DM Types

[BRC]

Slave to the Source
"The Sourcebook dosn't say anything about hiding behind a stone wall to avoid an arrow. You take 59 damage."
A Slave to the Source see's the game as a simple collection of situations defined by the rules. He follows every guideline strictly and exactly. Not exactly a bad DM, but it can get annoying as he stops to look up the rules for hitting on the Barmaid, who you will need to make a spot check to see since she is partially hidden behind the bar.

The Bean Counter.
"That will be 2537.3 gold, and will weigh 25.3 pounds, record that exactly."
Most DM's are simply too lazy to keep track of things like how much money that sandwhich you bought at the inn cost, especially if the players are level 18 and scoop up dragon hordes once a week, that is, MOST DM's. The Bean Counter loves exact numbers. Can get annoying

The Railroader A.K.A The Conductor.
"A group of two hundred half-dragon soliders mounted on dominated dire mammoths escorts you to the goblins lair and wait outside, preventing you from going back to town."
The Railroader wants to tell a story, and see's the PC's as unpredictable elements, and he HATES unpredictable elements. There is little point in formulating plans, he's already figured out what your going to do. Just sit back, smile and nod as he monolouges, and rollthe die. It dosn't matter what you roll, he won't let you lose this fight, he needs you alive to finish the story.

The Headhunter
"The goblin cleric glows as he becomes an avatar of his dark diety. it then smites you, fort save, DC 800."
The Headhunter lives for the TPK, he won't hit you with a "Rocks fall, everyone dies", you'll get a chance, it may require nothing but natural 20's with max damage rolls on your part and nothing but ones on his, but its possible. Considers CR to be "Guidelines". If you suspect your DM of being a headhunter look on the back of their screen, chances are you'll find tally marks there, or the tops of shredded character sheets.
Post your own!

[Crow]

I suggest re-naming "The Railroader" to "The Conductor"

[Saph]

• The Weenie

DM: "The orc hits you for . . . 17 damage."
Player: "And I only had 2 HP. Welp, guess I'm dead."
DM: "Oh, I meant 12 damage."
Player: "Still dead here."
DM: "Um, then 9 damage. You stabilise and the other orcs leave you and move on."
This DM will not let characters die. The more RP-heavy types will like this to begin with, but as risk-free after risk-free combat goes by, the game quickly becomes boring (though safe for the ego).

• The House-o-Houserules

"Okay, you score a critical hit. Roll on the alternate crit table, then multiply the result by the blow-through damage from your last attack. Meanwhile, the mage's spell is delayed one round. Wait till I get the spell time-initiative modifier listings."
Has so many houserules that no-one else can keep track of them all. He can't keep track of them all either, making each combat round take half an hour as he looks things up. Players eventually give up trying to understand it and just let the DM railroad them.

• The Newbie

(Leafs through the PHB) "Um . . . which page is this on?"
Doesn't know the rules, doesn't know the setting, and has painfully little experience as a DM but lots of enthusiasm. Can be an entertaining learning experience or can go horribly wrong, depending on the group.

- Saph

[Rigel Cyrosea]

How come you've only got bad types of DMs?

[The_Werebear]

The Wimp: The DM is either a peoplepleaser or a doormat. Either way, he lets his players do whatever they want. Expect lots of PVP fighting, munchkining, and monty haul style treasure as the players make demands and the DM finds ways to give them exactly what they want.

The Historian: This DM has the history of his world written out millenniums back. It is intricate, complex, and most importantly, incredibly long. Moreover, everything your characters are doing is based on the previous history. Which he probably didn't tell you because he already knows it. It also tends to lead to loudmouth NPCS who will explain hundreds of years of history at a time while the players try to gouge their eardrums out with mechanical pencils.

The Vindictive: DMing is this person's way of repaying every slight ever dealt to him. It can either be targeted specifically at players in the group (You take 15d6 Damage from a falling cow. That'll teach you to eat the last slice of pizza) or at his general annoyance at the world. However, appeasing him can sometimes result in generous gifts to your character.

The Drunken: Not necessarily drunk, but will generally act like it. Expect random things to happen very frequently with little to no explanation as he threads you through a story that makes about as much sense as an impressionist painting on LSD.

The Busy This will most often be a great guy who creates a wonderful story and DM's fairly and justly. However, he will be working, involved with other activities, and hang out with his family and in non gaming contexts as well. The end result: You never get to play more than 4 sessions in the awesome campaign because it ends up getting canceled due to other commitments.

[Starsinger]

The Lazy DM
ex: See Starsinger
The Lazy DM means well, really he does, but just doesn't have it in him to create an extensive, interesting world. People tend to notice how similar things are to video games, books, movies the DM has played/read/saw that they also have. Sometimes this doesn't hurt, but more creative players have a tendency to get mad at this lack of creativity on the DM's part.

[Cryopyre]

• The Newbie

(Leafs through the PHB) "Um . . . which page is this on?"
Doesn't know the rules, doesn't know the setting, and has painfully little experience as a DM but lots of enthusiasm. Can be an entertaining learning experience or can go horribly wrong, depending on the group.

- Saph

I fear that's me, sadly, nobody nearby DMs. Okay... one person DOES but he is an absolute ass, not your average ass, he's a super ass. Did I mention he's also racist?

[StickMan]

The Newbie

(Leafs through the PHB) "Um . . . which page is this on?"
Doesn't know the rules, doesn't know the setting, and has painfully little experience as a DM but lots of enthusiasm. Can be an entertaining learning experience or can go horribly wrong, depending on the group.

The Railroader
"A group of two hundred half-dragon soliders mounted on dominated dire mammoths escorts you to the goblins lair and wait outside, preventing you from going back to town."
The Railroader wants to tell a story, and see's the PC's as unpredictable elements, and he HATES unpredictable elements. There is little point in formulating plans, he's already figured out what your going to do. Just sit back, smile and nod as he monolouges, and rollthe die. It dosn't matter what you roll, he won't let you lose this fight, he needs you alive to finish the story.

My last DM/Good friend was both of these. Very annoying and hard to tell a good friend, that he is both of these things.

Unbalanced Home Brewer
"This new class lets you blow up half the planet" DM
"Cool that will rock" Player 1
"And how is that balanced" Player 2
"..." DM
This DM makes things that break the game for one player, but does not do so for the other players, or even the NPC they fight. One player kills everything and the rest don't do much at all.

[starwoof]

How come you've only got bad types of DMs?

BECAUSE ALL DMS ARE BAD. KEKEKEKE.
I'm primarily a DM ;)


Mr. Picks Favorites DM
This DM picks a person in his party and gives them anything they need. Need a rule bent? Sure. Need some extra gold? Of course! Usually its a dude who brougth his girlfriend to the game or vice-versa. Sometimes he just likes one person better than everyone else. Sometimes it goes in reverse and he picks one player to feth over the whole session.

[Drider]

Core Only...4-EVAH!!!
as you enter the room, there are 20 orcish warriors-
player: ARGGH
Will never let you use other supplements, and will make combats boring after 2-3 years of gaming
"How come you've only got bad types of DMs?"
Because it amuses us.

[Morty]

Descriptor

That's the type of DM that'll always describe everything in detail, including hits, misses and spells cast. It's not bad type of DM, as descriptions are good, but can get annoying at times, especially in long fights.

[Lord_Gareth]

The Judge
"I'm gonna hold you to that, you know."
Not necessarily a bad DM, but certainly a strict one, the Judge believes in consequences for almost every action. Judges range from RP Judges who want an explanation for every number on your sheet and every class, feat, and skill point you accolate ("Where did he learn that?") to simple rules Judges. Regardless, the Judge is the most likely to enforce class oaths, codes of conduct, alignments, and feat/PrC requirements.

^^ That's me.

[Runa]

I've got another one, based on last night's game no less, where a former PC took the DMing reins for the first time:

The Drunken Master

OK, so he's not actually drunk. He does, however, appear to make stuff up as he goes along, weaving around with the story bizarrely but entertainingly and somewhat unpredictably. He will also do funny voices.

Thus went last night's game, accompanied by the discovery that not only does Ralph make a MUCH better DM than PC, but that this is the only style of DMing that has actually worked the for the group before (two different people in the group have tried DMing other than Ralph), seeing as that was the first time we've ALL gone home happy. We all got a chance to use our abilities a little, and we all got to do our own little thing when we got back to town (one of the rogues got to sell the giant monster head we brought back, the other rogue - who is, I kid you not a Bard//Rogue Dionysus worshiper - got to do a "dance performance" in the pub and got some money from the local happy drunks, the necromancer "studied the dead" in the cemetery, the ranger went off and cured meat from something we killed earlier, and the other Paladin and I got to advance the plot - and we ALL got XP and/or money for those little adventures, too).

This would probably not work for every group, but for ours, it was AWESOME.

-Runa

[Green Bean]

Casanova

Railroads the female players at the table into relationships with NPCs that bear an odd resemblance to the DM. Extra points if he RPs really awkward 'romantic' scenes in intimate detail.

Not to be confused with:

Desperate

As above, except is willing to railroad the males playing female characters.



Luckily, I've never personally experienced a DM like this, but another guy in my group has.

[tannish2]

because the good types just arent that fun to talk about. or as scary to realize you just joined a campaign with, or are.

[BRC]

I'm kind of a headhunter myself actually, but the only thing I GM is Paranoia, where your supposed to be like that.

[Fax Celestis]

The Merciless
"And next week, you get to face off against Pun-Pun."
This DM throws nigh-impossible situations at his players and does not bend the rules or fudge the dice in their favor, ever. Occasionally, this is a temporary fit of depravity, but in most cases this type of DM is merciless all the time. Players under a Merciless DM are often given strong gear and generous point-buys, stat arrays, or die rolling methods, in a self-conscious effort of the DM to compensate for what he knows is coming to the players.

[Crazy_Uncle_Doug]

The General
"You face 20 orcs. They are in a modified arc formation that threatens to encircle your party. Archers are placed behind each melee soldier. Their leader commands the archers to aim for the casters, and for the soldiers to keep the melee fighters busy..." The General is a careful strategist and master tactician. He plans battles for the party with precision, and frequently works with the mindset that they will as well. In combat, his NPCs will act as a unit, working together to take down the party in the most effective, efficient way. He doesn't exactly have it out for the party, but he won't always realize the party is less cohesive than his "troops." Frequently, his NPCs will get away should things go poorly, only to return with more troops and better strategy.

The Bag of Tricks
"Behind this door is ... *pauses* an approximately twenty foot by thirty foot room. In side is -- *reaches for Monster Manual, flips through* -- Ogres! Three of them. Also, you notice behind is a captive, the barmaid you were flirting with just the other day is there ..." The Bag of Tricks generally has little set out. His dungeons are made up as he goes along, and rarely mapped out beforehand. He makes up the story and plot as he goes along, and seems unphased when the party goes in a direction other than that laid out. The downside is that there's often an unfinished quality to his adventures, and he's more likely to be crestfallen when NPCs he's actually planned out beforehand managed to get killed. To buy for needed time, just ask him the name of his NPCs. You will gain several minutes as he tries to come up with something.

[CockroachTeaParty]

The Eberron / FR Master
"Actually, the Gold Dragon is evil, and those undead you destroyed were paragons of justice and good. But it's okay, you can still cast your cleric spells, because the Gods are a lie."
-or-
"How DARE you set up a bunch of everburning torches in the streets of the town! The weave is thrown into disarray, and the town is consumed in a wild magic zone. Portals begins spewing out Balors and Death Slaad, roll initiative."

This DM loves everything about his chosen campaign setting, and knows it like the back of his or her hand. However, woe upon those players that try to do something that doesn't mesh well with the spirit of the setting. Blade Magic doesn't EXIST here. You want to be a binder? HA!
An Eberron Master absolutely hates everything about FR and its players, and vice versa for the FR Master.

[Starsinger]

The Bag of Tricks
"Behind this door is ... *pauses* an approximately twenty foot by thirty foot room. In side is -- *reaches for Monster Manual, flips through* -- Ogres! Three of them. Also, you notice behind is a captive, the barmaid you were flirting with just the other day is there ..." The Bag of Tricks generally has little set out. His dungeons are made up as he goes along, and rarely mapped out beforehand. He makes up the story and plot as he goes along, and seems unphased when the party goes in a direction other than that laid out. The downside is that there's often an unfinished quality to his adventures, and he's more likely to be crestfallen when NPCs he's actually planned out beforehand managed to get killed. To buy for needed time, just ask him the name of his NPCs. You will gain several minutes as he tries to come up with something.

That's one of my strengths, but I don't usually roll on random table.. I just make it up as I go on.. thankfully I'm kinda good at improv.

[Crazy_Uncle_Doug]

That's how I run too. On my worse days, I call it: "Pulling an adventure from my ass."

Planning is for suckers.

[Starsinger]

That's how I run too. On my worse days, I call it: "Pulling an adventure from my ass."

Planning is for suckers.

Pfft.. prepared adventures? No way! With my charisma score, it's all about the spontaneous

[Fax Celestis]

Pfft.. prepared adventures? No way! With my charisma score, it's all about the spontaneous

Aha! A Sorceror!

[Zencao]

Someone should start a "Which DM are you?" thread linking this one :D

[BRC]

I usually go in with some idea of what I'm doing, but at one point I had a railroaded mission and basically had to keep coming up with ways the plans they came up with wouldn't work because it wasn't the one I had planned out for. Ever since then I tend to make up a good deal of the missions on the spot.

[Kurald Galain]

The genius writer
This DM will write a convoluted end-of-the-world story involving several hidden factions plotting against each other and taking seemingly incomprehensible actions to prevent this. The result is a plot so complex that no player will ever understand it, thus making most of the adventure seem entirely random and arbitrary.

The boyfriend
Related to the doormat, this guy has introduced his girlfriend to roleplaying, and is horrified by the thought of doing something bad to her. Regardless of what happens to the rest of the group, the gf's character won't be hurt or targeted or stolen from, and high priests will teleport in to heal her if she gets as much as a scratch on her.

The decorator
Spends a long time describing the intricate tapestries on the walls of the dungeon room, and the engravings on the ornamental vases standing next to the door, and only when the players doze off does he remember to mention such details as a huge fire-breathing dragon standing in the middle of the room.

The yawn
This DM plays every single NPC in the same way. Regardless of whether it's a regal king, a bloodthirsty berserker, or a sage wizard, they'll all sound similar to Jim the Orc.

Mr. Gore
Describes every fight scene in gory details, including splattering brains, blood and intestines all over the place on any succesful critical hit or death blow. A variation on this DM instead wants to incorporate lots of sex scenes into the story (preferably involving the cute girl player, of course) and describe all of those in fleshy detail.

The convoluted
You find a magical sword, that is +1 to hit, but +2 to damage, except in the hands of a male cleric, in which case it's +3 to damage. In direct sunlight, it's an additional +1 to hit, but inside natural cave complexes it does only half damage, except when it's a saturday, in which case it adds +2d6 to your sneak attack, and +3 to initiative if your character is elven.

[BRC]

I DMPC.
"Rick Deempiecey steps forwards and kills the dragon with minimum damage."
This DM dosn't neccisarily hate DM'ing, but wouldn't mind playing, so they use a DMPC. Now this in itself isn't normally bad, the problems occur when the DM is making their DMPC and has a realization, they're the DM, now they can make that awsome character they always dreamed about! Okay, so he'll start a few levels higher then the party, but thats no big deal, and ooh thats a nice weapon in the book, I'll give him that, you know what, that would be great with this PRC, which will need a few more levels in class X and class Y, and then...
The end result of this is an unbeatable mostrosity of a DMPC who is the Kirk to the PC's ensigns, and does everything before the party can blink.

DM Ex Machina
"Suddenly, the dragon suffers a massive heart attack and dies."
This DM makes incrediably difficult adventures and greatly overestimates the capablities of the party until the fight is almost over. However, he dosn't want to get a TPK especially considering how difficult the adventure was in retrospect, so he cheesily tones down the difficulty in an apologetic manner.

[Reinboom]

Catgirl Murderer
This DM lavishes in the situations that allows them to show off their hard math and science talents, and though not always rewrites a huge portion of the rules to reflect, will commonly throw in a hell of a lot of new rules based on "the obvious" without informing the group and expect us to know these things. Realism can be great - expecting us to be physics professors is not.

Failure Catgirl Murderer
Same as above, but gets the 'calculations' completely wrong and makes some arbitrary rules that make no sense to try to be 'realistic'.

[Irreverent Fool]

The General
"You face 20 orcs. They are in a modified arc formation that threatens to encircle your party. Archers are placed behind each melee soldier. Their leader commands the archers to aim for the casters, and for the soldiers to keep the melee fighters busy..." The General is a careful strategist and master tactician. He plans battles for the party with precision, and frequently works with the mindset that they will as well. In combat, his NPCs will act as a unit, working together to take down the party in the most effective, efficient way. He doesn't exactly have it out for the party, but he won't always realize the party is less cohesive than his "troops." Frequently, his NPCs will get away should things go poorly, only to return with more troops and better strategy.

I am this kind of DM. My NPCs tend to take at least as much precaution as the players and will 'strike and fade' to harass the party if they need to. Amazing what you can do with a couple of guys with tower shields, a couple of guys with bows, precise shot, a narrow hall, and held actions. Of course, the orcs aren't quite as organized as say, the humans. I've gotten compliments from a couple players on how realistic their enemies are, but I frequently worry that my PCs will be caught off-guard by tactics and brutally TPK'd. Hasn't happened yet.

The Librarian
Owns every officially-produced splatbook and alternate campaign-setting ever produced for 3.x as well as most of the third-party ones and has no qualms about using bits from every single one to create a character with abilities from several different sources. Expect to meet a warforged gunmage who specialized in shooting rays of shivering touch out of his revolvers while his fiendish half-shadow dragon monstrous crab familiar the size of a house tears apart the most durable member of your party.

This type of DM will usually let you use any 3.x book you want, as long as he owns it too. He will go berserk if you mention core-only and mentions that there is a better version of that feat in some obscure book from AEG.

Generally prefers DMing to being a PC because most other DMs limit his selection. If he does play, NEVER LET HIM PLAY A FULL SPELLCASTER.

[Ralfarius]

Dr. Frankenstein
The good doctor loves to develop new creatures, or heavily modify those which already exist. Unfortunately, he has little to no grasp of how to do so in a sensible manner, so all encounters are ridiculously easy or practically impossible due to some oversight in his monster generation.

Mr. Plot-Exposition
This fellow is madly in love with his work. So much so that he has to make his villain's big reveal early on, just to taunt the characters and gloat over their impending doom. In the event that the players seize the moment to take out the villain, he's usually at a loss due to a lack of contingency plan.