The GM Support Group Thread

[Reynard]

I often saying "GMing isn't hard, anyone can do it!" and I stand by that. But what I mean, is "learning to GM is not hard." However, I also acknowledge that GMing can be A LOT at times, and it's nice to commiserate with fellow GMs about common issues, from disengaged players to "GM ADD" to burnout. SO, why not a thread just for that?

Since this is a thread where we get to rant, I am not going to make it a "+" thread. That said, we are here to support one another. Don't be dismissive: if someone complains about something you do not think is worthy, just ignore it and scroll on. And don't be a jerk: "tough love" is for football coaches and drill sergeants.

My biggest problem is GM ADD -- the desire after 5 or 6 sessions to move on to a different game or campaign. This can be exacerbated by long stretches between sessions. It is often relaxed by a really good session that reinvigorates my interest in the thing in particular. I sometimes need someone to talk me off the "abandon this campaign for a new shiny" ledge.

 

[payn]

My biggest problem is GM ADD -- the desire after 5 or 6 sessions to move on to a different game or campaign. This can be exacerbated by long stretches between sessions. It is often relaxed by a really good session that reinvigorates my interest in the thing in particular. I sometimes need someone to talk me off the "abandon this campaign for a new shiny" ledge.

I have the opposite problem. Its either a one shot or its gonna be a galaxy/world-spanning campaign that will take 1.5-2 years. No exceptions!

 

[LordEntrails]

My biggest problem is GM ADD -- the desire after 5 or 6 sessions to move on to a different game or campaign. This can be exacerbated by long stretches between sessions. It is often relaxed by a really good session that reinvigorates my interest in the thing in particular. I sometimes need someone to talk me off the "abandon this campaign for a new shiny" ledge.

Why not consider running short campaigns. Aim for 5-10 sessions. If you have steady players over time they could even build a pool of various level characters to quickly draw upon.

i.e. So rather than plan a Level 1-10 (or 20!) campaign that saves the world; what about a more contained things that use various level characters like Raid the Dragon's Hoard, Explore the Desert Ruin, Save the Town from a Cult...

 

[Fenris-77]

I don't actually have a lot of time to GM at the mo as writing and design takes up a big chunk of my gaming time budget. I'm hoping to get a bunch of games run over the summer.

 

[Whisper-Kitten]

I am tired of power gamers.

 

[gnarlygninja]

Oh man, where was this a few weeks ago...
I am completely burnt out on running, to the point that I'm not sure I'll ever do it again which means I'm basically considering exiting the hobby altogether because no one I know will run. I was already mostly out, but Draw Steel got me interested enough to come back and running my friends through MCDM's starter adventure just completely put me out again. The adventure is fine, the problem is my players are just miserable to run for. Getting them to do anything is like pulling teeth and because they're not paying attention usually requires me to repeat things (usually more than once!) before they even understand what's happening.

 

[el-remmen]

Shorter and less frequent sessions + both my groups seeming aversion to using discord or other forms of chat for in-game stuff between sessions means I cannot run as satisfyingly rich campaigns as I did in the late 90s and esp. in the 00s. They are still fun for other reasons, but not as player driven within a broad (but limited) sandbox as they once were, and I miss it.

 

[Deset Gled]

Why not consider running short campaigns. Aim for 5-10 sessions.

Ranting in a totally related by completely different tangent...

Players make it freakin' impossible to estimate how long things are going to take. I can have a huge map that I think it will take the group hours to explore, with secrets and traps and little things everywhere, and they'll walk straight though from the beginning to end in 5 minutes. Like they were magically guided to the exit, avoiding everything.

And other times I can put a giant blinking sign that says "OPEN THIS DOOR TO ENTER THE DUNGEON" and they will spend an entire session doing a hard target search of every tree, bush, bird nest, stump, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse in that area before they even check to see if it's locked.

Aim for 5-10 sessions? More like 2-40!

 

[John Dallman]

I have the opposite problem. Its either a one shot or its gonna be a galaxy/world-spanning campaign that will take 1.5-2 years. No exceptions!

Ah, a medium-term campaign. My favourite campaign as a player was 14 years of monthly sessions. It couldn't have been run weekly: far too much preparation was needed, by the GM and the players.

 

[Whisper-Kitten]

Ranting in a totally related by completely different tangent...

Players make it freakin' impossible to estimate how long things are going to take. I can have a huge map that I think it will take the group hours to explore, with secrets and traps and little things everywhere, and they'll walk straight though from the beginning to end in 5 minutes. Like they were magically guided to the exit, avoiding everything.

And other times I can put a giant blinking sign that says "OPEN THIS DOOR TO ENTER THE DUNGEON" and they will spend an entire session doing a hard target search of every tree, bush, bird nest, stump, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse in that area before they even check to see if it's locked.

Aim for 5-10 sessions? More like 2-40!

That is something that happens to all of us. The best advice that I can give with that is to simply change it up. It's always good to have a lot of extra little quests on the backburner that you can insert into any given area to help in these situations. Have you talked to your group about how they act during the game?