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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Peni Griffin" data-source="post: 4151132" data-attributes="member: 50322">The term for this in writing is "mid-novel slump" and it is a result, most often, of starting a project before it's ripe.  It is possible that what you want to write is not a short story or an adventure, but a novel.  It's possible that you don't want a project, just an amusement.  Play around with the worldbuilding as a fun activity in itself - it's no bigger a time-waster than videogames or channel-surfing - and only if you keep coming back to the same material over time should you make a commitment to work or play it out.I've noticed that some people have a hard time telling campaign ideas from novel ideas.  A good guideline is that, if you have a set plot in mind or picture one or two characters as the center of it, it's a story.  If you have an open world and a couple of villains or problem situations, you've got a campaign.  Example:  "In the ravaged hall of King Gundar, Hackem the Invader sneers at the pitiful remnant of the household escaping in an open boat and declares them to be not worth pursuing, never suspecting that the babe in the kitchen maid's arms is the infant son of Gundar who will one day return to claim his kingdom!"  That's a book.  "Hackem the Invader regards the survivors of his massacre of King Gundar's household as so pathetic they aren't worth chasing, so he lets them escape in an open boat.  Who are these people, and do they choose to try to make for one of the friendly southern kingdoms (possibly bringing it to the attention of Hackem, possibly warning them), follow the ocean currents west to a new and mysterious land, take refuge in the monster-haunted archipelago to the north, or come to land in a remote portion of Gundar's land and lead the resistence against Hackem?  Or some other option I never even thought of?"  That's a campaign.If you want to use this urge specifically in gaming, I suggest that you find a different system or get someone else to take care of the chores you find irksome.  Use NPC generators, existing maps, that kind of thing; and don't overlook the possibility of getting your rules-maven players to do some of your work.  That sounds strange, but it works for me because I have two people who are good with the translating concepts into mechanics and if I say something like:  "I really need some kind of general demographic data on this community you're in, what percentage would be PC classes and so on," bingo, I have an 8-page treatise in my mailbox.  I also pay attention to their reactions when using unfamiliar portions of the rules, and let them take the lead when something unfamiliar is used in game.  They know  how ballistae, trebuchets, and catapults work better than I do and are happy to take my general statements about what's going on and translate how that works into game terms.  Obviously you should reward this behavior if you can get it - in my case, people who take on GM chores get access to splatbooks other people don't.  It's all about discipline and knowing what you really want to do.</blockquote>

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