I recently came to the conclusion that I am suffering from burnout. The negatives of DMing are outweighing the positives and I just need to step away.

My group is currently in the middle of a adventure that will end with them facing the BBEG (who they will likely lose to since he is was more powerful) within 2-3 sessions. The plan was that after the face off, they would need to go gather more strength in order to come back and win. 

My dilemma is that I am afraid if I tell them too soon they won’t enjoy the sessions leading up to this encounter as much but on the other hand, I feel like I owe it to them to be honest and give them some heads up as to how I am feeling. 

How have you all dealt with informing your group that the burnout is real?

There's nothing wrong with taking a break from playing! Everyone gets burnt out eventually, there's no harm in that. 

But honestly, burnout can happen for more reasons than just chronic DM (which I totally understand, being the chronic DM in my group). I was playing as a character in someone else's game, and I felt like I had just lost inerest in dnd. I hated it, and even though the DM is a close friend of mine, I had to leave b/c it was becoming more of a chore than a game. But the thing is, I realized that it was just that group, and his style of DMing, that I didn't enjoy. I played in other games and enjoyed myself greatly.

My point is this: I'm not saying this to provoke unkind thoughts in others, but perhaps something about the group is causing you to feel this way?

imo, you should stop as soon as its no longer fun for you - which, unless you're getting paid, is the only reason to DM. Doesn't matter if you're in hte middle of something. Ask if someone else wants to take over. If not, clap your hands, wave them, and call it day.  You really don't owe them for entertaining them and giving them your time for months.

In the groups that I've played in, the following have happened.  No one complained or objected.

• I need to take a week off.  Let's play board games next session.
• I need a break.  Can someone else run for a few weeks?

Just tell everyone that you need a break from being the DM.  

I can understand wanting to get to an “end” point so that if/when you feel ready you can pick it back up. I would probably do the same as running a homebrew campaign and I would think it especially hard to take over (especially if temporarily!). 

I would maybe consider moving the BBEG fight up, or changing plans slightly to end it sooner, and just discuss it with the group at the end of the final session.

If you have burnout, you should stop.

If you think this needs to be long-term, then I would try to find a way to end the campaign. Let the final BBEG fight be the end rather than a disaster from which they need to recover. Down-convert the BBEG so they can beat him.

I would also tell them now. Don't spring it on them at the end.

I think the sooner you can share this with your players the better. 

Also, since groups differ, it might be a good time to re-examine what "being the DM" means for your group and whether or not you need one or more of the players to step up, and either try DMing so you can take a break, or just take on more of the work of running your campaign. For example, do you:

• Schedule play time and get everyone together?

• Handle the role of hosting/entertaining for the evening, getting snacks and drinks and prepping to host ( assuming you play in person, I know most people are playing digitally right now)?

• Run the combats like keeping track of initiative and so on?

• Provide a recap to the players / or kick things off every session? 

• Be the adult in the room when people are getting rowdy/distracted? 

Because that's a lot on top of arranging combats, plot, riddles, puzzles, maps and NPCs. Maybe getting one other player to "co-host" with you and take care of the non-story production would help you find the fun in the game again. 

I would also take some time ( maybe your down time ), to figure out why you feel you are burning out.

Dealing with the immediate fallout of feeling burned out is just the first step.

I don't know what are the "negatives" which are "outweighing the positives" here, but I believe that most burnout comes from feeling that a disproportionate amount of work pushed onto the GM with very little being taken on by the Players, and/or having conflicts within the Party as to what makes up an enjoyable game and what they want to see in the campaign. 

If one or both of these is a cause, both are correctable. Work can be offloaded onto the Players, and in the age of the Internet you can ( theoretically ) populate your sessions with people who want the same thing out of the game. If no one is willing to spread the workload around, you're back to having the wrong kind of Players at your table. 

Hey all, thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it.

At this point, it is feeling like it should be a long term thing in terms of stepping down. I’m not too concerned about someone jumping in to fill the position as I have a few players who have been DMing with different groups and I’m sure they will jump at the chance. That said, it will likely be in a completely new setting as I am using a home brew world.

I appreciate the help and reassurance about being burned out. Thanks again!

Congratulations on stepping down for awhile. 

Been gaming for 40 years, 35 as a GM. Sometimes you need to be a player for awhile to enjoy the game again. You can try to once or twice a year do a "beer and pretzels"  run for short and overpowered adventures to stay fresh. This is also a chance to explore new types of rpgs, like White Wolf, space campaigns, or heroic modern day adventures. 

Quote from Vedexent >>

I believe that most burnout comes from feeling that a disproportionate amount of work pushed onto the GM with very little being taken on by the Players...

Work can be offloaded onto the Players. 

 
I think these are good points. A large proportion of burnout comes from the workload. And some work can be offloaded to players but certainly not all. Some things just have to be taken care of by the DM.

But also, sometimes as a DM you just long to be on the other side, playing just one character, delving that character's depths, and not having to care about anything else. As someone who was part of a rotating GM group, then perma-GM'ed, this is what got me. Sometimes I wanted to just play.

I think in an idea world, I'd alternate weeks between DMing my own game, and playing in a different one -- maybe it'd even be better if it's a totally different group of players. just to get that change of pace and be on the player side sometimes.

There are absolutely "DM only" tasks: adjudicator, Adventure designer,  designer-and-runner-of-NPCs, wrangler of pace & dramatic tension, set & scene designer, etc.

However, I think Web DM has a very good episode on Player Roles, which can be useful. The Caller, The Chronicler, and the Mapper - if they're competent - can take huge loads off of the DM, as can the Rules Lawyer. Even the Treasurer/Quartermaster is of use, although their inclusion is more to the Party's benefit than the DM. 

I also would note Matt Colville's video on the possibility of a Player "monster wrangler". That one is less plausible, IMO, but not impossible.

If one moves to the Adam Koebel style of "Player Goal" milestones model for experience ( Players set personal/Party goals for their Characters - drawn from past events in the Campaign, their Concept, or their Backstories; the DM assigns XP milestones for that Character based on the complexity of the goal; and XP are awarded to that Character and those that aided them, when that goal is accomplished, regardless of how it was accomplished, and only for accomplishing those goals ) then large swathes of the Campaign design can even be Player/Character driven - although I would think that most DMs would still dangle DM-created adventure hooks and situations in front of the Party for them to latch onto as Goals. I like Campaign design too much; I don't mind sharing the Plot, but I wouldn't relinquish it completely. Still - plot threads that originate from the Players/Characters can easily take over the side-plots part of the Campaign.

Depending on style, all those things can help. But "Adventure designer,  designer-and-runner-of-NPCs, wrangler of pace & dramatic tension, set & scene designer," -- that stuff alone can cause burnout, even if the players are doing all those other things.

Take the time off as soon as you can. Just tell the players that you need a break for a bit. They will understand. 

Rest. Do something NOT DnD.

One of the best breaks for me when I was a GM was to be a player in a different RPG. If you are GMing D&D, then take a break from GMing and be a player in a Champions campaign or something like that.

I feel ya with the burnout. The campaign that I run has been going for nearly 2 years now and the group is only a level or 2 away from 20 with the end in sight. This has been every Sunday with only a handful of canceled games. Like only 5 or 6 at the most.  Sometimes I just want to work in a way to cut it short but I feel that I would be cheating my players and I don't want to do that. The game is very entertaining. Still though, all the prep I put into the game is wearing on me. I intend on finishing up this campaign, but once its over Im going to take a break for a bit. Sure, I wont be away for long. I figure ill give it about 3 months before I jump back in. I have no doubt I will end up working on some content for a new campaign during that time. It would be more of a logbook of ideas. Some maps perhaps, but thats about it. I might do a oneshot now and then with anyone from my current campaign. The oneshots could be used to develop the next campaign. I was considering just running oneshots for a while before getting into another long game.

If I'm not just totally burned out, I'd try to arrange a last session that's a good stopping point (and maybe a plausible campaign end -- often things don't get picked back up again). Thus, I'd probably arrange for the BBEG fight to actually a good stopping point (and heck, just don't pull your punches; a TPK is always a classic way to end a campaign). I'd warn the players ahead of time, in part because it will give other people with an interest in DMing a chance to do some prep.

I've suffered a burn-out from work. After 8 years still not fully recovered. You will have to re-evaluate everything in your life. You'll never be able to do the same things with the same passion, drive and energy anymore. In short... Do not wait. Tell people immediately when you're getting overwhelmed and burned out. Stop doing what you're doing. **** whatever kind of pressure and responsibilities are placed on you. Those are no longer important anymore seeing the long lasting damage that will come from it. It is better to lose your job and relationships in the short term if it comes to having to make such a decision.

Same applies to everything else. If you feel that with being a DM... then stop DM'ing untill you feel better again. Or stop DM'ing entirely if you need to. Be upfront with your players. Transparency and honesty is important in everything. **** everything else. Beating around the bush won't get you anywhere and will just prolong the shit that is going on. The sooner you acknowledge what is going on, the sooner you communicate it...the sooner you can take steps to fix it.

As others already stated. Drop the BBEG down in difficulty and have it appear in the next session. And create a fitting end to it all so your players feel good about it. Then leave it behind. If you do feel up for resuming the campaign you can do so with a fresh slate. However if you're feeling really burned out... then stop right now and don't even do that last session.