I Am Not a Horrid GM

In response to a post at Crypt of Rabies:

In Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition group at Facebook Douglass Tanner posted this:

I am a horrid DM.

1. I use a screen.

2. I fudge dice rolls (both in favor and against the characters, to promote more strategy.

3. I don't give them details they did not look for.

4. I use encounters that are under them, over them and in range of them.

5. I give few magic items out, and when I do its random.

6. I give out lots of $ and allow them to try and find an item or buy one. With % roll that it even exists in the city/town they are in.

7. i do not use modules, I use a home made world every time.

I don’t consider myself a horrid GM, but I’ll give a description of my GMing style based on these 7 points.

1. I do not use a screen. I play Savage Worlds and most of the rules are consistent enough to remember. I did use a screen for years and years when I played Dungeons and Dragons. I do sometimes miss having a ready reference to a table or chart right in front of me. If I really wanted, I suppose I could have a screen and just lay it flat on the table, consulting it when necessary.

2. I do not fudge dice rolls. I always roll out in the open. Savage Worlds characters are incredibly robust if the GM (that would be me) is generous with the Bennies. So I do not feel the need to fudge. In addition, rolling in the open takes personalities and emotions out of the equation. If an orc has a chance to attack a PC with 3 Wounds or a PC with no Wounds, I always roll a die with even chances to see which character gets attacked. If the character with 3 Wounds get hit again and goes down, well, them the breaks. Fate is fickle.

3. I do give them details they did not look for. I have tried to move away from asking for a Notice check to notice random details about an area. If the PCs are not under pressure, then, yeah, they’re going to find the tracks or the MacGuffin.

4. I use encounters that are under them, over them, and in range of them. Savage Worlds does not have an official way of measuring the power of NPCs or monsters that are fighting the PCs. I actually like this. There is an element of the unknown and danger whenever the party is about to interact with potentially hostile forces. It opens the players to considerations other than combat. How about diplomacy, or sneaking, or simply going the long way around, instead?

5. I give out very few magic items. Savage Worlds operates under a different paradigm than D&D and magic items are not quite as necessary or expected.

6. I don’t care about $. By extension, the PCs don’t either. I allow the party to try and find any item or buy one. I sometimes use a Streetwise roll to see if it even exists in the city/town they are in.

7. I do not use modules. I do use published settings for Savage Worlds. I will scavenge ideas, maps, cool locations, interesting NPCs, etc., from all sorts of published materials to use. Most Savage Worlds settings have savage tales (a brief synopsis of an adventure) or a plot point campaign (a list of savage tales united by a common enemy, overarching story, theme, goal, etc.).