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The DM Burnout and How to Get Past That: Advice?
- Thread starter molepunch
- Start date
Late to the thread, but here's what I did to combat burnout:
1) take a break from DMing. Maybe a long one. After I ran a campaign for 2 years, I felt I had screwed it up, and I simultaneously hit a creative wall. It was 3 years before I stepped behind the screen again. In the interim, I not only played RPGs (as a gamer only), I also dove more deeply into my other hobbies. It was refreshing.
2) try different systems. Sometimes, a different take on how things work mechanically can get you & your players playing and thinking differently.
3) don't play RPGs all the time. We play boardgames, poker...sometimes we watch movies while snacking, drinking and BSing.
4) try different gaming groups. Sometimes, you find that you'll appreciate your normal group more. Sometimes, you may find the new group is more congruent with your playsyle.
1) take a break from DMing. Maybe a long one. After I ran a campaign for 2 years, I felt I had screwed it up, and I simultaneously hit a creative wall. It was 3 years before I stepped behind the screen again. In the interim, I not only played RPGs (as a gamer only), I also dove more deeply into my other hobbies. It was refreshing.
2) try different systems. Sometimes, a different take on how things work mechanically can get you & your players playing and thinking differently.
3) don't play RPGs all the time. We play boardgames, poker...sometimes we watch movies while snacking, drinking and BSing.
4) try different gaming groups. Sometimes, you find that you'll appreciate your normal group more. Sometimes, you may find the new group is more congruent with your playsyle.
Connorsrpg
Adventurer
How has is it all panned out Molepunch.
I am following this thread with noted interest, as I too find myself needing some GM injection (or a new group)
I am following this thread with noted interest, as I too find myself needing some GM injection (or a new group)
Rhenny
Adventurer
I have a few ideas:
First, if you and your group has not watched some of the Chris Perkins games on youtube (with Robot Chicken and Acquisitions Inc.) you all should. Perkins is of course a master DM, but watching the players interact and get into their characters may serve as a model for your players. They really charged me up and made me want to DM/Play again.
Second, you said that your players thought that 4e didn't reward roleplaying, so you have to change that. Reward their roleplaying. Set up more skill challenges that require roleplaying opportunities and give the best PC more xp. Make it a cool contest. Who can come up with the most interesting in-character dialogue or solution.
Third, one way I entertain myself as DM is by writing a narrative of each adventure session after the session. When I write it out, I add flavor sometimes expanding on something a PC mentioned. When I write and read them, I feel more satisfied because then I see the session as a continuing story that the players have contributed to. I'm hoping that my players will also be inspired by the narratives, and so far, they have been inspired. The narratives help the players remember key details and see their own characters more like characters in a story, and that helps them roleplay in future sessions. (You can see the latest narratives in my Sand's End Campaign in the Story Hour Section of EnWorld).
I hope these ideas help.
Cheers.
First, if you and your group has not watched some of the Chris Perkins games on youtube (with Robot Chicken and Acquisitions Inc.) you all should. Perkins is of course a master DM, but watching the players interact and get into their characters may serve as a model for your players. They really charged me up and made me want to DM/Play again.
Second, you said that your players thought that 4e didn't reward roleplaying, so you have to change that. Reward their roleplaying. Set up more skill challenges that require roleplaying opportunities and give the best PC more xp. Make it a cool contest. Who can come up with the most interesting in-character dialogue or solution.
Third, one way I entertain myself as DM is by writing a narrative of each adventure session after the session. When I write it out, I add flavor sometimes expanding on something a PC mentioned. When I write and read them, I feel more satisfied because then I see the session as a continuing story that the players have contributed to. I'm hoping that my players will also be inspired by the narratives, and so far, they have been inspired. The narratives help the players remember key details and see their own characters more like characters in a story, and that helps them roleplay in future sessions. (You can see the latest narratives in my Sand's End Campaign in the Story Hour Section of EnWorld).
I hope these ideas help.
Cheers.
molepunch
First Post
Hey again, all!
Thanks again to all who posted and offered their insight to help me troubleshoot my group. Swedish Chef might be right after all: maybe I just need to stop reading all that "DMing Guides" and just figure out what my players are into first and foremost.
Here's what happened (apologies I'm quite verbose):
My humble thoughts:
I can definitely handle playing in a RP-bankrupt campaign more than I can handle DMing for RP-reluctant players, apparently!
I'm not burnt out on DMing, but I'm certainly burned out DMing for this group (for now?). I'm grateful to J for stepping in to DM while I have a break. There must be something else in 4E or RPGs that they like for them to choose to play it instead of Descent. I just don't know what, yet.
Also, I realize now that I am quite a Diva DM LOL. Maybe I'll make a new thread about this revelation hah! XD
Again, thank you all for your posts!
Thanks again to all who posted and offered their insight to help me troubleshoot my group. Swedish Chef might be right after all: maybe I just need to stop reading all that "DMing Guides" and just figure out what my players are into first and foremost.
Here's what happened (apologies I'm quite verbose):
- We decided that my DMing style has probably become too "high brow" for the group as a whole, with my leaning towards "character development storytelling *snore*" and their leaning towards the board-gaming/action *hack'n'slash* play-style. My house-rule/compromise of rewarding XP for RPing (the idea was that they had to RP three character traits they put down on their character sheet before the night was up) was deemed too trite by some. I announced that I would end the campaign after the next session, no hard feelings, etc.
- My other player, "J", a very strong RPer (who is also a good friend and my colleague--a fellow resident actor in the same theatre company) decided to help me cycle out for a break by taking over the DM reins.
- He is a big time 4E fan, and did not want to explore Pathfinder or Savage Worlds. So we started a new campaign using everyone's current 4E Essentials characters. I made a Fighter (my favorite class) and thought up a character background and all that juicy stuff.
- We had our 2nd game a few days ago. (We play D&D weekly.) Unfortunately, I was bored as any semblance of RPing we had before was now completely gone. It's pretty much a board-game at this point, not unlike Descent. My spouse and I try to RP in the game, but it's often met with immersion breaking antics, all unintentional I'm sure; we just sorta gave up after a while. I didn't get bitter or upset by it, however. I went along with the board-gaming mentality and threw in some RP-lite dialogue at the right moments: you know, stuff like "Not so fast, kobold!" or "... And I just repaired my shield this morning."
- I intend to continue attending the games. I can silently have my own RPing in my mind even if everyone else isn't in on it
My humble thoughts:
I can definitely handle playing in a RP-bankrupt campaign more than I can handle DMing for RP-reluctant players, apparently!
I'm not burnt out on DMing, but I'm certainly burned out DMing for this group (for now?). I'm grateful to J for stepping in to DM while I have a break. There must be something else in 4E or RPGs that they like for them to choose to play it instead of Descent. I just don't know what, yet.
Also, I realize now that I am quite a Diva DM LOL. Maybe I'll make a new thread about this revelation hah! XD
Again, thank you all for your posts!
Last edited:
This is a great thread molepunch. Thanks for starting it.
I won't echo what others have said, and simply add that it's my experience that in the 35 years I've been DMing, burnout is inevitable.
My trick is that I usually take a break from running the game and spend a lot of time catching up on my reading - fantasy, science fiction, history, whatever. For me it seems to help the creative juices flow again.
Good luck to you!
I won't echo what others have said, and simply add that it's my experience that in the 35 years I've been DMing, burnout is inevitable.
My trick is that I usually take a break from running the game and spend a lot of time catching up on my reading - fantasy, science fiction, history, whatever. For me it seems to help the creative juices flow again.
Good luck to you!
It may just be that they're just not that into you...errrr...into RP. Or, just like you, perhaps they're a tad burned out, too.
While I also feel 4Ed lends itself more to that boardgamey feeling playstyle, I'm sure it can be run with a good RP feel...if everyone is on board. Keep on playing your PC with your own style, and you'll probably be happy while you recharge your batteries.
Yes, and 2-player games are better for character development and roleplay than say 6-player games, anyway. IME even 4e D&D works fine with 2 PCs, as do all other editions of D&D; maybe 3e a bit less due to combat healing & buffing requirements, but I've run 3e successfully with my wife & brother in law playing A Ranger/Fighter duo. 4e's robust PCs are particularly good for small-group play, you just treat them as a standard party ca 4 levels lower, so in combat the 2 5th level PCs can fight 5 1st level goblins, for instance.
molepunch
First Post
LOL, Danny you're absolutely right! The non-RPers in the group (half of them) hate the way I try to emphasize RP over grid-based combat, so yes, they are not into me as a DM for sure (did I misunderstand you? Sorry, I'm not a native speaker)!
Now, I love combat, but I want it to have meaning too. And again, I wasn't a bad DM, I just wasn't the right DM anymore, and it's perfectly OK. I'm just glad our sorted it out before any real resentment had set in and festered.
And I definitely can have a laugh at myself for being such a needy DM, even though I can respect that people sometimes just want to eat chips and roll some crits. I think the non-RPers and I just needed to finally realize that we were compromising for a long time, and maybe D&D is a hobby that has to be Goldilocks-just-right for yourself in particular in terms of taste. This is evident in all the edition wars people partake in, I guess?[MENTION=54846]Rechan[/MENTION] [MENTION=463]S'mon[/MENTION]
I can't XP you guys yet but thank you for your ideas. I always read your replies in other topics with respect and interest.
Ironically, the original campaign began with 3 players only, J, Spousey, and CY. I did not invite the other gaming gang regulars to be a part of the campaign. It was wonderful but CY (a power gamer and self-professed-wannabe-RPer) felt that combat was too dangerous and boring with 3 players. I then added 2 NPCs to the story. Everyone chimed in that it's "more fun with more players" so I invited 2 more players. Who turned out to be non-RPers after all. The rest is history.
I have never run a small campaign before. I intend to do so after my "batteries are fully recharged". For now, I am having fun being the meatshield. My Spouse, E, warned me not to "RP like I'm gunning for the Oscars" lest it comes across as though I'm trying to upstage, one-up, or just spite the non-RPers. E is has great EQ and I often listen.
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