Time for a one shot season!
But is true that at some high levels you need to close things and maybe retire the characters. Sadly, starting again would also fell like “we have been here before, don’t we?”
I feel as though starting new characters will not be samey if they’re doing a themed campaign. For instance, if they’re all members of a specific organization doing specific things and cannot pick a handful of classes because they don’t fit the theme.
I see many people on different forums feeling they can’t engage. They’ve played a lot and run many adventures and even many game systems. “There is nothing new under the sun, my son.” It’s maybe a sign to go beyond gaming and pickup other hobbies or passions. The gaming will still be there if you return. It’s also likely that if you spend some time doing other things, you are in a better place to return and engage with gaming. It’s like a charge build up that effects the machine. If it is bled off over time, the machine can… Read more »
Jedi
3 months ago
When did this turn into some japanese … Octopus thing ? 😀
ReaverRogue
3 months ago
Time to pull out the false hydra.
Satisfies the burnout with a change of theme, lasts only a session or two, and fulfills 4’s requirement for octopus-esque NPCs.
That seems a bit like seeing the trees and missing the forest. Sometimes it is best to entirely take a break for gaming, do other things, then re-evaluate. (applies to anything but their issue is gaming that has become uninteresting and unmotivating)
They could also try a diffrent TTRPG or a different Tabletop game if they still want to play something at the table, just not the campaign they’re in the middle of
Lily
3 months ago
Honestly given how many times I have played d&d(any version), and how many cool table top games there are, I would be completely cool never playing it again and doing other stuff all the time. Though finding players for other stuff can be more challenging.
GeorgeV
3 months ago
Bonus suffering points for the pyromancer using those words.
Rune
3 months ago
My group’s solution was to run shorter campaigns and never play the same system back to back. most campaigns run for a year or less and we’ve bounced from D&D 5e to Savage Worlds to FATE to Cthulhu etc etc. Keeps me on my toes as a DM and them invested. Kinda like reading short pulp novels instead of long series.
ThatMageGuy
3 months ago
I gave up running tabletop games for boardgame nights and I have never been happier. Being a DM feels too much like a job, campaigns inevitably fall apart, etc.
Banjo
3 months ago
I’ve been fortunate enough to (mostly) avoid this problem. This year, I wrapped up 2 different Pathfinder campaigns that went from 1 all the way to 20.
Wow! We played from level 1 to 12 over 19 years. Sessions started as 3.5 hours x 2/months for about 10 months a year for 6 years (560 hrs), then about 8 years of 8 sessions per year of about 6 hours per (384 hours), then about another 5 years of about 4 sessions per year at 6 hours (120 hours) so that’d be about 1064 hours. Characters died more commonly in the range of L1-5, past about that, we didn’t lose more than one character. (AD&D, 2E, 2E+kits, 2E+Player’s Options). I played in an Eberron 1-18 or 20 (depending… Read more »
Gotta love how long those games can stretch! The one I was GMing took almost 4 years, but the one I was a player in was a bunch of Society regulars and we blitzed through all 20 levels in about 18 months. If you haven’t already, give Pathfinder 2 a shot. To date it’s the most balanced RPG I’ve ever played, and the only one that is 100% functional all the way to level 20, while still making the players feel like demigods towards the end. I did once manage a 5e game all the way to 20 as well,… Read more »
tekkalord
3 months ago
As a longtime D&D player I have NEVER seen this happen. Not a single player in my group has EVER become burned out.
The DM however… That’s why every single one of our campaigns ended. The DM got burned out.
That’s where the long preps, the not so great sessions, the ideas all kind of wind down. You don’t get to play and see new things to kick up the idea factory. Also, it just tends to be about 2-3x more work and if you aren’t feeling great, you still soldier on because the group needs you. Players can have an off day, many DMs don’t feel they can.
kaladorn
3 months ago
Three needs to relax with the melodrama.
Pretty much everything, one can get tired of and need a break from.
You do realize you’re on a comments section for a comic and everyone knows its not real? We know that Batman and Superman aren’t real, its still fun to talk about who would win in a fight.
The big problem is whether it is weariness with the setting/mechanics or weariness with the activity. The first can be a problem but it is a surmountable one. The main difficulty is “who is going to change the setting” due to the dollar cost. Most DMs are not going to want to be the ones who buy the books every time the players want to try a different setting or system especially if they don’t know how the players will react. As an example, my group tried Shadowrun exactly once. Palladium did somewhat better although I was the one who… Read more »
Sian
3 months ago
Time to round-robin DM’ing,if nothing else then till everyone recognize that Three is the only one that’s both a competent DM and actually don’t mind being the one
Scarsdale
3 months ago
Burn out, the bane of any gamer, be it DnD or any other type of game. I have 37 games on Steam, each and every one I get hundreds of hours built up, then get burnt out and get another. I beat Fallout 4 3 times, there are 4 ways to end the game, but by time I started to do the last way, I couldn’t bare to look at it anymore. I don’t buy games without playing a demo anymore, I’m too old to spend hours of my life grinding… Only to find out a game sux.
SkullsGrav
3 months ago
This group needs to drop this and run a quick Paranoia campaign. Something easy, combat heavy and no huge need for drama. Besides happiness would be mandatory!
jack
3 months ago
tarrasque fight?
Fela
3 months ago
I’ve only ever seen DMs burn out, but then it’s always been hard in our groups to find dedicated DMs.
24
Time for a one shot season!
But is true that at some high levels you need to close things and maybe retire the characters. Sadly, starting again would also fell like “we have been here before, don’t we?”
I feel as though starting new characters will not be samey if they’re doing a themed campaign. For instance, if they’re all members of a specific organization doing specific things and cannot pick a handful of classes because they don’t fit the theme.
Wouldn’t know. Every time I try to get into a DnD game we never even get to the first quest.
That sucks. 🫠 I hope you find a better group!
Time to try a different system, especially a one-shotable one.
Dread, for example, is amazing for something like that. If you haven’t tried it before, do it!
I see many people on different forums feeling they can’t engage. They’ve played a lot and run many adventures and even many game systems. “There is nothing new under the sun, my son.” It’s maybe a sign to go beyond gaming and pickup other hobbies or passions. The gaming will still be there if you return. It’s also likely that if you spend some time doing other things, you are in a better place to return and engage with gaming. It’s like a charge build up that effects the machine. If it is bled off over time, the machine can… Read more »
When did this turn into some japanese … Octopus thing ? 😀
Time to pull out the false hydra.
Satisfies the burnout with a change of theme, lasts only a session or two, and fulfills 4’s requirement for octopus-esque NPCs.
That seems a bit like seeing the trees and missing the forest. Sometimes it is best to entirely take a break for gaming, do other things, then re-evaluate. (applies to anything but their issue is gaming that has become uninteresting and unmotivating)
They could also try a diffrent TTRPG or a different Tabletop game if they still want to play something at the table, just not the campaign they’re in the middle of
Honestly given how many times I have played d&d(any version), and how many cool table top games there are, I would be completely cool never playing it again and doing other stuff all the time. Though finding players for other stuff can be more challenging.
Bonus suffering points for the pyromancer using those words.
My group’s solution was to run shorter campaigns and never play the same system back to back. most campaigns run for a year or less and we’ve bounced from D&D 5e to Savage Worlds to FATE to Cthulhu etc etc. Keeps me on my toes as a DM and them invested. Kinda like reading short pulp novels instead of long series.
I gave up running tabletop games for boardgame nights and I have never been happier. Being a DM feels too much like a job, campaigns inevitably fall apart, etc.
I’ve been fortunate enough to (mostly) avoid this problem. This year, I wrapped up 2 different Pathfinder campaigns that went from 1 all the way to 20.
Wow! We played from level 1 to 12 over 19 years. Sessions started as 3.5 hours x 2/months for about 10 months a year for 6 years (560 hrs), then about 8 years of 8 sessions per year of about 6 hours per (384 hours), then about another 5 years of about 4 sessions per year at 6 hours (120 hours) so that’d be about 1064 hours. Characters died more commonly in the range of L1-5, past about that, we didn’t lose more than one character. (AD&D, 2E, 2E+kits, 2E+Player’s Options). I played in an Eberron 1-18 or 20 (depending… Read more »
Gotta love how long those games can stretch! The one I was GMing took almost 4 years, but the one I was a player in was a bunch of Society regulars and we blitzed through all 20 levels in about 18 months. If you haven’t already, give Pathfinder 2 a shot. To date it’s the most balanced RPG I’ve ever played, and the only one that is 100% functional all the way to level 20, while still making the players feel like demigods towards the end. I did once manage a 5e game all the way to 20 as well,… Read more »
As a longtime D&D player I have NEVER seen this happen. Not a single player in my group has EVER become burned out.
The DM however… That’s why every single one of our campaigns ended. The DM got burned out.
Ouch.
That’s where the long preps, the not so great sessions, the ideas all kind of wind down. You don’t get to play and see new things to kick up the idea factory. Also, it just tends to be about 2-3x more work and if you aren’t feeling great, you still soldier on because the group needs you. Players can have an off day, many DMs don’t feel they can.
Three needs to relax with the melodrama.
Pretty much everything, one can get tired of and need a break from.
um, you do realize 3 is a character and not real, right? Specifically a character for comedy reasons?
You do realize you’re on a comments section for a comic and everyone knows its not real? We know that Batman and Superman aren’t real, its still fun to talk about who would win in a fight.
Which contradicts nothing of what Kaladorn said.
The big problem is whether it is weariness with the setting/mechanics or weariness with the activity. The first can be a problem but it is a surmountable one. The main difficulty is “who is going to change the setting” due to the dollar cost. Most DMs are not going to want to be the ones who buy the books every time the players want to try a different setting or system especially if they don’t know how the players will react. As an example, my group tried Shadowrun exactly once. Palladium did somewhat better although I was the one who… Read more »
Time to round-robin DM’ing,if nothing else then till everyone recognize that Three is the only one that’s both a competent DM and actually don’t mind being the one
Burn out, the bane of any gamer, be it DnD or any other type of game. I have 37 games on Steam, each and every one I get hundreds of hours built up, then get burnt out and get another. I beat Fallout 4 3 times, there are 4 ways to end the game, but by time I started to do the last way, I couldn’t bare to look at it anymore. I don’t buy games without playing a demo anymore, I’m too old to spend hours of my life grinding… Only to find out a game sux.
This group needs to drop this and run a quick Paranoia campaign. Something easy, combat heavy and no huge need for drama. Besides happiness would be mandatory!
tarrasque fight?
I’ve only ever seen DMs burn out, but then it’s always been hard in our groups to find dedicated DMs.