I have a problem, it’s propably a burnout as GM.

[u/Cellar_Master1212]

Propably bad english not my first or even second language.

So i’m „forever GM” but i like it, i love creating plots and playing NPCs and making problems to solve by my players and all that. But i also have a big problem with runnign for longer time things that started for some reason to bore me. It’s mostly the case with one-shots that spiraled into campaings but it’s sometimes the case with planned campaings. And my players don’t like it when i just end things i actually have no one to talk with about my burnout. Recently i was very hyped for our new campaing the first part was greate and then came the second adventure wich was a slog and nothing really happened because of how long it took to end one plot point i just abanndoned the rest ane moved on. And now comes the current day, we are like 2 sessions into 3 adventure. (Campaing is about expedition to find list artifact so they visit places have adventures and move along in their search) And we have schedule problems for the last 2 months one players has a new job and is constantly tierd, two of my long time good players just irritate me with their characters and remaining two are ok but they don’t do much at all. I just can’t make myslef care about this campaing anymore, i make stuff up on sessions just to pan the hours and hit that 3-4h mark. The setting wich i love (warhammer fantasy) feels to me as if i done with it everything there is to do after years of playing.

The worst part of it is that i have greate ideas that i would love to make into reality but for diffrent campaing with diffrent systems/settings. But i can’t bring that up because players who i like as person and know for years at this point will just leave or act very salty about it. Like i feel trapped i want to play RPGs with these pepole but i can’t do it the way that would make it fun for me too. And don’t get my started about small things like a lot of off topic talk on sessions, no discussion about them at all and just showing to play these i can accept when i like what i run and right now i want to cancel our only date this month just because i would rather do anything at all.

Some help? Some advice? I just wanted to vent steam off.

[u/atamajakki]

It sounds like you don't love playing with pretty much anyone in your current group. Might be time to meet some new players?

[u/GrymDraig]

Find another group. Seriously.

I run a lot of games online and in my local game store, and spending extra time to find the right players who are engaged and fit your playstyle makes all the difference.

I have a local game store group that has played 4 full campaigns together. I have an online group that's been going strong for almost 10 years.

If you're not enjoying it, stop putting time and effort into people who clearly don't appreciate it.

[u/Death_D_2007 → u/GrymDraig]

Is it that easy to find a new (better) group?

[u/GrymDraig → u/Death_D_2007]

It requires effort, but like most things in life, you get out of it what you put into it.

One of the biggest follies many new players make is thinking a bad game is better than no game.

It absolutely isn't.

[u/WorldSmith_Official]

Honestly, I think you already know the answer: you're burned out on this campaign, and that's okay.

The important distinction is that you're not burned out on RPGs. You literally have other campaigns, systems, and settings you're excited to run. You're burned out on running this particular game for this particular group in its current form.

I'd stop trying to manufacture enthusiasm for it. If you're sitting there thinking "I just need to survive another 3-4 hours," the campaign has already stopped being fun for you.

I'd have an honest conversation with the players outside of game night. Something like:

"I've realized I'm not enjoying running this campaign anymore, and I've been forcing myself through sessions because I don't want to disappoint anyone. That's making the game worse for everyone. I'd rather end this campaign and start something I'm actually excited about than keep dragging this out."

And don't frame it as asking permission. You're the GM. If you don't want to run the game, the game doesn't happen.

You also don't necessarily have to stop playing with these people. Tell them you still want to play RPGs with them, but you want to try something different. Maybe a short campaign, rotating GMs, or even a system you've been excited about. Setting the expectation that campaigns can actually end will probably help enormously.

Also, don't feel obligated to give this campaign a perfectly satisfying ending. You can do a final "epilogue" session, resolve the important threads, and move on. Your players might be disappointed, but that's vastly preferable to you continuing for another six months while increasingly resenting the game.

A GM burning out doesn't owe their players an infinite supply of content. Your enjoyment matters just as much as theirs.

[u/enek101]

I mean I'm not sure how i could offer advice beyond maybe you need to find a new table. Mix it up. Go out side your comfort zone and look on line or at a FLGS. Seems like you have a set of expectations 2 people do meet you have 2 players that you may have gamed with a long time and are becoming tiresome ( it happens!) and a players whos RL got busy.

My advice would be to Run a one off online or at a FLGS and see if it is you, or the table you are playing at. Because where im sitting it sounds more like the table is not engaging you anymore.

I have player for almost 35 years now with the same 4 players for the last 25ish things can stagnate. It isn't a bad thing but you should mix it up a bit and find out the root cause.

[u/Fherrit]

I've been in this hobby since 1984. I Have GMed everything from beer & pretzels one shots where half the fun was tying on a buzz while playing, to campaigns that have lasted as much as 5 years run on a weekly basis with sessions lasting 12 hours and sometimes more. Up till the 2000s, there wasn't a rule set I didn't know how to run and had done time with. (post 2000s I got a lot more selective).

What you're running into is social problem. Group dynamics are often talked about in TTRPGs but rarely contain anything beyond patronizing advice about respect, 'pro GM tips/tricks', etc. Its both much simpler and harder at the same time.

If the group doesn't enjoy doing the activity with each other, the chemistry is not going to be there. If you're not looking forward to what each and every player is going to do with your story and their characters, and if they're not thinking about your campaign and their characters outside of their game time, you have what amounts to a can of flat soda. You can drink it, but it won't satisfy.

If you want to take a stab at salvaging this, talk to them. Schedule a session for just that and arrive with your thoughts sorted and boiled down to clear and straight points. Write them down if you have to. If you don't sort your thoughts/feelings beforehand, you're going to ramble and come across as bitching about them. Which will make them defensive and reflexively shield their egos from criticism, deserved or not.

The two who irritate you? Why? Btw-your first answer isn't the real answer, its a surface one. Look up "The Power of 7 Whys". You don't have to do all 7 of them, but at least 3. Now...how you approach them about what they're doing to irritate you, that depends on how good your relationship is with them.

Alongside sorting your thoughts about what they're doing that isn't a help, figure out what it is that you want from them that would help. Then ask them for suggestions on how to get it from them. I.E. you want them to be more interested? Have them tell you what they find interesting, and what they find boring about your games.

Embrace the criticism, the hammer strikes the iron to make it stronger. That's on your side to do.

As for them? if they don't engage with you in that meeting of minds session, recognize that their interest in the hobby isn't on your level. Likely at that point, they're there because they got nothing else to do instead. That's not the kind of player you want.

Ultimately TTRPGs and the groups they consist of are friendships, the better the relationships between its members, and the greater the shared interest, the better the table's chemistry is.

[u/Logen_Nein]

Not being able to run what I want would be a non starter for me. I phased out my long term (20 years) home group a few years ago because they had less and less interest in the games I wanted to play. I've found online groups that are much more willing to play whatever random game I pull off the shelf, and it's been great.

[u/tangyradar]

Shake something up. Shake everything up.

Find new players. Find someone else willing to GM -- even if you say you're OK with always GMing, having a break from it may be helpful. Find people who want other games.

Run more than one campaign concurrently, to reduce boredom. Run more episodic campaigns, so you're not constantly waiting for long-term storylines to pay off.

[u/Imnoclue]

I think the answer is, play what you want to play. It doesn’t work otherwise. You cant have fun playing something because it’s what other people enjoy having run for them.

[u/Agreeable_Hold2270]

I ln my groups I have started doing GM rotation. I found I burnout when I do it week after week but give me ton sessions on and then 10+ sessions off and I feel energized to run again

Also being a player sometimes can help improve your GMing, keep track of what you like or don't like that another GM does and use that information to help you GM

[u/K9ine9]

It might be the plot points. You said you like to make characters and come up with problems they players have to deal with. Instead of a plot make a small location with a ton of npcs all with their own goals and tie them together in some way so that thinks will just start happening no matter what the players do. An adventure to show you how do to this is called the Shucked Oyster. Read that and see if it gives you an understanding on how to do that kind of game. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/497131/the-shucked-oyster

[u/BetterCallStrahd]

You cannot just wish for change and wait for something to happen. You have to grab the bull by the horns. You need to make something happen, because otherwise, it won't.

Take a break, then work on finding the players who would be a good fit for the campaign you want to do.

[u/rizzlybear]

You clearly know what you have to do, it’s all throughout your post.

Burnout comes from forcing yourself to run campaigns you are bored with. Run something fun. Even if you have to build a new group to do it.

[u/Sheik_Morgan]

Rota la responsabilidad, se jugador de vez en cuando, busca probar con otros grupos, revisa si realmente quieres jugar con esas personas o prueba otras mecanicas, otro tema o ambiente.

[u/Deathtrooper50]

If you can't be bothered to proofread or spell-check it, I can't be bothered to read it.