Exchange of Realities

So you’re running game. It’s been six months since your last break. The PCs can’t agree on what they’re doing, the part of the world you’re in needs a lot more detail than you realized and the lack of common objective means you’re not sure which parts to focus on, and the style isn’t what you envisioned. The parts of the world that used to interest you don’t, and creation is turning into too much work. In short, session has gone from fun to a weekly (monthly?) obstacle.

I don’t care what “they” all tell you, this is not normal, and this is definitely not a good thing.

Which brings up the question: What do you do about it?

I’ve known people who would just soldier through in hopes that they could rekindle the old spark; I’ve even done it. Keep running, hope like anything inspiration will come before monotony sets in. But it doesn’t work; if anything, it’s just going to make the game feel like more of a chore, which will decrease enthusiasm further, which will make it harder to create engaging elements, which will bore the players, which will make game seem even more like a chore because you aren’t getting good feedback, which…. well, you get the idea. This way doesn’t usually work. If you must, I strongly recommend looking at my riff on ways to deal with boredom.

Some people just plain take a break. It gives them time to recharge and their players time to learn not to take them for granted. It’s also particularly helpful when dealing with contributing factors eating away at the free time; if you’re ordinarily a meticulous planner but you don’t have time to plan, that’s going to eat into your quality.

Others suggest playing something else, or having someone else run, or both. One of my friends even suggested to me finding an excuse to remove the group from the continuity a bit, and then pairing off players and having each one come up with a session they could run catering to the interests, skills, and ambitions of either another PC or (you don’t think we should have to sit this one out, do you?) one of the NPCs. I’m told this strategy works pretty well, though the players might not react too well to the idea of being put in the hot seat.

In figuring out what strategy to use, there are several questions you might want to ask yourself.

• What about the game isn’t working for you? Basic, but you’d be amazed how many people can’t articulate the answer. Figuring it out might help you choose a strategy.
• What do you usually get out of running? This one is one of the most important in choosing a strategy; a GM whose main draw is the creative process is likelier to do well by taking a break, while one whose emphasis is more on having friends getting together might opt towards playing something else, and one who enjoys playing the NPCs is likelier to favor the out-of-continuity approach.
• How are the rest of the players going to react? Though this isn’t an end-all (after all, sometimes you just gotta take a hiatus, even when they really want to know what happens next), it’s a good thing to take into account. Some of them might react better to different break strategies.

So if you find yourself courting burnout, reject it. There are much better partners out there.