[reposted from my Amber blog]
I mentioned the button Our Sweetie is getting with, "It's Good to Be the GM's Girlfriend." Because I've had indications that people associate that with favouritism, I wanted to set the record straight.
Hah!
Haha haha haha heh heh heh hoo hoo hoo hee hee...cough, gasp, wheeze!
Heh...chuckle...hoo... whoo.
Does anybody REALLY believe this?
No, truthfully, I've seen it in action. I was in a gaming group where the GM's girlfriend was given special circumstances. Nothing so blatant as miraculous escapes, or "cheating" (even as much as cheating is "spoiling the reality consensus" in a game), but there was definitely a level of opportunity given to her that was not accessible to anyone else.
When we say, "It's Good to Be the GM's Girlfriend," I mean that when you're around me, I have more opportunity to express my worldview to you. It's not that I'm going behind the players' backs ("Can you BELIEVE what Faolan and Bleys are up to?") or giving special privileges ("Oh, you want the equivalent of a 64-point Mold Destiny shadow? Sure... just nibble my ear.") Heck, bribery is encouraged...but the bribes I take are more things like, "I wrote up some more Morgenstern smut for you. Him and Fiona...you'll love it!"
By the way, I was just kidding about that last. If you've got a copy of it, keep it to yourself. Please. Oh, and don't go for the ear. [grin]
Frankly, it's not that it's hard to keep secrets (although sometimes I am so blatantly pleased with myself it's hard to not show off some brilliant idea I've had...) The truth is, the LintKing has to work twice as hard to get things done because I'm VERY careful and VERY concerned about favouritism.
It's this simple:
If I play favourites, people may not want to play with me anymore.
Admittedly, I'm not concerned about the LintKing's ability to be that brilliant, (is he cringing yet?) but hey, I married him, didn't I? [grinning]
Comments (1)
I've been the GM with a spouse and the GM's spouse. I know whereof you speak from both ends.
I would be very disappointed if either of us ran a game that the other one couldn't play in. Co-GMing solves a lot of those problems.
It's not just the GM's spouse that can be a problem, either: my ex's grad school roommate used to wear him down by discussing things away from the game. OTOH, that tactic did backfire on occasion when my ex got tired of him whinging.
Posted by Ginger | June 2, 2003 9:00 PM
Posted on June 2, 2003 21:00