Does anyone else love the idea of playing/running RPGs but actually

>>54236438
Hell is other people.

>>54236468
well spoke, anon.

>>54236438
Once I gave up wanting to run something specific and embraced the joy of managing and reacting to player-borne chaos, I actually managed to run a bretty good game.
Didn't go nearly as I expected, though: Began an investigative game, ended up in world war.
Was super fun, though.

>>54236438
>but actually hate doing it?
What? No!?
>but every time I play with a group (as GM) I find myself frustrated because it never feels right.
Oh. Yes.

>>54236438
making a campaign and having strict expectations for what your players do is a pretty major pitfall. know who you're playing with and what they're likely to do and plan accordingly. Do that and you'll find yourself having a hell of a lot more fun playing/dming

>>54236438

You might just get to much into fantasy world or worlds as a form of escapism, forgetting its a game after all. This is most apparent when you play with people who are more into crunch and less into fluff especially or people who are more into social aspect of it.

>>54236530
I’ve tried running a sandbox campaign (if that’s what you’re kinda referring to) but the players I had (and who agreed to play in a sandbox campaign) refused to really interact with the world and still looked at me to throw them quests and plot hooks.

>>54236573
My expectations are usually just to tell a story that the game is supposed to be able to handle, I’ve tried OSR stuff, Burning Wheel shit, World of Darkness, but the players never really seem to understand what the game is about even if they’ve agreed/told me they want to try that idea.

>>54236621
I guess the social aspect thing could be the downfall as it would explain why people say they’re interested in playing but aren’t actually interested in engaging with the mechanics/fluff. I’d prefer a mechanically interested player to a socially interested one.

>>54236940
Wasn't sanbox in my case, I threw them a solid hook and goal upfront: A girl is missing, find the girl.
It just so happened that, due to chance and pcs being pcs, as well faction interests, they gave up on the girl and sabotaged as much as they could of the town before getting the fuck out. Which actually "solved" the underlying mystery, even if they didn't get it fully.

If players ignore hooks, though, have the consequences of ignoring forcefully hook them? If you can't ignore the weird cultists if you don't want them knocking on your door with their weird books and robes next week.

>>54236940
>>54239795
And umm, don't leave them without hooks or conflicts. Especially if they don't have a fixed idea beforehand. Even more so if they are newbies, subbies or autists.
Agreeing with a direction beforehand or creating a conflict and letting the PCs loose amidst it is the way to go, IMO.

The world exists only in your head, at first. If you don't guide players to your vision when starting out, it becomes very hard for them to even know how to interact.

>>54236438
Happens to me all the time.

>>54236438
I'm in kinda the same boat right now. I'm 20 and for years i never had access to any books or friends who would want to play tabletops. Now that i have them and ive put tons of time into making a campaign, ive had a single session with two different groups and they havent lasted any longer.
Idk if it was me being new to DMing that didn't make it fun but they just stopped making time for our games

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>>54236438
All the time, op

All the fucking time

>>54236438
Oh, yes. I stopped after taking a moment to consider whether wasting 6+ hours on something I don't enjoy is a good use of my time.

No I love running RPGs.

I've been thinking about this recently and running RPG's is the only time I find I can be fully 'mindful' and focus on something properly. Anything else I try to do, reading , writing, vidya, TV , work ofc, I get easily distracted and find . With RPGs the time just zooms by and I don't have any urge to check my phone or do something else.

My only problem is I can't play them as much as I want to even though I'm currently running two three hour sessions per week at the moment.

I think your issue may be one of managing expectations and tolerating distress. Whatever you create in your head is always going to be better than what happens in front of you, that's the same of anything and part of life and the creative process.

I started a campaign recently and it didn't feel right at all, I thought it was going to suck and hated myself for a week and thought of quitting but again with RPGs I tend to be able to push past this feeling and now im having a great time running that same campaign despite the early blips.

>>54236438
First of all, it's a skill that requires practice. Secondly, with some practice you can have sessions that run quite well, which is more intoxicating than any movie. But yeah bad sessions are part of the deal.