Welcome to the boards (as a poster, anyway).
Linus Lennox said:
1. For the next several months, I am only focusing on D&D 3.5. No GURPS, no nWoD, no d20 Modern, no Call of Cthulhu, you get the idea. I want to focus on ONE game, the only game I truly love (or at least, truly want to love). For various reasons that are beyond the scope of this post (but perhaps might make an interesting future thread), I've never found that horror or science-fiction work for me as RPG genres (though I love them in fiction, movies, etc.).
A couple of things to say to this:
1. Focussing on D&D doesn't mean playing in the same old world all the time. One of D&D's strengths is campaign settings. They can greatly change how D&D feels without forcing you to relearn rolling dice.
Some I like and always recommend:
Forgotten Realms. Well, your basical vanilla D&D setting. Doesn't really add too many new concepts or ideas to D&D, and isn't supposed to. It does give you a whole world as a background, so you don't have to make up gods and nations. You can focus on details.
Midnight. Ever wonder how Middle-Earth would look like if Sauron had won? Midnight is like that: Izrador has conquered Eredane, the humans find their lands occupied, the halflings are enslaved, and the Elves and Dwarves have to fight for land and live - and it doesn't look as if the forces of good could prevail. You're one of the latest (and maybe last) generation of heroes, and you cannot even trust the people, since they might just betray you to get a loaf of bread and not starve today. But never fear: The very land is with you.
It's not horror, but it is dark. Heroes can't just fight whatever they meet, they have to choose their fights. Hope comes in smaller boxes, as it is unlikely that the heroes can save the world - but they can delay the inevitable for as long as they are able.
Rokugan d20: Though there is a Legend of the Five Rings RPG, too, the d20 version is also very nice. Leave the West and enter the East, with Samurai and Ninja, Courtier and Kami. Your honour is worth more than your life, and you don't stand quite alone - you have your clan behind you. Non-fighting characters are actually feasible, and even though you can basically only play humans, there is plenty of diversity around.
And I'm sure someone can tell you something about that new-fangled Eberron stuff. It's not my cup of tea, but you might like it.
2. I am not even going to crack open my DMG until I've thoroughly re-acquainted myself with the PHB. I'll browse the MM1 and 2, but my focus on rules-reading will be the PHB.
As you will surely know, you can always ask rules questions here.
4. I will stop comparing myself to the uber-geeks. On this and many other online forums, one encounters many people whose entire lives revolve (or at least appear to revolve) around D&D. They have every supplement, they can quote chapter and verse from obscure articles in DUNGEON or DRAGON, and they simultaneously participate in four campaigns, playing several nights per week. If you ask them about a 14th level monk's chances in combat against a 14th level paladin, they will immediately respond with a multi-page analysis of said combat in mathematical detail that would put an IRS auditor to shame.
I can't compete with these people.
Damn, even I can't, and I consider myself addicted. I don't quite own every supplement. I only play one day per week (saturday or sunday), in two different campaings - but I would play in more if I had the opportunity.
For me, playing the game itself is only half the fun. The other half consists of sitting around the table with a bunch of great people and having a great time. That's something that no online game could ever give me (and I do play computer games, even online - though none of those MMORPGs)
I love D&D 3.5, but it isn't my life. Nor do I want it to be. I have many other things to which I want to devote my time and energies:
As it should be.
You see, I think one thing that burned me out last time was that I would feel pretty satisfied with my progress in D&D 3.5 rules-mastery/DMing, but then I would come on a group like this one and read some of the posts of these "D&D Idiot Savants"
and come away feeling "What's the point? Why even try? This game is too complex for me!" It's as if I was constantly comparing my horror writing to Anne Rice, Stephen King, H. P. Lovecraft, and Richard Matheson.
I see how that can happen. But you have to realize that it's just like with everything else. People bother playing soccer even though Ronaldo and Kahn and whoever would kick their balls (soccer balls, that is), people enjoy jogging even though they wouldn't survive the Death Valley Ultramarathon (and the not surviving part is probably very literal). People enjoy driving even though their name isn't Schumacher.
The trick, especially here, is not to feel intimidated, or even start to hate those people (I don't accuse you of hating them, but I saw it happen here), but benefit from their knowledge. The best example is Forgotten Realms fans. Many resent them because they know so much about that campaign world. The smart thing, though, is asking them about this and that.
So when next you wonder about a Monk 14's chances against a Paladin 14, just ask us!
If you guys are the United States or China, the great world powers, I am Switzerland. And this time I'm not going to destroy myself trying to turn Switzerland into a nuclear and economic powerhouse; instead, I'm just going to enjoy being Switzerland.
So you just aspire to make weird multi-purpose pocket knives and famous cheese?
