For the past ten years I have played as a player in five games, all which either died in their infancy or I had to step out of due to a scheduling conflict with my previous employer. As someone who finds TTRPGs a great hobby where I can flex my imagination, I have noticed that the lack of being a player is killing my creativity. I am currently running a Pathfinder Mythic campaign which I feel I have done a great job with so far. Colorful dungeons, great pacing, fun mechanics for down time. My work though has halted at one of the last sections and I know it’s due to being absent as a player for the past two years.
When sitting in front of the screen, only responsibilities being having a character and showing up, you grow as a player and as a Game Master. Mental notes are compiled on neat ideas or blunders that you note to avoid. I have in the past seen encounters or situations that I used to place, but stopped when from the player side I experienced how horrible it was to contend with. The biggest offender is easily save vs suck when thrown at the players. I played in a campaign where it was happening every other fight. Color Sprays, Sleep, poisons, gaze attacks. It’s the only time I somehow rolled more Fort saves in 3.5 than I did Will saves. Those sessions, four hours long, helped me see how much bullshit that can be to deal with when your agency is stripped away for 2d4 rounds for a third time in a night.
Being a player also allows for exploration of new game systems from the perspective of someone whose able to see what makes the game truly function and shine. Gencon is where I try to do this before I thrust large games on my players. Last year I spent a considerable amount of time on Dungeon Crawl Classics, playing in four games (would of been five but I had to skip due t a medical issue). Playing in those games helped me see how the system flows from a player perspective and gave me many mental notes for the future. It was a system I was familiar with but had only played once as a player. While GMing sessions before Gencon last year I was stumbling over rules, spells, and all sorts of encounters that in other D&Dlikes would work well. The absolute worst feeling as a GM whose running a system you pick up brand new is you’re the one running it, and you’re expected to be the teacher. I have always held true to the statement that you’re only as good as your last job, and it pains me when I feel I have failed my players and their perception of a system because I bumbled my way through character creation and explaining mechanics.
My biggest take away as a player in a game is feeling that bond with others. As a GM you feel a bond with the players, but it’s nothing compared to the bond players feel when they need to work together and lean on each other to overcome what feels like impossible odds. The thrill of clutch situations where the party, half gone, roots on the last remaining few who suddenly start tossing natural 20s and begin running a murder train on a foe. Roleplaying in character while trying to decide the best course of action to take in the next room. Discussing outside of the game what to do next session and how to go about it. All of this helps me both truly enjoy the hobby, but also lets me see how my friends interact with a game from that player perspective. It’s easy to lose touch with how a game feels, because when you design the sixty room dungeon all you see as the GM is clever puzzles, set pieces, and banging map design. As a player, you see it: a… sixty… room… dungeon. Woof.
As my own campaign plods on I am already fixing mistakes in material I have ready. The current dungeon is quite large and will take a few sessions to complete I fear. Going forward I am cutting dungeon size down as this group has taken a strong attraction to the roleplaying aspects among the party and the world. It’s a great example of my lack of playing -in- a game clouding my judgement and giving me tunnel vision.
With my newfound weekends off I hope to get into a local game soon!
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