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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8723073" data-attributes="member: 6877472">The year was 1990.  I arrived at my friend Rob's house, set up my DM screen, got out my books, everyone sat down.  And I...blanked.I had nothing.  There was the module in front of me, and my notes.  But I just...had zero desire to run that night.  I had no problems with my group- in fact, they were one of the best I've ever had.  I had no personal problems.It was like the part of my brain that let me run a game shut down.  I apologized and told everyone I wasn't able to run that night.  I went home and called a friend of mine who was a fellow DM and explained it, and they were like "dude, it's ok, it's DM burnout, it happens."And sure enough, next session I was fine.What I've found, in the decades since, is that being a DM really does require you to be a creative person.  And many creative people find their process can be disrupted by all manner of things, some so imperceptible that you don't realize it.  The most damning, of course, is self-doubt.  I don't think I'm a good DM.  Or a good writer.  Or a good storyteller.  I think I'm a hack.My players, of course, are constantly telling me otherwise (if they aren't griping about the encounters, lol).  And the fact that people still ask me to run for them I suppose is a good sign.  But it doesn't take a lot to make me to start thinking of being a DM as being a job.  To have the fun sucked out of the process.  To make me spend long hours doing prep, when I'd rather do anything else.  Like veg out watching YouTube videos, posting on forums, or playing video games.And if there is a problem with the players, it's going to make me want to check out even more.  When I started running for 5e, I ran into this problem full tilt.  First it was the AL group I was part of, where the event organizer at the local game store insisted we try to stick to the books as much as possible.  Then it was the constant resistance to any ruling I made, when the books weren't clear, and players who saw no reason not to stop the game to complain to other DM's, the organizer, search for developer tweets, or even go to the back of the store and read the adventure when I wasn't looking to "prove" I wasn't doing it right!Even after swearing off AL, and running home games, I ran into this a lot- had a guy who was so immensely proud of his Bard (before we even sat down to play!) that he would claim he could handle anything the party encountered.While navigating a swamp on a raft, they got attacked by some gnolls.  "Don't worry, I have this, I'll upcast command!"That gave me pause.  "Uh, I don't think you can do that.""What do you mean?!""Well, don't they have to understand what you're saying?  Do you speak Gnoll?""No...but surely they understand Common!""Not according to the Monster Manual.  Tell you what, your character should know this, make me a DC 10 Wisdom check so you don't waste the spell slot."He rolled an 8, the spell failed, and he sulked the rest of the session, doing nothing but shooting his bow.Afterwards, half the group dropped out, and only one of them was willing to explain.  They said they had gotten together at Steak N' Shake after the game to rant about how I was one of those DM's who doesn't let players do anything.To which I pulled out the PHB and showed him the command spell, and the sentence that specifically says "The spell has no effect if the target is undead, if it doesn't understand your language, or if the command is directly harmful to it.""Well that's dumb.  No other DM has ever ruled that.  And you didn't have to."And that was the end of that game.  I could have gone on.  I could have gotten new players, but my brain was done.But hope springs eternal, and whether due to nostalgia or insanity, I keep telling myself I'll get back on that horse again soon, and this time it will be perfect!Yeah, my vote is insanity, lol.</blockquote>

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