Gaming Confessional

[Wooberman]

After sharing many gaming stories with many friends I've come to realize that the vast majority of them are pointing out that I have been, much like our own Ross Payton, a horrible monster.
Brothers and sisters, I have sinned most heinously and so must confess my sins lest I continue.
To this end I have opened this topic in the hope that you too, the beauteous masses of RPPR, shall confess for your transgressions and be pure in the eyes of the mighty Gygax.

With that said, Here is my confession for the 19 years I have been playing.

• I have, as a DM and as a player, fudged dice rolls to make for a more interesting game.
• During a Call of Cthulhu d20 game I allowed two of my players to play Black rapper stereotypes thus sabotaging my own game. I later killed off one of the Black rapper stereotypes when he consistently passed constitution checks against tranquillizers in a railroady scenario, the Cultist leader got annoyed and shot him in the head.
• Much like the above confession, I have consistently allowed players to play characters that are detrimental to the party and social contract.
• I own Call of Cthulhu D20.
• I once penalized the players at the finale of a scenario for not including a generator when setting up heavy machinery. In my defence they were talking in great detail about what they were obtaining through the Dilettante's vast wealth so I figured that two can play that game.
• I once used vast quantities of traps from the Grimtooth's traps splat books in a D&D dungeon.
• I have made deliberately broken and pointless characters based around a single joke because I was disinterested in the game that was being played.
• I have talked to other people about my characters.
• I regularly LARP.
• I have abandoned Campaigns because I have become more interested in the new shiny ruleset/setting I have just picked up.
• I have abandoned the new shiny ruleset/setting for a newer shinier ruleset/setting.
• I have had a tendency to backseat GM.
• I have stolen the spotlight and unthinkingly neglected to give it back.
• In the past when I roll badly, I am progressively less likely to enjoy the game.
• I often gloss over mechanics that I find uninteresting in favor of flavor and story.
  I have spoilt my players by being far too lenient in Call of Cthulhu scenarios (I know this conflicts with the above confessions but this is more recent).
• I have used far too many modular adventures/scenarios.
• I have railroaded to an extent that rivals the orient express.
• I try to maintain focus on the game but can easily be distracted into off-game conversation.
• I have used "I" far too many times in this confessional.

It is more than possible that I have missed many other instances of my misgivings as a player/GM and will add them when they come to mind.

So RPPR, are you willing to confess?
 

[Tim]

I find it helpful to use the following mind set: The players knew the kind of person the GM was when they came to the game and they still came to the game so it is all really their fault. Using this rational I can forgive a lot in my own monster-ness.

Well maybe not forgiveness for owning d20 CoC, I fear I just lack the depth of capacity for forgiveness to excuse that.

[D6xD6 - Chris]

I actually really like CoC D20.  The mechanics are okay, and it has some of the BEST GM advice written.  I thought it was good, anyway.

My sin:  I used to play the shit out of Big Eyes,  Small Mouth. 

[Kamen]

I rarely glitch in Shadowrun 4th Ed. Not because I'm super awesome, but because I either forget to check for glitches or actively ignore all those dice that came up 1s.

I'm sure I could think of more, but I tend to block those dark tendencies from my memory.

[Thorn]

I'm the only person from my original game group (3) that has not fled the country or is in jail.

[Leviathan]

I have a tendency to hijack games as a player, sometimes. My GMs have been kind of passive for most of my gaming career, and I usually make rather headstrong characters that punch the story in the balls and grab the momentum. I think I'm getting better at not being an asshole, but if a GM tells my character it can't know something just because, I throw skill checks on him until he yields. Maybe not a healthy idea in the long run, but hey ho.

Like Wooberman, I've definitely fudged dice to not let the game be stomped all over. In the end, I just made min-maxed, ridiculously powerful characters to combat the PC's unbelievable roflstomping.

I once killed a player's character because he no-showed two times in a row. Yep, that's your character lying dead under the big ball of fuck you.

I don't think I back-seat GM very often, but if someone's about to lose a character or something else very bad for the player because of a rule snafu, I'll likely hop in.

I've never played DnD. Ever. Hoping to rectify this with the new edition coming in the summer.

[Teuthic]

I've been playing for about 8 years now, and this list is hardly exhaustive, but here are some of my sins.

• I have created characters specifically to derail games I don't like.
• I have used the Reading Rainbow theme song as a weapon of terror.
• I have a habit of creating traps tailored to kill my players just to watch them squirm.
• I am often a hypocrite about "yes, and"ing. I try to catch myself, but it's hard.
• I create serious characters for light-hearted games, and wacky characters for serious games.
• I am currently playing an NPR producer in a game.
• This is the second public radio host I've created.
• I like to antagonize players with opposite politics to me: petty, I know, but it's fun messing with people!
• I once sold a player's character into slavery because he disappeared for a month. He'll never let me live it down!

[Thorn]

A pot smoking NPR producer

[Teuthic]

It's prescription! He has anxiety!

[Kamen]

Well if he didn't before, he certainly does now.

[Mr. Purple]

Oh, where to begin!  Bless me, Saint Gary, for I have gamer-sinned.  A LOT.

- I enjoy the bad puns *just* for the looks on some of my tablemate's faces. 
- I have played AND enjoyed games of Rifts.
- I don't sit still.  I pace, I fidget, I destroy any piece of paper by turning it into something else; I can't *not* do these things.
- Far too often, my go-to solution is murder; I need to find new ways to solve problems.

We'll call this the first installment.  There's lots more, but not sure how much of the stuff you guys hear in the APs needs mentioning.

[Flawless P]

I hate combat and overly reward creative solutions to conflicts.

I never prepare more than 3-4 sentences for any one game session.

75% of the time I base the outcomes of die rolls on how high the die itself came up.

Monster Hp to hit and damage are all made up in their first turn.

I once ran a Call of Cthulhu scenario without reading it first just so I could also be surprised by the outcome. I then skipped a vital scene. Ended in a TPK.


I can't help but power game incessantly. However I also have to have a certain amount of verisimilitude therefore I tend to make my characters background then establish what they would be good at and MAX THE SHIT out of it.
Oh and a more serious one. I lack the authority to reign in the more easily distracted players.

[BishopSansPants]

I have ran a Scooby-Doo CoC scenario in which no sanity was lost.

I augment hitpoints on creatures if my PCs are curbstomping them. Conversely, I never augment damage if my creatures are curbstomping the players.

I am too fond of randomization and will use random tables when at all possible in order to be surprised by the outcome.

I often do not give canned scenarios a thorough reading before running them.

I too create serious characters for oneshots and wacky characters for campaigns.

I too enjoy puns and the punishment they reap from the rest of the table.

I backseat GM a lot when I'm playing. In fact, I am often a rules lawyer.

I have a huge "this is a random NPC" tell. If I don't know anything about them they will, with very little variance, either be a drunk Irish, a high Rasta, or Snake Plissken.

I tend to run canned scenarios a lot because I can rarely think of interesting scenarios.

[Mjd]

As GM on a forum game with some close friends who live far apart, I took over for a player's account (with his permission) and played as his character when he quit the campaign. The rest of the group never caught on to it, and the campaign has long-since finished.

[Wooberman]

As GM on a forum game with some close friends who live far apart, I took over for a player's account (with his permission) and played as his character when he quit the campaign. The rest of the group never caught on to it, and the campaign has long-since finished.

You are a genius