And there have been a number of answers that seem to resonate with me. The ego thing is useless to deny here, and the comment about the Jazz band is also something that works with me.

I think the World-building part is huge as well. This stupid campaign is a quarter-century endeavor, so some of the older players have helped write much of the narrative, and some of the playing areas are like novels to me now.

Plotting is huge high. The Dreadwing Story arc (and the Vampyre Servant sub-arc) has been going on for over a decade, and the PC’s are just getting to some of the good parts plotted out a decade ago. I don’t think I realized at the time how long that was going to take, and there have been twists that I did not expect, but there are few things as satisfying as when the players have one of those totally immersed, “AH-HA!!” moments, when they discover a true piece of the puzzle.

I also like entertaining people, but the main motivation is because I have a story to tell, and gaming is the best medium for me to tell it. This is because I always have big ideas, and no idea how to fill in the little pieces. The players fill in those vital missing pieces, and build up the story while I gently guide it along.

Of course, the players also have a habit of changing it, but I expect that and it’s one more thing that makes it fun, because even I don’t know the ending, and that keeps me hooked on the story as well.

I’m also a storyteller, in the oldest sense. I don’t care what story my game tells, so long as it’s a good one. Anything the players do makes me happy, as long as it makes the story better, and if it doesn’t, then I’ll just have to tell the story a little differently. When I hear the players telling the story to other people out of game, it makes me really happy. We did that – we created a story worth telling. What could be better?

In addition, there’s a bit of a kick from knowing what’s going to happen, and savoring it as it happens. It’s almost like Greek tragedy; everyone knows the story, but the enjoyment lies in watching it unfold.

Well, it’s Chris, really, but our circle needed a way to distinguish all the Chrises we know.

Another part of the GM’s fun is watching the players make a bad decision without any way of knowing it’s a bad one. I had a campaign in which the players needed to hide an NPC. They had a map of the city with something like 80 locations on it, and they decided to hide her in the one place I’d already predetermined would be destroyed by a *meteorite* at the end of the day.

I had to show them my printouts to convince them I wasn’t making it up.

(But like I said, they couldn’t have known it was a bad decision, so they were eventually able to find her. It was still a priceless moment of panic.)

Example: Our planewalking heroes got mixed up with a refugee NPC who fled his homeworld because “things were gettin’ bad there.” That was all that was important, so I left it at that.

Eventually it became clear that the PCs would end up going to that homeworld, so I’d have to figure out what the trouble was. During one of our sessions, the group found a great, dark shaft in the Underdark, and one PC mentioned that it looked like something a “chained god” would rise out of. The refugee NPC, who was there, started muttering about the cult of Vecna (that being a phrase often used to describe Vecna).

So that world’s overrun by undead. Problem solved. Thanks, player!

Of course, a group of players pushing the game in a certain is a cue to the good GM to change gears and put his or her personal plans aside.

Fang Langford

In that metaphor, it’s the DM’s challenge to bring you down to that point… i.e. starting a fire on the plane and making sure there’s just enough gas to get to the landing strip.

Much like a player though, different games scratch different itches as a GM. Producing PTA required a lot of on the spot improvisation, constant attention to pacing and conflict. My 3.5e game, on the other hand, is about creating fights that scare the players into thinking they’re overmatched, then watching them succeed with panache.

Secretly, though, my favorite part of GMing is when I throw the players a twist. Its like a practical joke or a magic trick. You construct the environment, provide just enough information, get them to think they know what is going on, and then pull the rug out from under them. The goal isn’t to be mean, but to provide excitement and tension. When I can get a reaction out of the players (and not just their characters,) it puts a smile on my face.