Carlos is inside me any time I even think of starting a campaign. Or a single session. Hooray for Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, emotional abuse trauma, and various forms of anxiety!
…Holy shit. I didn’t even know RSD was a thing until just now. But legit, this describes like 90% of my anxiety issues so well… Not sure how knowing the name helps deal with it, if at all. But I guess I should feel at least a little relieved to know it’s not as uncommon as I thought, and hey go figure it’s often related to ADHD… You know, the other thing I have to deal with. Anyways, thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Aw. Maybe poor Carlos will loosen up after a few shots of Mr. Gentleman Crab’s Horseradish Liqueurâ„¢. Its like Baileys Irish Cream, except it can only be legally marketed in the USA as brake fluid.
Aw, reminds me of the first time I ever tried to make a campagne, my friends who usually GM just kept being jerks, and doing things to BREAK it to teach me a lesson, they actually just fully broke my desire to try and make a game session ever again.
I’m so sorry your “friends” were so shirty to you. I just GM’d a one-off for the first time, and my more experienced friends were so supportive! That’s the way it should be. *Hugs*
It’s cool, TBH I don’t think they’d ever really respect a female GM, it was a shitty experience, especially since they’d sounded interested during the planning phase.
Then when I was done and frustrated (after one character just sat in front of a gate and literally refused to move and do anything else) He just shrugs and says that he did that to show me how broken my system was, and that I needed to do a LOT more work to be any good, and then ran his campaign that night.
That isn’t a friend. Fuck those kind of people. Fuck them right in the ear with a cholla. You should find better people. Hell, being on your own is better than that.
That’s not only being a jerk, that’s being a shitty player too, that’s the kind of thing kids do when they are playing for the first time and don’t understand how it is supposed to work. This guy doesn’t know how gaming is supposed to work, neither that nor friendship. I don’t think he can give any lesson on anything because he removed himself any legitimacy he thinks he could have.
Thankfully that was years ago, and he’s matured a lot since then! He’s now our full time GM and has really grown into being a GOOD Gm, he even holds a special Horror rp session on my birthday every year now <3
Yeah it was a shitty thing back then, but people grow up.
Im glad your friends pulled their shit together, and I hope they eventually learn to respect the opportunity to play under a female GM, and don’t be shitty about it in the future.
Holy honey barbecue hot sauce, we still have to deal with these narrow-minded nimrods who judge the value of a Gm by the configuration of their junk.
I honestly don’t know what else to say beyond suggesting that anyone who has this sort of view on female GM’s should check up on the streams of The Unexpectables and see just what a female GM is capable of.
Yup, they were dicks. These days, it’s getting hard to find games because it’s hard to find GMs. Besides, every GM’s first session is going to be rough as hell; it’s like an immutable law. Your GM friends need to smacked upside the head for forgetting that 🙂
Do what I did: Find a new group and run the same campaign.
I had planned out a full campaign for my group of friends because our usual DM was tired of doing it, and nobody else wanted to step up for more than a session or two. Thankfully, I didn’t write/plan extensively (I had the Macguffin in mind, and the first two steps to getting the party involved, and that was it) because the group just collapsed around me due to interplayer conflict (unrelated to the game).
When the current (almost entirely different) group’s DM decided he was getting tired of running campaigns (and not playing) and wanted someone else to step up, I gave it another shot. I’m very glad I did. The group dynamic is totally different and the resulting characters are better, so I think they’re all having fun. This party is probably 2 sessions (2 pieces of the Macguffin) away from finishing the campaign, whereas the other group barely even managed to find out they *needed* pieces of the Macguffin before exploding.
If you don’t just absolutely hate DMing on its face (one of my friends feels that way), then it’s all just about finding the right audience/players, I think.
Sometimes something just slips out before you realize it goes too far or nails someone right in the insecurities. Doesn’t make it feel any better, but it doesn’t make you a monster.
Presumably Carlos’ father. (I have been away long enough that I don’t remember anything that has bee revealed about Carlos’ family, but that answer ‘feels’ right…
Hmm….Naw, I don’t think it was Philly-Boy. My $10 is on a yet to be introduced sibling of Carlos; possibly an older or twin brother who’s left home already and read Carlos the riot act about “Silly-Ass Make Believe”.
Hmm…nope. Only a hurtful father is going to leave that kind of scar. I game with my (now) college-age sons, and this both breaks my heart and pisses me off.
🙁 Poor Carlos! As an up and coming ST, I FEEL him. Even constructive criticism’s sometimes made me get misty. I know it’s stupid, but y’all can’t help it. But I’d so loan him my FATE dice. Just to make this work.
That’s rough, poor guy. Honestly, this was probably the best place for Carlos to start because, snark aside, everyone in their group is a good friend/ courteous player. They can fix this. If carlos had another group to start with, they’d do way more damage.
Ok, Carlos. This is getting out of hand. Grow a pair and GM, RIGHT. NOW. Those are your friends taking playfull jabs at each other. Instead of cowering into a seashell, call Trevor a Drama-Queen and go on with it.
I’ve been in Carlos’s shoes. It sucks. Nothing is ever good enough. It doesn’t matter if it’s good enough for someone else, or makes them smile, laugh or find enjoyment from it. It’s not good enough unless everyone smiles, laughs and takes enjoyment from it. Because that’s the way you know you succeeded, if no one complains. But, remember, just because no one’s complained yet, it doesn’t mean they won’t in the future, so . . . have you ever really succeeded? (While no, I do not currently feel this way about my life, it is a manner in which I once thought about my actions in life. I get the sense that Carlos may feel in a similar manner at times, and for that my heart goes out to him. The fact that Carlos is just a fictional character, means that the artist behind him is a genius to be able to convey such emotion in this comic. Well done Brian!)
Gamers should be supporting the new people. I lost two friends who I thought would be good gamers when my gaming groups (two different instances at two different times) accused the first one of being a “Mary Sue” and slamming the second one for his inexperience. Both never came back, and the second one became a RPG hater because of it.
I quit both groups on both occasions the same night.
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HOVER-TEXT: Brian “Making the happy comics” Patterson
Carlos is me inside anytime I start a new campaign and there is the slightest bit of trouble at the start.
Carlos is inside me any time I even think of starting a campaign. Or a single session. Hooray for Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, emotional abuse trauma, and various forms of anxiety!
…Holy shit. I didn’t even know RSD was a thing until just now. But legit, this describes like 90% of my anxiety issues so well… Not sure how knowing the name helps deal with it, if at all. But I guess I should feel at least a little relieved to know it’s not as uncommon as I thought, and hey go figure it’s often related to ADHD… You know, the other thing I have to deal with. Anyways, thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Awe Carlos…
Damn, that’s a real set of feelings. You’re good at what you do, Brian.
Oh No! Carlos! Don’t give up buddy!
All those feels, and on a friday afternoon? That’s cruel, man…cruel….
Aw. Maybe poor Carlos will loosen up after a few shots of Mr. Gentleman Crab’s Horseradish Liqueurâ„¢. Its like Baileys Irish Cream, except it can only be legally marketed in the USA as brake fluid.
legit lol
In case anyone hadn’t picked on the fact that Carlos has confidence issues…
Aw, reminds me of the first time I ever tried to make a campagne, my friends who usually GM just kept being jerks, and doing things to BREAK it to teach me a lesson, they actually just fully broke my desire to try and make a game session ever again.
I’m so sorry your “friends” were so shirty to you. I just GM’d a one-off for the first time, and my more experienced friends were so supportive! That’s the way it should be. *Hugs*
It’s cool, TBH I don’t think they’d ever really respect a female GM, it was a shitty experience, especially since they’d sounded interested during the planning phase.
Then when I was done and frustrated (after one character just sat in front of a gate and literally refused to move and do anything else) He just shrugs and says that he did that to show me how broken my system was, and that I needed to do a LOT more work to be any good, and then ran his campaign that night.
That isn’t a friend. Fuck those kind of people. Fuck them right in the ear with a cholla. You should find better people. Hell, being on your own is better than that.
That’s not only being a jerk, that’s being a shitty player too, that’s the kind of thing kids do when they are playing for the first time and don’t understand how it is supposed to work. This guy doesn’t know how gaming is supposed to work, neither that nor friendship. I don’t think he can give any lesson on anything because he removed himself any legitimacy he thinks he could have.
Thankfully that was years ago, and he’s matured a lot since then! He’s now our full time GM and has really grown into being a GOOD Gm, he even holds a special Horror rp session on my birthday every year now <3
Yeah it was a shitty thing back then, but people grow up.
Im glad your friends pulled their shit together, and I hope they eventually learn to respect the opportunity to play under a female GM, and don’t be shitty about it in the future.
Holy honey barbecue hot sauce, we still have to deal with these narrow-minded nimrods who judge the value of a Gm by the configuration of their junk.
I honestly don’t know what else to say beyond suggesting that anyone who has this sort of view on female GM’s should check up on the streams of The Unexpectables and see just what a female GM is capable of.
Gamers can be super mean. I don’t get it. Also, LOVE your avatar.
Yup, they were dicks. These days, it’s getting hard to find games because it’s hard to find GMs. Besides, every GM’s first session is going to be rough as hell; it’s like an immutable law. Your GM friends need to smacked upside the head for forgetting that 🙂
they aint your friends
Do what I did: Find a new group and run the same campaign.
I had planned out a full campaign for my group of friends because our usual DM was tired of doing it, and nobody else wanted to step up for more than a session or two. Thankfully, I didn’t write/plan extensively (I had the Macguffin in mind, and the first two steps to getting the party involved, and that was it) because the group just collapsed around me due to interplayer conflict (unrelated to the game).
When the current (almost entirely different) group’s DM decided he was getting tired of running campaigns (and not playing) and wanted someone else to step up, I gave it another shot. I’m very glad I did. The group dynamic is totally different and the resulting characters are better, so I think they’re all having fun. This party is probably 2 sessions (2 pieces of the Macguffin) away from finishing the campaign, whereas the other group barely even managed to find out they *needed* pieces of the Macguffin before exploding.
If you don’t just absolutely hate DMing on its face (one of my friends feels that way), then it’s all just about finding the right audience/players, I think.
I’ve been Trevor before and said those stupid things… makes me really ache when I know I hurt someone due to a thoughtless joke.
Sometimes something just slips out before you realize it goes too far or nails someone right in the insecurities. Doesn’t make it feel any better, but it doesn’t make you a monster.
Ooohh, poor Carlos! I hope they convince him to stay!
I wonder who this ‘he’ is that carlos mentioned? Apparently someone that called Carlos stupid.
Presumably Carlos’ father. (I have been away long enough that I don’t remember anything that has bee revealed about Carlos’ family, but that answer ‘feels’ right…
I think the only canon reveals we’ve had about Carlos’ family is that he lives with his Nana (grandmother) and she is blind.
I would also put money on Carlos having emotional scars from an abusive father.
I WILL TAKE “DOVE” FOR $10 SAM
Hmm….Naw, I don’t think it was Philly-Boy. My $10 is on a yet to be introduced sibling of Carlos; possibly an older or twin brother who’s left home already and read Carlos the riot act about “Silly-Ass Make Believe”.
Hmm…nope. Only a hurtful father is going to leave that kind of scar. I game with my (now) college-age sons, and this both breaks my heart and pisses me off.
I don’t know if Brett is just being dramatic. Last update he went so catatonic a blind man could see it.
🙁 Poor Carlos! As an up and coming ST, I FEEL him. Even constructive criticism’s sometimes made me get misty. I know it’s stupid, but y’all can’t help it. But I’d so loan him my FATE dice. Just to make this work.
Everyone has to begin somewhere. Everyone forgets that. And everyone inevitably mocks the new guy…
Carlos, DON’T GIVE UP!
That’s rough, poor guy. Honestly, this was probably the best place for Carlos to start because, snark aside, everyone in their group is a good friend/ courteous player. They can fix this. If carlos had another group to start with, they’d do way more damage.
Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu CARLOS YOU LOVABLE NERD YOU.
Man… Poor Carlos. Don’t give up man! Show how awesome of a GM you are!
Ok, Carlos. This is getting out of hand. Grow a pair and GM, RIGHT. NOW. Those are your friends taking playfull jabs at each other. Instead of cowering into a seashell, call Trevor a Drama-Queen and go on with it.
You can either be completely self-conscious and insecure, or you can be a good GM. I cannot imagine being able to be both.
I’ve been in Carlos’s shoes. It sucks. Nothing is ever good enough. It doesn’t matter if it’s good enough for someone else, or makes them smile, laugh or find enjoyment from it. It’s not good enough unless everyone smiles, laughs and takes enjoyment from it. Because that’s the way you know you succeeded, if no one complains. But, remember, just because no one’s complained yet, it doesn’t mean they won’t in the future, so . . . have you ever really succeeded? (While no, I do not currently feel this way about my life, it is a manner in which I once thought about my actions in life. I get the sense that Carlos may feel in a similar manner at times, and for that my heart goes out to him. The fact that Carlos is just a fictional character, means that the artist behind him is a genius to be able to convey such emotion in this comic. Well done Brian!)
Hey, Ronald Nguy! Is it STILL funny??
Gamers should be supporting the new people. I lost two friends who I thought would be good gamers when my gaming groups (two different instances at two different times) accused the first one of being a “Mary Sue” and slamming the second one for his inexperience. Both never came back, and the second one became a RPG hater because of it.
I quit both groups on both occasions the same night.