DM ADVICE: Being a jerk

Some people call me a jerk. Which is true, to some extent. However, that's my job as a DM, and your job as well.

A DM's primary job is to entertain the players.

Let us explore this statement.

1. Your job is not to make the players HAPPY. Your job is to ENTERTAIN. Is a horror movie entertaining? Can be. Is a love story entertaining? Sure. Is an action movie entertaining? It's supposed to be. But these movies have ups and downs. They fill you with dread then remove the dread. A TV series can be entertaining, yet be depressing. I present the TV series Taxi as the prime example. It was a comedy, but not a single episode had a happy ending. They all ending in a way that made you feel "mixed" Sure there was triumph sometimes, but often there was something that made you go, "Errr..." It was entertainment none the less.

2. I use the term PLAYERS, in the plural sense. That means sometimes you make individual players unhappy so that the over all group is happy. This is part of saying "No" to a player. The player might dislike you saying "No", but if you let all the players get away with anything they want, your campaign will become muddled and fall apart. Like a movie that tries to do too many things at once. One player might want to play a fluffy bunny PC, while everyone else wants to play grim-dark sci-fi. It's your job to be the heavy. That's part of being the DM.

3. It's a JOB. Your duty. You have to do this. You aren't playing the game, you are running the game. This is something that often is forgotten. Stop pretending you are playing WITH the players and remember you are running FOR the players. Yes, it sucks. Yes, it's not as fun. Being a DM isn't the same kind of fun as a player's fun. A DM has to enjoy the JOB and just accept that he's not a player.

4. You are the DM. You are the guy in charge of a universe. Let the players be in charge of each other. Don't seek to control them, control everything else. The players will find their own way in the world, you need only present the world to them. Present entertaining things. Don't feel the need to go overboard. Not everything needs to be a fight for the fate of the universe. Saving a lost kitten can be just as fun. Scale does not equal fun. Options and choices are fun. Give the players options and choices. Limit your players' choices based on your campaign setting, not based on a desire to control.