A Good Player takes ques and does shit without the GM doing it for them to keep the game rolling.

A Bad Player doesn't.

Now I see where I've been going wrong all these years! I've been playing all the roles and forcing my players to just sit there and watch.

>>908930
It's not funny. Many of the GMs I've met have been doing this more or less.

>>908929
Doesn't mean the GM has to do things the player never intended to do.

A good GM has to be able to improvise.

A bad GM says "LOL no you can't do that."

>>908933
Yeah, I hate that.
They force there imagination on the actions you character would in there opinion probably do.

They could JUST ASK ME and I would tell them. But sometimes I just don't want to act everything out. Especially when the GM is again very lousy with descibing locations.

A good GM isn't predictable. So the players wonder what will happen next.

A bad GM is too predictable and you know exactly what will happen next.

A good GM knows his vocal limitations.

A bad GM makes every other BBEG sound like Skeletor.

>>908947
Of course, on the same note:

A Good GM's game will make sense and follow a logical progression, even if it isn't immediately noticeable.

A Bad GM's game will be a string of unrelated and pointless events.

A good GM lets the player's actions have influence in the happening of the adventure.

A bad GM will say ok, but doesn't care after that.

>>908950
I know GMs that are Predictable and it doesn't make sense either.

A good GM suits his adventure to the system.

A bad GM will put Stormtroopers in a WFRP game just because he's a dick and it's "his game".

>>908954
Just saying, unpredictable can be bad too.

>>908955
The Stormtrooper thing ever happened?

A bad GM's NPCs are all retarded. ( I know a GM who's NPCs are all 'retarded' 'doing unfunny jokes all the time' 'very forgetful with things just happened' )

A good GM has actually diffrent NPCs with diffrent personalities.

A good GM will have an orange cheeto tint to his fingers

A bad GM will have an orange cheeto tint to his rulebooks

>>908983
An even worse GM would have it to MY rulebooks.

A Bad GM controls your characters.
An even worse Bad GM is controlled by your characters.
(No, seriously. This might sound cool but shit goes to Baltimore very fast that way. Or you just get banned, and so does whatever build you used.)

>>909008
example?

>>908966

Not to me but to a friend of mine. I forget the specifics but yeah the GM threw a squad of Star Wars Stormtroopers into a WFRP game.

>>908983

My 3rd ed DMG and MM had pink fingerprints on it from rush planning an adventure for a group after I had already put in hair dye.

Good GM: "The last of the troops that came with you, even Baron Wilhelm, fall behind as you reach the final sanctum of the ghoul king. The baron speaks to you.. *Tired voice, pained expression* 'We will hold here as long as we can. If we don't meet again, thank you for everything you have done.' Then you walk alone into the sanctum. You will win or lose this vital battle alone."

Bad GM: "Baron Wilhelm walks past you and boots the huge doors of the ghoul kings sanctum open with one kick. He says *Bored sounding voice* 'why don't you watch? you might learn something.' Then he goes in and starts kicking the bad guy's ass. Roll initiative".

Bad GM's will fuck you over for forgetting to buy rations when rations have never before been tracked in the game.

Good GM's will either keep track of rations and food use or assume that your PC's are intelligent enough to keep themselves fed unless the adventure's course suddenly makes it hard to get enough food and water.

Bad DM's never think about how much water you have, no matter what the situation is.

Good DM's realize that getting potable water is more vital then food.

>>909058
The really scary part is that helping asteroid corn farmers kill goblins in order to win the favor of there jailbait daughter -makes more sense- then the last D&D game I was in.

>>909042
Yeah, that sucks pretty much. This happenes when the GM forget the Player Characters are the heroes of the story and not just some random spectators watching the superior NPCs bashing the final boss.

all truth

>>908929
>>908929
>>908929
>>908929
God damn no fucking shit! I have that problem with my group right now. Then they complain to ME about having the game move to slow. Jesus fucking christ. Well it can't be helped ... most of them are new to tabletop roleplaying anyways and one of them just waits for the next combat round to start when he knew full well I like to go heavy on the story and character/npc interaction.

>>909062
What's even more fucked up is that with a bit of working it actually makes a half decent adventure.

Though it is true that a Bad GM takes control of the player's characters, it's equally bad for the GM to do the opposite. Example:

GM: You enter the town, what do you do?

Player: Um.. What's the town like?

GM: Pretty regular town... It's got a tavern, blacksmith, a quest tree, the usual

Player: Ok well.. Is anything of note happening around the town? Anything noteworthy?

GM: No

Player: well I guess I'll go to the tavern

GM: Ok you're in the tavern. Now what?

You get the idea... I find this kind to be the worst GM of all.

>>909501
It's because he isn't describing anything. Like what people are running around when he arrives the town. And he doesn't say what's written on the sign of the tavern. Or what type of people hanging out in there.

>>909530

Exactly. The GM that just watches the player's play with their own imagination until they 'perchance' stumble upon an event trigger. e

May aswell just play a computer game...

>>908933
you fag, just tell him, "no I don't"

A Good GM doesn't exist.

A Bad GM is your GM.

>>909042
Now I'm not justifying this, but I'm not that bad of a GM and I had to whip this out. The characters were facing down the BBEG. First big combat. Turns out that I overestimated the characters, so if it wasn't for the convenient butler who happened to be a champion fencer, then we would have had to re roll everything. I worked him in to the story later too.

>>910648
Fudging the die rolls seems like the best option in that case. Less blatantly obvious asspull.

>>910671
I kinda agree. I mean, I guess a stunt like that once in a GREAT while is all right, as an isolated incident rather than part of an ongoing habit. But it's probably something better handled behind the curtain.

>>909008
>shit goes to Baltimore very fast that way

???
Murder and syphilis?

>>910713
Kinda noobish, I know, but I don't use a screen, I just cover die rolls with my hands, which needs to be fixed, because the players know that when I roll stuff, even though I roll the dice at random sometimes.

>>910648

Did your players baw about the obvious GM fiat or did they 1) not notice or 2) assumed it was just as planned?

>>910801
The players were grateful, they sure as hell didn't want to reroll.

>>909078

Yeah. I see this thing posted all the time as an example of a bad campaign. So how would you go about fixing it?

Some thoughts:

The button finale feels like too much of a gotcha. The module would have been stronger without it.

The old guy's helplessness in the module's plot is very incongruous with his listed combat stats. He really shouldn't be any stronger than your average elderly farmer.

The goblins need to be toned down. In fact, I'd replace every instance of 'kill you even if you can't be killed' with something less cheesetastic that better fits the opponent. Giving it to literally EVERYTHING you fight here was just lazy.

>>910996

Also, I'd keep the whole tentacle monster thing, but rather than setting it in space I like this better in a more standard fantasy setting. This would actually be a pretty good fantasy-meets-Cthulhu deal: the PCs start out thinking it's a run-of-the-mill goblin stomp, then suddenly, LOVECRAFTIAN HORROR.

The tentacle rape thing... not every group's going to be able to roll with that, but I like it a lot, especially the way it plays off of the slightly disturbing sexuality of the farmer's daughter. Here's a thought: the rapebeast has probably had its way with other victims in the area. Even if the PCs kill it, they could have to deal with its spawn. Perhaps Totoro is only the tip of the rapeberg, so to speak.

A good GM has an original story with varying paths, flexibility, and a thorough understanding of the game system.

A bad GM is the guy that is forced to DM for the first time because the guy who usually DMs wants to play the PC twink versions of all his npc twinks.

>>908991
That's unspeakable. I bring a pack of alcohol wipes, like the kind you get after eating at a rib shack, with me everywhere. I wipe the cheetos dust or peanut salt or anything off of my hands BEFORE I even ASK to see someone else's books.

Common courtesy, you understand.