Quote Originally Posted by kerplunksploosh View Post
Again. Would it be so much to ask for rations, light, and gritty survival stuff to be relevant for levels 1-5? It is something that DOES appeal to me.
As optional rules, why not? You basically need a long sidebar saying "Here's how much a human eats. Here's how much they can carry. Oh, and shoot the Sunrod and Everburning Torch while you are at it." The problem is that gritty survival stuff is great for a sandbox campaign but if you're running anything adventure-pathy it probably isn't what you want, and if you're running anything scene-framed it isn't what you want either.

Honestly, it's one of the things I was hoping for with the supposed modular design of D&D Next. Gritty survival even at low level isn't to everyone's taste (and if I want more of it I have WFRP 1.5E).

Certain mechanics can discourage that, sure, but there's no cure for bad DMing... is there? I've actually put a lot of thought into role-playing aids for players, but I can't think of anything for DMs.
Where to start? And how much do you know about RPGs other than D&D? Because there's a lot of very interesting stuff that's come out recently.

Because there's very little cure for bad DMing, but there is a whole lot you can do to prevent it. In my experience there are three major causes for genuinely bad (as opposed to uninspired) DMing:
  • DM Power Trip
  • Easier to say No than Yes
  • Learning the Wrong Lessons


DM Power Trip is probably the most obvious here. Subcategories of this include the DMPC Fan (and the DM's Girlfriend), the Fetishist, and the Wannabe Author. Honestly this is the category that can be written off - the DM is there with players to feed their ego (or kinks) and should not be left in charge of a game. Most of the truly spectacular bad DM stories come from this category. The rules and the game can't help in these cases - all that can is sitting down and talking to the DM as an adult or if that fails killing them and taking their stuff making sure they don't DM for you again.

Easier to say no than yes. This is a source of a lot of mundane rather than spectacular bad DMing. The PCs come up with something interesting and offbeat and the DM doesn't know how to handle it. So they say "You can't" or otherwise make it almost impossible in order to keep the game running and the PCs on track. And there are cures for this - lots of them. Rules heavy games that provide rules for most occasions are meant to enable saying yes - and so do simple and comprehensive rulessets like FATE (SRD of previous version). Balance is another tool for saying yes interestingly - it lets the DM pull a fight together that will be fun and challenging in a matter of seconds (literally). Generic scene framing mechanics like Skill Challenges (the guidance is admittedly pretty awful) allow a DM to handle all but the most off the wall PC plans. Pacing mechanics like the Jenga Tower of Dread or the Doom Pool of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying/Trouble Pool of Smallville (16 hours left on the Hacker's Guide Kickstarter) help keep the DM on track and the game feeling right even when the DM doesn't have a clue what's about to happen.

Learning the wrong lessons. First you don't DM all games the same way. If you were to learn to DM Paranoia and then try to transfer the same tools cold into D&D you'd end up in a hell of a mess. That's an extreme example, but there are plenty of others. And some games simply teach you badly. A textbook example here would be Vampire: The Masquerade. Firstly there's the Camarilla which means that PCs are seldom the important people, and are being watched constantly to avoid breaking the Masquerade. Secondly the game is drowning in metaplot which, in English, means the NPCs do the interesting things while the PCs watch. If the guidance tells you to do things like that of course you're going to end up in a tangle.

Finally there is one thing you can do to help even a new group - and it's something the Red Box with Keep on the Borderlands got absolutely right (and 4e got spectacularly wrong). A superb introductory adventure where for a new DM to follow what is done in the adventure will teach them good habits by example.