Matt Mercer DM Tips: How to Prevent RPG Game Master Burnout!

My last one before passing the torch to new blood, but an important one! MATT: Hello, my name is Matthew Mercer. I am a
voice actor and the dungeon master for Critical

Role here at Geek & Sundry. And today’s episode of
GM tips touches on the spooky topic of

game master burnout.

[intro music]

Game mastering burnout is a fear and real issue
for many folks who run ongoing games. As

incredibly fun and rewarding as it is, you need
quite the time commitment to continuously write,

organize, and run an RPG campaign on a regular
schedule. I know many who have lost interest or

just simply lost inspiration. And I’ve been there
myself a number of times and there’s nothing wrong

with that. It’s part of being a person. Life
circumstances change, other things have to take

priority, or you’ve just grown tired of the
responsibility. So let us discuss some ways to

help alleviate any oncoming burnout or how to
comfortably deal with it if it should hit.

First off, don’t force yourself to do it if your
heart isn’t in it. Writer’s block kicking in?

Found a tangle in your narrative thread? Step away
from your notes for a while and take a walk or go

play some board games with friends. Watch a movie
at your local theater. Enjoy some fun space to not

concentrate on your GM-ing duties and return when
the inspiration strikes. If you’re supposed to be

running your game really soon and you have no idea
how you’re going to finish prep in time, consider

letting your players know and postpone your game
session until you are ready. No one wants you to

kill yourself over it, trust me.

On that note, if it’s getting bad, let your
players know. Be honest about your worry and

exhaustion and discuss among yourselves how to
best lend to your comfort. Consider if the regular

schedule is just too difficult to balance among
your other life commitments and perhaps roll back

to a more sparse gaming routine. Playing weekly?
Try playing bi-monthly for a while, or once a

month. This will give you more time and less
stress to be prepared for the next session.

Players, please be respectful and understanding of
your GM’s fatigue. They are busting their ass

every week to bring you joy. So just be as
supportive as you can.

You can consider taking a break from the campaign
for a little while, allowing yourself to recharge.

Talk with the group about this and if all is cool,
find a way in your current story arc to bring it

to a temporary halt. Either the adventurers
complete their current task and you can close the

chapter cleanly. Or perhaps they fall into an
elaborate trap that locks them away for a time.

Consider a story beat you can end on that allows
you and the party to step away for a few weeks,

months, or longer and not feel like you’ve left
mid breath. This way players won’t return to your

table down the road super confused trying to
remember “Wait, but what was going on? Shit.

Right. Wait. No, I thought there was a guy with
that cursed thing. Didn’t someone kill my dog? No,

no, that was John Wick. Sorry.”

Players, any of you itching to try your hand at
GMing a game for a while? How about gifting your

hard working GM with some time off and offering to
run a short term campaign for the party and letting

them play in it. Not only is that a wonderful way
to help them relax a while and offer them the

opportunity to play in a game. But you yourself
may discover how much you enjoy running

your own game.

Well, thank you so much for watching this episode
of GM tips. I hope it was helpful for you. This is

actually kinda cool. Before we filmed this the
crew let me know that they actually went into the

prop closet and found actual magical items which
is fucking crazy. This is apparently a War Mage

wand. It’s +3 against spell attack rolls. I think
it’s great. We have what looks to be a Vorpal

sword. Which is a little shorter than I expected
but apparently pretty functional. You should look

it up. It’s pretty powerful. Legendary weapon. And
oh [beep], this one can be fun. I think this is a

Girdle of Giant Strength. Which I’m wondering what
giant it is.

[small bang and music]

SATINE: I should probably read some labels before
I start putting things on. Girdle of Gender

Changing. Well then. Hello. I am Satine Phoenix
and I’ll be taking over for the next run of GM

Tips. Stick around and prepare for my perspective
on game mastering ideas. See you on the internet.

[music]

https://t.co/Bu5oxID0ei

— Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) March 16, 2017