Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[billd91]

It's a good system, but that backfired on me. The guy I mentioned, in a previous post, had been running a Savage Worlds campaign out in the boonies and we would all head out of town to play there, on Friday nights right after work. We had a bunch of weeks where he cancelled on us last minute and I became the backup. Then he could no longer host (I suspect that his wife laid down the law) and started missing completely, as I detailed in that other post. My "alternate" became a 2.5 year campaign, because the other players "were having too much fun."

Heh, the Age of Worms campaign that we're just starting the final chapter of tomorrow night... it was once the backup campaign too. That's one of the reasons it's been going so long (several years) - it would come off the back burner only periodically.

 

[Thomas Shey]

As far as where to go from here, I am wrapping up running a PF2e adventure path and a 9 month campaign in D&D 4e. I need something even less complex than 5e to recharge my batteries.

Someone's probably asked you this, but if you want something in the D&D sphere, have you looked at 13th Age? I've been finding it (as such games go) relatively light to prep for and run.

 

[Umbran]

That feeling where you wonder if you're on a bunch of ignore lists, or if a whole group of people just don't bother to actually read the thread before posting.

Or, folks read it, but the writing doesn't necessarily say what you think it says. That happens a lot, especially to those authors who are, for lack of a better term, on the loquacious side. The longer your post is, the less likely it is that the reader will take away from it what you want them to.

 

[Alzrius]

Hey Chip, how's your shoulder?

 

[Retreater]

When I start to burn out, one of my players steps in to run a game for a while. That takes a huge load off since I only have to worry about ONE character!!!! Then after a few months, I start looking at how I could do things better here or differently there and the bug to run again bites.

One of my games, I was able to get a player to GM while I took a break. So I'm running only one regular game, which isn't so bad.
I do find that I get bored with just one character, waiting for my turn to come around, not really having the ability to shape the world or tell the story (at least not at the level a GM does), etc.

Someone's probably asked you this, but if you want something in the D&D sphere, have you looked at 13th Age? I've been finding it (as such games go) relatively light to prep for and run.

I've run it in the past for another group.
I don't know if it would be enough of a palate cleanse from 4e, honestly. It still has this exception-based and power-based design, where every attack requires a player to write down 2+ sentences describing how they can use it.
Maybe in a year or so, I'll be ready for it.

 

[Maxperson]

One of my games, I was able to get a player to GM while I took a break. So I'm running only one regular game, which isn't so bad.
I do find that I get bored with just one character, waiting for my turn to come around, not really having the ability to shape the world or tell the story (at least not at the level a GM does), etc.

I've run it in the past for another group.
I don't know if it would be enough of a palate cleanse from 4e, honestly. It still has this exception-based and power-based design, where every attack requires a player to write down 2+ sentences describing how they can use it.
Maybe in a year or so, I'll be ready for it.

If you are bored as a player and burnt out as a DM, that does limit your options. About the only other thing I can think of is co-DMing where you run enough not to be bored, but aren't the number one planner/responder.

 

[payn]

Sadly, our favorite karaoke place didn't survive long past COVID. The one remaining location in town is run very badly. (Like, the equipment rarely works, songs just fail to load, etc., PLUS the service is awful.)

This pains me to hear. We have a plethora in my metro area, but quality varies a lot. Singing is great for the soul.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Maybe if you're a first time crowdfunder, you should just try to fund a zine or a pamphlet that you already have written and laid out before the campaign begins. If there's a stretch goal, maybe it can be to swap out the art for better stuff from artists you've already spoken to and made agreements with.

Sure, sometimes people can come out of the gate and fund for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but a big ambitious product from someone with zero track record makes me super-nervous as a backer, and I can't be alone in that.

Your zine can even be a simple preview for the big product you really want to do. Just show us that you can get even a simple product out the door before asking us to crowdfund the moon and the stars.

Here's a super-simple video on how to do just that:

 

[Thomas Shey]

One of my games, I was able to get a player to GM while I took a break. So I'm running only one regular game, which isn't so bad.
I do find that I get bored with just one character, waiting for my turn to come around, not really having the ability to shape the world or tell the story (at least not at the level a GM does), etc.

Its not an uncommon disease with frequent GMs (I run into it a lot when playing), and some things I've seen and read lately make me think it also may be an indication of undiagnosed ADHD (and I'm including myself there).

I've run it in the past for another group.
I don't know if it would be enough of a palate cleanse from 4e, honestly. It still has this exception-based and power-based design, where every attack requires a player to write down 2+ sentences describing how they can use it.
Maybe in a year or so, I'll be ready for it.

You're not really wrong in regard to any of that. If anything 13th Age leans into a lot of character specific exception-based design even more, because there's so little underlaying mechanic to engage with. Its overall a little easier to manage, but if the million-special-cases are what's getting to you, its not going to help.

Unfortunately, as I recall, you have a great degree of difficulty getting people on board anything outside the D&D sphere.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Maybe if you're a first time crowdfunder, you should just try to fund a zine or a pamphlet that you already have written and laid out before the campaign begins. If there's a stretch goal, maybe it can be to swap out the art for better stuff from artists you've already spoken to and made agreements with.

Sure, sometimes people can come out of the gate and fund for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but a big ambitious product from someone with zero track record makes me super-nervous as a backer, and I can't be alone in that.

You're not. I back a lot (probably more than I should) but most are either from people I'm familiar with, or where the digital buy-in isn't excessive.

In fact, I just told one KIckstarter creator not long ago that their digital tier was too steep for work by unknowns that I was only liable to find value in reading. They said they were setting things so the artists and other contributors were being paid properly, and that might be true, but its still too steep to pay for a $35 PDF blind.