anyone else burned-out with D&D?

[BiggusGeekus]

Burnout? Nope! Had a big case of it in the 1990s so I took a break from the hobby. Now I'm back and I could kill orcs for a disturbing length of time.

 

[Belen]

I feel your pain. I had a burnout thread a few weeks ago. I am definitely burned out and we just recently started a hiatus from gaming until October at the earliest. Even then, I hope we do not start back with DnD. Two players in my group have proposed campaigns: one dnd; one d20 modern/future.

I am hoping that we go for the d20 modern. It's nice to have such an extended break from GMing. After being the GM and host for so long, I needed some time off. Heck, we have been gaming every weekend since May of 2000 except for holidays and major events!

That's nuts.

 

[PJ-Mason]

I sure am. In days past i always had either a group that would play a variety of games, or a side group that didn't play D&D. The group i quit a month or so ago now only plays D&D. ONLY. It used to be my "we'll play anything group" but a couple of the players moved and one had to much to do (family, work,school) and left the group. After a while all the players from the old group came back to play and its become the D&D ONLY crowd again. Also the, "we like to talk about non-game stuff throughout game-night" group. sigh. Although its only really one guy who just won't play anything but D&D. I ended leaving the group. Which is why i am spending more time online these days. Lucky you guys

I need a a even mix of D&D/fantasy gaming, sci fi gaming, and superhero gaming. I cannot play just one because burn out is inevitable. Except for one or two instances, brief ones at that, my group has been playing D&D since 3.0 came out. I can't handle it anymore. I'd rather not play if its going to be the same thing time after time, year after year. sigh.

 

[rgard]

Because I am. I've played a LOT of D&D, especially 3ed since it came out. I've been in at least 2 separate campaign groups for the last 4 years or so. But it's only recently that I've started to get burned-out with it. Maybe it's the constant influx of crunch from WotC. Maybe it's the high-level, tooth-pulling, hours-long battles. Maybe it's the same classes and races.

Whatever it is, I'm burned-out.

I'm still in 2 groups right now (playing in one, playing and DM'ing in the other) and the only things I can think about are starting a Shadowrun or Mutants & Masterminds campaign or trying out d20 Modern/Future.

One group is relatively new and has a couple of 3ed rookies in it. They are all psyched to play and have been checking out the books and the WotC boards, etc. I can't even be bothered. I am playing a half-orc with a spiked chain so that's kind of fun (I've never played a half-orc before OR used a chain) but I'm going back to basics on this one. I'm really working on my role-playing and character background in this campaign and trying to stick to the core rules as much as possible (I might try out the EWM from the CW at the most).

Anyway, just wanted to vent a bit and see if anyone else has gone through something similar. Any comments/thoughts/advice/flames?

Sure, it happens. It happened to me in 1981...lasted all of 3 months. We shifted to playing Starfleet Battles and Traveller during that 3 months. These two games were a nice change of pace, but we did return to D&D.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Desdichado]

At the moment? Dude, don't you tinker with D&D so much that it could reasonably be called Dyal20?

Well, yeah. That's the point.

Not burned out, personally. Hit some burn-out earlier this year with DM burnout, and we took a break and played other things, for a while, and had someone else DM. Now we're back and kicking butt.

We've (in the past) tried to take steps to ensure that doesn't happen to us. We don't play every week anymore, for one thing, and we still rotate a fair amount between campaigns/settings/games so nothing gets too tired. And we've also hosted it at different locations, although I could host all the time and not have it bother me, personally. It's really darn convenient that way for me, although my wife might disagree.

 

[evildmguy]

In style, yes I am

I am not burned out on RPGs and the creative process that comes with it. (I am the GM usually.) I am burned out on DND because of its wargaming roots. I would gladly try a d20 Modern/d20 Future/Stargate/d20 Past (okay, that's not out yet but I think if DND used d20M rules, I might like it) or a heavily modified DND pulling from all of those and more, such as Unearthed Arcana. As such, for over a year, I have been running a fantasy Alternity game and fortunately my players were up for it and have seemed to embrace it.

What really has be burned out on d20 is its style, which I think is heavily influenced by its rules, rules which are still influenced by its wargaming roots. While I have no doubt that there are some people playing DND in such a way that those rules aren't completely noticable, I think most people use those rules. I am sick of so many rules based around combat. I am sick of upping the numbers for higher levels.

While we have been using Alternity, I would be up for any game that gives players more control over their characters. While this might be obvious to others, a very big realization hit me recently. The reason, I think, there are so many powergamers/min-maxers/munchkins is because that is the only way for the player to feel as if they have "control" over their character. (I do understand there are action points in d20 modern and as an option for DND. However, I don't think they give the full amount of control about which I am talking.) Each of those options to character building helps make a player's character good at something and makes the *player* feel that in that situation their character will do well, regardless of the roll.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS STYLE OF PLAY, NOR IN D20.

However, after reading White Wolf's Storyteller system or Eden Studio's Unisystem, I am finding a lot of d20 "archaic" because of its style. The Storyteller system or the Unisystem are all about emphasizing the characters and drama and the game mechanics back this style. Again, I am not saying that some groups using d20 can't do this. I am saying that DND (d20) as written doesn't have this incorporated into the game mechanics.

In these "new" styles of play, if a player wants their character to do something, the mechanics are written such that the character will succeed at the attempt. This gives the players a lot more control over their characters and some of the game systems even put controls on the GM while still giving them the needed control over the game, something which I think is sorely needed in more game systems.

Again, this doesn't make these other systems better than DND (d20) just different, mostly in style, and that's what I have been enjoying.

Good discussion! Thanks!

Have a good one! Take care!

edg
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