GM burnout

[zen_hydra]

Greetings,

I am suffering from a problem, and hope that one of you can give me some advice. Here is the situation. Though I have been playing RPG's for many, many years, in the last couple of them work, school, and circumstance have kept me from playing. I (like many) am a bibliophile, and I have always been someone to buy new games, and supplements whenever I can, and I love to pass my idle hours away working on material for various campaigns I intend to run "one of these days." So, recently I find myself in a position to run a game of Champions, and I have worked up a game setting with all sorts of details and NPC's, but when we play I find that the old inspiration is all gone. I can't find the proper motivation to deliver anything more than the flattest, most uninspired lines of dialog. I find that I am unable/unwilling to lead the PC's through transitional scenes, and mundane minutia. I am unhappy with this situation, but don't know how to fix it. I feel like I am out of inspiration, and/or my imagination has left me for someone else. So, has anyone experienced a problem like this, and if so how did you get out of the slump?

[Blue]

Man that's tough. All I could do to try and recover after an 8 year layoff from running a hero game was to read some comics. I used to be able to alter all of the scenarios on the fly to setup something big for next time and I wasn't sure I'd still have that touch. Not sure I do, for that matter. All I could do is read some comics... in this case some very old stuff I had stowed away... stuff that inspired me when I was a teen.

 

I guess all I can say is you need to get in touch with what it was that so motivated you to run this in the first place and figure out what's different about the game now from when you used to run.

[Acroyear]

Sounds like you plan your stuff, details, possible angles, etc...

 

Know what? You spent too much time working out the background and all that. Seriously. You burned out the creative energy on setting rather than adventure/execution.

 

Try to be more on the fly. When you have an idea... don't develop it! Just bring the idea to the table and let it develop in play.

 

This is why many authors do not discuss what they are currently writing, only what they have already written. Why? That energy should go into the execution of the story... not wasted by chit-chat about it. The same kind of thing applies to being a GM for a game.

[MarkusDark]

I found that finding other avenues of entertainment tend to help recharge the ol' batteries. For me, it is in playing live action fantasy games. I have found that by playing in these, it gives me inspiration to work on my sit down. And when I play sit down, it inspires me to work on my live action.

 

Other such avenues could be a really cool series on TV you like (mine is Star Gate). Or even movies.

[winterhawk]

Originally posted by Acroyear

Try to be more on the fly. When you have an idea... don't develop it! Just bring the idea to the table and let it develop in play.

 

Absolutely! Some of the most enjoyable sessions I've had were "OK, this group of villains is going to try and steal X, let's see what happens".

 

Originally posted by MarkusDark

Other such avenues could be a really cool series on TV you like (mine is Star Gate). Or even movies.

 

Another good suggestion. I'm a big Law and Order fan and have adapted a few of their episodes before.

 

Other ramblings...look at all the NPCs, villains, background you've created a 2nd time. Sometimes another look will inspire you.

 

How's about player writeups? Maybe someone has similar hunteds? DNPCs with a common theme? Similar Origins?

 

All I can say is I can sympathize with you, although my temporary retirement was more malaise with dealing with a few of my players. Hard to create stories for someone who don't want them created.

[Patriot]

It seemes to me that you have studied yourself,...it may be time to look at your players

 

One or 2 players can signifiganly Shred your moral if:

They are acting like total idiots(stupider than they should in character,worse then normal out of character)

Continuiosly breaking game with Out of game info(oh, by the way any one try that new sushi place?)

And My Most hated, Falling asleep when its not there turn

 

Unfortunately , Docking points just seems to make the first one worse.

And telling them you've been playing the same campaign for 12 years (or what ever) and have rarely if ever fallen asleep(I came to game once with the flu,yes I fell asleep) usually gets a blank stare

 

I feel your pain!

[DrSavant]

GM Burnout

 

Actually it sounds like you have been doing alot of intense work (which usually leads to burn out). Try a change of pace.

Maybe a Dream Sequence? Or a Silliness adventure? Maybe even a Danger Room session? I'm sure that the players need this as much as you do to relieve the stress.

Have the players meet your favorite cartoon character, (Bugs Bunny is always a good one.) Or maybe "ZORBO the radioactive giant chicken is loose....again"

For a break in the tension I had the PC's enter the world of "Bicycle Repairman" (from Monty Python). They all had their powers but NO skills, laughter was the keyword there.

Maybe just an ordinary day?? I had a character who had invited his PC/Hero friends to his 40th birthday party. No having to save the world, stop villian X, rescue (insert name).

HOLIDAY episode (as above). I GM'd a Christmas party once, it was fun as everyone tried to get just the right gift. (Great opportunity for new foci (TOYS!!!) The best part was the laughs I got from the players when they got gifts from the NPC in the group who had "NO SENSE OF HUMOR (total)"

[Burnout]

I know the feeling

 

Take a look at my handle and you know I've been down this road before.

 

I have EXACTLY the same problem zen_hydra. I have been GMing a D&D group for the past 4 years and I relished making story plots, interesting NPCs and Locales. About a month ago we started up a new campaign, and my heart just wasn't in it. I wanted out, BAD.

 

What people are saying is 100% correct. Take a step back and don't plan. Make the bad guys, come up with a location and then have fun. The thing I forgot, first and foremost, is that players want to have FUN. I got so wrapped up in my own stories that the fun-factor was no longer important to me. So to take a break, I am going to (hopefully) be GMing a Champions adventure in the near future. It will be a campy romp in a Freedom Force inspired world.

 

Oh the days of Bad Guys being bad and the Good Guys being good!

 

However as a side note, players can also be a contributing factor to GM Burnout. I have one player who pouts because his stats get drained (wuss) and another who has all the creative thinking of a turnip. Still another that insists on using 21st century speech in a high-fantasy world. I'm sorry, but the Red Wizard doesn't know what a "Dude" is, let alone a "Phat Ride".

[winterhawk]

Originally posted by Patriot

And My Most hated, Falling asleep when its not there turn

 

I feel your pain!

 

Man, I can't actually believe this is has happened to someone else. The player's best friend and I gently asked Sleeping Beauty 'to take a few weeks off, to catch up on his sleep'. He never came back.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Yeah, we've got two "sleepers" in our current group, and I played for years with another. It would be one thing if the game was boring and putting them to sleep, but it seems (to me, anyway) that it's not all that related to how interesting the game is...

[Patriot]

sleepers

 

My sleeper is not sick in anyway

Has no kids

and only works 40 hours a week

 

He just cant handle the focus not being on him.

[zornwil]

Originally posted by winterhawk

Man, I can't actually believe this is has happened to someone else. The player's best friend and I gently asked Sleeping Beauty 'to take a few weeks off, to catch up on his sleep'. He never came back.

 

Sleepers are common. I don't think it should be interpreted as a lack of interest, just tiredness. In my former group back east one guy worked insane hours so often had trouble staying awake in games - or other casual social events. We just rolled with it. If he was easily roused, no problem, if he was falling into a real sleep his character took off or we ended that session.

[zen_hydra]

Thanks for all the great advice. I think you are all pretty much right. I have talked with my players, and instead of an intense, in-depth storyline where there is background, and defined motivation for everything, we are going to just play in a generic comic book setting with an established precedent for people to dress up in spandex and act in a melodramatic fashion. Instead of beating my brain to try and make the team a newly established taskforce for the Dep. of Homeland Defense (with all of the politics and bureaucracy), we will just be another X Men type super team with no motivation other than stopping the super-threats because no one else can. Maybe after falling back on the common conventions of the superhero/comic genre I can get my "juice" back. Again, thanks for all the encouragement.

[Blue]

Sleepers!

 

I wasn't aware this was actually standard equipment for a gaming group! We have one too. This guy has tried everything; Drinking lots of Starbucks, Every strange vitamin or organic supplement you can think of.

 

GM: (Calls out the name of the character)

GM: (Repeats)

Three players call the player's name

PLAYER: "What happened now?"

 

Every game. Sometimes many, many times a game.

[MarkusDark]

Last sleeper at one of my games was me, the GM

[Prometheus]

Sometimes you just need to step away from GM duties for a while and get some rest. Don't be so hard on yourself- slumps are part of the creative process.

 

Getting some time in on the other side of the GM's screen is a good change of pace. Having people rely on a constant stream of creativity from you can be draining, and being on the other side can be a nice change of pace. Is their anyone else in the group who could run something for a little while?

[Barton]

my 2 cents

 

I have found that being able to PLAY (as a player) in a game is good way to recharge. It worked for me.

[zen_hydra]

I wish that I was in a position where I could just be a player. Alas, if there is to be a game at all with my current group, I will have to run it. I only recently moved here to San Antonio, and haven't been able to round up any players experienced enough to GM a Champions game (or any game for that matter). Another problem is that my group of players is lacking in type A personalities (at least while playing), so I feel like I am always having to push the scenes along. No one really takes the initiative to act, plan, or do mutch of anything without some degree of prompting. It's a very frustrating situation.

[Jhaierr]

It's nice to know that other people have had problems with sleepers in their games! It happened once to me and I was a little disappointed, but now I know that's it's not so uncommon.

 

It looks like there are lots of people out there with tons of sleep debt!

[MarkusDark]

Another tactic to help with GM Burnout

 

I find that when I begin to 'burn out', I just lose my taste for the flavor of the game. It begins to get stale - make villians, fly, shoot, go on. Many times I will write up an adventure with really cool story intentions and they will get lost or I will have trouble finding real motivations for the villians.

 

The way that I correct all of this is that I write Post Game scenes. These are usually just a page in length and they detail what is happening "On the other side" after the PC's have done their work. They help me to develop stream of conciousness flows to create the next adventure, bring in new areas that I hadn't thought about and give me something to refer back to if things start to seem to go awry.

 

I even let my playerss read them as it helps them to see the consequences of their actions that their characters are unaware of. Luckily, I have a good group of players that don't take advantage of this information.

 

I was stuck for new ideas then read my post game wrapup from the first 'episodes' I ran - and now I have found enough stuff to do another 6 games with and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

[rayoman]

I played DnD with a group of people when I was stationed in Iceland. We were all military of some sort (mainly, Navy and Airforce). We had this big room that we could all spread out in. 1 to 2 people per table and the DM stood at a bar that was high enough to hide all his information and wide enough to hold all of his stuff. We would start playing as soon as the DM got off work and ate dinner on a Friday. We stopped Sunday afternoon. This would be non-stop or only stop to take short breaks. If you feel asleep then your guy became the official party door opener and chest opener. It sometimes sucked when the player woke back up to find his guy dead. :-) However, everyone knew the pitfalls of falling asleep.

 

 

 

 

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth

Yeah, we've got two "sleepers" in our current group, and I played for years with another.

[zen_hydra]

That is seriously HARDCORE. I like sleep too much to ever do anything like that.

[MoonHunter]

Oh man.. do I know GM block

 

I had a case of GM block that was soo bad, I could not GM for nearly a year and was going through the motions playing. I came up with the following tips on resolving GM Block...

 

(These tips were first posted on http://www.openroleplaying.org.'>http://www.openroleplaying.org. Please do not repost these tips without giving credit to the site. sorry, they make me say this.)

 

GM's Block:

GM's block is a serious problem in the roleplaying world. Nothing stops a campaign faster than a burned out GM, except maybe unhappy players. Signs of burn out are a) lack of enthusiasm for your own play, throwing the same old plots at your players time and time again, c) seeing your scenarios fall flat on a regular basis, d) not finding a new hook or thing to do in your campaign, e) players expressing dissatisfaction about the game which they never have before.

 

Most people have a time of day when they're the most creative. Do your brainstorming then. Try going without sleep for a while. Two o'clock in the morning is usually the time when the brain is least reasonable. You can come up with great ideas (or simply crazy ones) that can be added together with other random thoughts. Always leave a notebook and pencil by your bedside. You might wake up with a new approach that can get you started again.

 

Read! I've been burned out before, and reading new things always reawakens my imagination. I read fantasy books to stimulate my creativity, but any genre will work. They do not have to game related fiction. In fact, books of a type you never normally read are best for inspiring you.

 

You can get ideas from movies. Watch movies with different themes. A western can give you ideas completely different from ideas inspired by a martial arts movie. Get ideas from dramas, mysteries, suspense, horror, whatever. Reading and watching movies may have some feature that might provide the spark of inspiration from which a campaign might be born.

 

Use your eyes. Artwork, both fine and graphic, are great sources of inspiration. You can get ideas from a painting of the countryside, a castle, or maybe just a portrait. Flip through your books and see what kind of artwork is in them. I recommend the annual Spectrum book series as the best inspiration art book of all time.

 

If it does not work one way, try another. Consider switching to another campaign setting or system. A new setting may be a refreshing break from the standard things your players are used to. If you play Fantasy all the time, use a different section of your brain and try a science fiction game. Sometimes you really need a break from the usual. A change is definitely required if you're out of ideas on a topic.

 

Sometimes you need some help to get over the rough spots in your creative drought. Don't be afraid to read and borrow stuff from others. Take ideas and add them together. Role playing magazines always have little things that help a GM, and they can be scoured for ideas you could use.

 

Review your previous work. It might help to go looking through some of your old material. Look back at other things you have written, and try revising it to fit your current campaign. Update and modify it to fit your current tastes. Also, the players may react differently to a situation than another group of players. If they do, this will get you thinking on a different line.

 

Try developing different parts of a campaign that you haven't already. See what the players could explore, be it physical, emotional or spiritual. Try a moral dilemma instead of your normal court intrigue or combat. Take the group to a new part of your world as yet unexplored. An invasion from space will always take a game in new directions.

 

Ask a friend who is not involved in your current campaign read over your work. Talk about it and see what ideas he or she has that can be integrated. There is no such thing as bad constructive criticism. If the friend doesn't like something about it, change it or make it better. Listen to their comments and suggestions no matter how negative they are regarding your work. After all, you don’t have a better idea… at this time.

 

If you can, try writing a little short story or stories. Make your brain work in a different way. Put something down, anything. Make it small. Start in the middle or write just a piece of it. Make an outline. Think creatively about something unrelated. Spend time just sitting quietly day dreaming. Take a break. Give up for awhile and do something different. Most likely you are burned out because you are overworked. Enjoy some down time to rest your brain. Curl up with a good book and let yourself drift to a different place.

 

writing small pieces of information or creative thought. These could be one lines of scene description, three sentences describing the organization of a religion, the fast write up for an NPC, some game mechanics that when a piece of description added could be a new monster, or even a game tip. Once you can begin to write things down, they can inspire you to move on to other things.

 

Sometimes there are physical reasons for why you are not feeling creative. Try to make sure you are getting enough quality sleep, taking in a little exercise, and limiting the amount of chemical modifiers you are taking (caffeine and nicotine being the biggest contributors). If you have any physical ailments, try to get them resolved. You can't do your best when you don't feel your best.

 

The hardest part of being creative is "the starting". Try taking pieces of the middle of what you want to do, then go back and work on the beginning.

 

Sometimes you just need a change of pace. Trying going someplace new, or just different, from where you normally go. The change of location may help you to dislodge the GM's block.

 

As you are working through a case of GM block or GM burnout, make sure to inform your players that you are blocked. Sometimes this is in the form of an apology for the games you have been running. This way they know about your issue and can adjust. Sometimes they can even help.

 

 

MoonHunter

Sage, Gamer, Mystic, Wit

"The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."

Now posting 1100+ RPG tips @ http://www.openroleplaying.org

[CrosshairCollie]

Burn out ...

 

I feel this pain, too. I'm virtually wallowing in it. My group meets every week (barring emergencies, etc), and I run 2.5-3 of them. Not just Champions, but always something. Superheroics is my favorite genre, but I'm always running it, never playing it. The rest of the 'core' group ...

Player A: My wife. Not particularly proficient with the Hero System. Tried it before, but had trouble 'prepping' villains and NPCs.

Player B: Too insecure to run *anything*.

Player C: Superheroes aren't his 'thing', though he still plays and has fun. Runs the other 1-1.5 times, fantasy genre.

Player D: Just not that good at running. He's improving, but he can't grasp the character creation system of Silver Age Sentinels d20, so Hero System is a bit beyond him. I actually find Hero creation easier because you don't have those PMV/Progression tables to reference constantly, but that's me. But I digress.

 

I'm about ready to just say, 'I'm not running for a month, someone else do it'.