Some things went poorly at the D&D game before last and there were some hurt feelings.
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Some things went poorly at the D&D game before last and there were some hurt feelings. I’ve been spending the last couple of days running around to the various parties mediating and laying ground work for reconciliation, which went really well last night largely to said groundwork.
No one told me when I started GMing that the primary skill would not be something like storytelling, refereeing or any of that crap: it’s people and personality management. If you can’t manage personalities you’re screwed in this gig.
#TTRPG #dnd -
Some things went poorly at the D&D game before last and there were some hurt feelings. I’ve been spending the last couple of days running around to the various parties mediating and laying ground work for reconciliation, which went really well last night largely to said groundwork.
No one told me when I started GMing that the primary skill would not be something like storytelling, refereeing or any of that crap: it’s people and personality management. If you can’t manage personalities you’re screwed in this gig.
#TTRPG #dnd@NullNowhere My knee jerk reaction was "wow, must be a sensitive group!" But then I gave it some further thought and realized that yes, actually, I do expend significant mental effort making sure that the players at my table are being offered an experience that takes into account their personality, feelings, and expectations. I don't always do a great job. But it's the work that keeps a group together and a campaign going, and matters just as much as compelling worldbuilding and storytelling.
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@NullNowhere My knee jerk reaction was "wow, must be a sensitive group!" But then I gave it some further thought and realized that yes, actually, I do expend significant mental effort making sure that the players at my table are being offered an experience that takes into account their personality, feelings, and expectations. I don't always do a great job. But it's the work that keeps a group together and a campaign going, and matters just as much as compelling worldbuilding and storytelling.
@aharper@mstdn.social in fairness this is a mostly isolated incident - I’ve been GMing for this particular group for well over a decade at this point, and there only been a couple of periods where I felt like I had to guide the situation like this.
But I think what makes a stable long term group is exactly this kind of background work. The fact that I was able to “guide” anything is the result of spending a great deal of effort earning that kind of trust and report with various friends such that they felt comfortable and involved. You have to have an exercise a lot of people-skills to manage that, and your group just dies without it.
