How do I prevent D&D from taking over my life?

[TerraDave]

Resistance is futile. Prepare to be assimilated.

 

[DonTadow]

Stop worshiping Satan

That's what my mom said would

//it would be funny if it were not true//

 

[Lord Zardoz]

I'd wager that if you join/form a game group comprised largely of adults, you'll find that enough scheduling conflicts will arise that your gameplay will limit itself.

That solution works for me! It works despite the fact that I would prefer if it did not happen quite that bad.

I try to run a weekly game, with each session going from about 12:30 to 5:30 / 6:00 or so on Sunday afternoons. The time block has the virtue of being on a day where most people do not need to work, and when most people are not likely to have anything specific planned. My game has 4 player characters, and the standing rule is that I will run the game if at least 3 of the 4 can show up. I figured that out of any 10 week period, I would be able to get at least 7 games in.

In practice, it seems I get to run an average of 4 games every 10 weeks, with some months going much better than others.

In order to have any real risk of D&D overwhelming your life, I think the following must be true.

DM's
- You have players that are able to show up at least 1 a week for games, and never have to cancel more than 1 game per month.
- You habitually over prepare / over customize your adventures.
- You create more than 50% of your adventure scenarios (instead of using pre-published)

Players
- You play more than once a week
- You also paint miniatures. A lot of miniatures.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Clavis]

Stop worshiping Satan

That's TERRIBLE advice. NEVER stop worshiping Satan!

I say, if you're spending too much time on D&D, get a competing vice to waste your time on. Internet Porn, for instance. PCP might be a bad choice, on the other hand.

 

[Tiberius]

"My religious organization will not ask me to go out and slay its enemies."

Usually.

 

[Pbartender]

That solution works for me! It works despite the fact that I would prefer if it did not happen quite that bad.

I try to run a weekly game, with each session going from about 12:30 to 5:30 / 6:00 or so on Sunday afternoons. The time block has the virtue of being on a day where most people do not need to work, and when most people are not likely to have anything specific planned. My game has 4 player characters, and the standing rule is that I will run the game if at least 3 of the 4 can show up. I figured that out of any 10 week period, I would be able to get at least 7 games in.

In practice, it seems I get to run an average of 4 games every 10 weeks, with some months going much better than others.

We (my wife and I) do pretty much the same thing with our gaming group, but...

We add in a few non-D&D caveats. We play every Sunday evening from ~5:30pm until ~9:30 pm. Anyone who decides to show up at our house a half hour early gets to join in on a home-cooked meal and non-gaming conversation. If not enough people can make it to keep gameplay viable, then they are welcome to show up anyway and do something else instead... Watch a movie or play cards or play a board game or just hang out.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

When Blackleaf dies, don't do anything stupid.

 

[jdrakeh]

How do you prevent it from taking over your every waking hour?

Going to work actually solves that problem for me. In fact, it solves a lot of my free time issues. When I go to work, I don't have time for RPGs, dinner out with friends, going to the movies, etc, etc, etc. So, my advice is, get a job that requires you to work harder and more often. That should kill your free time pursuits dead. It did mine.

 

[Nifft]

Note: Some DMs *want* D&D to dominate their lives. Some DMs live only for D&D.

Really? Can you name one who's not in high school?

But I have a wife, a daughter, a rewarding, engaging career, a religion, and many other hobbies.

You can keep your wife and daughter, but you'll have to give up the religion. D&D is satanic, as you well know.

All hail our dark master, -- N

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

"I cannot just kill my boss and take his stuff."

I'm making sure everyone gets a copy of this at the FDG staff meeting on Friday.