Re: The role of the GM
 

The GM, however, does have the authority to decide what will be used. That is part of the job of a GM. As a matter of fact, not only do they have the authority, they have the responsibility to make those decisions.

I am a good GM. And historically, I was one of those GMs who followed all the rules without alteration and never introduced house rules. But you know what? That didn't make me a good GM. I only became a great GM when I embraced Rule 0 and started making some choices about what would and wouldn't be happening in the game. I credit GURPS, with its modularity, back in 1988, with starting me down the path of not just being the person who executes what is written down, but who actively shapes the experience, thus coming to know myself and the players, and thereby being able to achieve greatness.

I want to say, that I have had very few bad GMs--and I've been gaming in many different places, with many different people, for decades. I've had some GMs that weren't to my personal taste, though I imagine they would be to the taste of some others, but very few bad GMs...and even fewer abusive GMs. And those people? I stop playing with.

That said, the bad GMs I had? Maybe one or two were amplified by the arbitrary use of rules changes to "Gotcha"---but most were bad because they made no choices about rules...because they didn't follow Rule 0. Everything was as was presented in any and every book. I have been in way too many unsuccessful D&D3.5 games where every supplement was available, because they were official...where we players could do whatever we wanted...because it is in the rules...and the GM did whatever was written in the module...resulting in a terrible mess.

Giving the GM authority doesn't make GMs bad.

And anyway, in my time of gaming, the worst people I've had to deal with around the table weren't bad GMs, but bad players.

Re: The role of the GM
 

All? no. Most? Yes. The midpoint is pretty thin, and I see a bimodal distribution.

My experience is that the types of people drawn to GMing tend to fit those two categories, and seem to fill between them about 90% of all GM's. And bad outnumber good. And the few truly mediocre... It feels like a 6:1:3::Bad:mediocre:good. And one of those 6 bad shouldn't even be allowed at the table as a player...

Re: The role of the GM
 

I've never encountered that many bad GMs. Sure, I've run into some that weren't to my taste, but not bad.

Why do you think you've run into so many bad GMs? What do you consider bad? What do you consider abusive? What do you consider good? What do you consider to be your entitlement as a player? Could it be possible that the GMs weren't bad, but just incompatible with your tastes.

In your history of bad GMs, did all the players hate this GM? Was there consensus or were you the odd man out?

Have you noticed any patterns in the bad GMs? Is there a pattern in the games the bad GMs tend to run? Is there a pattern in the locations where these games take place? Genre? Age?

I'd like to figure out what is going on here.

Re: The role of the GM
 

I think you may be forgetting why "rule 0" started getting printed: many GMs did not realise that this was the sort of game where you were supposed to make things up rather than simply follow game mechanics, which after all couldn't cover everything. (AD&D1 produced the first wave of GMs like this, since it was deliberately locked-down compared with oD&D, and computer RPGs the second.)

Re: The role of the GM
 

The most common evidence for Bad GM is "Oh, I changed that rule; you cant do that," right after you attempted to use said rule in play, and no one else at the table was aware besides the GM.

I've seen GM's who set out intending to make players upset.

I've seen the deus ex-machina used to kill off a PC. I've done it once myself, but it was done to the cheering of the other players. (Player was a total ....)

In most cases, these bad GM's have a very few (1-3) loyal players in a codependent relationship who feel they're being mistreated but can't (for various reasons) walk away from the abusive GM (usually one's the SO, and the others roommates. And the non-game relationship is abusive, too.)

I've encountered far too many GM's telling me how my character feels about some action when the character as I built them could and would not feel that way. (Like the CG character being happy the local robber didn't kill the LE baron.)

GM's openly fudging dice rolls against the players ... like playing D&D, GM rolls a nat 1 and calls it a hit.

GM's openly belittling players for bad choices based upon lack of information. (especially problematic is holding players accountable to know the 20 page (in 9-point arial narrow, single spaced) campaign setting handout, and forbidding use of it in play, while also forbidding using character skill rolls to cover for not knowing the setting to the GM's.

And, while this isn't itself abusive, it's VERY bad GMing: GMs who spend 15 minutes on cutscenes. I fast forward through them in videogames when I can. I sure don't want to listen to 15 minutes of stammering exposition in TT Games.

Another Bad but not abusive GM trick: invincible plot armor on big-bads.

And another: The GM who decides to make the entire session "Laugh at X's PC"...

Most of the time, I've not been the only one complaining, but have been the first one to walk away.

Re: The role of the GM
 

Just because I recently wrote this as part of my forthcoming Dragon Heresy RPG:


WHAT IS ROLEPLAYING

No game would be complete without an introduction to roleplaying itself – or at least it seems that way.

Roleplaying is interactive storytelling. You will take the roles of characters who are mundane and magical, mighty warriors and cunning rogues, wandering bards (also called skalds) that tell the stories of mighty deeds of heroes – perhaps even performing them yourself.

In a roleplaying game, you create a character, which is a collection of descriptive and game-mechanical abilities that provide the lens through which you as a player interact with the world that has been created for you to adventure in.

A useful concept in thinking about roleplaying characters is that of the avatar. Originally a Hindu concept, it was the physical manifestation of a god on earth, usually as a human or animal form. In a way, your character is thus an avatar, the physical appearance of the player in the world of Dragon Heresy, the tool, body, and voice that the player uses to interact with the world.

Throughout the text of this book, and the Book of Heroes, the rules and text will refer to the player and the player’s character (avatar!) mostly interchangeably. This is done for convenience as well as some degree of accuracy – while it is hopefully unlikely that the actual players will draw swords and axes to settle conflicts with each other and the GM, it is the players making the decisions for their avatars, their proxy in the game world.

The Role of the Gamemaster

The Gamemaster, or GM, provides the voices and actions of everyone but your other fellow players and your own character. The GM provides the plot outline, plays the roles of the men, women, monsters, and gods you might meet during the course of adventuring, and will generally set the structure and tone of the game.

RULE ZERO
Through these rules, there is one assumption that is made tacitly, but will be stated here explicitly and is often referred to as “Rule Zero” of roleplaying: The GM’s word is final in all discussions about the in-game rules, especially while the game session is in play. The Gamemaster is, as the name implies, the master of the game, and if the GM wants to change a rule, or even bypass the use of rules for a particular scene, that’s the way it goes.

THE GOLDEN RULE

There’s an important corollary to Rule Zero in social endeavors like roleplaying. Derived from “The Golden Rule,” – do unto others as you would have others do unto you – and recently referred to and popularized as “Wheaton’s Law,” the less-colorful phrasing of which would be “Don’t be a jerk”.

Yes, the GM’s word is final, but abuse of this role will lead to tension and strife, and the most important part of the roleplaying game is to have fun telling great stories playing your characters with friends and people with common interests.

As a GM, your job is to provide structure, continuity, and inspiration to the game so that the players can live fast, engage in epic struggle, achieve noble successes, or failing that, at least die gloriously and memorably. In short – you are creating a shared play area in which your friends will also have fun. Take that seriously – but Rule Zero is, in the end, yours.

Re: The role of the GM
 

That is astoundingly awful. And amazing that you've encountered so many of them.

May I ask what if you've noticed patterns in these bad GMs? For example, are most of your bad GMs GMing D&D? Or do you find such bad GMs across all game systems equally? Do you find the gender balance of your bad GMs equal? Do you find the age balance of your bad GMs equal?

The few bad GMs I've run into have all been D&D GMs, who have been men in their 20s, and who've seen the game as being a sort of competitive Players vs. GM sort of combat experience. I haven't run into more of them, because I don't play a lot of D&D.

Re: The role of the GM
 

The role of the GM?

Crush your PCs. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their players.

Re: The role of the GM
 

Best. Answer. Ever.

Re: The role of the GM
 

To be a good host, wherever the game is held. Ensure that as many of the players have fun as possible while trying to keep any from being miserable.

This can't always be done (it's like herding cats) but should be the goal anyway.