D&D General "I have Experienced What I'd Call 'DM Burnout'" (a poll)

[CleverNickName]

If you ask a dozen people in this thread what "DM Burnout" is, you'll get 13 different answers.

"Bored with game prep."
"Frustrated with combat grind."
"Bored with the published adventure we bought."
"Tired of my players not taking the game seriously."
"Swamped by all of the rules and arguments."
Etc.

I've experienced all of these things before, in varying degrees. But if we go with the WebMD definition of burnout ("a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling swamped; the result of excessive and prolonged emotional, physical, and mental stress. Burnout happens when you're overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to keep up"), then I don't think I have ever been. It sounds like true burnout requires a level of emotional attachment that I don't carry into my hobby. D&D is my refuge from that sort of stuff...a pastime, not my livelihood.

Bored? Yup, all the time. Frustrated? At least once per gaming session. Burned out? Nah, I'm not that emotionally vested.

 

[Jer]

If we define "DM Burnout" as the gaming equivalent of "writer's block" then absolutely. Periods where my creativity is at a low ebb are more common than I'd like (and frankly are getting more frequent the older I get, which I'm not happy about). Especially when my job also requires creativity - sometimes it just hits the point where my brain refuses to engage anymore and I have to set things aside for a while and sessions become board game sessions until I can get my groove back.

 

[Deset Gled]

Very much yes. It's so rewarding to be a player after burning out as a DM.

The third, player attentiveness, buy in, appreciation, playstyle, etc... The GM puts in a ton of effort to deliver a really great session and campaign. The players don't care and just tell fart jokes and cancel half the time. One of the hardest lessons I learned about TTRPGs, is that sometimes your best friends make the worst gamers.

IMX, this is by far the biggest issue that leads to problems. Game schedules and systems can be changed. But if the players aren't as committed as the DM, there's not much the DM can do that will lead to long term stability.

 

[Thunder Brother]

I'm currently in the midst of DM burnout so... yes.

 

[Laurefindel]

"True", unfortunately. When it happens, it's usually a "RPG burnout" in general.

Fortunately, compared to the professional burnout I experienced, this DM's burnout usually lasts a few weeks, at most a few months, instead of a few years. Eventually I see a series on TV, or a movie, or play a cool board game or computer game that rekindles the RPG flame, and then I have 15 ideas for games that I want to DM at once!

What has been harder was going back into an existing game after such a burnout.

 

[Maxperson]

I don't have time to play and DM at the same time, so I do eventually have burnout/fatigue. When that happens one of the players steps up and runs a short 4-6 month campaign and I get to play and recharge for a while.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

"True".

I get very invested in RPGs and I tend to put a good amount of hours in prep, reading and designing them. But sometimes my professional or personal life becomes more intense or stressful and I tend not to notice until I'm exhausted and have to take a break. RPGs are not a relaxing hobby for me, like reading a book. They're a project, they require energy to invest. Everytime I had one such burnout it's because I had to keep the other aspects of my life in check.

 

[payn]

Eventually I see a series on TV, or a movie, or play a cool board game or computer game that rekindles the RPG flame, and then I have 15 ideas of game that I want to DM at once!

Yeah, that is usually how my battery gets recharged.

What has been harder was going back into an existing game after such a burnout.

Oh dont I know it. Seems once the momentum has slowed or stopped on a campaign, its not likely to revive itself again.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I like DMing so much it's impossible for me to burn out on actual at-the-table DMing (or if it is possible, my limit is extremely high, like sky-high). I can literally sit for days adjudicating, improvising, listening to players relate insane and doomed plans, and so on, so long as I have stuff to run. I've DM'd for 12 hour days multiple days in a row (of course I played 16 hour days multiple days in a row one time).

But prep?

I can and have absolutely burned out on prepping for sessions before. This is why I increasingly dislike RPGs that require me to do a ton of prep, and why I found purchased adventures that still want me to do more prep than just reading them through once to be incredibly obnoxious, even a rip-off (esp. as loads of TSR and 3PP adventures don't need you to do more than that). 5E innately requires about 2-4x as much prep for me as 4E did, as a combination of how it works + still-inferior digital tools for the DM (esp. re: customizing monsters/NPCs). Surprising when player-side it probably requires less than half as much effort from the players (as compared to 4E).

 

[Reynard]

I have experience 2 primary causes of Gm burnout: 1) the system is too complex to sustain over time and i just can't muster the wherewithal to deal with it, and 2) a specific player or players are too much work to keep engaged or make happy or just put up with. Sometimes, those two thing collide (a crunchy system with a minmaxitaur player) and it's curtains for that campaign.

A completely different thing happens sometimes, though, and isn't really burnout: I have an idea for a campaign and get all excited and do prep work and invite players and then find out that it was just a passing fancy and I have no interest in doing that thing once a week for a couple years.