Sometimes the most frustrating thing about being a GM is not knowing if your players are making a joke, or if they really are clueless.
All Nightmare Long
Storyline Archives:
Pain Is So Close To Pleasure
The main function as a GM is to describe the world to the players interacting with it. This includes describing things happening to the players, including any pain associated with that action. Sometimes GMs take great pleasure in this aspect of the job…
A Spoonful of Sugar
Make sure that when inserting foreign objects into player characters that you have enough henchmen to hold them down. Nothing is more frustrating than when a player rolls a successful dodge vs. insertion. Wow, that sounds totally inappropriate.
Back Against the Wall
Players sometimes get a god complex where they think they are untouchable. Making your players powerless for a short time and having your way with them drags them back to the reality that their players live at the GM’s whim, and you don’t mess with the GM.
Don’t Speak
As a GM, in order to keep the game moving forward, you sometimes have to use executive power and override player freedom. This will be met with resistance, and it’s a delicate balance to maintain. The power can be used too much or abused, and that usually spells death for the game. Throw the player …
Little Bird
Some players don’t take well to threats or blackmail. Even when you hold all the cards, players will sometimes still pull at the leash.
Crossroads
Sometimes GMs are the embodiment of evil. We just tell ourselves it’s for the good of the game, to make it more believable, if we have trouble getting to sleep at night.
Polaroid Millenium
Sometimes personal life will enter the game. It’s best to keep that at a minimum, but as a GM it’s hard sometimes not to take the opportunity to make a point, both in game and in real life. Pictures help.
Living in the Past
Most of the time players gloss over their character bios. They usually jot down one or two lines of generic backstory and focus more on the here-and-now, then fill in their history as it’s convenient. What’s fun is when a player totally blows off the bio and makes up some ridiculous back story. Wedging it …
Neo Got A Raw Deal
Players fear no authority figure. Most of the time. A good GM will make it clear that player actions have consequences, and sometimes those consequences lead to rolling a new character. As a GM, sometimes you have to lay down the law to your players. Let them know who’s in charge. There’s a fine line …