I think it is time for a break.

My story is vaguely similar to @Dannyalcatraz. For me, though, gaming has always been a fluctuation in interest and whether I'm actively playing or not. Since I started playing in the early 80s, I would go through a few years of an active campaign, then a few years where I wasn't playing, but vaguely paying attention to what's coming out and occasionally buying a book or two.

Currently, I haven't actively played for 7 years or so. The last campaign I was in was fun, was very well run (by a member of ENWorld), but I found the time commitment challenging, my creative juices were focused elsewhere, and I was recovering from divorce. I haven't played since, but have probably bought a couple dozen game books in that span for reading pleasure.

7+ years is less of a break and more of a retirement. But I don't see it as either, because I neither have plans to play again nor would I automatically say no to playing again. But it would have to be the right situation, and I'm probably a bit too finicky to just play whatever.

That said, I've been dabbling with the idea of trying out one of the many solo games that seem to be flooding the market. I have very fond memories of staying up late nights in the middle and high school, and running myself through the Random Dungeon Generator in the 1E DMG. But even then, the solo game would have to be really easy to pick up and run for a few here and there, and I haven't looked into it enough to know what the possibilities are. Maybe a thread for General...
 

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Yup, and I find having too many tables/oracle options can cause decision paralysis...
Oh yes. I went a long time before really realizing how much decision paralysis can plow me under. Now I look out for it, but still get sandbagged sometimes. It shapes my game play, and has led to more and more of my PDF library is in offsite backup rather than here in my devices.
 

Oh yes. I went a long time before really realizing how much decision paralysis can plow me under. Now I look out for it, but still get sandbagged sometimes. It shapes my game play, and has led to more and more of my PDF library is in offsite backup rather than here in my devices.
Yeah, and that's a good plan! I have a plethora of random tables in hardcopy form behind me and the desire to change it up mid game is overwhelming sometimes. I do now try to limit myself before I even start, basically making a challenge from it, "I'll only use this one book", or "These three books have similar themes, I'll invoke all 3 but roll to see which one I use for each scenario" etc etc
 

From tabletop RPGs, I mean.

I have been gaming essentially continuously for 40 years. I have and am writing freelance for the industry. I run games at cons and at home. And I am just... I don't know, exhausted with it? Unable to find the joy in it? I don't know.

If you ever took a break so you could find your joy in TTRPGs again, tell me about it. Thanks.
I've found that a break from DMing is enough for me that I don't need to withdraw from RPGs entirely. When I start burning out, one of my players will step up and DM a short campaign, letting me just have to worry about a single character, instead of worlds full of them. He has to know the details in order to answer MY questions and statements.

You could try taking a break from being in charge and see if playing in a game is enough.
 

I, uh, I’ve never seen myself doing that. No sir. No acquaintance with that behavior at all. I was at a Mark Rothko exhibit at the time.
 

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