Were You the GM or a Player? • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Were You the GM or a Player?
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Poll: Were You Primarily a Game Master or Primarily a Player?

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FormCritic
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:38 pm

So, when you play any RPG, and/or when you played RPG's, were you more often the GM, or more often one of the players?

I have a suspicion which one it will be.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

copycat
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:40 pm

Yes.

Both. If I GM'd, I also played. Or, we would alternate sessions.

At the moment, I mostly run the game... but we don't play often at this time of year, for whatever stupid holiday reasons.

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MetaSigma
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:48 pm

I suspect your suspicion is that we're mostly GMs. Well, I'm gonna buck the trend. I was (and still am) usually a player. I'm a minimally competent referee, but a pretty decent player and much prefer playing, so I'm the guy that stands in for the regular GM when he needs a break.

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Kingofpain89
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:21 pm

What's a GM? :wink:

I was/am almost always a player. I have only DM'ed twice and both times it was a disaster.

1st time: Four players. Throne of Bloodstone (what was I thinking?!?). 100th level characters. They didnt even make it into the Witch-King's castle. I was way out of my league trying to run that module.

2nd time: Six players. Ravenloft (with some tweaks). Strahd toyed with the party the entire adventure but all of the characters survived until the finale. Strahd tricks the party rendering them all helpless. Whiny, always complaining party leader (the regular DM) dies a horrible death from his own weapon. Rest of the party manage to kill Strahd. Lots of fun for everyone except the regular DM. He gets mad, takes away his toys, and our group never plays D&D together again. Which in the end wasnt all that bad now that I think about it.

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grodog
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:29 pm

Both. I DM'd much of the time in our home campaign, but was a player about 2/3 of the time while in college and grad school (we had a LOT of campaigns/games going...).

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Plaag
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:55 pm

I was the DM. Wonder if anyone will say they never DMed or never were the player.

ShaneG.

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TollHouseGolem
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:06 pm

I was the DM for my friends and neighborhood kids when I was first starting out. When my big brother and his friends let me join their group, I became a player. When our DM needed a break, I would guest DM, but that didn't happen much.

I consider myself a player first and foremost, but I can get into DMing when the chance arises.

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Blackmoor
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:45 pm

Mostly DM, about 60% of the time

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FormCritic
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 5:51 pm

Kingofpain89 wrote:What's a GM?

Allowing for other RPG's besides D&D.

I was always uncomfortable with Dungeon Master because it sounds so melodramatic to me.

A game master (which, admittedly, does sound like gaymaster when spoken) runs games. A dungeon master sounds like an S&M character or someone who think's he's a vampire. That's why it wasn't hard to sell the Dallas Egbert story as if it were some sort of mystery.

I spent a short time as a player before I wanted to try my own ideas.

I have been a player since, but never long-term.

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

ashmire13
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:05 pm

I was a straight split DM/player. Ran my own campaign and played in one too.
I guess I may have played a little more thinking back, but I reckon I'd only ever DM in the future, if I dust the old kit off.
Still making towns, dungeons and NPCs though, in the hope my kids'll play...

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jasonw1239
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:52 pm

Most of the time I was the GM. OD&D, 1st edition AD&D, Traveler, Call of Cthulhu, Boot Hill, Top Secret, James Bond, Marvel Super Heroes, and a few others that I can not think of at the moment.
Edit: Ran a long-running Morrow Project campaign back in the 80's.

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faro
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:44 pm

FormCritic wrote:Allowing for other RPG's besides D&D.

Eh... GMs in Midgard(s) predated DMs in D&D by quite some time. (As befits the historical context, initially a somewhat more passive, moderating role as would be expected to arise from the prevalent gaming paradigms of the time).

Hmm... poll ratio - for this board - is about where I'd expect with only two options. Thanks for creating the thread since it's good to see such confirmation.

"7.3 ORGANIZING THE PARTY: Always have a keg, even if it's BYOB...
7.4 TAKING THE GAME SERIOUSLY: Don't"

stratochamp
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:04 pm

collector first, player second.

faro
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:21 pm

stratochamp wrote:collector first, player second.

Is Re/GM/Co/Pl a valid multi-class, then?

"7.3 ORGANIZING THE PARTY: Always have a keg, even if it's BYOB...
7.4 TAKING THE GAME SERIOUSLY: Don't"

stratochamp
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:32 pm

absolutely!..... i had two reasons to do the ordering as i did. firstly i sense that even with all of the great collectors here, almost all of them would say that they were gm's or players first and then starting collecting, where i was started off collecting and then played more and then collected a LOT while playing infrequently. and secondly as a collector/player character class i had no desire to take things out of the shrink, since i didn't want to read them in the hopes that someone would GM them for me one day. Bonus!

Deadlord
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Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:44 pm

85% GM, 15% player. Not sure which I like better, probably playing. It's a lot less intensive.

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Invincible Overlord
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:54 am

I am a player.

I've GM'd a few times to give out regular GM a break once in a while (I'm running the group through the G1-2-3 series now, converted to 3.5 in the Kalamar setting).

And with my older 1st Ed. group, we had a DM Challenge once, where everyone took turns DM'ing the following week (picking up where the 1st DM left the PC's in some sort of cliffhanger...).

Basically, I've GM'ed enough that I respect the time and effort that goes in to prepare a game for the PC's.

RPGâ€™s, D&D in particular has had a major influence in my life. Itâ€™s bonded me together with life long friends...itâ€™s that bond in life not just as friends, but in our jokes, our mannerisms, and what we find funny. Invincible Overlord

bombadil
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:55 pm

Started out playing in Stevens Point, WI, in a group DMed by a guy named Tom Getz, who purportedly got his start playing with Gygax. Started DMing in high school, but preferred playing and did that most often. It went on through college that way, with my room mate DMing; City State was our favorite, and he knew it quite well.

Let mirth prevail!

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