Main Topic
Today we talk about GM Burnout and how to help prevent it.
Talking Points-
Burnout how it happens.
Over Immersion-
Long run of a game-
Burnout Options
- Take a break. Sometimes you need to step away from the GM Screen and let someone else take over. We’ve all been there and all been conscripted into running when we just want to play. If you feel that urge to TPK creeping in, maybe enlist someone to run a one-shot of paranoia or little fears to let you play and shrug off that weight of the world(s).
- Keep it fun for yourself. We mentioned in previous episodes to remember that it is okay to laugh. Maybe you can fit in a slapstick adventure in the midst of it all. Perhaps something more Lupin III than Ronin would help you to stay in the game.
- Don’t Do Too Much. The easiest said and the hardest done. We all want to play, to run, to have these experiences. It is easy to overcommit – if weekly games are dragging you down, see about switching to every other week. Maybe somebody else will run a game in the alternating weeks (See No. 1 above), maybe everybody needs a chance to focus. Don’t be afraid to engage your players about needing the time.
- Just Take a Real Break. Like above, maybe you need to just push pause for a month. Other friends, family, hobbies can help you reset that level of stress that leads to burnout.
- Have others help with parts of running the game.
Stat Blocks
Zendead-
Geth
Sliding the shutters open and dropping noiselessly into the room the little shadow slinked to the sleeping figure and the key around their neck. As the lips pulled back and the white teeth shined in the moonlight the grin is infectious. The deft little hands reach out and as the exhale of breath comes they lift the key without a sound.
Geth is a boogeyman of sorts when things go missing or can not be found Geth is blamed. The truth is Geth spreads these rumors herself. Making people think Geth is a male monster that steals anything and everything. The truth is she is just a very industrious and accomplished halfling thief.
Joules-
The Shattered Moon of Acamar
Two generations ago, was when the calamity happened. Some cosmic detritus (a lost hyper planetesimal, a rogue comet, records from that day were lost) was caught in the moon’s gravity and eventually collided. That was the last day the residents Acamar knew of hope and of safety.
After the collision, the planet’s residents who had the money and means, fled to neighboring systems. The residents who couldn’t leave; were abandoned.
Now, debris from the collision randomly rains on the planet; driving the populace into hiding. This includes those who, however futilely, try to maintain a semblance of law and order. With no witnesses, various n’er do wells are free to do what they like, both planetside and low orbit. The scoundrels were already equipped to survive in hazardous locals. The destruction of Acamar’s moon just gave them a new place to conduct business.
To try and prevent Acamar from becoming another “Stellar Tortuga,” The Dominion often sends in small details of constables to check in on the planet. Not that they really do anything useful.
The constables will occasionally check in with local settlements. “With the constant bombardment and high crime rate, who in their right mind would to live here?” they’ll ask, somewhat rhetorically.
The response from the locals is almost always the same. “Those who want to, or those who have to.”
Guard-a-Manger-
The Ring of T’lothriel
Once, some time ago, the elven king’s ring was known far and wide. A beautifully filigreed ring of unobtanium interwoven with a cutting of the heart of the elven tree of life. The ring held the attention of those who saw it in the Elven Court, and commented on its seamless blending of the worked metal with the natural wood. It was a thing a true beauty.
A century back it vanished in the scuffle of his untimely death as many vied for the throne. T’s beauty and import lost to the ages of time. Since then, the legends of what the ring could do have only grown with each telling. It is a powerful artifact gifted from the Immortals; a magical repository of the dead king’s soul; a sigil from which the true power of the elven Court would flow. As another dynastic struggle looms, the importance of the lost ring becomes once again paramount to the Court and the world.
But should you find it, no magical aura surrounds it. There is no indication that this is anything more than a magnificently made indicia of rulership. Why, then, does it matter so? And who should possess such a powerful thing? Can your players realize or discover that the ring holds no magical power, but is instead the key to the hidden vault in the Elven Court? Mages and artisans collaborated to make this key that subtly fits into the repository of the Elven throne …. Hidden inside this secret hollow are the words of the former king – the diary and writings of an undisputed monarch. What secrets do they hold? And who should have such power available to them?
Lexicon
Parabolic adjective par·a·bol·ic \ˌper-ə-ˈbä-lik, ˌpa-rə-\
Definition of parabolic
1: expressed by or being a parable : allegorical
2: of, having the form of, or relating to a parabola
First Known Use: 15th century
Origin and Etymology of parabolic
in sense 1, from Late Latin parabola parable; in sense 2, from New Latin parabola
Closing remarks
Zendead- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Joules- Sprawl Stories 1
Guard-a-Manger- Complete Works of Edger Allan Poe
Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp
Find us
Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook
Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook
Guard-a-manger- Email, Twitter
And Thanks to Merriam-Webster for our Lexicon segment
Find us on Patreon
Guard-a-manger
Iona Stone
J Samuel Diehl
Zendead