Question Of The Week #1 - Are you a better player or GM?

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

I'm a pretty damn awesome player. When I play - which isn't too often. I can really get into character, since I have a background in acting and writing.

On the other hand, I am not the greatest GM, but most tell me I'm a decent one at least. I try to do voices and include in-jokes, though my preparation and description are often a bit limited.

Since I am the one attracted to novelty and reading new systems, it usually falls upon me to run the games, since I'm the only one who knows all the rules, or owns the game.

[madunkieg]

[Abstract Machine]

I used to believe, almost as an article of creative faith, that players & refs were the same, or at the very least that both exchange roles quite frequently over the course of a session.

I’ve since found that a lot of players don’t find this comforting. They want to ease into the game without too much conscious effort: let the dice represent the game, they think, & let someone else be ‘in charge’.

I’ve also found that I’m not as useful a player as I’d like to be. The same enthusiasm that sometimes undoes me as a GM causes me to overdo it as a player. People like conventions. Establishing new practices can be a bit of an uphill task.

[catty_big]