Yo!
I was invited to sit down and chat on The Redcaps Podcast and shoot the shit about this and that. And that episode’s live now. So give it a listen. And, if you enjoy it, subscribe to The Redcaps Podcast on your platform of choice and check out the archive. It’s pretty cool.
Listen to The Redcaps Podcast Episode 129: The Angry GM and GM Advice
Great podcast. Liked the part discussing why 5E has more players than DMs. Also liked the pet peeves at the end.
A discussion about roleplaying games lasting over an hour, with people who disagree on points, yet remain respectful of each other’s opinions throughout? I haven’t really experienced that before, think I’ll go digging through their archives. Good job Angry & Redcaps
Great podcast. You flagged that ‘is no DM’s a problem specific to 5E’ should be a larger discussion (rather than a sidetrack in a general interview) and I agree. You have some good points about DM’s not being able to reward players because advantage overrides everything, and ‘all players mastering all skills’ makes it hard work to create skill challenges. Worth a long form discussion.
Love your appearances on podcasts. I was surprised by the bit about how often the angry persona has saved you. It reminded me of the concept of Schrödinger’s Asshole: you express a disgusting opinion in an ironic tone, then based on the reaction of other people you decide if you were ironic or not and declare it. I learned of it in the context of neo Nazis, but any edgy teenager can do the same thing.
Can’t wait for your book’s new edition!
You misunderstood what I said. And I think you also missed the amount of joking around in that discussion. I do not express opinions I do not hold, nor am I disgusted by my opinions, but I am quite aware that you are disgusted by some of my opinions, as is your prerogative. You have made that clear in past comments.
On the topic of GM shortage. I personally thing WotC is to blame here, most of their content is payer focused. What comes first in the “of everything books”? Page up and page down of cool overpowered sub classes.
And the DM advice? Poorly written afterthoughts.
Due to the Warlocks of the Coast’s recent spell casting backfire I moved over to Worlds Without Numbers, which is a book clearly written with the GM in mind. I know this because the author said it: To get people into your game you have to win over the GMs, because they are the ones who organize the games.
Meanwhile WotC’s 5th edition treats GMs as an after though. Heck even their modules aren’t written with playability in mind.
When I first wanted to venture into DMing I did what a sane person would do: I bought the DMG. What did I get? 7 Chapters of things I already had sorted out. I wanted to GM because I wanted to play in my world. I didn’t need to start with a freaking multiverse. I wanted rules on how to run a good game.
I found that here, not in WotC’s books.
Oh and I forgot to say:
I think the issue with many of the live plays is that they sold them selves as being “just another group of people, just like you.” So I do think there’s some truth to the argument that people have too high expectations.
I noticed that with the group I play with, how we over time lowered the bar of quality, as we saw how little some things added to the game. Why put hours into making you VTT have dynamic lighting and move pieces around a board, when minds eye actually convey the atmosphere a lot better?
Why have miniatures who distracts from what things are described as?
I found you through this interview, which I quite enjoyed. I really appreciated your reflections on the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic, and it is spurring my thinking as I prepare for at least two new campaigns. The interview did leave me with a further question: Do you ever fear that getting married will deplete too much of your anger? (Mazel tov, by the way!)
I missed you on podcasts ever since Digressions, so this is fantastic. Also congratulations!