Oh God! I think I've burned out...

[caudor]

It sounds like you have a pretty good stack (should I say shelf?) of gaming materials now. I've have a suggestion that has worked for me.

If you haven't already done so, you might consider taking a break from playing and take an inventory of your current materials. Browse and look at your stuff like you are at the store again.

In doing so, you may re-inspire yourself (recall the reason you bought it the first time) or see something you were intending to read and never got around to looking at. Your cup may be full...but perhaps you haven't given yourself ample time to sit back and sip from it...slowly savoring the goodness within.

Rather than chasing something 'new' this time; perhaps you simply need to allow yourself time to cherish something of old.

It works for me Good luck to you.

 

[Thresher]

Its a cyclic thing.

After awile you get sick of spells and hacking orcs to death so you pick up another system and spend some quality time shooting other things that arent orcs in a galaxy far far away.
Then after a few years of shooting things that arent orcs you go play something else like vampire and pretend your some undead evil beast that bites holes in humans. Once youve gotten sick of biting people and exhausted the amount of evil things you can mentally conjure up, then you go back to being being some hero in a fantasy land chopping orcs.

And its all good!
Theres lots of games out there, try some of the different ones as variety is the spice of life.

 

[Gospog]

aurin777

I am much like you, and I found Polyhedron to be a life saver!

As a GM (and I am usually the GM), I get bored VERY easily. The mini-games in Polyhedron let me run short story arcs of all different sorts of games, any time I want.

And the beauty of D20 is that I'm not re-teaching my players the rules every time my minds chases after a new setting and/or game.

So we started with D&D in 2001.
And then I ran:
Pulp Heroes
Shadow Chasers
Wierd Wars
Omega World
Call of Cthullhu
Star Wars

And probably a few more I forget.

My point is, several of these games were from Polyhedron. A real bargain.

Good luck, and don't worry about it so much!

 

[BlackMoria]

It sounds like it not a case of burn out. It is more a case of you want a change of pace.

So....pick something that gets you stoked up and run with it. And when you tire of it, go with something else.

After 28 years of D&D, it can stale for me too. Which is why our group runs campaigns in 4 month blocks. D&D, Star Wars, and Super Heros genre. The change of pace every 4 months keep all three campaigns fresh.

My two coppers...

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

What do you all think I should do to handle this and curb my out of control spending?

Quit. Play some softball.

I've long been an advocate of taking a break from stuff when you get burnout. That way your burnout is temporary as opposed to permanent.

 

[Orias]

I'm pretty burned out on traditional fantasy as well.

Fuedal Europe is only fun for a couple years.

I want to take a break from alot of that stuff, but most of my friends are really big on running in the Realms, which I guess I don't mind as long as I am having fun.

We stopped & played Shadowrun for two days, but I guess the DM didn't really dig it. Hopefully this summer will change that, as there is supposed to be Call of Cthulhu, Mage the Ascension, & Shadowrun games being ran.

 

[Psion]

If you are burned out on fantasy, try SPYCRAFT for heaven's sake. Sheesh, folks...

 

[aurin777]

That is correct, it isn't that I'm really burned out, its that I badly need a change of pace. I love gaming and all it entails, but I'm just tired of the normal fantasy setting. But I, like Orias, have a problem. Our groups (mine meets oh so rarely) are still loving the traditional fantasy and don't want a change. It is still fun when we play, but I just really wish down inside that we were playing something else, and I think they should be given a chance. At least if we ever do decide to change, I own every book involved in it
~~Brandon

 

[Greatwyrm]

When I get burned out as a DM, the best thing for me is to take a break all together. 3-4 weeks with no games or game discussion whatsoever. By then, I've ususally got some new ideas floating around.

Sometimes you just gotta back off for a while to get the rush back. Kinda like that first Coke after you doctor tells you to lay off caffeine for a while.

 

[Desdichado]

Sounds like you just need to actually play some of those games/settings. Or, if you can't get in on a game as a player, you may end up having to DM it.