and throw the door open and be genuinely shocked when they get blown against the wall by the blast trap!
XD lol, also what are the stats for the blast trap, I kinda want to try that.
I was actually making that one up on the fly after the party went in a direction I hadn't really expected and wasn't fully prepared for but I basically just used Fireball, just stepped it down that the blast radius was just the area in front of the door, and dropped the damage to 4d6 because the full full 8d6 would have obliterated the character at their level at the time if the roll even went somewhat bad for them, lol, I should go back and write it up and reuse it sometime actually, the party loved it, lol. Seeing the over confident rogue tossed across the corridor like a rag doll was very satisfying for them
You can't talk about the plot or actions or what would have happened or what you are thinking of doing with your party. Everyone else that you are playing with is on a team and to some extent you are trying to oppose them and they are trying to oppose you.
You are the one expected to lead and organize things. You are the one who has to put the most time and effort into the games. You are the one who has to know the rules and know when one of your players is messing up their abilities or spells.
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What do you think the hardest part of being a DM is? As a newbie DM I'm finding it to be:
Patience, I have all these potential avenues and things the party could potentially do sketched out but as a new party and campaign, I have to wait until they get there to see what avenue they decide to take! I know how the story COULD go, but I know they will probably go in some other insane direction, but I have to wait for them to get there!
Or
Not coaching and influencing them in a given directions because its the way I want them to go for the over arching story I have planned, or, more insidiously, its what I would have done as player! I know I have to let them make their own decisions and paths, and it will be a better experience and story if they do, but I know all the cool stuff they COULD do if they go the right directions and don't want them to miss them!
What do you find to be the hardest thing about being a DM?
Dealing with players who don't, can't, or won't learn the rules.
Possibly tied with:
Dealing with players having a tanty when their actions have consequences.
Not in any particular order:
Players who want to run a 'complex' character but won't learn the rules.
Players who don't show up.
Preparing for the next adventure. Having a story arc etc. isn't hard for me but I don't like being the DM who has to constantly look up stuff. I try to put the stat blocks for the bad guys onto paper to have them close at hand. If the party gets a map, I draw or print it out. And then, almost without fail, the party will take a hard left at Albuquerque and mess it all up lol!
A while ago I had set up a fairly classic dungeon exploration event as a little side excursion from the main story line. They've been grinding pretty hard and had a few really tough encounters lately in the main story quest, and it got a bit dark with an ally NPC they have dealt with for a while getting killed so I thought they could use a little old fashion dungeon crawl as a bit of a palate cleanser. So I spent a bunch of time mapping it out in detail, set up a diverse array of traps and bad guys that would have played to each party members strengths and weaknesses that they'd each get a chance to shine, set up a BBEG that would have been challenging and fun to RP with and a lair that would have made for a really interesting fight that they could use the environment, and rolled some choice loot that would help them in some upcoming events, laid the bread crumbs out in the conversations with the villagers they were having aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand they decided to buy some horses and head out to continue on to Waterdeep so they could tell their NPC friends family about his death... lol
My D&D friends are newbies and don't know how to make characters, so me, THE DM, makes them for them. They also don't know the rules or the fact that the story is basically at their fingertips. They have continuously asked me what to do. Meanwhile, I'm making characters for them for their other campaigns.
I'll admit, I have more free time to learn the rules than most, so I don't expect everyone to learn every rule. However, when your character is BUILT around a concept, it would be nice if you learned how that part of the game works!
'I want to try to Stealth up behind the guard to kill him.'
'Okay...Stealth will be at Disadvantage because it's broad daylight and even though his back is turned, you have next to no cover. There's also not much noise in the street to cover your footsteps.'
'This shouldn't be too bad...my Stealth is at + 6 after all.'
'Shall I explain how Disadvantage works again?'
i feel like the trick is to ask what they think would happen if they, the player, attempted this action on a stranger in the grocery store. replace daggers with 'an open jug of milk' as applicable. as they tippy-toed down an entire well-lit and busy aisle, would they feel watched and judged? nervous? resolute? okay, now imagine it's not a customer but a security guard. any reconsidering now? or are you used to being tackled, charged with assault, and escorted up the stairs to a hasty wallyworld-brand gibbet?
jeez, what is it about guards that make them such lightning rods for rogues? like they're easter decorations waiting for someone to come get the candy.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
One of the hardest things for me is I keep wanting to try out these super cool magic items, so I go "It's just a couple" and then everyone is too powerful XD. I really need to work on my self-control. Also, I struggle a bit with warning my players about things e.g. one of the players didn't understand my 6 warnings and lit the ground they were standing on, dead grass and bushes, on fire via fireball. I also struggle with players who don't think things through and do the dumbest stuff. I had a barbarian plot to kill a paladin NPC for his plate mail armor.
'I used to be an adventurer...but I took an arrow to the knee!'
Sadly, you cannot teach common sense. Darwinism says that any player who wants to do dumb things after many warnings deserves to die...
Oh man do I feel both of these. I am a total magic item slut, lol, i have to constantly watch myself that I'm not going crazy.
My players drive me NUTS with ignoring hints. To the point where I'll basically say something like "There is a person shaped outline of burned residue on the wall opposite the door, you failed your perception check for traps but THERE IS A PERSON SHAPED BURN OUTLINE ON THE WALL OPPOSITE THE DOOR" and then they will just run up and throw the door open and be genuinely shocked when they get blown against the wall by the blast trap!
Right?!?! Dudes are just doing their job and my rogue is like "I stealth and sneak attack from behind" But he isn't even stopping anyone going through the gate, its just a regular guard on sentry duty, the castle isn't on alert, you aren't wanted by anyone, the castle is open to the public currently. "Stealth and sneak attack!!"
For me, it's basically what you expressed. I'd call it subverting my own expectations. It's easy to see a path forward. What's hard is getting out of the way when players see a different one. To my mind, every other problem stems from that original source...
You could always reuse the dungeon. Make a convenient dungeon entrance appear everywhere they go lol
Soon to be DM.
Currently in a homebrew post-apocalyptic game.
I did wind up using it eventually and at the end one of the players had the audacity to say "wow, that was a really fun dungeon, I wish we had done this a while ago!" lol
XD lol, also what are the stats for the blast trap, I kinda want to try that.
I was actually making that one up on the fly after the party went in a direction I hadn't really expected and wasn't fully prepared for but I basically just used Fireball, just stepped it down that the blast radius was just the area in front of the door, and dropped the damage to 4d6 because the full full 8d6 would have obliterated the character at their level at the time if the roll even went somewhat bad for them, lol, I should go back and write it up and reuse it sometime actually, the party loved it, lol. Seeing the over confident rogue tossed across the corridor like a rag doll was very satisfying for them
For lack of a better word, it's kind of lonely
You can't talk about the plot or actions or what would have happened or what you are thinking of doing with your party.
Everyone else that you are playing with is on a team and to some extent you are trying to oppose them and they are trying to oppose you.
You are the one expected to lead and organize things. You are the one who has to put the most time and effort into the games. You are the one who has to know the rules and know when one of your players is messing up their abilities or spells.