DMing: from fun to work

[amerigoV]

It became grueling work when preparation took hours. This happened in the 3E/3.5E era, when I was attempting to put together encounters at higher levels. It took work to put together encounters which were not too easy, but not too overly difficult either.

These days I won't DM 3E/3.5E/Pathfinder type games anymore, but I'll still play as a player.

Spot on for me. In the past, I ran almost all modules as the prep work of rigging up NPCs became tedious. To a degree I could shortcut, but I was using DM Genie for my campaigns. It helped me handle all the in game stuff and story prep, but the ability to build the NPCs/alter the monsters seemed to lock me into doing it the right way. Strahd's stat block in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft was the last straw.

I now use Savage Worlds. One can almost eyeball what the monster should be. Easy critter prep/conversion/make up on the spot. That allows me to focus on the more fun aspects of prep - maps, visuals, twisting of the plot, etc. I find I am much more willing to work up my own material than under 3.5e.

Note - I still love 3.5. I'll play it anytime. I just cannot hack the DM prep side anymore.

 

[Piratecat]

Slogging through stat blocks. That's the least fun part of prep for me. Anything that helps with that makes me a happy DM.

 

[fba827]

it changes from fun to boring work when i'm having a creative block from where the PCs are and how to make it an interesting story.

If I only come up with a 'medicore' story then i am just going through the motions and it feels like work. when i feel like i have a 'decent' (or better) story then it feels exciting and invigorating and fun and so hours can pass without even realizing it.

 

[Cadfan]

I'm with Doug McCrae. Its work when I *have* to do it. And since games have to be scheduled in advance to get everyone in one place at the right time, games are frequently work.

They usually stop being work partway through the session, though. Preparation is always work. Its necessary at times, but its always work.

 

[slwoyach]

It becomes work for me every time I realize that all my hours of work that went into developing my setting are for naught, because players refuse to see any setting as anything but generic D&D tropes. Gee, another perky elven female ranger with her cute fuzzy friend. Great. I swear, I could ban elves and it would just be a perky human female ranger with her cute fuzzy friend that insists on acting like a poncey elf tree-hugger.

Then I happily begin working on yet another setting while pretending that this time it'll be different.

 

[Pbartender]

Slogging through stat blocks. That's the least fun part of prep for me. Anything that helps with that makes me a happy DM.

This is pretty much it for me, as well. Needing to hair-split rules doesn't help either.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Another vote for statblocks.

It's not so bad when there are online/electronic resources to help out, but getting the results fully suitable for my needs and then cramming them into a form to go into my notes can be a pain.

 

[Celebrim]

I put in about on average about 10 hours of work per 4 hours of session (often more than that to get started). I find the work enjoyable and stimulating. I put in work like that because in my experiences as a player, the DM's who were putting in that sort of work were noticably superior in there skills than those that didn't and I always strive to be the DM I would want to have.

But, the work becomes a chore if you don't as a DM enjoy running the session. There are lots of ways that running a session can start to feel like a chore and drain the enthusiasm you have for preparation.

 

[Celebrim]

It became grueling work when preparation took hours.

I hear things like this on the boards all the time, and I just can't understand them. How is it possible for preparation not to take hours? Even in a game with no mechanics, no stat blocks, and no rules, preparation would take hours. Prepping the rules is not the majority of any campaign, world, or adventure preparation. Mapping takes time, even if you just do flowcharts. NPC's are work to create, even if you do 'Seven Sentence NPCs' and no stats unless you anticipate combat. It takes time to invent stories, think up plot twists, write down ideas, sketch out notes about dungeon dressing, etc.

Worse come to worse, you can always run monsters 'out of the book' (the usual 1e method), and every DM needs to be able to wing it for an hour or two, but winging it only gets you so far in my experience.

 

[GlassJaw]

Slogging through stat blocks. That's the least fun part of prep for me. Anything that helps with that makes me a happy DM.

A few people mentioned stat blocks. Can anyone be more specific? Is it creating NPCs? Advancing monster HD? Something else?

Customizing and creating monsters and NPCs is something I've really been working on for the Trailblazer monster book (shameless plug ).

Not saying I'm completely reinventing the wheel (although there will be a new monster/NPC skill system and a simplified NPC class system is in the works) but I'll definitely be including a lot of shortcuts and design notes to reduce the DM's prep time.