Know Your Players, Know Yourself

Wizards listed what they felt were the categories of player in the original Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG). I think that the categories are good, although everyone I know falls into at least two major categories.

Wizard's list:
- Actor: the big role-player. Character comes first, before abilities, combat, or story
- Explorer: finding new people and places is first for them
- Instigator: they like to make things happen, and dislike long planning sessions, sometimes choosing a path more dangerous because it will be more interesting
- Power Gamer: they tweak every detail of their characterto maximize their combat abilities and skills
- Storyteller: the narrative comes first, before character or combat
- Slayer: they want to kill monsters, hard and fast. Like the Power Gamer but with less planning
- Thinker: they like to plan and solve puzzles. Brain power comes first.
- Watcher: most interested in the social element. They are happy to take a back seat. Not very concerned about rules or story.

I would add one more category: the rules lawyer. This person puts the rules first. Ahead of strategy, story, character, or success, the rules as written are paramount.

Knowing your players is important so you can tailor a game for them, but perhaps it's even more important to know yourself. If you know who you are as a DM, then you can look for great moments for yourself, and ensure that you're not focussing too heavily on your own desires.

When I play I'm an Actor/Instigator, I put character first but I like to keep it moving.

When I DM, I switch to a Storyteller/Watcher, always thinking about the overall story, but very happy to let my players control the details. I'm happy to watch and see where they take it.

What about you?