The Seven Deadly Sins and Gaming (Part Two)
This is part two of a two part article. You can read part one here.
Sloth
GM: Ok folks. It’s been two weeks since our last session. Are y’all ready to continue and hunt down the BBEG?
Player: Oh, yeah. I forgot to update my character. Can I take do that before we start?
GM and other players: *Much gnashing of teeth*
Players – The GM, if he’s a good GM, puts a lot of work into a campaign. He/she wants to make sure that everyone is having fun while walking through a scenario of the GMs own imagination. As a player, it is your responsibility to make sure that you and your character are ready to go before the session. That way, the group can jump right into the action and continue your quest to greatness.
GMs – Your players are counting on you to come up with a fun and interesting campaign in which they play. It takes work to be a GM and, sometimes, it may feel like real work rather than just a hobby. But that’s what you take on when you take on the mantle of GM. If you’re too lazy to work on the campaign, why should the players work on their characters or even care about the campaign at all? Don’t ever let that happen.
Wrath
Player: Natural 20! And the zombie prince goes down!
GM: *seething* Suddenly, ten more zombies shamble out of the hallway.
Players: WTF?!
Players – A good GM is not out to get you. A good GM is there to guide the campaign and adjudicate the rules accordingly. It’s an effort between both player and GM to create the world together. Sometimes the GM will throw something at you completely unexpected. It may be difficult, but a good GM will never give you a challenge they don’t expect you to overcome. When this happens, getting angry clouds your judgement. The best thing is to approach the situation calmly, trying to come with a creative/practical solution.
GMs – RPGs should never be about GM vs. Players. Gaming should be collaborative. You lead the players through your game and the players make the decisions that affect the world as a whole; or at least the small part of it in which they currently reside.
Pride
Player: Is it possible for my character to pick up the sword, run along the wall all Matrix-like, and come down on the BBEG hard?
GM: *thinking* I’m going to have to say no.
Player: Oh this is bull****!
Players – Sometimes you may disagree with the ruling by a GM that goes against your character but getting mad about it never helps. Remember, the GM is not attacking you. The GM has made a ruling about what your character can or can’t do. Your best bet is to calmly discuss it with your GM during some down time and figure out how to best handle similar situations in the future. I’m a big proponent of communication and of rational discussion. The best way to handle disagreements is not to hold it in and stew about it. It’s also not best to yell at the GM. The best scenario is to discuss it, calmly, because everyone is trying to have fun and that’s the whole point of gaming, right? 
GMs – There are going to be moments in the campaign where the players will lay waste in a matter of minutes to plans that took you hours to put in place. There are also going to be moments where the players disagree with the way you rule on a situation. In both cases, the worst thing you can do is get angry (and the latter situation is something I have to work on myself). Your plans going down the tubes? Well, that’s part of the game. The players won’t always do exactly what you expect them to do. Learn to roll with the punches. As far as rules questions, I give you the same advice I give the players. Be calm and talk it out and try not to take it personally.
So there you have it. Hopefully you’ll be able to recognize some of your behavior, I know I have while writing this article, and try to avoid falling into the trap of the Seven Deadly Sins.
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binaryturing February 1st, 2009 at 1:50 PM
can’t agree with you on the sloth point.
in my corner of the world, gm/dm is a role accepted by default. everyone wants to play, no-one wants to be dm.
we buy adventures, and ad-lib the surrounding world and generally accept that meticulous planning hasn’t happened.
still have fun, and no-one complains: because any effort that someone does on your behalf is still fantastic.
well, the dm’s complain, because the job SUCKS! the only fringe benefit I’ve been able to discover is joy when I pretend to wish the pc’s harm.