This is my response to a post on a blog I read (mikesdndblog). In this particular post, Mike talks about his experience with a DM at a convention game (D&D 4e, one-shot, limited time, pre-set adventure). The DM was unprepared, unfamiliar with some rules, showed a lack of enthusiasm, played an adversarial role to the players, and let the story drag during non-combat encounters. He gives example of these behaviors, but I won’t write them here; go read his blog to find out, it’s well written and interesting.
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Here is my response:
I feel your pain – it seems, when we have a good DM, that the game is amazing! Then, when we unsuspectingly (is that a word?) get a bad DM, it really shines a light on the things that can go wrong.
I find it interesting that the DM hadn’t read the module, but did have the right minis and could run the combats very quickly. Sounds to me like his style is combat oriented and so he really gets into the battle aspects and can run those and recall details and powers very well, but is not as interested in the role-playing aspect, and so is lackluster in that realm. What a shame!
I think the biggest killer for me is a lack of enthusiasm in my DM (and players, since I am usually the DM). For me, one of the great things about the game is that people can come up with creative and interesting solutions to problems, and the system is flexible enough to allow the attempt of pretty much any crazy plan! When the DM or players aren’t interested in that, well, the game loses something for me.
I usually run long-term campaigns and am not as familiar with convention style sessions, but here is what I suggest to counter some of the things you mention:
1) Preparedness: There really is no balm for this one in a one-shot environment. In an ongoing game, the best thing to do is to decide to not have the game that week, wait until next week when everyone is fresh and able to contribute, and the DM has had time to prep. In a one-shot situation, you really only have two choices: A) decide to excuse yourself from the game and miss out on playing that night, or B) make the best of the DMs non-preparation.
I assume that A is unacceptable, especially at a convention. So how do you accomplish B?
Don’t sigh loudly when he has to search the booklet, yet again, to find the answer to your question.
Be as patient as possible when he is determining something you think he should have known.
And most of all, don’t let his lack of preparation ruin your fun – sometimes its a mindset.
2) Unfamiliarity with the rules: Since this is a one-shot, just let it go. That is the best advice I can give. Anyone that doesn’t know the rules and then makes bad decisions based on lack of knowledge aren’t worth playing with again, but you are already playing this session, so let it go. It will lessen your stress and you are more likely to salvage some fun.
In an ongoing campaign this would be unacceptable. You need a DM that will listen to your reasoning and be willing to look things up when there is a rules question. Now, the DM may make an immediate ruling and look it up later, only to find out they made the wrong call, but that’s okay as long as the DM is willing to come back and discuss it at the beginning of the next session, admit they were wrong, and go over how the rule reads and how it will be played from now on. I’ve fallen victim to this a couple of times in the past two years, and I know my players respect that I listen to them and then discuss it later.
3) Lack of Enthusiasm: Sounds like you did the only thing you could – do your best to keep your own enthusiasm high. That is about all you can do here as well. This is similar to #1 in terms of what I would do in my long standing game (i.e. postpone till next week), but in a one-shot, all you can do is try to have fun. The best thing to do is get the other players enthusiastic and interact with them as much as possible – the DM that doesn’t role-play can cause a dead-zone at the table – don’t let that happen.
4) Adversarial role: Seems like this goes with that DM’s love of battle. It appears that he sees the game as a competition between your PCs and his Monsters (or NPCs). This makes him seem like he is out to get your PCs and wants to “win” at all costs. The best way to think about this is to disbelieve it.
In many sports competitions it’s all about the mental psych-out that some players hope to use against the other side – it becomes an advantage by making the opposing players lose confidence and falter. If he approaches all games this way, that may give you the impression that the DM is out to get you. Just don’t believe it. If he is the nice guy you say he seemed to be, then he is just in ‘game-mode‘ (or ‘competition-mode‘ if you prefer) – that means he is going to try and psych you out so that you don’t perform as well – it’s a mental tactic and nothing more. Just don’t let it get to you and don’t think of it as adversarial and it will remove the sting of it.
Now, if your regular DM is like this and it doesn’t fit your gaming style, then it may be time to get a new DM.
5) Story Drag: This happens in many sessions at various times, even long-standing campaigns. Unfortunately it sounds like you got a DM that wasn’t enthusiastic enough to run a proper skill challenge in this particular event. The only remedy for this is to start talking fast. What does that mean? Well, when someone talks fast about a stressful situation it gives the indication that time is a factor and “we better do something and make things happen, and quick!” Its a psychological technique and it works in some circumstances. Given this DM’s apparent apathetic attitude to non-combat situations, you may need to try and jump-start his attitude about skill challenges – they are, after all, supposed to be high stress situations that take finesse and skill, but not completing something with combat powers shouldn’t make it boring – it should be fast and furious action. The players should have to describe what they are doing, in detail, and quickly. You can run this in combat round style where each players describes the PC’s action in detail, for every six second round.
There is a huge difference between
A) saying “I climb the fence” and then “I rolled an 18 on my skill check” spoken in a detached and slightly disappointed manner
and
B) “Lothar runs up to the gate and leaps at it, trying to grab onto the top bar and pull himself up. He struggles but gets a handhold and a foothold, trying to climb the rest of the way!” spoken quickly and excitedly.
Also, when you fail a skill check, describe the action quickly and in a breathless manner, as though it is a real loss – that may get the DM’s blood pumping and he may want to pay attention to the action again.
Hopefully that will give you some idea of how to counter the actions and attitude of the dreaded ‘bad DM.’
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Until next time, I wish you good gaming!
~DM Samuel
