D&D Chews Through Dungeon Masters

The feeling of being burned out as a dungeon master is horrible. However, DM burnout is a great lead indicator that something isn't right in your Dungeons & Dragons game and that something should be changed. Here are ways to cure game master burnout and to even prevent it.

~~2024 Convention Schedule~~
Please come up and say hi if you see me!

#dungeonsanddragons #dungeonmaster #gamemaster

I've been told to use keywords in video descriptions, but I have no idea what I'm doing, so I asked my friendly local AI to help me.

Embark on a journey with our How to play Dungeons and Dragons Beginners Guide, offering essential Dungeon Master Tips and insights, the best class in D&D, best subclass and the most powerful optimised builds in DandD. Our content, ranging from the DM Lair to the DM Lair TikTok Dungeons and Dragons series, provides valuable resources for both new and experienced Dungeon Masters. Delve into the heart of the tabletop roleplaying, role playing, role-playing community with our videos on tabletop RPG TTRPG dungeons and dragons, covering everything from 5th edition, 5e, to the classic 3.5e, Pathfinder, Pathfinder 2, PF2e, PF2. We provide expert Game Mastering techniques, including DM GM dungeon master game master tips, and explore the latest in OGL, OGL 2.0a, 2.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 1.0a developments. Whether you're mastering Fantasy Roleplay, D&D World Building, or seeking D&D Encounter Design ideas, our channel is your ultimate guide to D&D Adventure Planning and Dungeon Mastering. Join us for a deep dive into D&D Lore Exploration, Character Development, D&D Homebrew, and Dungeon Design. Our D&D Storytelling tips and D&D Shorts will enhance your gaming experience, offering something for every Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast.

[phillipfranco]

There are 5 of us. I was the only DM. We play twice a week. One of the players wanted to DM too. So I DM my game and the other player DM's his game and we play the others game every other week. That has helped a lot with burnout, as I can now be a player too.

[bewhtdragon]

I just dissolved my group due to burnout because i wasn't feeling appreciated by my players, even after I've told them twice prior about my feelings.

[mistermagnificence]

Fantastic video! I was desperate to play D&D, so took on the DM role as no one else would. My first group of friends seemed excited at first but pretty much immediately were terrible players.
They'd say they want to play, and then keep checking their phones, getting distracted discussing what food to order, not paying attention to any information I was giving them... one was straight up watching a football match

I stopped it for them, and collected a group of my other friends, who were much more enthusiastic and have been a blast to play with. Everytime we finish a session, their grateful feedback and excitement fuels me to create more, so my players are definitely what keeps my burnout at bay.

[thajocoth]

This is one of the reasons I like to play with rotating DMs. Everyone can try their ideas for an adventure or two, but then go back to being a player.

[vladimirserpov]

I love my players so much. Without their engagement and visible joy, I couldn't lead a 2-year campaign and follow up with another 1.5 year-long campaign.

Respect your DM's craft, dear players. Positive feedback, minimizing player to player quarrels, and being open in discussion of your expectations of for your character throughout the campaign are keys for keeping your DMs burnout at bay.

PS Also, let your DM be a player in one-shots. Works like a charm

[amiroo]

He is just giving professional psychology advice at this point. what a legend.

[tacochaos]

Wrapped a 3 year campaign and was fried, nobody willing to take the GM role and that was 7 months ago. Found a game where I could be a player and relearning what I like about the game. Now getting ready to GM again but changing from 5e to pf2e for a fresher feel

[darcyw]

Great timing on this one Luke, thanks! I burned out a bit after running 5 campaigns at the same time. I stopped all but 1 and started a new one as a player. It helped a ton. Your advice is great, thanks!

[JKevinCarrier]

Solid advice all around. I am the "substitute DM" for our campaign -- whenever our main guy gets busy at work, or otherwise needs a break, I fill in with a short campaign. I admittedly am not nearly as good a DM as he is. But the players put up with me because it's better than no game at all, and they know that "Real Dad" will be back soon enough.

[israelmorales]

This video sounds a little bit of "how to revive the flame in your marriage" advices. Great advices.
It's okay no to be okay and take a rest some time!
Thx for the video!

[GaiusMarcus]

I was in a huge Westmarches style game last year. We started off with 40+ players and 8 GMs. Within a couple months two of us had run ~60% of the games and all the GM's wanted to do was argue about stupid stuff in the GM only discord channel. Most of the players had moved on due to a lack of available games. Thats when I noped out.

[jewabeus]

REALLY needed to hear this. I can see the signs. Thank you.

[kevoreilly]

The real Matt Mercer effect is the participation of his players .. love Matt, the players are incredible

[Conjent]

The thing I love is how most of this advice can also be applied to many other forms of creative work. So even if you aren't a DM, or even a player of DND, this is still a very helpful video regardless

[ranekeisenkralle]

Just saw the segment on the oneshots you did.

I am very happy to see other people also enjoying Shadowrun. Here on YT it often feels like there is only D&D.

[redknight]

Great suggestions!
I run two-year campaigns and I notice that about 12-14 months in, my creativity goes on the decline. It's been like that my whole life. Prior to GMing, I would simply shelf the current project and wait for inspiration for one of my others, sort of juggling them throughout the years. What I find myself doing now is the necissarry 4-6hrs/week to run the game, and channel the rest of my free-time to the next campaign. We have 25 sessions left of my dystopian Futuristic setting, but I'm already waist deep in prep for the upcoming superhero setting. So far, it's working. The creativity is flowing. :)

[SomoneTookMyName]

I stopped my game close to a year ago now. Pretty much the same group for 6 years and on a 3rd campaign. The amount of prep I was doing was getting out of hand. I was using a VTT, was drawing out my own maps based on what was going on in the game, and prepping the VTT with the needed tokens and inputting the needed needed data. Started to very much feel like a job. Talked to the group about moving to a theater of the mind way of playing. Got to much of the "I need visual reference" response. I gave it a while. Longer breaks, minimal prep, etc. One day I just called the game. I explained what I was going through and the group was understanding. Im now getting ready to run a game using Shadowdark. Something far more rules light and also getting away from the VTT. Going old school basically.

[bobalmond]

10:40 yes bacon is delicious. On this point I would like to mention that in days of yore during the early days of DnD we played shorter campaigns. They often just dealt with a relatively simple problem not a world shattering BBEG type scenario. These mini-campaigns often had an overarching theme but it wasn’t a months long commitment. It also lead to allowing for different DMs running campaigns with the same PCs. Players could also swap in new or old PCs. Tired of being the cleric? Just run your thief. Want to try a monk? Go for it since it isn’t a months long thing. Love the shared world y’all created ? Awesome stay in it with new content. It keeps the spark alive.

[robertburns]

I've been GMing games weekly for a little over 35 years now and all of this hits. But my players are my best friends and so I push through. We might change a campaign, have conversations about what is going wrong with a given game, switch genres, and so on.

[shadow_druid]

I am running a lengthy campaign. It’s been going for 4 years… we have taken 3 seasonal breaks, for me, the gm, to breath. One summer break, one winter break, one fall break. We always have a restart date it works for us. And I am a happy gm!