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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 9211581" data-attributes="member: 2629">A couple responses here:1.) 5E is a departure from 4E, but it is a clear successor to 3.5.&nbsp; That is just a side comment...2.) If you're burned out or not feeling it as a DM - do not run the game.&nbsp; You can do it here or there and muddle through, but when you need a break, take it.&nbsp; Either cancel the session, ask someone else to run a one shot, play board games, or run a simple one shot in a rules light system Dread or Paranoia.&nbsp; If you push yourself when you're burned out the game will suffer, the players will be less interested, and you may make mistakes out of frustration that impact the game or game group long term.3.) For the younger group: Train them to DM.&nbsp; Hand one of them a simple module and teach them how to run the game - and then how to modify a module to make it their own - and then how to create homebrew.&nbsp; Running for kids is great - but you're holding them back if you stay in the DM chair too long.&nbsp; I DMed at 8.&nbsp; My son is starting to DM at age 8.&nbsp; Neither situation would win awards ... but both situations are the first steps on very long and rewarding roads.&nbsp;&nbsp; When I DM for a younger group I always encourage them to be creative and add to the world.&nbsp; For example, when I ran LMoP for some kids and they met the NPCs in Phandalin I gave the players a description of the NPCs and then asked them what they thought the NPCs might sound like ... and then I picked one of them to read what the NPC said (some reading from a print out of rumors ... some reading my revised language for what the NPC would reveal, etc...) Then I asked them to improvise a little as the NPC and ran with what they said.&nbsp; I also encourage them to learn the rules themselves.&nbsp; Rather than telling them a rule they got wrong, I tell them to look up the rule and direct them to it.&nbsp; These steps get the kids set up to run their own games without help - and it is such a great gift.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 9211581, member: 2629"] A couple responses here: 1.) 5E is a departure from 4E, but it is a clear successor to 3.5. That is just a side comment... 2.) If you're burned out or not feeling it as a DM - do not run the game. You can do it here or there and muddle through, but when you need a break, take it. Either cancel the session, ask someone else to run a one shot, play board games, or run a simple one shot in a rules light system Dread or Paranoia. If you push yourself when you're burned out the game will suffer, the players will be less interested, and you may make mistakes out of frustration that impact the game or game group long term. 3.) For the younger group: Train them to DM. Hand one of them a simple module and teach them how to run the game - and then how to modify a module to make it their own - and then how to create homebrew. Running for kids is great - but you're holding them back if you stay in the DM chair too long. I DMed at 8. My son is starting to DM at age 8. Neither situation would win awards ... but both situations are the first steps on very long and rewarding roads. When I DM for a younger group I always encourage them to be creative and add to the world. For example, when I ran LMoP for some kids and they met the NPCs in Phandalin I gave the players a description of the NPCs and then asked them what they thought the NPCs might sound like ... and then I picked one of them to read what the NPC said (some reading from a print out of rumors ... some reading my revised language for what the NPC would reveal, etc...) Then I asked them to improvise a little as the NPC and ran with what they said. I also encourage them to learn the rules themselves. Rather than telling them a rule they got wrong, I tell them to look up the rule and direct them to it. These steps get the kids set up to run their own games without help - and it is such a great gift. [/QUOTE]

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