For me, our DM put the next session off for two weeks (after running a campaign every monday)
We figured that this was fine, afterall he needed some time to put together the next campaign, and it'd give us some time to fiddle with our characters, buy stuff, and take a break.
So when we showed up to resume playing, (local comic store) he wasn't there, but emailed us and told us that it'd be off for another week. That week came and went, and no DnD. Finally, we did get a session, but he decided not to do the big opener for the new campaign because the guy playing the Cleric couldn't make it. So we ran a crappy side story adventure that session.
That was last week, and we've all been waiting for things to restart. We've all talked with eachother, and gotten the whole group organized for the big session tomorrow... and our DM tells us that we'll have to wait till next week.
I really don't want the campaign to die, but damnit it's looking that way. Sessions get put off- and put off some more- and put off some more, and while I've got all this interest for the subject, there's only so much you can take before it just starts to gutter away. I think I'm nearing that point. If sessions don't resume next week, I'm going to have it out with my DM, I think.
Just ask the DM if now is a bad time for gaming. Personally, I know how it goes with having to push sessions back or cancel games entirely. The important thing is to make it clear to the players what is going on so they can move on to doing something else or perhaps assist the DM somehow in order to make the game work.
Don't be too hard on your DM. It could be that they are working hard to try and run the game but life just isn't cooperating with their efforts. It can be really tough to disappoint a group of friends by telling them that their weekly entertainment is over due to lack of time/interest/whatever.
It's unfortunate when a good game runs out before it's time, but that's life. Perhaps it's time to take up the DM role yourself to ensure you and your friends have a DnD game to play each week.
I ran an epically long-lasting game while still at school; the school setting meant players were turning up every day regardless, which made it easy to push forward during lunchbreaks and such.
But other than that, my longest-lasting campaigns have been highly episodic, with each individual session being a self-contained story tieing into something larger. "To be continueds" just aren't as effective for getting people back the next week as you might think, which is really frustrating me in 4th Ed because combat makes it hard to predict session lengths and fit a complete story into each meet-up.
He hasn't run a new campaign in a while, but he's learned from the experiece and keeps copies of everything in a notebook.
OTOH, we have had several campaigns survive multiple-month Hiatuses.
One actually survived a year long hiatus, in fact.
Relevant to your issues, though, I suggest a simple solution. The weeks your DM can't do the story, you have a one-off ready. You all get your D&D fix, and you get some practice DMing. The group could rotate the responsibility, to keep the Story-Teller GM from burning out. Have a buffer of combat sequences ready, and pull out one for the week when you need it.
I actually held an impromptu "intervention."
[DM], this is an intervention, your political addiction is getting in the way of your D&D addiction.
(this was after waiting an hour and a half for him to show up so I could run a LFR session. We needed one more, and no one else was avaliable.)
During the Election, we had to put all of his campaigns on hold because he was in Wisconsin Campaigning for the eventual winner. For all of October, and when we got him back, we lost him again in Jan b/c he went to the Inaguration. He was probably the only sober one there.
He just sucked. Like, I started playing with 3.5, and the DM had played with a playgroupe for more than 10 years with all the older editions and there game had gone on for almost that long. As soon as I start playing,the Dm just can't keep a game down. They start a game with someone who he knows is leaving in a week, then, when they leave, he says "oh yeah, were just starting a new game." AGH!!! Now that happend about 3 or 4 times before we actualy started a good solid long game.
Now The premise was a Samurai Game in Fuedal Japan with a splash of Psionics (oh yeah, and we never EVER played a game with magic because the DM had let his old play groupe tottaly munchkin the game, so now, there was no more magic...) so that was fine and cool, but oh yeah right, the DM would work with a girl who played with us, to write story and litterally make the ENTIRE game around ONLY there goals. So we had no flexibility, at all to do anything that would disrupt there story...
Then came "BUBBA".
"BUBBA" a creation from his old play groupe was a giant gay black guy who would ambush you and litterally sexually assault your character because say "Out of Game" you would comment on the DM's PC. And that game lasted for little more than a year, then it just stopped because the girl who wrote the story line for and with the DM just ran out of ideas instead of asking us for opinions. and it turned into a D20 Modern version of the same game, and that crapped out after about 5 games because one player was unreliable and would never call so they just scrapped it.
I appologize for the ranting and venting, but I've had some really terrible experiences with D&D, and even out new groupe that we finally got, now the new guys who've also played are just Chaotic Evil and steal and again, I had a Bounty Hunter character that I put months into making cool and unique... get sexually assaulted for no reason other than " Oh well I'm CE...it's funny and I saw it on Youtube, it was hilarious" Plus that game has been postoned so many times, we've barely got anywhere, and that game has restarted 3 or 4 times because of character changes and people not showing up.
.... Oh the stories I do have. Again I appologize, I Love D&D, and I know that each player and each DM is diffrent, so I actually agknowlege the DM and players that put good solid time and efforts into there stories... but just over the past 2 years, since I started, I just find it hard to pick up a character sheet and find fun and enjoyment out of making a new character. I know DM'ing can be hard but...sometimes there just jerks. And if not jerks, then just not very good communicators. At All...
But the constant putting sessions off is killing the game.
hahaha! I'm glad I found this post. First, my original DM, was a Tyrant and the Table.. a Table Tyrant if you will.
He just sucked. Like, I started playing with 3.5, and the DM had played with a playgroupe for more than 10 years with all the older editions and there game had gone on for almost that long. As soon as I start playing,the Dm just can't keep a game down. They start a game with someone who he knows is leaving in a week, then, when they leave, he says "oh yeah, were just starting a new game." AGH!!! Now that happend about 3 or 4 times before we actualy started a good solid long game.
Now The premise was a Samurai Game in Fuedal Japan with a splash of Psionics (oh yeah, and we never EVER played a game with magic because the DM had let his old play groupe tottaly munchkin the game, so now, there was no more magic...) so that was fine and cool, but oh yeah right, the DM would work with a girl who played with us, to write story and litterally make the ENTIRE game around ONLY there goals. So we had no flexibility, at all to do anything that would disrupt there story...
Then came "BUBBA".
"BUBBA" a creation from his old play groupe was a giant gay black guy who would ambush you and litterally sexually assault your character because say "Out of Game" you would comment on the DM's PC. And that game lasted for little more than a year, then it just stopped because the girl who wrote the story line for and with the DM just ran out of ideas instead of asking us for opinions. and it turned into a D20 Modern version of the same game, and that crapped out after about 5 games because one player was unreliable and would never call so they just scrapped it.
I appologize for the ranting and venting, but I've had some really terrible experiences with D&D, and even out new groupe that we finally got, now the new guys who've also played are just Chaotic Evil and steal and again, I had a Bounty Hunter character that I put months into making cool and unique... get sexually assaulted for no reason other than " Oh well I'm CE...it's funny and I saw it on Youtube, it was hilarious" Plus that game has been postoned so many times, we've barely got anywhere, and that game has restarted 3 or 4 times because of character changes and people not showing up.
.... Oh the stories I do have. Again I appologize, I Love D&D, and I know that each player and each DM is diffrent, so I actually agknowlege the DM and players that put good solid time and efforts into there stories... but just over the past 2 years, since I started, I just find it hard to pick up a character sheet and find fun and enjoyment out of making a new character. I know DM'ing can be hard but...sometimes there just jerks. And if not jerks, then just not very good communicators. At All...
OMG... I would have left the table on the spot ! Have YOU ever thought of being a DM. Start fresh with new people.
When I said 'having it out' I meant sitting down with my DM and formally discussing what's going on, and if we need to find another game- I know why he's been putting games off, but it's getting to a point that any old excuse will work. "My parents are in town" is an acceptable excuse. "My cat barfed on the carpet and I need to take the carpet to the cleaners" is not. If he's having trouble either IC or OOC, then I'd like to find out what it is, and how I can help.
But the constant putting sessions off is killing the game.
I see. Maybe you should have two games going on. If one DM is out of ideas the other can sit in.
So when another player mused that he would love to DM for a while, I leaped at the chance to take a player's chair.
When 4th edition came around, I decided to reboot the campaign from the ground up, rather than try to pick up where we left off. It has been wonderful looking at the old adventures with fresh eyes.
OMG... I would have left the table on the spot ! Have YOU ever thought of being a DM. Start fresh with new people.
I was thinking about leaving, but then I wouldn't have been able to play at all. I know it's no reason to stay, but I was just getting into it and I didn't feel like leaving my friend behind to deal with there stupid story. He would've gone crazy. He was a Chaotic - Good Character in a Lawful - Neutral World... Or more like Lawful - Evil World... DAMN YOU TABLE TYRANTS!!!!
Yeah, I went up to see my girlfriend in University and got all her roomates, a random guy they know in the building and her to play a simple lv1 game. My girlfriend's played before in both main games so she could help them a little bit, but I think they all had fun. I mean one girl actually bought dice at a comic book shop there just so she could play so I think this coming year when I head up there for college, I'll start a whole new game there with them. It's fun DM'ing, and there actually resectful players so I like it. I do just want to restart and actually make some fun memories playing and hopefully enjoy playing and enjoy making characters again.
Tragic, but all too common since Gygax kicked this whole thing off.
See Mark in "The Gamers". Pefectly illustrates the problem, albeit humorously.
Okay, here's the thing. Phones, texts, e-mails, IMs, whatever...f'ing use them. I can't stand it when some dumbass is all whishy washy about playing or not. Sh-t or get off the pot, but don't slag everyone else's evenings because you're too insecure and feable about a game.
Will they be upset that you canceled?
Perhaps, but they'll appreciate the prompt heads up so they can plan another game, catch a movie, do housework, whatever, rather than laguish doing nothign to afford you more irresponsiblity and laziness as a friend/player.
If you tell them nothing, assume everything, you screw everyone and will likely make lose a friend (make an enemy?) and screw yourself out of future campaigns.
One or two weeks off, okay. Life happens. But the more often it does happen, the easier it gets to put it off again.
Of the games that did actually start, i've never finished one either. Real life tends to rear its mighty, ugly head and swallow up all the delicious free time the DM needs to plan and run things. Come to think of it, most games I've played in never made it past a single session. A couple made it a few lvls in, but that's it.
Literally the longest running game I've played is the MnM one I'm currently running. We took a 4 week hiatus that I feared would end the campaign, but the week before our scheduled return I was drowned with player excitement and questions. We're still going strong and I hope it continues for a good, long time.
I've... never actually experienced the end of a campaign. Nearly a decade of D&D, and the only way a campaign would end is by indefinate hiatus. If we were lucky, we'd finish up the adventure first. But the party itself didn't have reason to split up or settle down.
Relevant to your issues, though, I suggest a simple solution. The weeks your DM can't do the story, you have a one-off ready. You all get your D&D fix, and you get some practice DMing. The group could rotate the responsibility, to keep the Story-Teller GM from burning out. Have a buffer of combat sequences ready, and pull out one for the week when you need it.
Same here, the closest I've gotten was my 18th level Fighter/Knight that was just heading for the final battle with the BBEG before we took our last break from D&D...hope to finish that one someday. It's the only campaign I've played that even made it past 12th level.
Out
Same here, the closest I've gotten was my 18th level Fighter/Knight that was just heading for the final battle with the BBEG before we took our last break from D&D...hope to finish that one someday. It's the only campaign I've played that even made it past 12th level.
There's a 12th level? The only one I've been in that lasted past lvl 4 was the one we started at lvl 3.
All three games are with the same group of guys and we've all been friends for 10+ years. I want to DM a campaign in place of the other games, but I don't know how to break it to them without hurting their feelings.
All three games are with the same group of guys and we've all been friends for 10+ years. I want to DM a campaign in place of the other games, but I don't know how to break it to them without hurting their feelings.
"Hey, do you guys want a turn on the player's side of the table?
I've decided I want a turn on the DM side."
"Hey, do you guys want a turn on the player's side of the table?
I've decided I want a turn on the DM side."
They'd say no, followed by an awkward pause and a suggestion that I DM a rotating game on Tuesday. I find it hard to get a rhythm DMing every other week and don't want to try that again, but the biggest problem is that I just want to stop playing all 3 games, and only DM. They're all players already in the 2 games they don't DM. Currently we game on Mondays and Tuesdays. The Monday game has two biweekly games and the Tuesday game has the one biweekly game.
The Tuesday game seems like it's about to die though, so maybe I'll take that over. The social dynamics of our group really won't let me quit the Monday games unless I want to wreck our group.
Later I alternated with another so I could play in their game taking the time out of the prep I used to do (actually not as much as you think as I had written most of the adventures six months prior to it's start).
That was fine until I started a new 4e campaign and it became an issue for balance and my not liking the way the campaign ran. It was ended in after about seven sessions. It had more to do with the story than the system but certain players had issue with 4e. It also became difficult to use the small group system in the game and story.
I scraped it and finished out our 3.5 campaign (which was 10th level) and started work on a new 3.5 campaign based on events in previous 15 years later. I had offered to do the new one in 4e but Players preferred 3.5.