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<blockquote data-quote="kaomera" data-source="post: 3619938" data-attributes="member: 38357">I get this too. For me I think there is an element of &quot;burnout&quot; to it. There seems to be tendency for a lot of the people I've gamed with in the last few years to want to just &quot;go with the flow&quot; and follow along on whatever story I'm trying to tell. (Compounding the problem is that they do want a story. Just running a series of unrelated adventures bores them. There is a middle-ground, but it's hard for me to consistently achieve.) I tend to put a lot of work into creating a cool setting, and I then expect the players to go out and create adventures in it. Having to push a story along adds to my work and tends to frustrate me, which leads to the effort:fun ratio going in the wrong direction, and that's where the burnout comes in. (So, not exactly the same situation you're finding yourself in, but close.)I find that taking a few weeks off can help. It may work better if you plan these breaks, and have something in mind to do in the off time (board games, etc). Running shorter campaigns with a definite ending point could help, but for me (and my players) it's proved unsatisfactory. You could try giving the PCs a mobile base like an airship or a spell-jammer. This would let you tie adventures together a bit, while still being able to go off to another area for a different kind of adventure...One of the most frustrating things I have found with my group is that they want to have recurring NPCs, but won't do anything to actually encounter the same people again. Specifically, they will travel to new cities / locations, effectively changing the setting of the game, and then expect that all of the NPCs from the previous setting should still be &quot;in play&quot;. I've given serious thought to introducing some kind of D&amp;D cel-phone to the game somehow.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kaomera, post: 3619938, member: 38357"] I get this too. For me I think there is an element of "burnout" to it. There seems to be tendency for a lot of the people I've gamed with in the last few years to want to just "go with the flow" and follow along on whatever story I'm trying to tell. (Compounding the problem is that they [I]do[/I] want a story. Just running a series of unrelated adventures bores them. There is a middle-ground, but it's hard for me to consistently achieve.) I tend to put a lot of work into creating a cool setting, and I then expect the players to go out and create adventures in it. Having to push a story along adds to my work and tends to frustrate me, which leads to the effort:fun ratio going in the wrong direction, and that's where the burnout comes in. (So, not exactly the same situation you're finding yourself in, but close.) I find that taking a few weeks off can help. It may work better if you plan these breaks, and have something in mind to do in the off time (board games, etc). Running shorter campaigns with a definite ending point could help, but for me (and my players) it's proved unsatisfactory. You could try giving the PCs a mobile base like an airship or a spell-jammer. This would let you tie adventures together a bit, while still being able to go off to another area for a different kind of adventure... One of the most frustrating things I have found with my group is that they want to have recurring NPCs, but won't do anything to actually encounter the same people again. Specifically, they will travel to new cities / locations, effectively changing the setting of the game, and then expect that all of the NPCs from the previous setting should still be "in play". I've given serious thought to introducing some kind of D&D cel-phone to the game somehow. [/QUOTE]

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