Gaming, Energy, and Timing

May 19 2008, 4:30 pm

Woe to the DM who plans a game night at the end of the semester, too
near the completion of finals for students, staff, and faculty to rest
and rejuvenate. It just happened that even those of us not involved
in classroom activities were not in top shape. As DM, I found it
incredibly difficult an imbalance to run a good game.

At minimum, two people need to feel prepared and enthusiastic for a
game session to play out satisfactorily. Preferably, one of those
people is the DM. However, the DM can still have the occasional off
night should his or her players be confident and inspired to play. At
our last game night, the seeds of imagination had gone dormant.
Our "stimulus packages" were still in the mail.

The players are not to blame. It's a DM's job to provide rousing and
entertaining material from which they can transcend their worldly
concerns and catch a fantastical breath. At least, that's the ideal
goal. I want my players to leave a game night happy with their
current progress and excited about the next installation's prospects.
So, after last time, I'm planning on making certain I'm well-rested
and that the evening doesn't coincide with such energy-sapping events
as finals immediately prior.