D&D: DM Mistakes That Will Make Players Hate You

screenrant.com:

In a Dungeons & Dragons group, the Dungeon Master takes on a great deal of responsibility. They are responsible for organizing the players into a group, creating an adventure (and everything that goes with it), and acting as a constant arbiter between the players and the rules, as well as the players and fun. All eyes are on the DM during a D&D session, as they weave the tale that the players play through, balancing innumerable calculations behind the screen. With so much to balance, a DM can develop some bad habits that hurt the overall experience and drive a wedge between them and the players.

D&D relies on the relationship between the players and the DM to function. The DM presents a scenario to the players (which may or may not be based on fake D&D rules the Dungeon Master found, the players deliberate on how to solve it, the players execute their plan, and the DM adjudicates the results. This continues until the session comes to an end, whereupon it falls to the DM to prepare the content for the next session. The party reconvenes (after much scheduling deliberation), and the session plays out in roughly the same pattern.

Related: D&D: How DMs Can Make Curse Of Strahd Even Better For Players

Problems can arise when the DM uses their position to enact rules or judge the game in a way that is annoying at best and player-hostile at worst. These habits crop up for a variety of reasons, and can usually be resolved by open and honest communication at the table. But while the DM is omnipotent in the world of the game, they are not infallible. Whether it is prioritizing one player's (including their own) enjoyment of the game over the others, taking away player agency, or not taking the game as seriously as the players do, a