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Any D&D/D20

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[Neonivek]

Is there a way to anti-burn yourself out as a GM?

I've been fighting some rather painful burn out from these games for a bit...

[Flying Dice]

I mean, there's the obvious one of finding a way to make it fun for you rather than a chore.

But frankly I think everyone hits that point, there's always something that kills the enjoyment, and there are many more things that can do that to a DM than to a player.

[UXLZ]

How do you feel about plot twists? Opinion on how to do them well?

[Gentlefish]

For an example, would you kindly?

[Bohandas]

Is there a way to anti-burn yourself out as a GM?

I've been fighting some rather painful burn out from these games for a bit...

What if you temporarily switched to a less rules and preparation heavy game like Toon or something

[Flying Dice]

Is there a way to anti-burn yourself out as a GM?

I've been fighting some rather painful burn out from these games for a bit...

What if you temporarily switched to a less rules and preparation heavy game like Toon or something

Or Cards Against Humanity.

Not even kidding, either, it's a great contra-RPG game in just about every way, but still appeals to the same audience. All it's missing is a Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail cardset.

[NullForceOmega]

My feeling is that plot twists have to be organic, it has to feel like it actually makes sense.  You can't just go, 'It was really the barkeeper all the time!' if he/she didn't play any meaningful role up to that point.  To make a plot twist usable and good for the story it needs to be someone who isn't the obvious choice, but has had reasonable and (in hindsight) trackable access to everything going on.

Neo, my advice about burnout is this:  If you've reached the point where the game isn't fun, but you want to continue, do a cannonball (AKA a one-shot), or three, or more, until you feel like you can get back to the real game.  That way you can exercise your creativity without being restricted by the main game, and you and your players can still have some fun.

[highmax28]

I'm having a bit of a problem myself right now with my RL campaign and its that I've got an awful case of writers block for making campaigns. I just did one I've been wanting to do and I just don't have the time to make a bigger dungeon for the party to handle right now.

I have an idea for a campaign to kill time, and I'll have time after, but its very lackluster.

The basis is this is my own custom world. The tieflings and gnomes hate eachother and are in a constant state of war. At this point, they're at war, but the other nations refuse to join in. A group of gnomes wearing animal masks are going around in the southern regions of the continent the party is on and slaughtering tieflings in holds as sort of a guerrilla warfare tactic (even though they aren't part of the army at all).

So a bunch of tieflings are hunting them down but tracked them north. One of my party members, dear old Tyson-Chan, is a gnome who has an animal mask they identify as one of them. However, she isn't one of the ones they're looking for, but they don't know that so they kidnap her and interrogate her, and the party has to go save the barbarian from a race she absolutely hates.

Sadly, this seems VERY lackluster for a 4th level encounter. I'm guessing a lot of stealth will be involved, but definatley a lot of combat towards the end.

The party consists of one under leveled half-elf paladin (still level 3 at the end of the next encounter), one level 4 werewolf high elf bard, one level 4 half-elf sorcerer, one level 4 barbarian gnome and one level 4 monk or a level 4 rogue (party decides).

Is this a good idea of a hastily made session? I haven't had much time to make campaigns as I had the last few weeks dedicated to schoolwork, work and rehab meetings

[Neonivek]

There are just so many forms Plottwists can take

To admit dungeons and dragons is a piece of fiction where a completely unhinted at twist can occur... but that is mostly because the gameplay and roleplay-gameplay takes over.

But honestly I have a lot of advice plot twist wise, but goodness does it depend what kind of plot twist you want to do.

If you want to surprise the players... play against their expectations... play against their Ego. Make someone who never liked them, seemed shady, and even was outspoken in disliking the party... the good guy the whole time.

[Flying Dice]

I'm preferable to twists that come about organically because of player actions. Say, for example, they're working in a city run by mercantile "lords", and after a few months one of them sends assassins to ambush the party. Rather than the culprit being obviously evil, or being the one they directly acted against in the past, have it be the one that they screwed up jobs for in minor ways, or the one that the party's inevitable "I dumped CHA!" member insulted.

If they take a job but neglect patently obvious things regarding the well-being of their clients (a noble worried about a rival's agents known to be in his household, a village under attack from multiple bands of goblins, whatever), roll it out and if the rolls go poorly, have them return to dead clients and nobody willing to pay them.

Smaller twists can be more arbitrary as long as they make sense in-setting, but anything that seriously affects the party (especially if it's in a negative way) should be something which they caused by taking action or neglecting to take action on obvious hooks.

[Neonivek]

Also note to self

In spite the story being the Wizards are "overpowered" because their cantrips do 1d10 damage at 120 feet... (note I am being sarcastic)

They can't really take a hit.

I had a battle against four skeletons versus a rather... fragile party (the Cleric was the Tank) and the Skeletons almost party wiped.

This is mostly because they used their shortbows. In order to win the Wizard actually had to expeditious retreat towards the skeletons in order to get them with a well placed flaming hands.

---

Once again I have to praise 5e for letting what would otherwise be Peons to genuinely be able to get a hit in. They aren't even a whole CR and a group of them could reasonably weaken a PC slightly.

It actually does what Dungeons and Dragons wanted to do for AGES which is actually have minions.

[scriver]

Also note to self

In spite the story being the Wizards are "overpowered" because their cantrips do 1d10 damage at 120 feet... (note I am being sarcastic)

Feeling bitter, eh?

[Neonivek]

Naw, I just kind of find the whole argument hilarious in retrospect.

All I had to do is just play a session and watch all those arguments of "Overpowered" melt away, to the point where I feel dumb for ever taking it seriously.

The difference between 1d10 versus 1d10+3 was rather immense... as well as how badly a defensive fighter with hp was needed. Not to mention how fast the enemies started closing in.

Though Also the hilarious part was how amazing my Dex Checks were. Even zombies were dodging Sacred Flames like they weren't even there.

[Flying Dice]

Yeah, I'm convinced that the people arguing that 1d10 at-will is OP have never actually played a Wizard in their lives.

Be glad Minor Illusion got nerfed, because that was the unquestioned OP bullshit in the 5e cantrips. Now it's Eldritch Blast, since you get the same 1d10 at-will (in delicious Force damage flavor), but you also get to level it up without taking any more levels in Warlock.

[Neonivek]

Illusions always seem to walk a very fine line in these games.

Mind you Pathfinder's Cantrips were flat out, out of control... and REALLY needed to be reworked.

Create Water was fine as a limited use cantrip but without it, it becomes a ridiculous flooding spell. Detect Magic might as well becoming an extra mode of vision if anyone takes it.

In all fairness a gallon isn't that much water... but still.