Post/Author/DateTime	Post
midniteprism 05-10-05, 01:25 PM	I've been DMing exclusively for the last 10 years for the most part (with sparce opportunities to actually play laced in there that never really lasted more than a week or two before the group fell off) and am at this moment running an Eberron campaign. I love DMing, been doing that most of my D&D 'career' (if you can call an addiction that only seems to TAKE money from me as apposed to putting it BACK in my pocket a career) and really would LOVE to continue to do that. But of late, i've had this gnawing at the back of my neck, that itch at the top of my mouth that I just can't quite get at w/ my tongue. But everytime I've opened a D&D book (of which I have PLENTY) I can't stop the delusions of creating a good PC that would benifit from my years of DMing experience to become a well rounded really fun character to roleplay. It just seems of late I can't find a group to actually get into to play. The group I run are practically made up on novices that as of right now seem to have no interest in running a game themselves and I'd hate to just toss one into the flames of DMing w/ a player that probably could run circles around them at the DM game and just shear knowledge of the D&D rules and system itself. But for the most part my decision NOT to have one of my players DM is mainly for their lack of concern for that aspect of the game. THEY LIKE PLAYING, and as of right now, I'm feeling the same way. Maybe its the 10 years being BEHIND the DM screen that has finally gotten to me. I find myself literally dreaming of past sessions when i was but a player and everything in the world seemed fresh and new and MY ACTIONS would determine the outcome, good or bad. As the DM, I know everything as it should happen, and if my PCs throw me a curve, my job is to create the scenerio based off of what they do, but its still ultimately MY CHOICE as to how certain NPCs and factors in the world work, so there is never that level of "Oh god, whats behind door #3" anymore.....and I miss it. Maybe its a sort of D&D midlife crisis (Odd cause I'm only 25) where I long for the days of just bringing my character sheet and that was it, letting the day go as it is and having a team of friends there to back me up when the chips were down. The days of working together to achieve a common goal and maybe, just maybe feel like heroes when its all said and done. But it would seem of late, I've had the hardest time actually GETTING into a gaming group at all. The last two chances I've had getting into one, they have either collapsed or were full. I live in the Atlanta area and would LOVE for a gaming group to be 'easy on the gas'. I'm not sure if THIS is the right forum to be asking for this but I'm like fending a good gaming group like a crack head seeking some really serious rock. I feel like i'm putting out an ad or something: "Young DM wishing to take on the role of PC for a change seeks well prepared gaming group, not to skinny, not to fat. Eats required, looking for good time. Weekends preferred". So ANYWAY, I'm a well versed DM looking to actually be a PC for a change and would love to find a solid gameing group to join. Got years of experience as a DM so i know the game well enough that you would be getting a complete moron if and when i join as a PC. I'm also in the Atlanta area just below the perimeter so that should give you an idea as to the distances I'd be willing to drive to get in a game. As I said weekends are the best for me. So there, I feel filthy enough, but I'm desperate at this point. DMIng is grand and I will continue to do so, but man....PCing was great too, and I miss it. Holla back.
Sapper2219 05-10-05, 01:33 PM	Best place to find a group is the Gamers Classifieds...that's where I found my current group in St. Louis. Good luck....
midniteprism 05-10-05, 01:40 PM	Thanks. Is that a website or a link from this site? Never heard of it.
Flushmaster 05-10-05, 02:07 PM	It's part of the Wizards.COMunity boards, yes. The specific board it's on is called the "RPG Marketplace," IIRC, but there's a cross-forum link to it on the main D&D board. Go to the little link tree thing at the top of the page, click the "Dungeons & Dragons" link, then soll down until you find it. It's either called "Gamer Classifieds" or "RPG Gamer Classifieds" or something similar. Make sure to read the sticky post on title format if you start your own thread (makes it a lot easier to be noticed by the right poeple). Good luck!
tompulsar 05-10-05, 02:51 PM	Crap man do I ever empathise with ya...I wanna play too! I wish I was self absorbed enough to think that DMPCs are a good idea. :P
Asciiman 05-10-05, 08:04 PM	You sound like my clone. I'm serious on this one. When I read your post I lost track three times thinking that I had already written it. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, I know what you are feeling and thinking. I'm also 25 and for the last ten years I have been doing the same thing. However, as much as I may have in common with you, I have no real advice. Right now I have a new group, that is great, but I'm about to run Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, so I won't be playing anytime soon. BUT!!! I do have one idea. Find your best player, one who you get along with, and explain this to him in private. Tell him you'd love to play, but you don't want to stop DMing for the group. Simply put, ask this new, but promising player/DM, to DM solo adventures for you. Something... anything to take the pressure off and relax you. Everyone wins in this situation. You get to play, he gets to learn to DM and one day he can even take over and run a full game if he grasps it best. Good luck, and keep us informed.
solbergb 05-10-05, 10:08 PM	If you want to play....you might want to try RPGA Living campaigns. I guarantee you that you will find more play opportunities than you can actually accomplish if you live in any kind of metropolitan area at all. It's a bit different from a normal campaign...if a normal campaign is, say, a long running comic strip, Living Greyhawk (for example) modules are kind of like a television series...each session has a hook, conflict, resolution and storylines do continue between modules (a given arc might have several modules, each 1-2 game sessions spread over several years) but your character does a bunch of other stuff in the middle. I find that the RPGA games make me appreciate a "normal" campaign, and normal campaign frustrations make me appreciate the RPGA games..they're different enough in what you have freedom to do and what you don't that each complements the other. Click on the RPGA link in the main D&D homepage and poke around. You might get to play pretty soon.
femmehack 05-11-05, 01:25 AM	I can empathize, not from personal experience, but my boyfriend runs a gameshop and DMs there 3 nights/week and runs an Eberron game for our group on the weekends...and there's just no time for him to play. But as for finding a group to play in, I suggest Meetup.com. I've found some pretty solid dnd groups here in dallas through that site, also, you could try playing online if you can't find a group in your area. OpenRPG and www.dndonline.com are pretty good sites. Good luck, and try not to get too burned out on DM-ing, the world needs more good DMs! :D
Tenzhi 05-11-05, 02:33 AM	@Original Poster: I feel your pain. I like to DM, but that's all I get to do any more. In fact, I'm on hiatus from DMing right now because I got burnt out. I'm reluctant to start another campaign (to the frustration of my players) because I really want to just play for a bit. If you want to play....you might want to try RPGA Living campaigns. ::shudder of revulsion:: Tried that myself a couple of times...
The Stray 05-11-05, 03:21 AM	I've been DMing exclusively for the last 10 years for the most part (with sparce opportunities to actually play laced in there that never really lasted more than a week or two before the group fell off) and am at this moment running an Eberron campaign. I love DMing, been doing that most of my D&D 'career' (if you can call an addiction that only seems to TAKE money from me as apposed to putting it BACK in my pocket a career) and really would LOVE to continue to do that. But of late, i've had this gnawing at the back of my neck, that itch at the top of my mouth that I just can't quite get at w/ my tongue. But everytime I've opened a D&D book (of which I have PLENTY) I can't stop the delusions of creating a good PC that would benifit from my years of DMing experience to become a well rounded really fun character to roleplay. It just seems of late I can't find a group to actually get into to play. The group I run are practically made up on novices that as of right now seem to have no interest in running a game themselves and I'd hate to just toss one into the flames of DMing w/ a player that probably could run circles around them at the DM game and just shear knowledge of the D&D rules and system itself. But for the most part my decision NOT to have one of my players DM is mainly for their lack of concern for that aspect of the game. THEY LIKE PLAYING, and as of right now, I'm feeling the same way. Maybe its the 10 years being BEHIND the DM screen that has finally gotten to me. I find myself literally dreaming of past sessions when i was but a player and everything in the world seemed fresh and new and MY ACTIONS would determine the outcome, good or bad. As the DM, I know everything as it should happen, and if my PCs throw me a curve, my job is to create the scenerio based off of what they do, but its still ultimately MY CHOICE as to how certain NPCs and factors in the world work, so there is never that level of "Oh god, whats behind door #3" anymore.....and I miss it. Maybe its a sort of D&D midlife crisis (Odd cause I'm only 25) where I long for the days of just bringing my character sheet and that was it, letting the day go as it is and having a team of friends there to back me up when the chips were down. The days of working together to achieve a common goal and maybe, just maybe feel like heroes when its all said and done. But it would seem of late, I've had the hardest time actually GETTING into a gaming group at all. The last two chances I've had getting into one, they have either collapsed or were full. I live in the Atlanta area and would LOVE for a gaming group to be 'easy on the gas'. I'm not sure if THIS is the right forum to be asking for this but I'm like fending a good gaming group like a crack head seeking some really serious rock. I feel like i'm putting out an ad or something: "Young DM wishing to take on the role of PC for a change seeks well prepared gaming group, not to skinny, not to fat. Eats required, looking for good time. Weekends preferred". So ANYWAY, I'm a well versed DM looking to actually be a PC for a change and would love to find a solid gameing group to join. Got years of experience as a DM so i know the game well enough that you would be getting a complete moron if and when i join as a PC. I'm also in the Atlanta area just below the perimeter so that should give you an idea as to the distances I'd be willing to drive to get in a game. As I said weekends are the best for me. So there, I feel filthy enough, but I'm desperate at this point. DMIng is grand and I will continue to do so, but man....PCing was great too, and I miss it. Holla back. God, do I ever feel you. I've been the DM for my group for the last three years. We've tinkered with the rules, played entirely different games, and throughout most of the time, I've been the DM. I've tried getting into a few games, but I didn't enjoy them much, since I enjoy roleplaying and the games I've joined outside my own group seemed to be mostly Hack & Slash. I'd love to just play, but we DMs are a quantity in high demand and short supply and, just like oil for the american economy, DMs make the game go. Few people have the time, inclination, and skill to run a game, and fewer still can do that WELL...it's the DM's Burden...
babysamurai 05-11-05, 07:00 AM	I've been playing D&D for 18 years, and the last 10 of those have been exclusively DMing. I too long to be a player, but it seems whenever I meet a fellow gamer, or even my old friends who play, they have really strange ideas about the game and how to DM (silly house rules etc). So I lose faith in them as a DM, and would rather just DM myself and at least play the game in some kind of manner in which its supposed to be play'ed. Does anyone else ever get this syndrome/feeling?
Gilean 05-11-05, 11:19 AM	And I thought I was the only one... But, remember, once you have let those others GM for a while, their sheer lack of rules proficiency, and the lack of control you have, might get tiresome. So only play in few games to see if GMing calls again.
Radagast 05-11-05, 12:35 PM	Being a good DM is perhaps the perfect example of the old phrase, "If you do something well, you're stuck doing it forever!" Not only are there plenty of people who can't DM, but there are good number of others who could be good DM's with some time, but they probably don't want to derail the fun they are having by changing DM's. They may have no idea how much you want to be a player and take a break.
devinmdp 05-11-05, 08:02 PM	Pshaw! I have you all beaten! Other than Living Greyhawk at Gaming Conventions, I have DM'd continuously for 15 years and not played even once since then! Why? I have asked my players to take on the mantle of DM once in a while so I could play. But none have done so. In my almost 30 years of DMing, I've maybe played less than 1% of the time. Devin
Tenzhi 05-12-05, 01:55 AM	Does anyone else ever get this syndrome/feeling? Quite the opposite, actually. I get tired of DMs who run stodgy games where everything is strictly by-the-book.
Bane 05-12-05, 02:43 AM	You could try to find a play by post game. I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard they can be quite good. Just watch out for combat to take forever.
babysamurai 05-12-05, 05:49 AM	Quite the opposite, actually. I get tired of DMs who run stodgy games where everything is strictly by-the-book. I,m sorry if you have had DM's who run stodgy campaigns, but I dont think thats due to adhering to the rules, its probably due to thier lack of imagination.
amethal 05-12-05, 08:47 AM	I can empathize, not from personal experience, but my boyfriend runs a gameshop and DMs there 3 nights/week and runs an Eberron game for our group on the weekends...and there's just no time for him to play.The poor guy, his life sounds like hell. Its just so hard fitting in that 5th session of D&D each week :) .
Count Arioch the 28th 05-12-05, 08:58 AM	Bah, every time I've tried to play instead of DMing for the past 5 years, with one notable exception I had to drop out before I head-butted the DM until his head turned into blood/air. I agree that being to strict in adherence in the rules can be limiting, I also have found that having no freaking rules at all is even worse. And except for the notable exception, every DM I've played with threw the rules out the window entirely and did whatever the hell they felt like. (I don't ahve problems with hosue rules, my I prefer them to be at least consistant, and I like to know them beforehand, I keep a website with my house rules for people in my game to look at whenever they want.)
Wizards_White_Knight 05-12-05, 01:22 PM	After my 7th session of DMing, I am ready to throw in the towel. I am an aspiring author, and I thought I would love the idea of being the "story-teller" but to constantly plan for every consitancy the PC's throw at you, it's too much. Not too mention, I am really bd at ad-hoc rules. If anyone ever does something I am not certain about, I kinda just freeze like the deer in front of headlights. I know there is nothing in the RAW about it, and I jsut sit there, umming. I respect a DM's a lot more. I originally took up the mantle to give our previous DM a shot (he has been DMing for the group for a year. We were all first timers, including the DM himself...Self taught...not the best in the world, but I would say its safe to say better than me.) But my point of all that is...Give one of your players a DMG. Read through it with them. Betwee me and my two friends, we taught each other how to play. Surely with a DM as experienced as yourself beside them, they can grasp it easily. Prepare a short campaign (2 - 3 sessions) with your protege, and watch him as he runs the other players through it. Do nt join in yet. You sit beside him and help him. The hardest part of first tiem DMing is trying to concentrate on all teh rolls, all the rules, and giving descriptions at the same time. So stay by them as they learn this. Once they have thier confidence, let them lose. Always be prepared to help them create reasonable challenges for your party. Even if it means in the beginning you know all the "curveballs" the DM is throwing at you. Don't metagame the knowledge. Yeah, it's kind of a bummer you dont get to solve the problems for yourself as your character, but in time he will learn, and eventually, you will have your game. :D WWK
Gallamine 05-13-05, 11:48 AM	I'm a newbie to D&D, but my best advice to you is A) find someone interested in D&D and ask them if they'd like to DM in your group so you can play or B) find an online group to play in.