In his defense, most GM's require seasoning. No person who starts off as a GM is gifted enough to start perfect from the get-go. I cringe to think of the mistakes I made as GM since 1980 onwards. But, each year's worth of gaming gave me that much more capacity to work almost instinctively towards working with my players to get a story going. Case in point? In one campaign, I started off with a set of NPC's whom I knew I'd need. I tossed in a one off NPC named Lady Clariese. She was the daughter of a knight, and was quite the willful woman, whose appreciation for the classic definition of a "Lady" was a mite lacking. Rather than ride side saddle, she'd ride like a man. Rather than be modest, she'd be forthright and adventuresome. Ever the graceful dancer, she even publically declared in front of an Earl that she could make even the most lacking of a Knight look good on the dance floor. Not amused, the Earl cut her down to size in front of the entire feast/party/dance and indicated to the young woman that if her manners most suited stable boys, perhaps she should dance with them. Her journey to recovering her sense of propriety resulted in her learning all over what it is to be a woman whose concerns were not self centered, but centered on those she cared about. Long story short - later in that campaign, my wife was heard to remark to another player (and this only three sessions after I had decided how this ad-hoc NPC woman felt about the player character in question) "You idiot, can't you see she's in love with you!". Here I thought I was being subtle Darn it! It was also the campaign where my wife's character was approached by a young artist who bashfully asked "My Lady, if it pleases you, might I have permission to paint your likeness? A Noble born man has already paid to have it done if thou wouldest consent." Little did I know, that "seed" of an encounter would later result in my wife some 10 sessions later, require me to "fade to black". When I asked her why she did that, she said "He had me with the request for the portrait."
It is the little touches that breathe life into the characters. And if you have a good enough crew, they breathe the real life into the stories. It isn't about the body count. It isn't about the magics (although that can be fun in a Fantasy campaign!). It is about how the players feel about their characters and the NPC's. Both the good players and the Good GM's can become synergist to the extent that the story told is better than any one person could have told on their own.
When you get right down to it, that GM didn't destroy my passion for Role Playing, just for D&D. Ironically enough? The ONLY D&D campaign I tried to run for my players with my wife participating, stopped being fun for my wife when her third level fighter could level any 0 or 1st level Fighter. She asked "What's the point?" A skill 12 fighter in GURPS should usually lose to a skill 22 fighter in GURPS - but that doesn't always happen either! Oh the stories I could tell! ;)
One last thing and then I'll bring this to a close...
If you ever want to get the blood in my wife's eye if she's playing a female warrior/knight...
"Lass, it no be meet that you be playing at being a man. Get down from the saddle lest I paddle your behind with the flat of my blade." THAT is sure to get her in a fighting mood ;)
Ah well. Take care Gentlemen. I'm sure we'll meet in the future (at least on the forums or during a game to be sure).
Hal