I'm currently running RotRL for a party of 4. I've been the gm since the groups creation around 18 months ago, I had only played once before that. Over the course of the last 4-5 months I've started to get the feeling that the sessions feel more like something I'm doing just because no one else stood up to the plate. Half the sessions I would end up being bitter that I spent the whole last night doing prep, and the fighter still cant manage to attack up his bonuses correctly at level 8. Or that the casters would spend the first 10 minutes wondering what spells to pick even though they know what they're up for.
It got to the stage where I put the campaign on hiatus for a month then we started playing again. After the first session back I could tell nothing had changed. The wonder and excitement seemed to have gone from the game, I couldn't tell if it was the campaign or the setting or if I just was burnt out being a gm.
So I asked one of my players if he would mind running Tomb of Horrors as I had heard good things and I wanted to play a Paladin I had been thinking up. So we got about 3/4 of the way though it last weekend and I cant remember the last time I had so much fun with the game, perhaps never.
Then I came to the realization that for most of the time I have been the gm I haven't really been enjoying myself. I have been forcing myself to do it for some reason. In retrospect can probably easily count on my hands the number of times in the last 18 months I've actually had true fun. The best way I can describe is "Ugh... I have to prep for tomorrow"
So, I find myself in the awkward spot of not wanting to continue a campaign we're half way though. Everyone in the group is about to start back at university. The only other person with any gm experience is already running another group and is about to be a freshman. He has agreed to run some modules until uni starts in around a month. Of the other 3, 1 of them doesn't have really... have a high enough charisma to put it in game terms. The other two I'm so sure about. I feel bad for leaving a campaign hanging even though I know I shouldn't. I'm doing something I'm not enjoying which takes a good 15 hours a week and not getting paid for it.
I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is, maybe I just needed to vent or hear similar stories. I know this is long so if you took the time to read this thank you.
*edit. I forgot to actually ask what peoples advice is.
Perhaps talk with them and see if maybe someone else wants to take the reigns. In my group almost all of us prefer to play. I know I do. So what we do is I am running Rise of the Runelords and another person is running kingmaker. We switch off each week to keep them fresh and so neither of us get burned out. Maybe you could try that.
I have no advice, but I took the time to read your thread. *Shrugs* Best I can do.
I think you need to have a talk with your players and see if THEY are having fun in your RotRL campaign.
Another suggestion would be to look for Pathfinder Society in your area. Getting in some short PFS games here and there as a player can scratch that itch while you GM a home game.
Or, vice versa. Look to GM some PFS in one-off sessions while switching it up with your home crew.
If none of this works or is an option, yeah, you may just need to take a step back for awhile.
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Tell your players you aren't having fun and want to stop. However, I'm assuming you don't want to stop playing Pathfinder completely.
I would look into Lamontius' suggestion of Pathfinder Society, but in a different way. Most people tend to burn out if they GM all the time; however, what if you and your group rotated it around? The nature of PFS play means your home game could stay relatively the same, and by using the organized play rules, everyone would take a turn GMing and playing, and all of you would level up as you go.
I was considering handing the reins off to someone else Lunchbox. I feel like I have soured the campaign for myself. Combined that with I know the campaign not far off in and out by now it just doesn't seem like an attractive idea.
I've not talked to the group as a whole yet I want to make my sure of my decision first. I've just talked to the player with the other group and he agrees that everyone would rather play. None of the other players will want to even give it a try for the first time unless basically forced. I don't want the group to die, but if it means continuing on the way it currently is then that's what's going to happen.
That's too bad but most likely they don't want the game to die either. Hopefully talking with them might get one of them to at least step up and try it out.
I looked into PFS around 6 months ago, there's only one place near me that does it. I sat in on a session and it was mostly guys a few years younger than me around 15-16 (I'm 19). The everyone in the group was basically that guy. I talked to the owner of the store about it and he said that's about the usual for PFS at least at his store. The store has since closed down and the next closest store in my city is around a 2 hour drive away.
GM burnout happens all the time. I prefer to just play, too.
You can stop the game, since school's starting, and maybe in a few months you'll feel like getting the old gang back together and have more enthusiasm for finishing it up. Tell the players the truth, and take a break.
Some people love to GM, but even they usually like to play once in a while and let someone else do the heavy lifting. GMing is a lot of work if you don't feel like doing it.
I think every player should try their hand at Gming, if only to appreciate how much work it is. Those special few who find that they really enjoy it should be encouraged to continue, and hone their skills with practice.
There aren't enough GMs in the world, and even the ones who aren't so great at it are doing their players a big favor by stepping up to the plate.
If you don't feel like it, take a break. You can pick it up later, or maybe someone else will run a game, and you can just play.
I have always looked at roleplaying as a premise to get together with people that I like to spend time with, shoot the s@~!, and laugh.
If the game is less fun, then be less productive and do something you find entertaining. Perhaps a RPG games night can be you guys watching a movie, or playing a board game or something.
Tell them you're getting burned on the game, and finding fun to be few and far between. If they're willing to work with you then you might want to talk about picking spells before the session starts.
Mix things up in the game as well. Put a character of yours into the group and play alongside the others (not ideal, but it gives you a chance to experience your world)...make it a silly character so you can at least laugh at your own antics.
Failing all that 18 months is a nice stretch and the game can be set aside. If the others feel that it's worth keeping going then they are welcome to pick up the reins.
I just told my group I was having a bit of burnout and felt I wasn't GMing at full capacity.
Because of other reasons, I'm also going to be running a new campaign in a few months with the same people. They already have their characters made. I take this as a good sign of GMing, personally.
Bottom line, just be honest, but make sure you don't use words that could make it seem negative; just less-than-optimal.
I've definitely noticed my performance go down ciretose. I've asked a few times in the past few months if they players are enjoying themselves and the campaign. They said they are enjoying themselves. Which I was confused by because I can tell I'm increasingly not giving a s#!#.
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And it can be really hard with an AP sometimes, because you've gone over the material so much that you are probably bored with it, even if it is brand new to the players.
If you want to keep it going, try to find ways to keep it fresh for you by changing things up.
But also, sometimes you just want to show up and run one character rather than all of them.
We have a GM rotation that helps reduce burnout. Our best GM is also the one most likely to burn out quickly, then get bored with only playing one character and start GMing again. The rest of us fill the gaps and it works out pretty well.
But every party needs more than one GM, and I find GMing makes being a player that much more fun, because you are thinking the game on multiple levels as you consider what is going on behind the curtain.
I noticed that when playing Tomb of Horrors ciretose. I think being a gm makes you a better player. You learn to think about situations more critically, think about them before you just charge in.
Variety is the spice of life.
Hang on to your RotRL reigns. Just rotate away from that game for a bit and play something else like you are doing with Tomb of Horrors. Maybe take a spin into another game system altogether, because sometimes a kid just needs a little strange.
That way the group keeps gaming together, and you can be the change you want to see in the world by stepping up your game on the player side of the table. Likewise, the person GM'ing now will be able to gain some perspective.
Sometimes the solution to gamer fatigue is different gaming. More-of-the-same-not-fun-gaming is rarely going to work out well and tends to cartwheel out into RL issues. Likewise, not gaming hardly ever results in people getting better at handling the rules and playing their characters.
My group has 2 GMs. He runs one game one week and I run another the next.
RotRL will be more than likely shelved for the time being not thrown away. We're at a point where I could say a year has passed in the game time with just a few adjustments to the meta-plot. Which I think might be a cool idea.
If you are at a good stopping point in the campaign then definately take a break. GM burnout is a totally normal thing. Its alot of work to gm even if you are just running published material (though I'm not sure how you need 15 hours for a session with an AP). You might want to look into some no prep/low prep techniques because it seems like you are over-working yourself. And ofcourse like others have said, look into making sure there is a rotation of dms, so you get to play too.
You might also want to look into shorter adventures, perhaps an AP is simply too much commitment. The new format modules paizo will be releasing soon might be a better fit, where 1 module is about 2 installments of an ap. Could be that would be less work to manage (shorter metaplot) while still having a satisfying arc.
GM burnout happens to the best of us. I run for our group the majority of the time, but every year or so I just need to take a break and someone else runs a different game for a while. Sometimes we go back to the game I was running and sometimes we don't.
I'm speaking entirely from my own experience here, but there is a possibility that the problem is that you are running an adventure path. This is not intended as a slam on adventure paths in general or Runelords in particular, I own all of the APs and have enjoyed reading most of them. However, my experience is that after a couple of books in an adventure path I begin to feel overly restricted by the plot and get bored as a result. This usually results in dropping the campaign. I use adventure paths as inspiration and to pull encounters for my home grown campaign. I find it more creatively satisfying. My suggestion is that you use adventure paths as a springboard for ideas. Weave several plot threads from them together and throw out others that do not interest you. Add spice with plots you made up yourself and you may find that you are having fun again.
On the other hand, you may not. Some people are just not meant to be GMs. Only you can judge whether that is the case for you. I do think that you have made the right choice in the short run by having someone else run something for a bit. We all need a break once in a while.
Another possibility is the round robin GM. It sounds like none of your friends are highly enthusiastic about running a game, however there is at least one who is willing to run one occasionally since you got your friend to run Tomb of Horrors. Perhaps the two of you can both play and GM a game together. Alternate weeks or months and make sure you leave lots of plot threads for the other to build upon. One word of warning if you go this route. Make sure that while you are the GM your character is either not involved at all, or gets less than the other players. Doing so significantly reduces the chances of hurt feelings and claims of DMPC.
Ultimately the best advice I can give is just to experiment with new ways of doing things. Different things work with different groups.
On a related note, you mention that one of your players still has trouble with calculating for the 8th level character. My question would be if this player is having fun. If the answer is yes there are two ways you can handle it. The first is to just ignore it. Some people just go through the numbers every time and there is not really anything we can do about it. Just try to stay patient. The second approach is to help create a cheatsheet on a notecard and break down all of the calculations so that all the player needs to do is find the proper action and roll the die, then apply the single modifier.
If the answer is no, then you need to determine if the numbers are a cause or a symptom. If they are a cause then the notecard I suggested above can be a great help. If they are a symptom the you need to find a way to get the player more involved in the game. Perhaps tailor some plot points to directly involve the player and give him a chance to shine. Lastly, it may be that Pathfinder is not the right fit for this player (or group). Some people just do not enjoy all of the number crunching involved. The next time you are all together calmly discuss what you expressed here on the messageboard and get input from them. The feedback they give you may be surprising.
I would suggest giving another look at Mergy's post above. Not playing at the game store PFS. Run the group as PFS.
If you take a season in order it has something of an AP feel because there is some background plot going on. They are one (or at most 2) nights to complete a scenario. They are relativly simple to run (a definite plus for those who haven't done it before). Then you rotate to the next GM. Everyone gets some GM time and learns something. No one gets too much. Everyone's character goes up together.
As an added bonus - If there is a convention in the area and you decide to go, you have a decent level PC or 2 to game with.
PFS is a good option, heck even when I am tired of DMing my main campaign and no one in the group is in a spot to run; I will do a PFS Module. They are affordable, pretty easy to figure out, and I find them relaxing. It is like being a marathon runner and then suddenly going for a short jog.
though I'm not sure how you need 15 hours for a session with an AP
I was including play time in that Kolokotroni.