Comments on: Behind the Screen: Getting through the doldrums…

By: Infamous Jum

Infamous Jum — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:33:00 +0000

Sometimes I get to the table and I find myself drawing an absolute blank. At this point I’ll just toss in a really hammed-up NPC to distract the players from the fact that nothing is really going on. So far, its worked pretty well. Too well, in fact, as the players now make it a point to visit the bard innkeeper who sings every word and force me to make with the horrible noise that is my singing voice.

By: Yax

Yax — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:17:00 +0000

I meant here:
Improvisation!

By: Yax

Yax — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:16:00 +0000

I've been known to cancel a game every now and them, but rarely.

I usually manage to get pumped about my next game by just sitting down and writing down ideas.

Then I'll improvise - which I believe I'm decent at.

I wrote about my thoughts on improv here:

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:51:00 +0000

Doldrums, the DM's bane.

For DMs with high Improv skills, your solutions are perfect.

For more Script-driven DMs (like this here commenter) a drop in motivation is nasty! That being said, a break at X-mas and a 2 month summer break does help alleviate this in our groups.

My solutions:

Lack of Adventure Prep Motivation:
1)Preparing something light (1 or 2 scenes) by browsing through my battle Maps and my D&D minis.
2)End the session earlier and play something else.
3) Whip out a Dungeon Magazine short adventure.

Lack of inspiration:
1) Review my Dungeon Mags and Ptolus book for short adventures that can be easily weaved in the plotline.
2) Prepare the early parts of the adventure

Lack of energy, sickness
Reschedule, play something else.