DMs: Do you have performance anxiety?

[EricNoah]

You know, even after playing D&D since the late 1970s and DMing for almost that long, I still sometimes get a kind of "stage fright" before the gang comes over to play. Thoughts like "ugh, this isn't going to work" or "I didn't prepare enough and so I'm going to have to wing it" or "the mystery is so obvious they'll be bored to tears" or just a general fear that I'm not going to do a very good job. Anyone else?

 

[Tinker Gnome]

First time I DMed I sorta did. I never get it now though.

 

[Gundark]

You know, even after playing D&D since the late 1970s and DMing for almost that long, I still sometimes get a kind of "stage fright" before the gang comes over to play. Thoughts like "ugh, this isn't going to work" or "I didn't prepare enough and so I'm going to have to wing it" or "the mystery is so obvious they'll be bored to tears" or just a general fear that I'm not going to do a very good job. Anyone else?

Oh yeah...still do.... ....I've got an hour before the gang shows up and I got the sweats....

 

[DragonLancer]

I do get that feeling when I'm about to run a mystery story, but it nearly always work out well.

 

[Piratecat]

Oh, yeah. No question about it. I try to trust myself and my players, though, and that's usually turned the nervousness into excitement.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Good Lord, all the time!

Luckily, things always seem to turn out well. It helps to have good players, and I certainly have those. It's only the very rare session where I feel that I did not provide a good experience to my players... and sometimes those almost have to happen while you let players feel their way through a situation.

 

[RCanning]

I too have been GMing for about 20 years. I have GMed dozens of systems, large freeforms; all sorts of stuff. Still, with d20 I have found that I get more nervous than I used to.

Keeping on top of everything is much harder, and requires a lot more skill than it used to. Dealing with combinations of bad guys, with differing skills/feats/abilities and making them all work effectively is hard. Add the element of trying to sort out if they should be using special attacks like Bulls Rush, Disarm, Trip or Sunder, and you have a lot to think about in a short period of time.

Then you have to think about the repercussions of the PCs using all of this, and combining it with powerful spells and magic items. d20 is a lot harder to run than anything else.

Also, because of the more options with skills and feats, I have found that players tend to rely on those for problem solving instead of role-playing. This is easy to deal with, but it sometimes upsets the players that you don't let a simple die roll do it for them; and that adds to the "do they hate what I am running" element.

I regularly ask my players for feedback; and ask them to make suggestions for what would work better for them. That works.

Also I have been lucky with my players, I have recently had them start correcting me when I do things that appear silly with monsters, telling me that there is a much better option that they can see. Sure, sometimes they don't have all the facts and I tell them the action stands as it is, but sometimes they are right, and I thwomp them with their own ideas.

Richard Canning

 

[pointyman2000]

I get that as well, I think it's a natural part of GMing to feel slightly anxious before a game. I just take heart in the belief that "you're actually doing better than you think you are."

 

[Micah]

A resounding YES! here.
Granted I'm a very new DM.
Last time worked on gurgly hissy voice for the monster - but backed out because I was too shy to "perform".

The stats give me headaches too. I know I make a lot of mistakes.

 

[Gideon]

Being a DM in only his second year with the same group I get a little nervous before sessions but mostly I get overall anxiety about "Are the players having fun?" "Why do I suck at DMing?" and other such things every couple months.