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View Full Version : Problem with a DM friend



SilverSheriff
2008-06-19, 12:40 AM
I have a DM friend who, I must admit, makes some pretty good worlds, the problem with him is keeping it running, is there any way I could keep this guy running with his campaign?

I've had no DM troubles myself as I usually stick to short term games (work on some long-terms in my spare time), so I have no Idea whats going through his head.

valadil
2008-06-19, 09:02 AM
Heh. I've had a similar experience with a GM who makes hugely epic campaigns, but gets bored of them and starts anew way too easily. One trick I've found is to play a character who the GM gets really into. I ran a bard rogue who was spying on the party, but really wanted to go against his employers and become good again. The GM grew tired of the campaign, but he wanted to see how my character resolved, so he kept going.

As a GM I too prefer a shorter game. That said, I do get bored of my own games after a while and just run out of energy to run them well. I found a trick though for ensuring that the game has a good ending. You may want to suggest this to your friend.

I usually plan game sessions one week in advance. Once I've figured out what the overarching plot will be I predict an ending for the game and draw up a session or two based on that ending. When I start getting GM fatigue I fast forward the plot towards the ending I predicted. At that point I'm left with an ending I planned out while I was still enthusiastic for the game and no more need to write game sessions.

Note that I don't write this ending in stone. It's just a likely outcome. So far I've guessed correctly at where the PCs will end up. This isn't railroading. I give them a start point and a probably end point, but they draw the line however they like. I hope that some day I'll get players who will force me to change my end point.