On Twitter a while back, I came across this tweet from a friend:

“I retired from the GM’s chair because I am NOT there to entertain the players. I am there to provide the story, they provide entertainment.”

This statement confused me for a few minutes, but then I was needed elsewhere and I left it behind as I moved on with my day. But then a few days later it popped back in my head, and then again a few days after that. This morning, now over a month after I originally read it, I went back, thinking I must have misread or misremembered the words in my head. It turns out I did not.

This may be a case of trying to fit a complex thought into a single tweet and losing some meaning, but for the purpose of this post, I’m going to take it at face value. And when I do that, I have to ask: “What in the hell are you thinking?”

Let’s break it down a little bit.

“I retired from the GM’s chair because I am NOT there to entertain the players.”

Good. If you are not there to entertain the players, you are not doing anyone any favors and your game is already at a disadvantage before you begin.

I have never met any GM that did not want to be entertaining to the players. As a matter of fact, they have been very open about their desire to make sure the players are entertained. They figure (and rightly so) that an entertaining GM is a large part of an entertaining game. Very few people want to sit around and listen to the GM recite box text in a monotonous voice while occasionally reciting dice rolls and math. That sounds like Hell to me. Vivid descriptions, background music, changes in tone and pitch and volume of voice create atmosphere. Atmosphere makes for a better game. Why? Because it is entertaining.

“I am there to provide the story, they provide entertainment.”

You’re not actually providing the entire story. If you were, you’d be reading your new novel to your players, or, in this case, your listeners.

A GM provides a framework where the story takes place. From there you build a cooperative story and, hopefully, it’s entertaining for everyone involved.

And if that isn’t your goal, that the game is entertaining and fun for all involved, then why the hell are you even playing?