I have been Dungeon Mastering for about 2 years now and currently playing in another DM's campaign. The DM we're playing with has not reached the overall goal of DMing. Suffice it to say he is a bad DM. We started the campaign 3 weeks ago and were unhappy with his overall decisions as a DM. The DM was very violent in the campaign and talked about overrated issues. We found this very distracting to the campaign. When we tried talking to him about the problem, he got irritated and overall the problem wasn't solved.
Can anyone give me some tips on how to deal with this?
"very violent in the campaign and talked about over rated issues" it is hard to know what that means. Some campaigns are very violent - Most DM's I know - myself included always give players the chance to describe the killing blow if they want - many do - graphically. Its the nature of a combat game. Talking about over rated issues could mean anything from discussing politics at the table to - if the pizza was too salty - to having too much NPC dialogue.
6thLyranGuard is correct though if you have brought up valid concerns about the way the game is run and there is no way to meet in the middle - the only choice is to drop the game. You can not make someone else DM the way you would prefer.
If the entire group dislikes the campaign there will soon not be a campaign, perhaps the DM can find more players that enjoy his style and you all can find a DM more in your style.
If you find yourself in what you believe to be a toxic situation, leave.
To be quite honest, I think DM's with major issues are just people with real life issues that manifest (come out) in the game. You're not going to fix the DM because the problems aren't stemming from a place you can influence.
Ultimately you're spending time with people having fun and D&D is the medium for that. If you're not having fun, leave.
The DM we're playing with has not reached the overall goal of DMing.
I think i need to know what the overall goal of DMing is and I would like the OP to explain it great detail. I think the original post was a Troll Post To the people above who were supportive and gave great advice Please keep on doing that, it is important.
Online Resources This is a small list of things that can be helpful to a DM be they new or experienced Covering everything from cartography, campaign management and virtual Tabletop environments.
How is he violent in the game? Is it the level of violence? Expecting Legend of Zelda and got God of War, or is the DM in meat space getting violent?
If its in game, you tried talking about this, but DM doesn't seem interested in anyone's opinions other than their own. In this case, it might be a case of No D&D is better than Bad D&D.
If its the latter, RUN! Your life and health is more important than a game!
WHat are the things he is griping about and how petty are they?
Either way, sounds like something to send Crit Crab and Crispy's Tavern..
Agree with the others that the initial post is ambiguous.
If the DM is berating you (is that what you mean by violence), that is a personality problem as others said. If the DM is making the game more violent and dark than you like, that could be fixed if you can reach a consensus. More info is needed though to clarify your initial post.
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Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.
The ambiguity of the first post isn't really relevant. If you have an issue with how the game is being run, you've already tried to talk to the GM about it, and they're not open to changing it, your only option is to leave the game. You can't really do anything else.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
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I have been Dungeon Mastering for about 2 years now and currently playing in another DM's campaign. The DM we're playing with has not reached the overall goal of DMing. Suffice it to say he is a bad DM. We started the campaign 3 weeks ago and were unhappy with his overall decisions as a DM. The DM was very violent in the campaign and talked about overrated issues. We found this very distracting to the campaign. When we tried talking to him about the problem, he got irritated and overall the problem wasn't solved.
Can anyone give me some tips on how to deal with this?
You've already tried bringing up the problem and he wasn't receptive to discussion?
Leave, there's nothing else you can do. You certainly can't force him to change stuff if he doesn't want to.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
"very violent in the campaign and talked about over rated issues" it is hard to know what that means. Some campaigns are very violent - Most DM's I know - myself included always give players the chance to describe the killing blow if they want - many do - graphically. Its the nature of a combat game. Talking about over rated issues could mean anything from discussing politics at the table to - if the pizza was too salty - to having too much NPC dialogue.
6thLyranGuard is correct though if you have brought up valid concerns about the way the game is run and there is no way to meet in the middle - the only choice is to drop the game. You can not make someone else DM the way you would prefer.
If the entire group dislikes the campaign there will soon not be a campaign, perhaps the DM can find more players that enjoy his style and you all can find a DM more in your style.
Good Luck.
Agree with what everyone else said.
If you find yourself in what you believe to be a toxic situation, leave.
To be quite honest, I think DM's with major issues are just people with real life issues that manifest (come out) in the game. You're not going to fix the DM because the problems aren't stemming from a place you can influence.
Ultimately you're spending time with people having fun and D&D is the medium for that. If you're not having fun, leave.
Yeah, as they say “no dnd is better than bad dnd”
Please, honor this signature by humming that one Zelda sound next time your players find a magic item
I think i need to know what the overall goal of DMing is and I would like the OP to explain it great detail.
I think the original post was a Troll Post
To the people above who were supportive and gave great advice Please keep on doing that, it is important.
Rule Zero: Make the game your own
Online Resources This is a small list of things that can be helpful to a DM be they new or experienced Covering everything from cartography, campaign management and virtual Tabletop environments.
I guess I would want more details.
How is he violent in the game? Is it the level of violence? Expecting Legend of Zelda and got God of War, or is the DM in meat space getting violent?
If its in game, you tried talking about this, but DM doesn't seem interested in anyone's opinions other than their own. In this case, it might be a case of No D&D is better than Bad D&D.
If its the latter, RUN! Your life and health is more important than a game!
WHat are the things he is griping about and how petty are they?
Either way, sounds like something to send Crit Crab and Crispy's Tavern..
You can only do you. Drop out. If you are not having fun, why torture yourself for several hrs?
Agree with the others that the initial post is ambiguous.
If the DM is berating you (is that what you mean by violence), that is a personality problem as others said. If the DM is making the game more violent and dark than you like, that could be fixed if you can reach a consensus. More info is needed though to clarify your initial post.
Velstitzen
I am a 40 something year old physician who DMs for a group of 40 something year old doctors. We play a hybrid game, mostly based on 2nd edition rules with some homebrew and 5E components.
The ambiguity of the first post isn't really relevant. If you have an issue with how the game is being run, you've already tried to talk to the GM about it, and they're not open to changing it, your only option is to leave the game. You can't really do anything else.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.