GM appreciation thread

When was the last time you thanked your GM anons? Also GM stories, favorite campaign/settings. Lets collectively thank our GMs tg

You understand everyone on Veeky Forums is their group's DM, right?

Thank you, DM. You do quite a lot of work.

ForeverGM. A little thank you or compliment brightens up my whole day.

>Worldbuild in my spare time since I was 12
>Run RP games in my homemade setting
>"user, you could publish this."
>mfw

>You understand everyone on Veeky Forums is their group's DM, right?
Not me. And my group's DM is trying to DM while knowing only the bare basics. You might say he takes the phrase "The DM is the final authority on rules" to another level, but that probably sends the wrong message.

The fact is, he doesn't know the rules, and it's up to me most of the time to explain the nitty gritty rules and processes. He just handles the storytelling and larger stuff - and I don't think he's even read enough of the module material to be adequately prepared for the shit we're throwing at him.

Thanks gm for all your tireless work. While at times it may be thankless it is not unnoticed

Well let him finish this one and then dm the next campaign! Also what module is he running and what edition

>He just handles the storytelling and larger stuff
I'll take "sentences only uttered by someone who has never DMed anything." for $500

The rules are rules. If you are unsure about them, you can look them up in the situation. Storytelling, moodsetting, preparing encounters and loot, drawing dungeon maps, fleshing out NPCs, making sure the plot does not contradict itself - this is 99% of what I am doing as a DM.

>this is 99% of what I am doing as a DM.
I am well aware of this, but...
>I don't think he's even read enough of the module material to be adequately prepared

I recognise the rules are rules, but that doesn't really excuse a DM from complete ignorance, especially since he had a vague idea of what he was committing to. I don't expect any DM to memorise the rules, but they should at least have a rough idea of the rules structures in place. There's a Veeky Forums screencap about a DM who springs an ambush on the party from a bunch of monsters in plain sight, because the players didn't think to ask "are there any monsters in plain sight?" That's the sort of rules ignorance I'm facing.

With all that said, I do acknowledge he's doing a passable job as a DM considering his dearth of experiences with RPGs of any flavour, tabletop AND vidya.

I would publish my stuff if I had the slightest idea where to begin. My main job is in agriculture business, you couldn't find a field with any less intersection with publishing even if you tried.

My players should commission art of their characters for me so that I can jack off to them. This is the only acceptable reward for being a forever GM.

I was forever gm but my 3rd weekly game I'm a player. Feels good man

Congratulations user, forever GMing has a tendency to suck the soul right out of you if you dont get a break every now and then

>he just handles story telling
What would the game be without that story telling though? Sure everyone can read a rule book and memorize the words, not everyone is creative enough to be a DM

Oh I'm still gming 2 other games. And one of them is shadowrun so my free time is gone. But at least I can play for a bit

I always thank GMs I play with.
I don't often get thanked as one, though. Ungrateful sods.

I just dm 3.5 arm and don't think I could run more than one type of game. So props to you man.

12 years in and I have yet to be a player a second time. First time was 6 months ago and the guy running it refused to read the rule book. So all the rolls were made up on the fly and he would punish us if we could do something well that wouldn't fit his story. I just wanted to play a here-tek, but the friendship burnt to the ground after he started stirring shit up not even a week after my dad died.

>tfw always gm
>always wanted to be a player instead
>nobody else will do it
>4 campaigns over 4 years with 3 different systems
>still never actually played an rpg
Even one of my players writes fiction for a living and he doesn't want to do it
I'm a fucking programmer yet I have to do it

Have you tried claiming you can't do it anymore? Just say you won't have enough time in future and could someone else take over. They're porbably just a bit intimidated by the idea of it, so try grabbing one of them and talk about how cool DMing is, try to fire up their imagination.

>Have you tried claiming you can't do it anymore?
Yes, but then they just don't play. It's frustrating as fuck.
>try grabbing one of them and talk about how cool DMing is, try to fire up their imagination.
This might work, how could I do this? All my writer friend does is sits around and chain smokes and sort of doesn't really care. Which is a shame cos he's a good writer. Should I give him the DM's Guide?
I'm not good in social situations

Literally every session. I'm not shitting you, I always thank my DM every time they provide advice, help, finish the session, or assist me whatsoever.

Thanks, DM. I hope you don't screw over my paladin of Helm due to your severe strictness on paladin code......and love for anime.

My entire group is made up of GMs.

just being a fiction writer doesn't mean much. I played in a fantasy writer's 3.5 game and it was loaded with overly long descriptions, weird limitations, and "narrative restrictions" on roleplay. Like, if a family member dies, you immediately take a -4 penalty to hit and skill checks for a month. Even if you hated that family member and killed him yourself.

That must suck for the GM. Ignorant players are much nicer than hardened GMs

MYSTIC

>GM of only 3 people
>they have fairly strict schedules (One is british, therefore time zones fuck him up, the other is hard studying for college, and the last one is usually on time)
>Made it so that everyone has their own solo story inside a hub city, so they can always play on game day even if they're the only one
>The one that's always on time is enjoying his solo story a lot it seems
>We had a 3 - 4 hour chat about his character and worldbuilding for the worlds economy

seeing players invested in my game is the happiest feeling I can get, I just wish I was better at planning out and accomplishing ideas, since I'm usually winging it 50% of the time

Thank you GM, you took us from just basic shadowrun jobs to globetrotting in order to hide from a megacorp branch which lead to my character getting a saint as a mentor spirt and some Indiana Jones relic hunting shit in order to save the world from a horror/shadow spirit that threatens a ton of things. Shit has been SO cash, and every session I look forward to.

Same here we all take it in turns GMing and everyone is pretty good. Some better them others but we always thank each other and no one criticises one another from a GM perspective. It feels so weird being in such a harmonious group

Man, i love that feeling its what makes being dm so much better then being a player sometimes. My favourite is when you work the party up into such a sense of paranoia that nobody or nothing is trusted or ever taken at face value and simple things end up becoming complicated tests for them due to their lack of trust

>Getting a new group together for campaign
>All good friends of mine
>JJ randomly invites his buddy (who I don't know) without asking me first
>I tell him no, nothing against him but I'm not comfortable running for strangers and I just want to play with my own friends for now, plus I want to keep the party smaller (easier to run).
>Couple days later another friend of mine asks, I think it over and agree but say that's the last player for sure.
>JJ stops contributing any to of the coordination in our group message as we prepare, I ask if he still wants to play
>JJ is pissed that I said no to his friend but invited my own
>I say I'm the DM, have put 25+ hours of work into planning this so far, and stand by that I want to play with my own friends, not strangers.
>JJ says he doesn't want to play then

Am I in the wrong? I don't see why he's so pissed when he's the guest to MY game. If he wants to play with his friends then he's more than welcome to run his own, and I'd even play with them if the DM wanted me to. But that's the DM's decision, not the player's. I respect that, shouldn't he?

You're in the right. There's nothing making it so that you HAVE to accept one person or any other.

I would've let the dudes friend play. Duck move user.

what's better

>small game (2 to 3 players)
>Normal game (4 - 5)
>Big game (6 - 7+)

Small game

>Everyone can share the spotlight an equal amount of times, and it's enough to be enjoyable

>But it can feel lonely at times, specially if someone has to skip a session or two

Normal games

>Not to little, but not too much

>There's always going to be that one guy that doesn't fit that much in the dynamic

Big game

>Pretty much there's always going to have activity and there will always be someone to express their opinions

>But there will also be someone who hardly ever gets the spotlight at all and will just stop enjoying the game eventually

Youre right to a certain extent and he is being a bit of bitch. But maybe you should of just left it at the no and not invited another player your self into the game. Also similar stories except i said yes and now im fucked
>be the DM
>currently in a situation where more people keep getting invited to the game due to other defunct groups
>we are all good friends though so i dont really want to say no and kick people out
>currently at 9 players
>not everyone turns up every week and it kinda fucks with the story and people who arent there every week miss some important story aspects
>on the other hand, thank fuck i havent had to DM for all 9 at the same time
>current record game is 7 and that was getting a little bit much
>wish from the start i kind of let people down gently and told them no
>now im staring down the barrel of a 9 person game on wednesday

Good shit user, I hope you thank this gm for his tireless work at least every other session