D&D 5E Are DMs getting lazy?

[aramis erak]

That is similar to the disparity I noticed between the Lorel and the Derro. Apparently magical abilities are weighted very heavily in the 2nd ed AD&D XP charts.

1st ed (tho more transparently) as well.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Wow, I read this entire thread, while we are 25 pages in as of this writing, the original poster is correct, folks are being lazy, or lacking creativity. I understand we all have lives, jobs or whatever, but it doesn't take that much time to sit down and write up a basic little adventure for the night. Not every adventure has to be epic and have plot twists.. I've been DM'ing for years upon years, and I found the best thing to do, is keep a little pad with you to jot down adventure ideas as you think of them. I've in the last few years moved up to just using evernote on my iphone. Its perfect and the free space they give per month is enough for me to grab my phone jot down an adventure idea every day until I get a chance to sit down at the end of the week and see what I can create with them for a nice little adventure.

I keep a Google Doc of session notes. Just finished up some for tonight's game. Has options for the conclusion of the current activity, some ideas of how and where to move the story next, a couple of notes on what the various opposition are up to, some rumor-check info, a specific travelling encounter outline and couple of other things. Took about 20 minutes to write over the past week when I had a chance to jot it down on the laptop or Nexus tablet. Definitely provides great depth to my games.

 

[Lord Nikon]

I keep a Google Doc of session notes. Just finished up some for tonight's game. Has options for the conclusion of the current activity, some ideas of how and where to move the story next, a couple of notes on what the various opposition are up to, some rumor-check info, a specific travelling encounter outline and couple of other things. Took about 20 minutes to write over the past week when I had a chance to jot it down on the laptop or Nexus tablet. Definitely provides great depth to my games.

I do this as well, when I can. It helps a lot for me mostly, as I am so busy... sometimes I forget what's going on. Last year my group had to skip two sessions in a row, so I was so thankful for my notes and the journals my players wrote for me.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

This has always been true though. It's not like we all sat around in 1979 staring at the wall all day long.

But times change and it is not 1979. There is a vastly larger and broader array of entertainment at our fingertips. Many 9-year-olds have supercomputers (iPads) and can buy good games on budgets that fit well within typical allowances. I do not think youngsters are playing RPGs as much as we did, and the non-youngsters who are interested have demands. Adapt or die.

 

[Eric V]

Dude Chill out. I run my own homebrew as well, in fact I enjoy it more often then using published. I've only recently started using adventure paths in a pinch due to the lack of time I have in my new job. Last job I had, I was able to dedicate 10 hours a week to sit down, and write up a great adventure for the saturday group I was running.

I think his point was -you- chill out with the the judging of people you don't know.

His point has merit.

 

[Eric V]

But times change and it is not 1979. There is a vastly larger and broader array of entertainment at our fingertips. Many 9-year-olds have supercomputers (iPads) and can buy good games on budgets that fit well within typical allowances. I do not think youngsters are playing RPGs as much as we did, and the non-youngsters who are interested have demands. Adapt or die.

I don't know about some, but I was a lot younger in 1979, with far fewer responsibilities. Adults in 1979 had lots of responsibilities, sure, but I wasn't an adult 25 years ago.

 

[Nellisir]

I don't know about some, but I was a lot younger in 1979, with far fewer responsibilities. Adults in 1979 had lots of responsibilities, sure, but I wasn't an adult 25 years ago.

Hang on, I gotta figure this one out.

Nope, not an adult either. On the cusp.

The big difference between now and then, for me personally, is the internet. My best friend nowadays is an ocean away, and we still manage to waste an awful lot of time everyday chatting. Twenty-five years ago I was a high-school senior with no social life. I didn't have a gaming group, but I spent hours planning out adventures and drawing maps. The most productive period of my life between then and now was undoubtedly the year between breaking up with one girlfriend, and moving in with a new one. The internet was emerging at that point; I was on TSR on AOL.

I could probably match my output from those times, but...internet, man.

Message boards.

The world needs my opinion.

 

[Oliver Shead]

I don't know to be honest - haven't seen those comments around the place. But it is possible that some newer DMs haven't learnt the fine art of creating their own adventures - there isn't exactly a book on it (or is there? If so, I should read it!). I create all my own adventures, sandbox and all, and find that has always been the most fun for me and my gamers. I personally like this better because you can tailor-make the storyline to match who the pc's are, their history and what they do in the story.
That being said, it's nice to have lots of adventure and world content, and it would be nice to see more of it - it does help to get the juices going, and it's great to have a good world, with lots of characters and plots to go off.

 

[KingsRule77]

Can we PLEASE dispense with the "people are lazy, people lack creativity" rudeness?? Seriously?? Let's try some basic respect and give people you don't know a little credit first. I've homebrewed for THIRTY years. I've never run a published adventure, campaign, or setting. I like to read what other people write, and I like to see what ideas they have, and I don't want adventure paths.

Wanting more than adventure paths from WotC DOES NOT equal laziness or lack of creativity.

But why do you need something from Wotc to mine ideas? If you want to see what ideas people have go to a bookstore. The rate at which Wotc puts out products should be irrelevant and as such griping about it is really just looking for an excuse to gripe.

But then looking for gripe excuses seems to be the point of the majority of threads so... Clearly I'm doing something wrong

 

[Nellisir]

If you want to see what ideas people have go to a bookstore.

You mean...to buy a book? Like, maybe a game book? Oh, wait...there aren't any.
Or do I have to buy novels? Short stories? Can I buy online? What about the library? How many should I read a week? Can I count the ones I've already read this month? Do I have to get your permission for each of them first, or do you just want to approve authors ahead of time? Are we going with Mother May I, or Simon Says?

The rate at which Wotc puts out products should be irrelevant

What I buy should be irrelevant to you. And yet, here you are.

and as such griping about it is really just looking for an excuse to gripe.

This is awesome. Pot, meet kettle.

But then looking for gripe excuses seems to be the point of the majority of threads so... Clearly I'm doing something wrong

I dunno, you posted a wrongbadfun comment and griped about griping in a post about civility and respecting others. I thought it had a perfect ironic hypocrisy to it. Comedy gold. Good work!