Master of Malfeasance lost his mojo

[Master of Malfeasance]

For those who follow these threads closely (as I wish that I had time to), I've been doing some soul searching.  After concluding that I'm so twisted and Malfeasant that I meet myself coming around corners, I have also concluded that my love for gaming is dwindling.


The cycle goes something like this:


I have a group in San Antonio, where my mom lives, whom I try to visit every weekend.  We play Exalted.  It WAS fun for a few months, but I can't get this group to focus on anything for long.  I run a good game, and I get phone calls ALL F***ing week asking me about specifics of the game.  


me:  (rasping and bleary) What the hell?\


LetsRideBikes: HEYMASTEROFMALFEASANCEWILLYOUTELLMEABOUTTHATTOTALLY


RADICALDAIKLAIVEIGOTMYCHARACTERLASTGAMEWHENITOTALLYDESTR-


OYEDTHATBUSFULLOFNUNS?


me: (hangs up)


LetsRideBikes:


HEYMASTEROFMALFEASANCEITHINKILOSTTHECONNECTION,BUTWILL...


me: (hangs up)


<the next morning>


me: Sorry, sir, and that's why... (phone rings)


Midgetking: hey, are you going to be in town?


me: sure.  See you, then, buddy! (hangs up.. phone rings)


Canadianspecialforces: Hey, MoM, ya gonna be in town?


me: yeah, unless something weird happens.  Later (hangs up.. phone rings)


LetsRideBikes: Hey!! are you going to be...


me: (hangs up)


<end>


You get the point.  then I have this other group of completely well-adjusted people who don't have the same tenure in my life as my friends from school in San Antonio.  Not only are they closer, but they're all veteran gamers.


Typically, I go to San Antonio the first weekend of the month, and get so throroughly pissed off at the very idea of ever picking up a die again unless it's to lodge it in DeadPoet's cranial cavity for skipping out on yet another game so that he can boink his girlfriend while her kids are gone.


These people, this first goup of my oldest friends are all good people going to college on their way to respectable careers, but they have a lot to learn about gaming.


So I come home and game with the second group, and they're all fun people, and we all get together and laugh and joke and have a great time, but I always feel as though I bring them down.  The jokes that I make are incisive and I don't want them to be, the generalizations that I make, while funny, almost always hurt someone's feelings, and I'm not trying to.  They're not overly sensitive, I just sometimes feel that I take out my frustrations from the first group on the second.


It sounds like it would be really easy to just stop gaming with the San Antonio crew, but I always feel guilty; like I'm leaving my buddies to twist in the wind.  For all of the Malfeasance I want to bring to bear, they really don't deserve to be in the crosshairs for it.  


This sounds like an MPH (my pussy hurts) problem, I know, but gaming is one of the few things that I enjoy to the very core of myself, and my very own ties of friendship and brotherhood appear to be dragging it spiralling down into the crapper.


Damn... I went to the MK 19 (40mm automatic grenade launcher) firing range today, and it didn't make me feel better.  This is serious.


Help?

 

[Jakk Bey]

Dare I say you might need to take a break from the ST role, and let someone else take a stab at it.  When folks who can be pains in the ass get a chance to get behind the screen, they suddenly learn what you're going through, and often, they straighten up toot sweet.  If nothing else, the break from the Big Chair could give you a chance to just recharge a bit.


Or you need to define some clear boundaries with your buddies.  Perhaps e-mail your ideas for game times, so that everyone gets the message at the same time?  


That, or you might even need to just tone down a bit, and choose one game to run, and concentrate on it.  Let someone else run the other group of more experienced gamers. You just take the table, play, and relax, and leave the ST reins for the group that needs a firmer hand.  And maybe look to import a new and experienced player from time to time to help show them the ropes by a good example.  People learn to play from their ST and other players. They don't just magically morph into better players, and if they only have each other as examples, they're not going to learn as fast.


I never take on groups that are comprised of noobs. I always mix in a few old salts, or at least one or two folks who have some experience to mix in with them, to help them out, and to help me out.  


Took on a group one summer with three high school girls who'd never gamed before from the travelling theater company I was directing, with my girlfriend, our room-mate, and a less than socially adjusted, but very experienced gamer.  The girls were fine actresses, and bright as hell, and very creative.  The girlfriend wasn't terribly experienced, but she had enough gaming experience to help the girls out, and bridge the gap a bit for them. Deb wasn't experienced, but a good actress and a bit of den mother.  Mark, was very helpful--in part because the girls were cute little critters--and the force of not one, but three teen-age girls had the power to ridicule him into behaving himself very well.  If he didn't, the girls, Deb, and the girlfriend all ganged up on him, and made his life a living hell. It worked out very well, and as a GM, I was well pleased with the Hot Girls Index for the game.  And the girls turned out to be fun as all get out as players.  Just energetic, enthusiastic, and unafraid to try things out.


It's about balance. You have to balance your group.  Find some way to either recruit, or drop folks so that you can find a nice ratio of kookiness to fun. I've always had great success with getting actors into my games, but that might be because of that pesky theater troupe I was involved in.


You might just need to take a break from the ST role, and concentrate on one group or another.  Maybe take some time at the table just as a player. Recharge the batteries.

 

[Seiraryu]

I agree with Jakk.  The fact that you're basically annoyed by the same problems all STs suffer is a sign that you need to slow down, get out of the throne and let someone else take the reins for a bit.


At least that's my opinion.