Do You Consider GMing to Be Hard Work?

[Retreater]

I'm going to have a missing player at tonight's virtual game. We've taken two weeks off in a row, and several of us are itching to play - including me, the GM. We don't want to continue the current game with that player absent, so I offered to run a one-shot of something I already had prepared and literally ready for immediate play.

One player is "maybe we should just hang out and chat on Discord or do something else online" (after having done this for the past two weeks). "I just don't want you to have to put in a lot of work." "You can relax and have fun with the rest of us."

I actually like running a game and look forward to it. Am I missing something? Do others think of it as a chore? Do players assume the GM isn't having fun?

 

[Morrus]

Work? Not at all. It’s fun, almost like it were a game! I find it more fun than playing a PC, too. The GM is the player with the most fun. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun.

 

[DemoMonkey]

Some DMs are do it because they love everything about the the process. Some are DMs just because no-one else will do it. Some enjoy running the game, but hate the prep and bookkeeping of world building/maintenance. Some love the intricacies of world building but find actually trying to run stressful.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer. But yes, there certainly do exist DMs - some good ones too - who look upon running a game as work they do so other people can have fun. Kind of like throwing someone else a party, they do it because they like their friends and want them to have a good time.

...or because it's their turn in the rotation...

 

[aco175]

My players appreciate the extra work and tend to take the games as presented with the hooks provided. I wish they would help drive the quests and provide the push for their PCs. I'm not sure if they do not want to provide me with more work as they perceive. I mean, I do put in more work than the players, but I like the planning and design. I try to give them what they want and something everyone enjoys.

I was at a convention a couple years ago and they had oversold the afternoon game and that left 10-12 people out of a D&D game. We could have player another system, but like the only game D&D so we set up 2 table in the other room and I DMd half in a AL module I brought and another DM played something completely made up. At the end, the other table had fun and appreciated his effort.

I would like to play some 1-offs once in a while. a throw off game to have fun or set up the main game is good.

 

[prabe]

Do I consider it to be work? I think it takes more effort than running one PC (at least, in the systems I've encountered) but I think it's more rewarding. I think the between-sessions stuff is more like work than just running the sessions.

I think it can feel like work sometimes, especially when my time-management skills (such as they are) fail me and I end up having much less prepared than I want.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

If done correctly, no, it's not hard work. It's hard, but it's not work. It's like how it can be difficult to finish a specific level on a video game. It may be difficult, but as long as you don't feel like you are completing a chore, it's not going to be "hard work".

 

[Stormonu]

When I was running my homebrew from scratch, yeah it was - but it was enjoyable. Wish I got paid for doing that kind of stuff.

I run a lot of premade adventures and from core options because during 3E it WAS work - and unpleasant a lot of times. But in 5E, I sometimes I do sit down and do some adventure design and stuff in my spare time. I just try to be careful that it doesn't turn back into work.

 

[TwoSix]

I think it's fun, and my low-prep improv style tends to mean my games are a lot less upkeep work than other people. But it's certainly a more active work than playing is, so you need to be a little more engaged to do it. It's not really relaxing.

 

[billd91]

Ultimately, it depends. Sometimes it's harder than being a player, sometimes it's work, sometimes its not. A lot will depend on the current dynamic of the group and the particular activities being undertaken.

And sometimes it's hard to get the ball rolling. I'm generally introverted and suffer a little social anxiety. That sometimes makes it hard to start the game session and get down to playing and I would characterize that as feeling an awful lot like hard work. But once over that hump, everything is else is a lot of fun.

 

[Dragonsbane]

Always like being a DM more, but it certainly has a bit of work to it, at least for me. Even after 30 years I need a little time to prep, save the occasional improv session.