professions and tabletop thread

I'm a child counselor, which is incredibly draining, as I also go to school.

The secret is consistency. Find a time that works for all or most, and make it consistent. Plan your homework, work, and other things so you always have that time free

>>54662530
Chef here. Long campaigns are fun, but the group mostly switched to 1 shots because we all got jobs. They have a lot less prep time and don't matter nearly as much if someone can't make it.

I miss long campaigns though.

>>54662556
thanks dude, really nice to see some hope on keeping gming while also having a draining profession like yours.
do you keep a weekly gaming schedule? are the ppl in your group also your friends?

>Security Reviewer
>Don't even need to ensure safety (though you get commendations for it), just ensure the team properly described the controls they thought constituted safety.
>Job is effectively the GM's "are you sure"
I've found my calling

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This was ultimately what caused my previous group to disband.

Our group was all software folks (dev/qa/sysadmin/etc). The DM was fresh out of school and had the most experience, so he offered. However the workload he was assigned to handle got out of control. I tried to take some projects from him so that he wouldn't have such a burden, but I think that just made him feel worse/inadequate. Eventually he got burnt out from both DMing and his normal job, the group went their separate ways.

>>54662530
OP, as someone who also worldbuilds I know this is a painful suggestion, but it may be better to just build the campaign session-by-session (3-4 encounters, expected areas they're likely to visit, etc). It can be hard to do this kind of micro design while still doing macro worldbuilding, but it saves time and may be an option if prep time is a concern.

>>54662530
I'm a GM and a software developer. You NEED to get good at low-prep GMing. Unless you're a high schooler, the type of prep you're doing is just not feasible.

Read the Dungeon World GM guide even if you're not playing it. Google low-prep GM techniques. Learn them, rope your poor friends back in, and apply them until you're good at them.

>>54662605
Try getting a real job with real hours. I play with people in their 40s and they still manage to get together fairly often to play. They even have kids, too. LOL how bad are you at scheduling that you can't get a campaign going?

>>54662530
rotating swing shifts are a bitch to schedule around.

>>54664872
You're are 100% wrong. First off, the fact that you are a GM means nothing, nor does the fact that you are a software developer. Quit it with this reddit-tier "I'm an X and this is my opinion" crap, no one gives a fuck. Anyways, your "unless you're a high schooler doing X prep is not feasible" bullshit is also false. I have a full-time job and still manage to have plenty of prep time. I don't need it, but since I also don't have to spend my time "watching the little guy" while my wife goes out clubbing with Tyrone and Jamal, I've got plenty of free time. Dungeon World's DM advice is also 90% shit, by the way. It's good for Reddit cucks stuck in shitty jobs who lack creativity to make a real campaign so they have the players do it for them.

>>54665248
Sorry I triggered you, but please control your autism.

>>54665248
>triggered.jpg

>>54665293
>>54665324
I'm not the one who can't enjoy the hobby anymore because I picked a retarded career where I have to work nights. That's you guys. Maybe play during the day? I feel bad for you morons who work 60+ hours a week. I sure hope the early retirement is worth it. I REALLY hope you aren't spending it on a wife and kids.

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>>54665193
>real job

>>54664817
that's exactly what I'm trying to do at the moment, even tho i think i might play the sessions a little less often such as twice a month or something

>>54665372
Yeah. If it's less than 30k a year or less than 40 hours a week, it's not a real job.

>>54665368
I enjoy my work, and I enjoy my tabletop games. I enjoy my other hobbies too. You sound insecure.

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>>54665396
>implying being a chef isnt a real job

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>>54662605
>Chef here.
Same, weird hours and Tabeltop Gaming don't mix, I can only ever find games on Roll20 with people in England.

>>54665396
>Bait this weak
>mfw

>>54665372
>real job
He probably means 5x8 work week, plus national holidays plus leave granted by labor law.
If you plan adequately you should have time to play.
If you make it 4 hours so it take 5 hours with getting to and from place it still leaves you with 3 hours to do whatever you need assuming 8 hours work and 8 hours of sleep.

>>54665396
>less than 40 hours a week, it's not a real job.
Remember that working over 40 hours a week is wagecucking and living to work and not working to live as you should.
Plus working over 40 hours a week is overtime that in civilized works gives extra pay or extra free time given at other date.
If you have good job you have enough money to not care about extra cash and free time is basic option to take.

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Same old story.
High School, College, Living with the parents comes to an end.
The group splits all over the country.
We all try to continue playing online and do so a few times but everyone starts getting new jobs with new hours, starting new social lives, or getting married and having families and pretty soon it become impossible to game together.
We all stay friends and keep in contact and talk about trying to game but never find the time to do so together.
We all find new groups but the magic just isn't there.
The chemistry is different, the players are less experienced, they hold different visions or expectations and for love of the hobby you compromise more and more of your own.
Soon you find yourself wondering why you put so much time and effort into something you enjoy less and less.
You learn that some of your old friends have given up the hobby entirely, some tell you with sadness, but others with indifference.
The time spent begins to put strain on your other relationships and you start cutting back, not investing so much of yourself but harboring a secret yearning for what was lost.
Eventually you set it aside, only wandering through the old books or looking at how it has changed in your absence when the melancholy overtakes you.
And then the dreams end.

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>>54665193
>Try getting a real job

>>54662530
Stick to easy systems that don't take too much time to make characters OP. 5e, Dungeon Crawl Classics, FATE, etc.

Also don't worry too much about having to build an epic story, I prefer to write stories about every day heroes and adventurers because it's much easier to write than a whole "save the world" plot line.

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Firefighter 24 on 48 off.
Can never commit to a single day of the week, no group will work with my schedule

>>54665709
throw them into burning buildings as punishment

>>54665718
That's the dream man, that's the dream

>>54665709
Run one of these: http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1223/roleplaying-games/opening-your-game-table

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>>54665248

Or just straight tistic

>>54665853
Would love to be able to run something like this, but I have a hard time getting interest. Seems like most people would rather play in long campaigns, or do one shots. So I end up doing a mix of:
>>54662605
and
>>54664872
Short one shots, usually with improv-friendly systems.

>>54665853
Hmm that's actually not a bad idea, but I do prefer getting a group together and going on an adventure with them and growing as a team, achieving our goals together, facing down bosses together, having good interparty banter rather than just grouping up with some mercs to murder some dungeon dwellers

>work around 50-55 hrs/week average
>like to play, and sometimes DM for friends that are interested in learning

Thankfully I work the same days each week so I'm able to have a stable schedule. DMing with a full time job isn't impossible, however I am a late 20s virgin with zero interest in relationships and little desire for other things, so my hobby isnt necessarily in contention with other commitments.

>>54665535
I feel like that just happened with one of my hobbies in particular (not tabletop but close enough), and I'm at the end stages but I'm too stubborn and scared to quit and move on

>working corporate IT
>part code monkey, part design, part management, part sales
Close to 48 hours awake now due to combination of regular shifts, work emergencies, personal stuff, and scheduled game I didn't want to bail from. And I'm feeling alright.

Gotta say that living on my own really improved my time flexibility dramatically. Hell is other people.

>>54666447
Girlfriends are the bane of Roleplay scheduling.

>>54666525
Wimin are the bane of fun in general

>>54665193
This is bait right?

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>>54667230
Bait or some retard who never worked in a kitchen before.

>>54662530
I do 40 hour weeks in a technology rotational program and I hang out with friends every week or two. They haven't started trying to pack me full of overtime yet, the hours are flexible, and I can work from home when needed. I'm a young guy, most of my friends are still unemployed, life is good.

>>54662530
I have perpetual feelings of being too busy even if I'm not
even this summer I'm not doing shit but I don't want to commit to running a game

Got out of Army, now going to college and being a bartender.

>>54665193

Found the Boomer

>>54669015
Brent?

>>54662530
I know that feel, had some of the similar issues. We should meet up for a session one day, just so we can cancel cause we're busy and not play together instead.

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Right now I've got a pretty nice set up
>just graduated and am job hunting
>seniorcare 9 - 5 on weekends
>maitinence at my old uni's theatre weekdays 11 - 5
The latter job lacks enough oversight that I bring miniatures in to paint in a backroom I cleared out for myself. Game on weekday evening which is pretty nice.

looking to go into local or federal law enforcement atm tho, so I'm sure my opportunities for tabletop will diminish.