This is a story about two different types of DM’s. One loves to DM his players through really tough and deadly encounters, pumps his fists when a player goes down, and curses when his die rolls badly. The other DM is crafting a story, and together with the players, they are all telling a great tale of heroic exploits and daring feats. This DM is not out to kill the PC’s nor make their life miserable, instead, he’s out to make sure everyone is enjoying the game while together telling their story.
The Competitor Dm sees D&D as a “DM vs. PC’s” game, and he’ll pull all the stops to make sure he wins. He laughs and celebrates when his monsters are defeating the heroes, because it’s him who is defeating the heroes. While the Storyteller DM is looking to be fair, yet challenging. He’s not high-fiving himself after the death of a PC like the Competitor DM is.
I’ve seen it plenty of times. Someone sits at the DM table for the first time and decides that the DM’s job is to kill the players, and make sure that he “wins”. The competitive instinct takes over… he mumbles “yes!” under his breath when he rolls a crit on the attack roll, and slams the table when he rolls a 1. I even saw it at Gencon and asked the DM if he was actively trying to kill us!
So the question to you newbie dm’s out there becomes this, what type of DM do you want to be? In all honestly, there is no right or wrong answer, as long as player expectations are met and considered. If your group agrees, then a DM vs. PC game can be rewarding for all. If that’s what the group is into then more power to you! Have fun! But if your players are expecting the classic DM-as-a-collaborator type of sessions, and instead you look forward to their doom, your party is in a heap of trouble and the game is doomed to fail.
There is no right and wrong way to play the game, as different groups have different styles. That’s fine. But there is a right and wrong way to treate your players. Once you’ve found a group, and have decided that you are going to be the DM for the first time, talk it over with the players. Nobody likes a bait and switch.
www. Newbie DM .com 
mike
August 29, 2009
im a story teller type dm, but i like kidding with my players. example a player will say “oh we could level tonight” my responce is “if you live haha” its all joking, but i think the DM needs to act in certain ways that make the players thing its more dangerous fr them. it works for my group its its fun friendly dm vs player banter.
katanageldar
August 29, 2009
I’m a storyteller as well, comes from my experience in writing, but I am also veyr close lipped. Problem is, as I want my players to get throught the story, is that I tend to be too nice.
And Competetor DM can easily become Killer DM
ragnarok
August 30, 2009
What you describe is not an competivie GM but an asshole.
I think of myself as a competitive GM. That is while I try to make encouraging stories for/with my players, once combat starts, “the gloves are of”. I try to play the enemies as nasty and intelligent as they are supposed to be.
I cheer with them when they (depending on their goals) beat, capture or or even kill an PC, but this doesn’t mean I force the players into unfair fights (Your “While the Storyteller DM is looking to be fair, yet challenging.” makes it sound that way). Quite contrary it’s totally in the interest of a competitive GM to have fair and challenging encounters.
Why? Simple: The GM has unlimited resources, and if competitive GMing would be really just about smashing PCs, every single encounter would be the death of the player characters.
After all there’s no rule against letting 1st lvl PCs meet Tiamat on the road. Not playing fair would hardly be a competition between players and the GM. There’s no competition, no challenge (and unless your GM is an immature asshole there’s no fun) in beating up inferior opponents. So fair encounters are a must.
(If I play “sandbox style” it’s certainly possible for the players to meet enemies way out of their league, but meeting isn’t equal to fighting and that encounters normaly hardly go without warning, so the players have at least a chance to turn around).
newbiedm
August 30, 2009
I would describe myself as a storytelling dm first as well.
You’re right though, the competitor dm i’m describing is an asshole
but i use the term not in competitive as one looking for a friendly competition
like you describe, but actively competing against the pc’s, and
hoping they fail.
I’ll argue though, and this is for another post, that the dm i’m describing
had an easier chance in previous (1, 2) eds. of the game.
ElijahKaine
August 30, 2009
I’ll give another one for storyteller DM, competitive DM’s don’t mesh well with me. I appreciate banter with the villains or bad guys in the story, that’s fine. Like if a villain goes “Drat, curse you Next time I’ll have your head on a pike!” that’s fine by me.
But when the DM starts going off with “I’ll kill you. Your characters are going down today.” That just frustrates me.
ragnarok
August 30, 2009
@newbiedm: I think the GM you describe is competing with the players instead “actively competing against the PCs. It’s more or less boiling down to “how much can the Players swallow before they quite” instead of “what can they let their PCs archieve”. In opposite to you I’d deem this a totally wrong way.
—
I can’t really argue with you on his chances in the current edition of D&D (My gut feeling is: He’ll still be an asshole and the guidlines in the DMG are easily ignored for this ilk). At least this edition makes the game easier than the other editions for GMs like me.
Well, with a little luck even an asshole GM might be tempted to try fair encounters.
Vinicius Zóio
August 31, 2009
I prize the story as one of the most important aspects of RPGs. However, creating challenging encounters are essential to a fun play – and that may be harder to achieve if your players are a bunch o munchkins :).
In some battles, specially the ones you made a big effort to prepare, I, as a GM, have a good time when the Evil Guy and his lackeys who costed me so much effort provides the PCs with a genuine challenge as in – “F****, this bartard may kill us!”. To that end, I can’t help but smile when the villain gets his critical hit and sigh when he rolls a 1.
However, that is not to say I don’t cheer with the bold victories and tactics of my PCs! When those victories don’t come because of cheesy munchkinism or luck, they are particularly appropriate to the kind of epic game I’m trying to run. The PCs are having a bad time, but they get that critical at the right moment and the battle turns against the villain – it’s the apex of any epic battle :P.
Also, I HATE it when an encounter proves to be too much of a challenge and kills a PC – I take careful steps to avoid that in my encounter design: I always suggest an escape route and will advise the PCs if the situation looks too grim to their side. As I said, I want to create a epic narrative and losing a PC may very well ruin that experience.
So, I don’t think you can really limit a GM to one of the two types. The guy can be storyteller AND competitive at the same time – and that doesn’t mean he has to be an ass. That being said, I would like to be known as a storyteller, even though I’m clear to my players that battles in my campaign can be more challenging than what they are expecting :).
ruhkandae
September 1, 2009
Hello all. I am a true newbie DM here, and I have to agree with ragnarok in the rather stark comparison you’ve drawn between the two poles. My group with two exceptions has little to no experience in the D&D universe, and while a few of them are truly interested in the role-playing part of the story, all of them love the combat system and mechanics. For this reason, the game I present is heavy on combat encounters. While I may throw a few easy bouts their way to warm up for the real fight, my goal is push the PCs to the brink. I don’t want them to fail, but I want that to be a real possibility, because that possibility makes victory more satisfying. If that’s what you call fair, then I guess I misread, but I’m not sure my PCs would like it if no one failed at least one death save. In any case, thanks for all the material on the site, it’s been a learning curve to feel like I can handle all the variables in the game, and sites like this have helped immensely.
Totte Alm
September 14, 2009
As a long time DM (*ve been DM:ing on and of for the past 30 years), I can rally see the types you describe here. Being the storytelling DM myself, where my goal for the game day is to let the players have fun, I have played too many times with the competitor DM, too many times.
A classical one is:- “What? You did what? You rolled a natural 20 when you were supposed to fall down into my evil trap of PC mutilation? A secret door opens, and hmm ‘page flipping…. page flipping’ a red dragons head is suddenly visible through the door and he fries you with his dragon breath. Save this sucker!”
OK, that was a little exaggerated, but I’ve had DMs (during AD&D time) that did exactly the following: The Wizard (called magic-user at that time) cast lightning bolt into a room with a large evil monster. One third to the right was a stone pillar in the room.
DM: OK, you did not say that you did not aim the lightning bolt at the pillar, so the lightning bolt bounces right back at you, and the rest of the party. Roll for damage. Magic user, dead, the rest of the party severely damaged.
DMs like that deserves no players…
Pingwin
September 22, 2009
I never met a DM that misunderstood the game so badly he considered killing PC’s as his way to win. But I did meet DM’s who took the groups desire to beat the monsters and their gloating once done a bit too personal. When the players start to behave verbally agressive towards the [i]monster[/i] the DM knows its not aimed at [i]him[/i] but somehow he cant let it just slide.
From that point on things get nasty at a highly accelerating speed…
newbiedm
September 22, 2009
@Pingwin: Those DM’s exist out there, believe me. I’ve seen them in action. Not sure if it’s misunderstanding the game, or just an enjoyment of being a dick.
There are really other types you can wiggle in here between these two types. I think I went for the two polar extremes here, and everything else sort of falls in between.
MatthewJ
January 19, 2010
As some folks have implied already, it can be useful for the storyteller DM to sometimes play the role of the competitor DM.
Likewise, it can sometimes be useful to the story if the DM wins from time to time — or, more accurately, if the PCs lose. Whether a skill challenge they can’t figure out, an encounter they retreat from, or even experiencing the death of a PC.
I once ran a campaign where a PC died somewhere in the middle — and the other PCs found a way to resurrect him, with the help of a sympathetic DM. The entire group got a real thrill from it, were glad to have Edwarg the Half-Orc back, and were energized by what they saw as a real threat of death in the campaign
But in that campaign’s climactic encounter, several months later, that same PC died battling the campaign’s Big Bad, and once again, a sympathetic DM brought him back to life, this time through a little behind-the-screen-hocus-pocus — and it had the opposite effect. It came across as a freebie, and though the PC was happy to still have his weathered character to play in the future, it took something away from the story — it was one escape too many.
I learned my lesson — sometimes it’s kind to be cruel
handandy79
July 12, 2010
I try my best to blend the two. I want an immersive world and a rich story, but I want the combat to be seat of the pants,with the PC’s coming out on top after a very tough fight. Great post, keep up the good work. Also, congrats on your nomination by Enworld.
Martin
February 10, 2012
I’m a storyteller DM. Since junior high. I’m 35. The important thing to me is fairness. Don’t be an asshole. The key thing here is knowning how to make a challenging adventure. Be cool AND cruel. Tiamat could ask 1st level PCs to fetch her a cow in exchange for there lives.
Salient Mind
April 8, 2012
I’m a storyteller. In my games, it is generally a given that you won’t die unless you do something incredible stupid. There are certain encounters that need to be life or death. When we are about to have a session where death is a real threat, I will tell my players.
pinteresting
March 6, 2013
Do you also post articles from guests, i really liked your community and was wondering if i can contribute here