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DMs: What emotions do you stir up?
- Thread starter barsoomcore
- Start date
Trevalon Moonleirion
Explorer
I usually instill lots of disbelief into my campaigns: "Oh my god! Your DMing SUCKS!" hehe. I don't think there are a whole lot of emotions when I play though..I dunno, i just have fun, even if i am a crappy DM.
Grim
First Post
i just started DMing, and one of the players in my group DMs the other group I'm in (the one where i am a player). We always give him a hard time, so he never takes me seriously when I DM.The only real emotion i get is the "Lets do something really weird or dirty or stupid just to upset the DM" emotion.
Just go read "Grim's Story Hour" on the Story Hour boards, and you will immediatly see what I have to deal with. For those of you who cant already figure it out, the player of Krellessa (ShadowJester) is the DM of the other group I'm in... He's scary...
Just go read "Grim's Story Hour" on the Story Hour boards, and you will immediatly see what I have to deal with. For those of you who cant already figure it out, the player of Krellessa (ShadowJester) is the DM of the other group I'm in... He's scary...
Pielorinho
Iron Fist of Pelor
I've played in two games in which I came near tears. The scenes were:
1) In a Werewolf game, I played a teenaged middle-class punk who was starting to feel like the Werewolves were where he really fit in. Then he was told that he would die if he participated in an upcoming battle -- but if he didn't participate, the tribe would be slaughtered. After two weeks of angsting, he showed up and saved the tribe and died. As the DM described the death scene, I nearly wept myself. Of course, I was IRL leaving for college in a week, and this was the last time I hung out with all my friends before I left. It was a fantastic end to the campaign.
2) In another game, we all played supers who had heretofore led a regular life. One character was 50 years old, married, and had been chasing after Men In Black for about three weeks, hiding his activities from his wife. Once things calmed down, we went for supper at his house. His wife called him into the kitchen, and as she chopped carrots, she told him that she loved him, that she knew he was drifting away, and that she had his blessing to do what he needed to do. I remember the chopping of vegetables very clearly.
As for myself, I try to evoke a range of emotions. Fear is kind of difficult in D&D -- character death is not very emotional if it happens often, but critters aren't that scary if they're regularly smacked down. But I still try for it. I'm not good at RPing romantic love, but I'll do familial love when I can. Humor is always fun -- it's great to play the terrified populace in the aftermath of a cityfight against monsters. Sorrow is easy to pull out if a PC dies, since PC death is so rare IMC. Frustration is a deliberate ploy sometimes: I like to string the bad guys in front of the PCs a bit before they can go in for the kill, and I try to play the bad guys smart and sometimes cautious.
Honestly, though, I have the most fun when I go for the freakout. Like, "Oh my god -- that stew we almost ate, is that a severed finger floating in it?" I really try to show, not tell, why the bad guys are bad.
Daniel
1) In a Werewolf game, I played a teenaged middle-class punk who was starting to feel like the Werewolves were where he really fit in. Then he was told that he would die if he participated in an upcoming battle -- but if he didn't participate, the tribe would be slaughtered. After two weeks of angsting, he showed up and saved the tribe and died. As the DM described the death scene, I nearly wept myself. Of course, I was IRL leaving for college in a week, and this was the last time I hung out with all my friends before I left. It was a fantastic end to the campaign.
2) In another game, we all played supers who had heretofore led a regular life. One character was 50 years old, married, and had been chasing after Men In Black for about three weeks, hiding his activities from his wife. Once things calmed down, we went for supper at his house. His wife called him into the kitchen, and as she chopped carrots, she told him that she loved him, that she knew he was drifting away, and that she had his blessing to do what he needed to do. I remember the chopping of vegetables very clearly.
As for myself, I try to evoke a range of emotions. Fear is kind of difficult in D&D -- character death is not very emotional if it happens often, but critters aren't that scary if they're regularly smacked down. But I still try for it. I'm not good at RPing romantic love, but I'll do familial love when I can. Humor is always fun -- it's great to play the terrified populace in the aftermath of a cityfight against monsters. Sorrow is easy to pull out if a PC dies, since PC death is so rare IMC. Frustration is a deliberate ploy sometimes: I like to string the bad guys in front of the PCs a bit before they can go in for the kill, and I try to play the bad guys smart and sometimes cautious.
Honestly, though, I have the most fun when I go for the freakout. Like, "Oh my god -- that stew we almost ate, is that a severed finger floating in it?" I really try to show, not tell, why the bad guys are bad.
Daniel
Trepidation - Are we ready for this? What's going on? I hope we can make it.
Paranoia - What's going on (again)? Who can we turn to?
Wonder - Wow, did we really just do that? Were we really there? Did that really happen?
Those are the primary emotions I strive for in my current campaign, though I try to elicit the range from joy to sorrow to anger.
Paranoia - What's going on (again)? Who can we turn to?
Wonder - Wow, did we really just do that? Were we really there? Did that really happen?
Those are the primary emotions I strive for in my current campaign, though I try to elicit the range from joy to sorrow to anger.
Werewolf_26
First Post
Emotions that the Party normally has:
Frustration (no one agrees with everyone 100%)
Paranoia (No one trusts anyone run by the DM
The Feeling of Being Overwhelmed (the Party has a lot of stuff to do, being high level and all)
I hope the players are feeling:
Happy
Having Fun
Frustration (no one agrees with everyone 100%)
Paranoia (No one trusts anyone run by the DM
The Feeling of Being Overwhelmed (the Party has a lot of stuff to do, being high level and all)
I hope the players are feeling:
Happy
Having Fun
Selfloathing
First Post
Zhure said:
YOU CALLED?
the biggies are:
Fear - until I tried playing regularly I never realised how much each blow to a character really affects you, how each saving throw can be a terrifying experience, how skating at death's door can be truly nail-biting. if it is played with mystery and menace on the part of the DM. After learning this as a player, my own games became much more harrowing
Paranoia - and well deserved it is also, because there are far too many twisted intrigues floating around the PCs at any time for them to relax safely. Has to be kept in balance, though, which leads to....
Amusement - Especially helpful when the paranoia or fear seems about to overwhelm the party. The right humour in the right place can both prevent things getting out of control and make the horrors to come even more terrific (as in, inspiring terror )
Confusion - another subsidiary of paranoia. It all makes sense afterwards, but as it's happening it's rare for anyone to guess what's going on. but it's the good kind of confusion, honest!
Fear - until I tried playing regularly I never realised how much each blow to a character really affects you, how each saving throw can be a terrifying experience, how skating at death's door can be truly nail-biting. if it is played with mystery and menace on the part of the DM. After learning this as a player, my own games became much more harrowing
Paranoia - and well deserved it is also, because there are far too many twisted intrigues floating around the PCs at any time for them to relax safely. Has to be kept in balance, though, which leads to....
Amusement - Especially helpful when the paranoia or fear seems about to overwhelm the party. The right humour in the right place can both prevent things getting out of control and make the horrors to come even more terrific (as in, inspiring terror
)Confusion - another subsidiary of paranoia. It all makes sense afterwards, but as it's happening it's rare for anyone to guess what's going on. but it's the good kind of confusion, honest!
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