Reply To: GM Burnout….

[Universal Head]

Well, after many years of WFRP (and several years break), I’ve recently started a Shadows of the Demon Lord campaign. It’s a similar grim and gritty fantasy (with a bit of horror) setting, but the game system is very straightforward and simple. There are a lot of short, one-shot adventures available and they’re very easy to string together into a narrative. And unlike my old habits, I’ve been a lot more freeform lately and followed the lead of the players a bit. So instead of trying to get them into a complex plot, I’ve just followed the leads they themselves throw up, and been much more relaxed and ‘seat of the pants’ about my GMing style. And it’s much more fun. I don’t spend ages before a game preparing, I’m keeping the overall plot relaxed and flexible, and I come up with more stuff on the fly. It’s working well, and it’s more fun for me too.

The players are more used to Pathfinder, so I’ve been enjoying getting them more into my preferred style, which (especially for fighting) is much more Theatre of the Mind: no minis or no grid maps. Very cinematic combats with lots of description and excitement.