[Rant] I burned out last night...

[Nifft]

If a specific habit annoys you, change that habit.
Example: Dice hitting minis = BAD! So, all dice must be rolled in a box from now on.

Shift the burden of knowlege.
Player: "What does spell X do?"
DM: "Here's the PHB, you look it up now and tell me."
Result: player now knows spell pretty well.

(I do that one all the time, even when it's me who can't remember the specific rule.)

-- Nifft

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Picking another game to play, as some have mentioned, is also a really good way to deal with burnout. I'd say get away from RPGs for a while. Personally, I'd try to get the group to play board games like Axis & Allies, or even something as basic as Monopoly or Life, if they really wanted to stay together as a group and game. War games like Panzer Leader are also cool. Maybe pick up a copy of a starship combat game like Full Thrust. Mix it up, and play something different each session. I've found that when I do this, I start to get the hankerin' to play D&D or any given RPG again after a while.

I'd still lay down some table rules for the campaign - players must have a copy of the PHB would be at the top. Maybe even encourage them to actually learn the rules or pay attention to the setting by giving out XP for correctly answered questions during play, or for anyone who can give a synopsis of the last session, or for anyone who can volunteer info about the setting when it's appropriate, especially if they answer any questions the other players have. If you want to get tough, dock XP for each question they ask that deals with something they should know already Yeah, yeah, I hear the outcry against this already, but believe me, it works. Keep it light and friendly; make it a bit of a competition amongst the players to know the most. They'll be taking notes and flipping through the books before you know it.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I think part of it just comes down to players not bothering to take the time to expend energy learning the game. Like I said, one player bought a PHB(and a few splat books which I never use myself as they are pretty mediocre), but that's it. Two of the players have a decent grasp of the rules, the other two have no clue and no desire to learn as far as I can tell, and a the new guy is brand new so I don't expect him to know anything. Then you get the problem that one of the guys who knows the game is totally uninterested in any kind of story or plot*. He never remembers anything about Oerth, and that annoys the hell out of me. The two people who are ignorant of the rules just roll a dice when I tell them too. The player of the paladin can't remember what he rolls for damage more than half the time. And he's not an idiot, he just doesn't seem to be able, or willing to learn the game. He's not much farther ahead than the new guy when it comes to knowing the rules. But if I eject him I know his brother will quit and so will the other guy who knows nothing(silver lining I guess).


It's not like we are D&D buddies, we are buddies that happen to play D&D on occasion, so I can't see the friendships being dissolved over something this trivial considering some of the other crap that's gone down in the past. But there will be some hurt feelings at first and since it will probably gut most of the group I'd be just as well off if I told the whole crew that I'm done playing and find a new group entirely.

But I do have a course of action for tonight.

1. Call the players and tell them the campaign is over.

2. Tell my brother I may be willing to run something else in the future but I'm going to have to have "final" say on who is in the group and the system. I'm not going to waste my time waiting for people to show up only to find they still know jack about the game. It may sound a**holish but if I'm not having fun why bother running the game?


*I'm not looking to run these guys through my story, or have sessions with romantic intrigue. I'm looking for an action adventure game with a good dose of background and story to hook the players to the world.

Maybe it's my fault that didn't happen.

 

[reapersaurus]

I'm beginning to wonder if pen-and-paper RPGing has had its day.

It just seems that unless you get a magical combination of DM and players, than it's an exercise in frustration for the most part.

When was the last time you guys actually had a fulfilling session or campaign?

I don't know if modern society is lending itself to RPGing anymore - too many distractions, too hectic of pace, etc.

 

[ForceUser]

But I do have a course of action for tonight.

1. Call the players and tell them the campaign is over.

2. Tell my brother I may be willing to run something else in the future but I'm going to have to have "final" say on who is in the group and the system. I'm not going to waste my time waiting for people to show up only to find they still know jack about the game. It may sound a**holish but if I'm not having fun why bother running the game?

Before you end the campaign, I think you owe it to your players to tell them everything you've told us. Tell them why you're quitting. If they are really your friends then you should be able to discuss it like adults. Just on the outside, have you ever expressed your frustration to them frankly? Maybe they aren't aware that you take gaming more seriously than they do.

Good luck.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I think they got the gist of the message last night. I was pretty frank about how bored I was and apologized to the new guy for giving him a bad idea about how the game is supposed to go. I think he would be a great player too, he gets into plot and intrigue much more than combat so I can see him reading up on the world and getting into the feel of it. I told them I was burned out and didn't want to run it again for awhile, but I really didn't go into specifics so I guess I need to.

 

[Grim]

I to have this problem. My group, when it comes down to it, is a whole bunch of min-maxed roll-players, save for one guy. And he's leaving for college in a few weeks, to be replaced by a forgetful guy who, well, can't really finish sentances. Fun. It does not look good for me as a DM.

 

[jgbrowning]

You need to take a break from D&D. Perhaps a very long break.

I agree. Take time off. Don't read your gaming books, don't read EN World.

Just dissconnect yourself from the game and gamers. Go out and do somthing, read that book you've been putting off reading. Take up knitting.

You'll come back when your ready. When that "spark" is to much to resist.

joe b.

 

[Skarp Hedin]

Wow, Flexor, I'm in a pretty similar situation with very similar players, more or less. I've been burned out for a while now but I've kept running things to try and get to a spot where the game could be put on hold without having to remember anything very complicated if we resume, specifically, after they're done the little rescue mission they're on.

I've been playing D&D with two of these guys for well over ten years, and I've known the rest of them mostly for a long time as well. 3 high school friends, the wife of one of them, and a guy we met about two years ago.

Ironically, the fellow with whom I've been playing the longest has the most trouble with the rules. We've been playing third edition now for a while, about three or four months after it came out, and he still assumes most spells will work the same way they did in second edition. Can't find things on his character sheet, can't remember his attack bonuses or how to figure them, etc. Same sort of thing.

Another guy is very much the "lets keep going until we get into some more combat!" Why he wants combat, I dunno, he's a fighter who calculates his every possible move to avoid attacks of opportunity, despite his excellent AC and HP.

The cleric is good, he's been playing D&D with me for a long time too, but his memory is poor and he's become very secretive -- doesn't like to let me see his character sheet or tell me what spells he's got memorized or anything like that -- he thinks I'll make sure to tailor things to render him ineffectual. He's not so good on remembering what spells do either.

The other two players I don't count, really. They miss more sessions than they attend. I'm almost entirely certain that the one guy's wife -only- plays because she thinks he expects her to do so.

I dunno what to do. Chances of one of them being the game master is about nil.. the only one who's ever done it was the first guy, and when a simple combat against some minor enemies takes over an hour and a half because the DM has to look up and re-read every monster's entry in the MM between each round because he's forgotten everything, it's not so great. Woe betide a complex combat, those were horrendous. Half the time, he had to re-read the spell descriptions for the enemy's memorized spells. The others wouldn't run anything either.

My players have also bought hardly anything.. they wouldn't even have copies of the PH if I hadn't given them to them for Christmas gifts. They bicker constantly among each other, and in fact, one player has stated he's not going to associate with one of the other players anymore, so I guess he'll be leaving the group. But who knows, he may change his mind. They both treat each other terribly for stupid, petty, vengeful reasons.

Individually, these guys are all fine.. but together playing D&D, they're bickering, complaining, irritating people who don't even pay much attention to anything that's not combat. And when they -do- pay attention, they forget it by the next day anyhow.

But if I tell them I have to take a break, they'll be upset. That first guy, the only former DM and etc, is frantic every week to play D&D, and if for some reason we can't (schedules, etc) he's morose and bitter about it for a week or so.

Well, I feel better now. I'll have to tell them I'm burnt out and can't keep DMing soon, but that'll just be a big argument.

 

[BSF]

I'm beginning to wonder if pen-and-paper RPGing has had its day.

It just seems that unless you get a magical combination of DM and players, than it's an exercise in frustration for the most part.

When was the last time you guys actually had a fulfilling session or campaign?

I don't know if modern society is lending itself to RPGing anymore - too many distractions, too hectic of pace, etc.

I disagree. Though, I think that there are different levels of entertainment within the hobby. Everyone plays for a different reason. Those of us that love a strong story and want our players to be interested have a smaller pool to find like-minded gamers.

What _I_ would love to see with my games is a whole group of players that does their best to leave their mark on the campaign world by helping create the stories they are involved in. All while being able to work together as a team on a heroic scale. And it would be cool if some of them were interested in bringing in "flawed" characters that just can't hang with the heroes. This can involve party betrayal if it makes for good story. It may also include redemption to where the character changes his behavior based on admiration for one or more of the other PC's. Or, he may have his own quirkiness that drives everyone else batty, but he is no less heroic. This group's interactions with the game world would help drive the challenges that I create as NPC's react to the presence of the PC's. As well, there would be long-lived plans that the PC's could thwart.

That is asking a lot! And my ideas certainly do not appeal to everyone. Heck, they might not even appeal to me if I was able to run a game like that. But, it would be fun to try it out.

But, there are still a lot of people out there that prefer a monster bash. There isn't anything _wrong_ with it. There isn't anything _right_ with it. Personal preferences and all that. The problems crop up when all the players involved (including the DM) have a different idea of what is fun for them.