DM Burnout - Any Remedies?

[Frozen DM]

You need to figure out why you're burning out.

If it's just the effort it takes to run a game, considering stepping down as DM for a while and letting someone else take the wheel.

If it's because your game is not heading in the direction you want, you've grown bored with the existing campaign, or you feel you DMed yourself into a corner, consider just changing campaigns or systems. You don't necessarily need to end the campaign, but you can put it on hiatus for a while.

If you feel there is a computability issue between yourself and your gaming group, figure out how to address it. It might mean you need to step away from the gaming group itself.

Talk to your players though. I can't stress this enough. Let them know you're burning out and that you need to make some changes. And be honest about the reasons, they might have suggestions that can help. Even if you need a break from the group, just let them know. I had one DM recently who was burning out because he didn't seem to enjoy the group he was gaming with. So he decided to bow out of gaming completely, or so he told us. Turns out he started DMing another group almost right away, and it's caused a lot of anger amongst our group. Had he just told us he needed a break from the group we would have been cool with it, instead he took the deceptive root and it's damaged a lot of friendships.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Quit roleplaying until it passes? That's what I do. Or is that not an option?

That's what I did. I'm nearing the 1 year mark since I quit. Granted in that time I took up freelancing, but that's another story.

 

[timbannock]

If you still want to game, I'll second Paranoia as a different game that gets your juices flowing.

I would never suggest Rifts or Robotech or anything Palladium unless you hate yourself and your players.

If your burnout is so bad that you need to do that, life's probably not worth living any more.

No offense to Palladium or anything.

 

[Switchblade]

There really is no point pushing it. When I find I'm on the verge of burnout I start to get appathetic about games, the game suffers and no one has fun (well, I don't and that's all that matters to me). Sometimes it is the system or campaign which is the problem, which can be remedied by changing to whatever new fad catches my eye but sometimes I just have to take a break and become a player for a while.

GMing should never be a chore, if you aren't enjoying it quit, sooner rather than later. At least that way you don't have all your enthusiasm burnt out of you and will be itching to get back behind a screen sooner rather than later.

One trick a group I've belonged to tried was 2 GMs running alternate weeks so we both got to run a campaign and play and if one of us wasn't feeling enthusiastic the other could run their campaign that week. Not so much pressure to run a game and alternating styles each week helped keep both the GMs and campaigns fresh. (Until the larp season started and we all got distracted )

 

[Switchblade]

Other remedies:
Larping (hiting people with swords always cheers me up)
Alcohol (for the age 18+ GM) - though this is included in larping I usually find, booze and swords, what a wonderful combination.
Sleep
Watching TV, after seeing what rubbish is on the idiot box these days reminds me why I spend evenings roleplaying.
Jogging, after remembering how tiring exercise is reminds me why....

 

[Mallus]

Alcohol (for the age 18 21+ GM)

I second that commotion.

Seriously, just take a break. Play something else, spend some time with your other hobbies, that's all it takes.

 

[Switchblade]

21+? Must be harsh living in america, waiting 3 more years before being able to legally destroy your liver.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Most of us don't wait.

Must say I've been having a bit of DM burnout myself this past year or so. I've had a dozen or so ideas for potential campaigns, picked up several cool supplements and settings, but nothing really seems to fire me up.

Been considering trying some other systems, but not really sure what. Also, I've been trying to think of some sort of plot line that doesn't involve "perform the mission" or "stop the bad guy", and I've got nothing. Maybe it's adventure games I'm burnt out on...

 

[Howndawg]

If you need a break, then take a break. It really is as simple as that. Don't give up on gaming though.

I definitely second that, particularly the "don't give up on gaming" bit. Most DM's I know who've been through burnout that keep gaming eventually pick up the screen again. Those who quit gaming are the ones who say "4e? I didn't even know there was a 2e".

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

Great suggesstions so far. Hopefully they keep coming in focused on a broad range of burnouts.

Someone asked, so I'll volunteer what I think my reasons are for burnout, but please don't focus on just my problem. I don't want to make this about me. I'd like to see a lot of useful suggestions anyone can use.

One of the biggest reasons for my DM burnout is due to the announcements of the end of the print run of Dungeon and Dragon and the coming of 4E. Since I write a lot of stuff for publication, I felt like that avenue of creative release was coming to an end. Thus, the stuff I write and run in my games seemed to have an expiration date suddenly stamped on them.

The other part is that I've lost a lot of my best players over the past 6 months. I gained a really great player and felt better about things, but then he up and moved away so I lost him too. I have a really good core group of 4 players, but I'm used to bigger groups and the ones we lost were the more charismatic leader types. Without them, there's been a large empty spot that has not been filled.

A think another factor has to do with the fact that I recenly started my own business and have been very focused on that.

So, all of those things are basically my reasons. I really don't want to just take a break from gaming because I still love it, but I definitely need to do something to shake off the burnout. The suggestions so far are very encouraging.