Doing Things Better #3: Characters who are fun to GM

johndallman · 09-04-2014, 02:55 PM

A GM is a hard-worked individual. It seems only fair to try to entertain them. The characters I most enjoy GMing for are the ones who have ideas, who don't wait for me to feed the players things, but make thing happen by themselves. I recall a D&D thief who always had an immediate plan for any situation, usually involving string. It took several sessions for the other players to realise that some of these plans were deliberately absurd and intended to prod them into making proper ones. Another character belonging to the same player has solved some very large-scale problems with magical bio-tech - it's so much easier when you don't require the solutions to look sensible, and just worry about them working.

Myself, I can't manage that kind of maniac creativity. Sometimes I can just see through the fog to the easy way to solve problems, but mostly I look at the individual fog-banks and try to figure out what they're concealing. Taking a serious interest in the GM's hard labour as a player means thinking about it in character outside the play sessions, and trying not to plague them too much.

How have you managed to entertain the GM? How have your players managed to entertain you?

09-04-2014, 02:55 PM	#1
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	Doing Things Better #3: Characters who are fun to GM A GM is a hard-worked individual. It seems only fair to try to entertain them. The characters I most enjoy GMing for are the ones who have ideas, who don't wait for me to feed the players things, but make thing happen by themselves. I recall a D&D thief who always had an immediate plan for any situation, usually involving string. It took several sessions for the other players to realise that some of these plans were deliberately absurd and intended to prod them into making proper ones. Another character belonging to the same player has solved some very large-scale problems with magical bio-tech - it's so much easier when you don't require the solutions to look sensible, and just worry about them working. Myself, I can't manage that kind of maniac creativity. Sometimes I can just see through the fog to the easy way to solve problems, but mostly I look at the individual fog-banks and try to figure out what they're concealing. Taking a serious interest in the GM's hard labour as a player means thinking about it in character outside the play sessions, and trying not to plague them too much. How have you managed to entertain the GM? How have your players managed to entertain you?