My general observation is you should just step back and ask if someone else would be the DM for a while. It will give you a break from the routine, will allow you to relax a little and may provide you with some new ideas for making campaign ideas.
And on top of this... if you're a good DM, your players may come to appreciate your DMing style and abilities if they spend a little while with someone else, whose style may not be as comfortable to them as yours.
This happened to me. I GMed Champions for ~3 years nonstop while in college. Except for one break in the summer when a friend who was getting ready to graduate and go to college (he was younger than the rest of us) asked to GM for a while. He made up his own campaign world (alternate earth) but unbeknownst to the rest of the players, we planned that at the end of the summer, he would start a crossover that would end with the characters transferring to my world, and I would finish the crossover (this allowed the players to continue their characters after he left, if they wanted -- albeit in an alternate world from where they started).
Well, he was a nice guy and all, but he was not a great GM. He didn't balance battles well, so often times it was either a walkover, or an impossible fight (and not intentionally). He was not interested in drawing out detailed maps (necessary in Champions because heroes can pick up and throw things, get knocked back into things, etc). He would just give us a blank hex map with walls drawn in freehand (no ruler -- just a hand drawn box on hex paper). And he did not have the knack for making his villains interestingly malevolent -- they were mostly just bags of stun and body (= hit points). He ran this campaign through May, June, July. Then in early August the heroes stepped through a dimensional rift into my world, and mid session, he called me up to the screen and we switched places.
There were cheers when I took over. I kind of felt bad for him because it wasn't very nice, but the players were all like, "Yes! We finally get a good GM again."
My point is -- GMing is harder than it looks from the other side of the screen. My players had been spoiled by all the work I do, and taken it for granted -- until they spent 2+ months with a GM who didn't do all that work and prep. They thought I was arbitrary and inflexible, until they played for 2+ months with a GM who didn't know the rules as well as I did, and was actually arbitrary (whereas I was usually just applying the rules as written) and far more stubborn than I ever was.
And the other GM, well... he had been the guy who used to complain the most about my GMing, until he did it for 2+ months. When he was done he said, "I dunno how you have done this for 2 years" (it was the 2nd of the 3 year stint I did). And he also said, "I dunno how you put up with these guys" (the players) -- because they were driving him up the wall.
In the end both he, and the rest of the players, developed a much greater appreciation for the level of work and dedication I had to the game and saw just how much I was working to keep it fun for everyone -- because they saw what it was like when a GM, well... doesn't.
I'm not saying, btw, that you should hope the other DM is a failure. But just that, your players may have come to take your style and your hard work for granted, and they may like those things without realizing they like them, until they see what it is like under the thumb of a different DM, whose style and work level may not be as suitable to them.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
The one thing that hurts me the most as a DM is when my players say that they wish the campaign to be over... granted when we play a session we go for at least 12 hours. but it really hurts my feelings when i would love to have a campaign go for a year or 2 long but when the second month comes around my players tell me that they are bored and want to start something new...
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“Games give you a chance to excel, and if you're playing in good company you don't even mind if you lose because you had the enjoyment of the company during the course of the game.” ― Gary Gygax
The one thing that hurts me the most as a DM is when my players say that they wish the campaign to be over... granted when we play a session we go for at least 12 hours. but it really hurts my feelings when i would love to have a campaign go for a year or 2 long but when the second month comes around my players tell me that they are bored and want to start something new...
Wow I am just the opposite, the longer the better. 4 year campaign? I'm in!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
@DMsven think you've gotten a load of excellent advice here already... think the aim is to get enjoyment from your hobby again rather then having it be a chore that it currently seems to be and probably your best bet for this is to play with people you like and appreciate you ie friends...
Other then that it would be really interesting and generally very useful if you could do a follow up in a couple of weeks on what changes you've made if any and what has helped or not
wishing you all the best
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“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
As a player I am the same way... the longest campaign I ever played probably lasted 3 months... I really want to dig deep in a character and be invested in their lives.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Games give you a chance to excel, and if you're playing in good company you don't even mind if you lose because you had the enjoyment of the company during the course of the game.” ― Gary Gygax
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And on top of this... if you're a good DM, your players may come to appreciate your DMing style and abilities if they spend a little while with someone else, whose style may not be as comfortable to them as yours.
This happened to me. I GMed Champions for ~3 years nonstop while in college. Except for one break in the summer when a friend who was getting ready to graduate and go to college (he was younger than the rest of us) asked to GM for a while. He made up his own campaign world (alternate earth) but unbeknownst to the rest of the players, we planned that at the end of the summer, he would start a crossover that would end with the characters transferring to my world, and I would finish the crossover (this allowed the players to continue their characters after he left, if they wanted -- albeit in an alternate world from where they started).
Well, he was a nice guy and all, but he was not a great GM. He didn't balance battles well, so often times it was either a walkover, or an impossible fight (and not intentionally). He was not interested in drawing out detailed maps (necessary in Champions because heroes can pick up and throw things, get knocked back into things, etc). He would just give us a blank hex map with walls drawn in freehand (no ruler -- just a hand drawn box on hex paper). And he did not have the knack for making his villains interestingly malevolent -- they were mostly just bags of stun and body (= hit points). He ran this campaign through May, June, July. Then in early August the heroes stepped through a dimensional rift into my world, and mid session, he called me up to the screen and we switched places.
There were cheers when I took over. I kind of felt bad for him because it wasn't very nice, but the players were all like, "Yes! We finally get a good GM again."
My point is -- GMing is harder than it looks from the other side of the screen. My players had been spoiled by all the work I do, and taken it for granted -- until they spent 2+ months with a GM who didn't do all that work and prep. They thought I was arbitrary and inflexible, until they played for 2+ months with a GM who didn't know the rules as well as I did, and was actually arbitrary (whereas I was usually just applying the rules as written) and far more stubborn than I ever was.
And the other GM, well... he had been the guy who used to complain the most about my GMing, until he did it for 2+ months. When he was done he said, "I dunno how you have done this for 2 years" (it was the 2nd of the 3 year stint I did). And he also said, "I dunno how you put up with these guys" (the players) -- because they were driving him up the wall.
In the end both he, and the rest of the players, developed a much greater appreciation for the level of work and dedication I had to the game and saw just how much I was working to keep it fun for everyone -- because they saw what it was like when a GM, well... doesn't.
I'm not saying, btw, that you should hope the other DM is a failure. But just that, your players may have come to take your style and your hard work for granted, and they may like those things without realizing they like them, until they see what it is like under the thumb of a different DM, whose style and work level may not be as suitable to them.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
The one thing that hurts me the most as a DM is when my players say that they wish the campaign to be over... granted when we play a session we go for at least 12 hours. but it really hurts my feelings when i would love to have a campaign go for a year or 2 long but when the second month comes around my players tell me that they are bored and want to start something new...
“Games give you a chance to excel, and if you're playing in good company you don't even mind if you lose because you had the enjoyment of the company during the course of the game.” ― Gary Gygax
Wow I am just the opposite, the longer the better. 4 year campaign? I'm in!
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
@DMsven think you've gotten a load of excellent advice here already... think the aim is to get enjoyment from your hobby again rather then having it be a chore that it currently seems to be and probably your best bet for this is to play with people you like and appreciate you ie friends...
Other then that it would be really interesting and generally very useful if you could do a follow up in a couple of weeks on what changes you've made if any and what has helped or not
wishing you all the best
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
As a player I am the same way... the longest campaign I ever played probably lasted 3 months... I really want to dig deep in a character and be invested in their lives.
“Games give you a chance to excel, and if you're playing in good company you don't even mind if you lose because you had the enjoyment of the company during the course of the game.” ― Gary Gygax