Episode 138 – overcoming the GM jitters
* Raina’s Wings. You can donate here and read the full story behind this charity on our forums.
* Remembering the importance of player contribution to an RPG’s unfolding story.
* Fear the Con! You can see Dave’s account of the pirate ship building on his blog.
* Getting over the GM jitters.
* Handling a group where the players have mixed RPG experience levels.
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat
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February 25th, 2009 in
Podcasts, Regular Episodes
I’d like to comment that Henry VIII was a very accomplished man in the tournament circuit. He just likes to eat well, got fat and wasn’t much good after that. Although, apparently that didn’t initially stop him.
Also, the worst thing that could happen if I screw up at GMing? My players starting a podcast and badmouthing me on the air would rank pretty high…
Although, after 20 years or so GMing, it’s a bit too late to worry about making mistakes. I’ve made tons. Still, the players would generally rather play than GM, which means they are willing to overlook most mistakes. So, basically there’s nothing to worry about.
Also, I was fairly recently in a game where there was a mix of different RPG experience levels, from zero to my ca. 20 years. For some reason, the GM decided to put the emphasis on the whole campaign on the newest player. This could have possibly worked, but the other players weren’t really privvy to that information and our characters had their own agendas. Since there were two more experienced and a lot more vocal players, the actual storyline was always overshadowed by our strange profitmaking schemes and my strange fascination for dogs.
After about two years, the group pretty much broke up, because two of us moved out of town. The campaign never really got anywhere. We were moving somewhere, which felt very forced, because the GM had to make up excuses to get us into the right direction. I won’t even try to explain some of the stupidity that went into that. Railroads? Yes. On a bridge, suspended above the Grand Canyon, lengthwise.
The second worst thing that could happen if you screw up at GMing? Your players bitching about it in the comment section of a podcast.
Still… not that bad.
Dan, you are preaching to the choir here on that whole “most powerful guy as the leader” thing. It is incredibly prevalent in other media too, anime being a big offender. It’s always been one of the things I’ve hated, and tried to avoid if possible. Why should the guy who is most powerful be the leader, after all, instead of the guy who is more tactically experienced, or is better at handling administrative tasks?
In Naruto, who is the leader of the entire military force of the great nations? The ninja who can kick the most ass. in Avatar, who is the king of the Earth Nation, the guy who can kick the most ass. Who is in charge of the Fire Nation? World’s most powerful badguy, who gained his rule through political manoeuvring and inheritance. Bleach is a serious offender. Who is the supreme commander of the shinigami? The oldest hard-as-nails badass there is, their entire command structure is based purely on combat prowess.
I think it has to do with the intended focus of the story. The above shows are action-adventure shows about people who are super-strong, and in DnD you are a swashbuckling adventurer. I really liked it in Order of the Stick when the leader of the Sapphire guard and Azure city didn’t have any combat powers at all. Hell, their strongest warrior didn’t even have any real rank to speak of in her organisation.
And just to be a pedantic ass, aren’t the names of phobias usually in Greek?
@Aki – Regarding King Henry, I’ve always been a bit suspect of those claims. I have real trouble believing that a man of his girth can be that good at sports like tennis (which is one he’s credited with). I’ve always chalked it up as, “Let His Majesty win if you want to keep your head.”
@anphorus – You are correct. I bow to your superior pedantry. Now I need to put you to work. What would be a good, Greek name for a GMing phobia that sounds peculiarly like a VD named after Chris?
Henry VIII wasn’t always that fat. This is just a personal opinion, but I think he actually got fat, because he didn’t do sports anymore. When active people become inactive, but retain the appetite, it’s not pretty.
Also, if they just let him win, we wouldn’t know about the incident where he almost died jousting in 1524. Apparently the court was constantly trying to talk him out of his hobby. They didn’t like him taking chances like that.
Of course there will always be those who would rather appease the monarch than actually compete, but not everyone is like that or has been in any point in history.
If you’ve ever felt more competent than your boss, you know that being in charge doesn’t mean being better.
@anphorus: Regarding the Avatar thing, you should also consider: The Earth Nation was essentially two nations, one ruled out of Omashu (which definitely fits the criteria), and one out of Ba Sing Se, which definitely does not. The Earth King couldn’t bend at all, and neither could the man behind the man. Then there was the northern water tribe, whose chief was also never shown bending.
Also, while Ozai was certainly shown to be pretty badass in his one fight … he was also riding a ridiculous power trip at the time. He may not have been as dangerous he was made out to be … by people who never actually met him. If he was so dangerous under normal circumstances, after all, why wouldn’t he have been leading troops like his brother and father did? Could be he just had the benefit of the best teachers in the nation, but little in the way of raw power.
… wow. That went on entirely longer than I intended it to. Can you tell I’m a major Avatar Geek? I’ll shut up now.