My players having more fun than me

[Jürgen Hubert]

Well, DM fun is important, too. So here is my advice:

Induce complete and utter paranoia in the player characters. Make NPCs make seemingly harmless comments that take on sinister undertones later on. Let them find mysterious notes on the body of villains that are both obscure and hinting at deeper forces at play - including the player characters. Let those notes refer to them as "pawns".

Other than that, you don't really have to do a thing for the first few adventures. Just watch them gradually become more paranoid and prone to jumping at shadows. But listen intently to their conspiracy theories. And take notes.

Paranoid players can be a lot of fun for DMs. And despite the fact that you are making all the conspiracies up as you go along, they will see you as a genius for waving such an intricate storyline!

 

[pawsplay]

Simply because you can DM 4e does not mean you should DM 4e. It's fine for what it is, and a good DM can probably do a fair job with just about anything. But I would blame the game system, because I don't like 4e and I can't see myself coming to really admire it. If you feel the same way, you might want to consider some of the suggestions in this thread, especially trying to get someone else to DM, or evaluate if there is some way you can simply learn to enjoy yourself despite misgivings about the engine. "DM burnout" is real, but if you don't like 4e, why would you assume there is nothing wrong with running it if you are not having that much fun?

 

[vagabundo]

I shared it here on enworld because I had to get it off my chest. I could not tell my players - yet.

To say that I am having no fun is a lie. I do appreciate people liking my game. That does go along way towards making me happy.

Maybe not a new game yet. They are having too much fun with this one. However a temporary shift in DMs is a good idea. I am sure the munchkin/powergamer would be happy to stand in for a while.

You do need a break. Even a complete summer break. Just tell them there is no game for a a few weeks, Summer Break.

You need to think about where the fun is for you. Do you like creating interesting sotries, NPCs, running the game, creating funny stories at the table.

DMing is a funny game, but you really need to be having fun, lots of fun. Identify what parts of 4e are lacking for you and think of something to spruce it up. Is it the end part of combat encounters? If so have a twist in your encounter design, what do monsters do when they know they are losing: Run, surrender, explode, or even just lob off a quarter of their HP and have them die and move on to the next encounter.

Getting someone else to DM is a great idea, try a load of one offs where everyone at the table has to DM at least once and you get to play in a butt load of sessions. You could co-DM the nervous ninnies and help them prep, download them a decent pre-made adventure and still get to play.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

I'm only speaking from personal experience here, but could it be the material of the game rather than the system?

I picked up Keep on the Shadowfell as a way to preview the rules, but we were late starting so we're only about three sessions in. Unfortunately the module is a fairly uninspired dungeon crawl (after seeing WotC's 3e modules you'd think I would've learned my lesson), so I'm not exactly thrilled with running it during the sessions.

I can see where running the new game would be fun, and there's a lot that the new system does to help a DM. But being stuck with Shadowfell means I'm already looking for ways to shortcut to the end (such as cutting out about half the keep that seems to be more or less pointless).

Anyway, I think my point with this was that, if you're stuck running a module or something similar, maybe some more homebrew might be what you want. Or go with a city adventure if you're doing nothing but dungeon crawls. That kind of thing.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I think Byrons Ghost may be onto something.

Try creating your own adventures and getting really involved with campaign events. A published adventure can sometimes do to a DM what pregen characters do to a player-make them less invested in the game.

If using your own material doesn't help with the fun factor then you need to let the group know how you feel. At that point it might be a good idea to meet with everyone. Have everyone (including you) go over what they like about the game, what they are ok with and what they really dislike. Then you could come up with house rules that everyone could enjoy or find out that what everyone else loves is what you do not. Either way you could end the not having fun part.

 

[Schmoe]

Kill the players and take their stuff.