>10 "that guy / that GM / what kills a game for you / red flag / immediate drop" threads a day
Veeky Forums what the fuck do you just LOVE seeing at the table? What still captures the magic for you? What can GMs or players do, or what can you do as a GM or player, that really tickles your fancy and just gets you sucked in and totally engrossed in some great RP, when you look up and it's suddenly 1 AM and you hadn't even noticed the time slip by?
I fucking hate roleplaying
Fair enough mate that's cool too
Surprise me by playing against stereotypes, but not against estabilished characters.
Creating the setting as a group, and everybody partecipates.
Trying new games hard and fair.
Sticking to what the game is about.
Reddit is full of adorable feel-good threads that make you feel like your heart has diabetes.
Like you literally get people writing essays about how wonderful their groups are. Sometimes it looks like an opposite reflection of the negativity you see over here.
that's not a bad thing
Any time the GM calls out our character races as being important. Even if it's something dumb like a slur against the halfling, or a high-brow guild trusting the group more because one of the members is an elf. It's so rare now when anybody at the table remembers that races are more than just stat blocks, and I do appreciate it when the GM pays attention to that fact.
when GMs capitalize on the backstories of the PCs. Not even in a "hurr durr your family gets killed" way, but like a guy with family receiving letters from home, running into old friends, having major events in the PC's past be relevant in the world around where they came from. That sort of thing.
Our GM loves doing that. He has each of the story arcs revolve primarly around each PC in a rotating fashion :my party leader priest> spellsword>sorcerer>barbarian>rogue and back again.
Without disclosing more than strictly needed, he works on each story arc with the "spotlight" player. He'll generaly asks in between sessions "In what general direction would you like to take your character now? How has he/she processed the latest events?". Then he cooks up something he finds interesting for our character's evolution and throws it in the plot, sometimes as foreshadowing in the preceeding arc. If it's some really major shit, he suggests it beforehand, if not he throws it your face and expects us to catch the ball. It works 9 times out of 10.
However he leaves us all free to do as we please as long as we bear with all the consequences, so any PC can have his/her cool moments even if it's not "your" story.
>friend GMs a game
>enemies die quickly, baseline PCs aren't much more durable
>technique system is flexible and let me create intricate attack chains
>tons of opportunities to use skills
>DM lets me worldbuild minor background towns and other minor shit, directly leads into plotlines he wouldn't have thought of otherwise
I love the GM being engaged in his own game and running it with enthusiasm to tell a good story and let the party overcome the odds or perish.
I love the party refuse to sit around and waste time waiting for something to happen and just go out and explore, play their characters, interact with the world and each other.
I love when everyone on the table has fun and does not regret taking time out of their lives to play with the group.
I love everyone being on the same page on what theme and style the game is going to be and if we aren't, we sit down and talk it out.
I also love vanilla chocolate ice cream with cookies.
I've had players on roll20 who had to turn off the music stream I used for playing them scary ambient music during campaign where they were investigating haunted house. Getting your players that immersed feels amazing.
>I love everyone being on the same page on what theme and style the game is going to be and if we aren't, we sit down and talk it out.
The most important thing ever
It's all really insincere, though. Like, I'm sure *occasionally* you get someone who's genuinely enthused about how awesome his group is, but most people are just trying to be Critical Role in text. "Look how *quirky* and *fascinating* my group is!"
>on an elven continent
>all elves can see through illusion spells because "they're all used to magic"
bump coz I'm a sadman without stuff to contribute
>Love
>When we're in combat and we want to start doing insane stuff like grappling the titan and climbing it.
Hate when a system is so restrictive that you start needing feats and spells for every possible action.
Sometimes you just want to let your imagination fly.
I just want to shadow of the colossus a boss monster.
Your GM sounds great, user.
>players RPing without the GM pushing for it
>characters build relationships with each other
>When the GM designs a cool encounter that's both fun to play and unexpected
>When I GM for a group of new players, and it finally 'clicks' and they realize they can do whatever they want how they want it, and they start coming up with creative solutions.
No better feeling, and everyone becomes so invested in the game that they're excited as fuck to play every week. I also run with a group of veteran players and while we have plenty of fun, some of the magic and wonder of the game is a little lost and I kinda miss it sometimes.
>That player who, instead of handing in a character's description, writes a short story-ish segment of the character's backstory.
It's fucking fantastic if you're reading this, Allen, since it gives me a much better idea of what your character acts like/is motivated by/thinks. Also they're usually pretty fun to read.
For me, when I run, it's that moment when I take a bunch of adventure modules and random generator rolls, all separate and disjointed at first, then bring them together with the main characters and their motivations, and the antagonists and other NPCs of my own design, and work them all together into a single cohesive whole.