So I have been playing tabletop RPGs for roughly 15 years. Always been a PC. The most recent group I was a part of had it’s ups and downs but stuck together on roll20/discord for over a year. The DM (Mike) and i were close friends in RL, the rest we met through roll20, but he passed away due to heart complications. The group as a whole decided to continue together, with a new campaign. Only problem was no experienced DM. I stepped up to the challenge. I did quite well as DM, surprising myself. But picture this…..first time DMing for more than one person, group of hyperactive young adults (ages 16-22), all 5 of them trying to either min/max or have special things, i.e. animal races, homebrew classes, etc., i actually excelled at running the group. One guy ALWAYS wanted to make a bear PC, one guy ALWAYS wanted to use Dark Souls as building blocks for PC creation or some crazy homebrew campaign wrecker, one guy, the ADHD 16 year old, made every single PC ambiguously gay and obnoxiously loud and somehow always the same build with a different name lol (this being the guy who botched a climb check with his 1st level PC and died from falling 15 feet onto his face during the first session), and one guy that made useless PCs that ended up being important, i.e. a monk with no tongue so could not talk, and low Dex rogue, a middle to old aged PC as to acquire age penalties to stats, a kendu(bird-folk that did not speak any languages but bird calls, and finally a knight, that was in a horrible accident that left him paralysed from the waist down and since stayed positioned on a war pony, even while having drinks at the local tavern. This was the group that helped me shape my DM skills, just saying, with a rag tag group of rejects constantly trying to destroy the fourth wall and defy logic, I am pretty sure this was the best first-time DM experience one could have dealt with. Taught me how to say no, how to be ok with PCs being killed off, how to take advantage of weird but awesome rules, and above all else, how to be a good DM. So cheers to all you min/max, animal race playing, homebrewing, campaign wrecking players out there, i used to be the same way until i ran a game full of you, without players like this, the tabletop stories would be boring and insignificant, i salute you friends
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