Title says it all. I'm a teenager and my mom seems confused by the time I'm putting into my campaign. I spend about hour and a half to, maybe, 3 hours a day, and that is a BIG maybe. Am I putting too much time or what?
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In the words of the great philosopher, Unicorse, "Aaaannnnd why should I care??"
Best quote from a book ever: "If you love with your eyes, death is forever. If you love with your heart, there is no such thing as parting."- Jonah Cook, Ascendant, Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller. Highly recommend
Don't prep areas that your PCs will not get to within a 2-3 sessions. They may never get there. I spend a bit of time prepping my games, and I don't think 2-3 hours is really that long. Though, I'm not sure you should be doing that everyday. I would prep only the things you need for the next three game sessions. At least think about how much of the stuff you have prepped has made its way into the game.
It really depends. I agree completely with bhthephoenix about not prepping too much, it can really be a waste of time. That said, if it’s fun for you, go for it. Some people really enjoy the sub-hobby of building a world. It may never come up that the shopkeeper’s great-grandmother slew a dragon. It may never matter that you’ve named every street in every town. The PCs may never get near the shoreline, but you’ve decided what color the mud is on the bottom of the great ocean. From a game prep angle, that stuff is not worth the time. But if you find it enjoyable (and you’re still getting good grades 🤨) it can be a fine way to spend your time and a great creative outlet.
Title says it all. I'm a teenager and my mom seems confused by the time I'm putting into my campaign. I spend about hour and a half to, maybe, 3 hours a day, and that is a BIG maybe. Am I putting too much time or what?
I recall having this conversation with my parents a long time ago. Here is what I can tell you about it as an adult and as a parent. Using your brain to do something creative is never a waste of time, the benefits for your brain are the equivalent of what you give your body when you go for a run. It's mental exercise and I promise you that if you do this your whole life, as an adult you will have an enviable skill people will pay top dollar for. I owe my entire career to what I learned from creating and running role-playing games.
I have spent countless hours on my world. There is nothing wrong with dedicating your time to it if you enjoy doing so!
I will usually prep for about 3-4 hours between sessions, for session specifics. However, I have also:
build maps and sets for our games, which are in-person
bought, built, and painted minis
made books for the world - books of folklore, books on skyships, books on hunting - filled them with public domain images and then printed them as booklets, trimmed them, and presented them to the players.
planned dungeons in places they may one day go so that I have them ready
progressed the world around them as they falter, go slowly, or simply as time passes
practiced NPC voices, usually on my way home from work. Other road users probably think I'm mad, but my maniacal laugh is immaculate now.
prepared for if they die. It won't be so simple as "up you get".
prepared lore for the locations where they might go, then fleshed it out if I'm inspired, even if they aren't going to be there in 2-3 sessions.
Drawn & updated a map on a roll of plain wallpaper - which is ideal for such things, by the way, and cheap for a huge sheet of paper!
populated a colossal Obsidian drive (a fantastic piece of software, and free) with hundreds of pages of notes, and over 200k words.
written, drawn-for, and published homebrew (see sig!)
With this hobby, "too much" is a measure of how it's affecting the rest of your life, not a hard quantity. If you have other responsibilities (education, job, pets, family, hygeine etc.) which are being negatively affected, then you're doing too much.
Stay healthy, moderate yourself, and you'll avoid burnout & the other pitfalls of obsession!
The problem isn't that you're spending too much time building your world. The danger is that you're ignoring what your players want. World buildng is fun. It's never a waste of time. But you shouldn't forget your players.
My current has been a work in progress for the better part of this year, and still isn't done. It began as a town and the surrounding forest. Now that the players are leaving the area in planning out a seaside town and a water adventure aboard a pirate ship.
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Title says it all. I'm a teenager and my mom seems confused by the time I'm putting into my campaign. I spend about hour and a half to, maybe, 3 hours a day, and that is a BIG maybe. Am I putting too much time or what?
In the words of the great philosopher, Unicorse, "Aaaannnnd why should I care??"
Best quote from a book ever: "If you love with your eyes, death is forever. If you love with your heart, there is no such thing as parting."- Jonah Cook, Ascendant, Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller. Highly recommend
Don't prep areas that your PCs will not get to within a 2-3 sessions. They may never get there. I spend a bit of time prepping my games, and I don't think 2-3 hours is really that long. Though, I'm not sure you should be doing that everyday. I would prep only the things you need for the next three game sessions. At least think about how much of the stuff you have prepped has made its way into the game.
It really depends. I agree completely with bhthephoenix about not prepping too much, it can really be a waste of time.
That said, if it’s fun for you, go for it. Some people really enjoy the sub-hobby of building a world. It may never come up that the shopkeeper’s great-grandmother slew a dragon. It may never matter that you’ve named every street in every town. The PCs may never get near the shoreline, but you’ve decided what color the mud is on the bottom of the great ocean. From a game prep angle, that stuff is not worth the time. But if you find it enjoyable (and you’re still getting good grades 🤨) it can be a fine way to spend your time and a great creative outlet.
I recall having this conversation with my parents a long time ago. Here is what I can tell you about it as an adult and as a parent. Using your brain to do something creative is never a waste of time, the benefits for your brain are the equivalent of what you give your body when you go for a run. It's mental exercise and I promise you that if you do this your whole life, as an adult you will have an enviable skill people will pay top dollar for. I owe my entire career to what I learned from creating and running role-playing games.
So don't sweat it, do your thing!
I have spent countless hours on my world. There is nothing wrong with dedicating your time to it if you enjoy doing so!
I will usually prep for about 3-4 hours between sessions, for session specifics. However, I have also:
With this hobby, "too much" is a measure of how it's affecting the rest of your life, not a hard quantity. If you have other responsibilities (education, job, pets, family, hygeine etc.) which are being negatively affected, then you're doing too much.
Stay healthy, moderate yourself, and you'll avoid burnout & the other pitfalls of obsession!
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The problem isn't that you're spending too much time building your world. The danger is that you're ignoring what your players want. World buildng is fun. It's never a waste of time. But you shouldn't forget your players.
My current has been a work in progress for the better part of this year, and still isn't done. It began as a town and the surrounding forest. Now that the players are leaving the area in planning out a seaside town and a water adventure aboard a pirate ship.