Whose Team Are You On?

Traditionally in D&D it is believed that the DM is the enemy of the players and vice versa, but really is that how it is supposed to be? This all depends on the understanding of who the DM is compared to the players. If you believe him/her to be a vengeful being that places obstacles in order to make you fail then I can believe that you'd feel that you're fighting the DM. However, if you view the DM as the narrator of the saga that is your campaign, then the DM is simply a neutral party that explains the situation at hand. Even still, if you view the DM as someone who is there to lead the party through an adventure like a shepherd leads his/her flock, then perhaps the DM is on your side.

Arguably it is possible for the DM to fill all these rolls at once and even so to different players. Some DMs choose to embrace the vengeful omnipotence and lay out situations of peril, and there is nothing wrong with that. The mentality that you choose to bring in as a DM will definitely affect the course of a campaign and will attract different play styles. From my experiences, DMs that tend to take the shepherd approach tend to have a structured story that could be full of details and well thought out, but it can seem a little rigid if there is only a single track to take. DMs that act as narrators allow for their players to take control over the adventure and have a feel of freedom to them, but the DM has to be good with improvising and providing leads because the players need to feel that they're in control just as much as they are being led. DMs who stick more to the "Me versus Them" method tend to create a good distinction that anything can happen and if your character dies as a result, then you need to deal with that fact. The dilemma with the "Me versus Them" method is that the players is that it tends to turn into somewhat redundant combats where you feel like you're fighting different monsters, but the combat seems ultimately the same.

Ultimately there is some benefit from dabbling in all 3 of these DM styles. During combat, it really tends to be "Me versus Them" because there can't be any bias in who gets targeted. Outside of combat generally the shepherd and narrator styles will work off each other pretty well where situations can be setup by the shepherd style and then the narrator style will allow the party to fluidly explore the situation to their hearts' content. Even though this explained overlap could work for some parties, there is no guarantee that it will work for all of them. Parties that are new will need the shepherd DM at first and as they learn more they can start experiencing all the varieties of DM. Some more hardcore players enjoy extreme challenge D&D where a shepherd DM wouldn't hook the party as well, but "Me versus Them" DM would.

Oddly enough, the answer to 'Whose Team Are You On?' could simply be answered whichever team benefits the campaign the most and provides what the players are looking for.