Hey #ttrpgCommunity! What's a common GM habit that you think should be reconsidered or even eliminated? #ttrpgs #dnd #rpg #gaming
Replies
"Failure" rolls shouldn't always be "you entirely fail to do (thing you are attempting)" especially when it makes no sense for the character, or a successful roll is necessary to advance the plot. Shoutout to Blades in the Dark, bc "succeed but there's a consequence" has improved my DMing overall
may 14, 2025, 11:20 pm • 6 0 • view
I'm so on board for this! If a game doesn't already have a "mixed result" option, I offer that on failures. "You can give up on breaking in through the front door, or you can succeed but make enough noise to alert the guard."
may 15, 2025, 1:22 pm • 1 0 • view
I like that! For me sometimes I'll still do a "failure" but not in the traditional sense. Like if a PC w/ 20 Str wants to smash a padlock w/ a hammer, & they roll a 1? They still smash it! And instead of it falling off? Its a mangled mess that can no longer be picked 😂 worse outcome than missing it
may 15, 2025, 8:45 pm • 1 0 • view
That's a PERFECT way to handle it! That even touches on a related thing: it's more fun when the failure isn't the PC's fault. They hit it right. Just their bad luck the damned thing went bent and squish instead of breaking off like a decent lock.
may 15, 2025, 10:47 pm • 1 0 • view
I've seen games mechanize this to where you CAN'T do a "mixed result" unless you get a complication on the roll, which I don't find as exciting as - say - BitD's way of handling it.
may 15, 2025, 1:22 pm • 2 0 • view
More narrative gamer nonsense. Success is success, failure is failure...and modern players are too fragile to fail and have to find a work-around. They have to succeed when they fail...that is, always win. Entitled players and poor GMing at its finest!
may 15, 2025, 7:25 pm • 0 0 • view
Sorry for not playing "fantasy pretend time" to your standards my liege, I'll make sure to ask permission from you next time I want to have fun <3
may 15, 2025, 8:56 pm • 0 0 • view
Awww poor baby. Post on a PUBLIC topic, then get pissy when not everyone agrees. You can play however you like, but not everyone is going to quietly nod and agree. You perfect for the groupthink that is BSky.
may 15, 2025, 9:00 pm • 0 0 • view
Okay <3 you seem really fun to play with
may 15, 2025, 9:01 pm • 1 0 • view
As do you!
may 15, 2025, 9:11 pm • 1 0 • view
On a serious note, never let any NPC outshine the PCs. Never.
may 14, 2025, 10:34 pm • 10 0 • view
Agreed. Came here to write that. It's such a letdown for the players when the NPC saves the day (again).
may 15, 2025, 3:41 am • 3 0 • view
I think this is a good baseline rule, but there's plenty of reasons to break it: you might showcase an NPC's strength early to make it more impactful when the PCs reach a higher level and realize they're now equals; NPCs dying in a badass blaze of glory can serve as great motivation; etc
may 15, 2025, 2:23 am • 3 0 • view
Must fight urge to make "kill players" joke.
may 14, 2025, 10:33 pm • 1 0 • view
I don’t know if it’s a common habit but if you’re a GM that’s beholden to the rules, sometimes it’s fun to let things slide a bit. #Dnd can just be about good vibes, without always adhering to the rules.
may 16, 2025, 6:52 pm • 0 0 • view
Fudging dice rolls. Players are SO much more resourceful & creative than some GMs give them credit for. Don't pull your punches because the players will almost always be able to come up with a way to survive you as a GM couldn't have thought of. Also, don't lie just to take away PC resources. #TTRPG
may 14, 2025, 11:29 pm • 6 0 • view
To add on to this, let the game mechanics (which are the reality & genre enforcing elements of your shared world) do their thing! If a GM changes the outcome then players will always doubt whether or not they succeeded by their own choices or given a free pass by a GM, also can break the immersion.
may 14, 2025, 11:32 pm • 4 0 • view
I disagree on this. I recently had a fight in Exalted that was reaching its natural conclusion. One of the players had set up a perfect climactic attack, with a follow-up to double-down on the devastation. On one hand, it was funny that it practically botched, but OTOH, it was an unsatisfying end.
may 15, 2025, 1:14 pm • 2 0 • view
This is a bit of a different situation to what I was describing, but also I wasn't saying there weren't edge cases (such as yours. Missing an attack when you're a Solar Exalted in a fight that's already won is pretty silly 😂), but more discussing it from the 'avoid TPK/player death' perspective.
may 15, 2025, 10:33 pm • 1 0 • view
Oh, I think I see what you mean: trust the players to work their way through a difficult situation, rather than removing their agency by preempting them with some deus ex machina or dice fudging.
may 15, 2025, 10:51 pm • 1 0 • view
Exactly! The amount of times in #dnd5e I've had a PC about to die only for them to have a think, pull out some spell scroll from 2 years ago they'd been saving & pull of something amazing, or many different but similar situations. I'm constantly amazed & impressed! Love my players <3
may 15, 2025, 11:03 pm • 1 0 • view
We both just agreed to ignore the mechanical result and say that the narrative won out. It was the best way to end the fight.
may 15, 2025, 1:14 pm • 1 0 • view
This is also different from 'fudging' a dice roll, at least in the way I meant it. This is both player & GM knowing the dice outcome & agreeing to disregard that result because it doesn't make sense or doesn't suit the tone/genre/whatever. I was more thinking of rolls behind the GM screen.
may 15, 2025, 10:35 pm • 1 0 • view
So few DMs give any kind of motivation or reasoning to a group of mobs. If my kobold gang starts getting wiped out, the last one alive is going to run for his life. The whole 'they all fight to the death for some reason' idea has to go.
may 14, 2025, 10:51 pm • 7 0 • view
Agreed! Giving motivation/reasoning to enemies can also make combat more varied. Instead of a fight always being "the enemy wins if they kill the party & vice versa" I've mixed it up with "the enemy wins if they buy enough time" or "the enemy is trying to steal/destroy [important plot item]" ect.
may 14, 2025, 11:29 pm • 2 0 • view
This! There's so much variety to enjoy when you mix it up. The random pirate crewman flips on his boss and tries to join the party. The assassin was sent to destroy an item, not a person. The villain's sidekick is an undercover agent of good. It's much more fun! ☺️
may 15, 2025, 1:23 am • 2 0 • view
Yeah, I love having enemies break up and run or surrender. It changes the situation in a way that reflects the PCs success while being more interesting than a field of corpses.
may 15, 2025, 1:20 pm • 1 0 • view
In AD&D there were morale checks to see if the mobs ran or stayed in the fight. Can easily be incorporated into 5e
may 14, 2025, 11:08 pm • 4 0 • view
Hell, there even IS morale checks in the rules of 5e! Both versions! It was an optional rule in 2014 (right after 'massive damage'!) but is actually part of core combat ruling in 2024. Ref. DMG (2014) p. 273 "Morale" & DMG (2024) pp. 47 - 48 "End Hostilities" and "Fight or Flight".
may 15, 2025, 10:29 am • 1 0 • view
Balancing. Don’t balance encounters. It strips the challenge and danger from a game.
may 14, 2025, 11:24 pm • 4 0 • view
Exactly, CR is the bane of good gaming. Before balance became a developer religion, players used to run, ambush, use cover, you know...tactics. Now they either avoid combat because they know the CR of the creature or its 'straight up the middle' with no tactics, because they know balance is
may 15, 2025, 7:31 pm • 1 0 • view
defined as 'Balanced to give the illusion of a challenge, but they win in the end'.
may 15, 2025, 7:31 pm • 1 0 • view
Huh, I don't have any new generation GMs in my life. I'm not sure what weird habits have built up. I would say though after watching some 5th Ed discourse (I don't play D&D myself anymore) that I would never ask a player to throw dice if I know they can't succeed.
may 14, 2025, 10:35 pm • 7 0 • view
That 'roll for failure' mindset is brought about by the rather loathsome practice of fail-forward. They are seeing how badly you fail the roll to decide how much of a free win to hand to you for failing. There is also the 'never say no' GM's. Its just bizzaro world in a lot of modern games.
may 15, 2025, 7:18 pm • 1 0 • view
Not so much a GM habit as a mechanic. But I can't stand it when one's moral or mental stability is gamified. Things like "Sanity" aren't something you can staple to a chart or a dice roll. They're highly personalized responses to trauma and stress and should be roleplayed, not rolled .
may 15, 2025, 12:30 am • 0 0 • view
I think there's some specific horror-genre games where it can make sense (tho' I haven't played any, not my cup of tea), but in things like D&D? Yeah, no Sanity stat, thanks.
may 15, 2025, 10:31 am • 0 0 • view
One for me early on was the idea that it is always the GMs job to tell the story. I got that impression from shows critical role. In reality everyone is supposed to tell the story and you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself to write detailed plots
may 15, 2025, 1:17 am • 4 0 • view
For me it's GMs who ignore meaningful backstory and don't integrate it into their campaigns even in small ways. My GM rocks but I hear so often of them ignoring characters to just focus on THEIR world and not placing the characters within it.
may 15, 2025, 8:28 am • 2 0 • view
Calling for too many stealth rolls in a scene. The temptation is to make the players roll for each new obstacle, to draw out a dramatic stealth scene. But as the number of stealth rolls increases, the odds of being caught approach 100% no matter how skilled the characters are.
may 14, 2025, 10:43 pm • 12 0 • view
Too much prep. We go into a session with a basic idea of starting positions, where Elliot thinks the session may end, and maybe a few potential twists, but the PCs really lead the game and decide what happens next.
may 14, 2025, 10:58 pm • 9 0 • view
Attempting totally party kill as apart of the "game"
may 21, 2025, 4:03 pm • 1 0 • view
I'm not sure if it's a common GM habit, but my first ever D&D game I joined-- I was so eager to be part of, but I had no idea what to expect, so it threw me off so much when the GM made me wait 2 hours before introducing my character to the scene so I didn't even feel part of the activity until then
may 15, 2025, 12:02 am • 7 0 • view
for sure not common in my experience, that sucks! I'm sorry that happened 😭 I feel like most GMs would figure out some way to get your character involved, I'm glad it didn't seem to sour ttrpgs for you overall at least ^_^
may 15, 2025, 12:40 am • 4 0 • view
it was so long ago though so i can't even remember if it was because of the GM or if the other players just kept talking or interacting with each other and the GM didn't wrangle them into order
may 15, 2025, 1:52 am • 2 0 • view
That they have to do absolutely all the world building. Hand the mic to the players sometimes and let them flesh out areas, create NPCs, history, etc.
may 18, 2025, 1:39 pm • 1 0 • view
As a GM don't figure out solutions to the dilemmas you set for the players.
may 15, 2025, 8:51 pm • 1 0 • view
Short sessions that seem to be fashionable with newer games. I've heard young GM's state they are just 'mentally exhausted' after a 2-3 hour session. How do these weaklings make it through a day at work? I don't crack a book for under 6 hours, and prefer 8-10 with a meal midway and I am over 60.
may 15, 2025, 7:10 pm • 1 0 • view
Defaulting to GM-as-host. It's a lot of work to do either, let alone both!
may 15, 2025, 10:16 am • 3 0 • view
Also, in light of my own response to another comment... bad (5e) GM habit of not actually reading the rulebook and learning entirely by observing others. Plz.
may 15, 2025, 10:33 am • 0 0 • view
System purity. Too many GMs never leave the comfort zone of 5e. There are so many neat mechanics out there that you can adapt for your own campaigns. Even if you only ever use it once, busting out new mechanics for a niche situation is something that gets the whole table going.
may 14, 2025, 11:00 pm • 10 0 • view
Too many players as well.
may 14, 2025, 11:29 pm • 3 0 • view
R. Talsorian Games has a *buttload* of extra content for Cyberpunk Red. From building a hideout to an in-game MMO, there are so many ideas to get the brain going, and it's all free. rtalsoriangames.com/downloadable...
may 14, 2025, 11:02 pm • 2 0 • view
One of my campaigns takes place in Sigil, City of Doors. I've had a lot of fun designing new mechanics and tinkering with old ones to make each plane feel unique; as though they all operate with slightly different physical laws than the others.
may 15, 2025, 2:15 am • 3 0 • view
That a GM should be the players' enemy. I'd much rather be cheering my players on while they deal with what I throw at them than delight at their frustration.
may 14, 2025, 10:33 pm • 31 0 • view
It's one of the things about the OSR that makes me wonder. I grew up at the tail end of what you'd call, Old School. AD&D 2nd and the red box set were my first RPGs. I feel like we did a lot of work getting away from adversarial gaming. Even in those old games we were moving away from it.
may 14, 2025, 11:13 pm • 2 0 • view
It feels like it's back just a bit. I don't think it's a huge issue like the old days, but I think it's there still, in systems that are unforgiving to PCs, where GMs are encouraged to punish 'bad" decisions or natural 1s.
may 14, 2025, 11:13 pm • 2 0 • view
If the system encourages punishing "bad" decisions, I think the GM has a choice to make and a question to ask themselves: is the narrative consequence of a "bad" decision worth potentially losing player engagement/enjoyment? If everyone's down, then fine, but not everyone is down.
may 14, 2025, 11:17 pm • 3 0 • view
The system I use crits WAY less than a d20, on either end. A "critical failure" for me isn't a moment for "let's make it hurt". It's a moment for let's make it fun.
may 14, 2025, 11:31 pm • 4 0 • view
This. 100 percent this. Make it *fun*.
may 14, 2025, 11:32 pm • 4 0 • view
Truthful I "punished" poorly made choices from my groups. I tend to look for ways to make the game more interesting than necessarily going for the kill.
may 14, 2025, 11:27 pm • 2 0 • view
I think that's why I tend to hover around PbtA games that reward failure with experience. Mistakes and poor choices make you stronger. Also, it's personally more fun for me to watch a player go through a horrendously awkward social interaction when they fail a roll.
may 14, 2025, 11:29 pm • 4 0 • view
I play an old game called the Hero System or Champions, now in it's 6th edition. I incorporate a lot of PbtA via Blades in the Dark, ideas about narrative as well as systems like Fate and Fellowship. I love the crunchiness of Hero's character creation rules, and its combat rules.
may 14, 2025, 11:35 pm • 0 0 • view
There is a lot to learn about storytelling Role Playing experience from these other types of games though. I plumb them for rules and concepts to steal all of the time.
may 14, 2025, 11:35 pm • 1 0 • view
I would also dump your idea of being a cheerleader. The GM is supposed to be a neutral force, not an enemy thwarting them OR a friend making things easier...and it always devolves to one or the other when a GM is not neutral.
may 15, 2025, 7:02 pm • 0 0 • view
Neutrality is a harder thing to strive for and maintain than one might think. I believe that supporting my players' fun at a table supercedes the sometimes antiquated idea of the stoic and unexpressive GM. If a player wants to do a cool thing and it works out for them, I'm gonna cheer.
may 16, 2025, 1:23 pm • 0 0 • view
We will have to disagee. I do not consider neutrality hard, or antiquated. Perhaps it is hard for cheerleader GM's to maintain neutrality. I do not really want to play in games with cheerleader GM's, you never know if your win is fair, or you got invisible help along the way.
may 17, 2025, 10:13 am • 0 0 • view
Fair enough. I just find that the idea of a GM is ever expanding and evolving. There is no "supposed to be," as many people have their own ways of running games. If wholeheartedly supporting my friends at a table as we create a story together makes me a cheerleader, so be it.
may 17, 2025, 10:26 am • 0 0 • view
Do what you wish, I never said you couldn't, but I see cheerleader GM's as being as bad as adversarial DM's. The both cheapen or take away true victory from the players...either to make it easier, or to make it harder. Flip side of the same coin.
may 17, 2025, 10:31 am • 0 0 • view
came here to say this - you beat me to it. i'm gonna throw hard shit at them, but i want them to beat it to have to incredibly epic moments that drive their stories!
may 14, 2025, 10:51 pm • 6 0 • view
Emphasis on encounters. We all love pitched combat and specific scenario building, but I wonder if it's our reliance on milestones within a game that make us anxious to prep at all?
may 15, 2025, 12:39 am • 2 0 • view
I'm not a fan of either the GM = adversary or the GM = player's number one fan. I prefer to think of GMs as the person who puts obstacles in the way of the players without specific solutions. TTRPGs are, at least in part, exercises in dramatic, creative problem solving.
may 16, 2025, 7:27 pm • 0 0 • view
I've *always* loved it when players come up with super interesting solutions for any given scenario. If you offer open-ended problems, you encourage player agency and emergent gameplay.
may 16, 2025, 7:29 pm • 1 0 • view
One I had to stop myself from is information retention. The fear that the players may learn too much too fast. I did a couple sessions where they left frustrated because they felt like they learned nothing. One I don't do but was "victim" of is masters already writing the resolution in the prep.
may 15, 2025, 2:15 am • 2 0 • view
Bad GM habit = allowing 2+ NPCs in a scene to talk back and forth, without giving opportunity for the Players to act with their characters
may 14, 2025, 10:33 pm • 12 0 • view
I agree to this most of the time, unless it's a situation where you are secretly gathering information and you overhear a conversation which progresses the story
may 14, 2025, 11:05 pm • 4 0 • view
Oh yes, good point! Those situations genuinely are fun when they happen.
may 14, 2025, 11:10 pm • 0 0 • view
As a DM this is DEATH. Getting caught in a situation where 2 NPCs talk exclusively to each other is my nightmare. I happened to me 1 time and I immediately asked my players for a mulligan.
may 14, 2025, 10:49 pm • 6 0 • view
I kinda like Fabula Ultima's GM scene which is basically a cutscene in the video game. It lets the GM foreshadow and show the villain making progress on his plans. I do agree that it shouldn't go on for long
may 14, 2025, 11:38 pm • 2 0 • view
The idea that the GM is the Author of the story
may 14, 2025, 11:08 pm • 2 0 • view