How do I recover from a DM burnout?

[Shades of Green]

I'm suffering from a chronic case of DM burnout.

In the past, about a dozen years ago, I was able to prep for and DM three sessions of D&D (2E back then) per week, with at least two hours per session. Prep took me about an hour per session, all while creating a very enjoyable game. that was the first campaign I've ever DMed.

About ten years ago I was able to prep for and run a session of Babylon Project (the old, pre-D20 Babylon 5 RPG) per week for a very long, somewhat wacky campaign.

But now I find it difficult to sit down and prep more than one two-hour session of D&D or Shadowrun PER MONTH. It is not a matter of time; sure, I have university studies to deal with and freelance translation contracts to work on, but I still have a few hours to spare per day. But for some reason I can't get myself to sit down, prep a session after a session and run a fast-paced RPG game.

I don't know what happened. I still enjoy running RPG games as the DM/GM very much; I've even become much better than before in playing interesting NPCs and inventing cool plots. But I tend to have writer's blocks and blackouts in regard to D&D (now I'm using the excellent BFRPG rules) or other games I play (such as Shadowrun or Traveller).

It might be a loss of self-confidence. back then I didn't give a damn about quality; I just rolled on with whatever idea I had in my head, creating cool things which, while occasionally cheesy, were downright fun. now I'm sometimes anxious about how my D&D game would look, about its quality, its originality... Maybe I worry way to much, and maybe these worries create a great burden for me, making DMing more difficult.

I'd love to return to one session per week or per two weeks with as much inspiration and drive I had back then.

Any advice for healing my burnout and returning me to a healthy pace of prepping and running games would be very welcome

 

[Sadrik]

Pass the reins to a player who has been itching to run that one-shot game.

 

[ggroy]

Any advice for healing my burnout and returning me to a healthy pace of prepping and running games would be very welcome

Take a long break from DMing, or even rpg games altogether.

Back in the day, I took a long hiatus away from gaming after being really burned out from DMing and playing in general. The last thing I gave up was Dungeon magazine, after about year or so into my hiatus. It ended up being a long 15+ year hiatus, where I completely missed 2E AD&D and 3E D&D. I got back into gaming shortly after 3.5E was released.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Are your players as engaged as they were previously? Your "audience," if you will, will definitely impact how you feel about the game as a DM. If they are not participating as much or not giving you healthy feedback, then it will certainly lead to a burned out feeling.

 

[weem]

As has been mentioned, take a break and let someone else run some games, or just take a break from all of it. Fill that time with reading - grab some new books for inspiration

When I read fantasy (for example) I get really pumped and want to run a game - BAM - right now!

 

[caudor]

I won't pretend to have all the answers, but here are a few things to think about.

It sounds to me like your skills and creativity has increased over time (which is normal). However, it also sounds like you might be striving for perfection in your game ideas. It is a great thing to set high standards for yourself, but not at the expense of your passion or creativity.

Sometimes good is better than perfect, because you can create more freely without the burden of self-editing as you go. Somewhere in that effort to 'produce', fun turns into work.

Don't be afraid to be cheesy at times, especially in the process of creating. Push all your ideas out and play around with them. Later, you can go back and tweek the things that your deem to be too cheesy or simply not fun.

I hope this helps.

 

[Shades of Green]

Pass the reins to a player who has been itching to run that one-shot game.

I'm thinking about teaching my spouse - so far a player - to DM. She has potential, but needs to learn how to do it as, while she's a great story-teller and role-player, her rule knowledge is not very good and she has no experience DMing. I've been the DM/GM almost all the time for the last 12 or so years, most of my RPGing 'career'... I might want to be a player for once.

Take a long break from DMing, or even rpg games altogether.

The thing is that once I do game I enjoy it very much; I also enjoy worldbuilding very much, and its one of my main hobbies.

Are your players as engaged as they were previously? Your "audience," if you will, will definitely impact how you feel about the game as a DM. If they are not participating as much or not giving you healthy feedback, then it will certainly lead to a burned out feeling.

My players want to game even more than I do... Which is another reason why I feel so bad about my burnout. I feel that I'm failing their expectations.

As has been mentioned, take a break and let someone else run some games, or just take a break from all of it. Fill that time with reading - grab some new books for inspiration

When I read fantasy (for example) I get really pumped and want to run a game - BAM - right now!

Hmmm... Reading some fantasy or sci-fi could be a god idea... Thanks for the advice...

 

[Dausuul]

Take a long break from DMing, or even rpg games altogether.

This.

And when you take a break, don't make it a deal where "I'm taking a break for 2-3 months while Bob runs his short adventure arc, then I'll start up again." You want a good solid break where you aren't feeling pressured and don't have a looming deadline to resume DMing.

Make it clear to your gaming group that you might not step back behind the screen for a very long time. Then play for a while. You may even need to quit gaming altogether, until you feel the desire to return... and you might not ever feel that desire. It's not something you can force. Sometimes people just move on.

 

[Shades of Green]

The thing is I enjoy world-building very much... So maybe I should take a break and build a new setting. One problem with the current campaign is that I didn't prepare the world well to begin with; I hardly prepared anything before the campaign. And without a sound foundation, the game has to be winged-up a lot, even with prep work done before each session. Maybe a better foundation would allow for a better campaign flow.

 

[Shades of Green]

Sometimes good is better than perfect, because you can create more freely without the burden of self-editing as you go. Somewhere in that effort to 'produce', fun turns into work.

Don't be afraid to be cheesy at times, especially in the process of creating. Push all your ideas out and play around with them. Later, you can go back and tweek the things that your deem to be too cheesy or simply not fun.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the reassuring advice. One of my problems is that, indeed, I'm not as sure about my abilities as I should be. I'll have to find a way to respect my abilities better...