Overcoming Pre-Game Jitters and finding Enthusiasm

question
#1

Hey guys,
I’m a long time lurker here on this wonderful forum and it was the first place I thought to come to with this question. This place is always a buzzing hive of creativity and enthusiasm so in my mind there’s nowhere better for this hehe.

Basically, I wanna know how my fellow DM’s out there overcome the pre-game jitters and tap into that well of enthusiasm to really bring people into the game.

I’ve been DMing for a couple years now and I’ve also played in a few games DM’d by my friends and this issue seems to be common amongst us and I assume common in other people too.
We all really enjoy DMing but sometimes the weight of the session ahead can bog you down and crush your enthusiasm so to speak, especially when gaming online as we now have to.

There’s also that issue of enthusiasm. Is there any tried and tested methods you guys know to get your self pumped for a game session?

I’m currently running a Altered State game set in Neo Roma, the last city on Earth, suffering under the deadly regime of a species of aliens referred to as “Angels”. It’s been a real fun time. All the players were involved in the creation of the world and it’s bizarre politics and even on peoples bad days, they show up and we all have a grand old time. That’s all to say, generally the enthusiasm is quite high!

My last session though, we all sat down to play, 6pm as normal and I just couldn’t run it. Breaking through the first barricade of Pre-game jitters was hard enough but when I got down to running npcs and painting the scene my wheels started spinning in the mud.
There was just no enthusiasm or will to commit to the next few hours of good times with my friends and I felt horrible for having them arrange to take time out of their week to play only to have me effectively phoning in the session.

Thankfully they were very understanding and we all found some other game to play together instead but going forward I don’t want to leave this campaign unfinished (with 2 sessions left) and I don’t want to waste anymore of peoples time.
The problem is, I don’t know where I’m gonna find the enthusiasm to bring this whole story everyone’s put so much time into to a close.

Here’s hoping you guys out there can give me a hand!
Thanks for reading anyways, I appreciate you hearing me out :slightly_smiling_face:

#2

Hi @Nathan!

All the DMs I know have pre-game jitters. If you are experiencing those, it means three things: you care; you are excited about the game; and you have a pulse. So, I wouldn’t worry about it. If the jitters are interfering with your ability to start the game, my best advice is to get players rolling dice as quickly as possible. If you are doing that, fun will happen, and you will settle in.

As for your second question, I don’t have enough information to effectively triage why the enthusiasm may be waning. Without being a fly on the wall in your session, there could be a million reasons. However, you said a couple of things that give me pause. The first is “running NPCs.” I’m not sure what you are doing, but my NPCs in my games do three things really well: they die quickly; fade into the baxkground; and get out of the way of my heroes really fast. That’s because if you are devoting time to NPCs, you are inadvertently taking the spotlight off the PCs, and when that happens, games turn into a drag and leach enthusiasm.

Two, you said you had two sessions left. Like, OMG. At that point in a campaign, you should be in the waterslide of the story. Major events have happened, and now the fate of the world hangs in the balance if the heroes do not fulfill their destiny. Danger and wonder have to be high for excitement to be high, and the stakes have to be nerve-wrackingly high at this juncture of the story. If you haven’t made the burden, pressure to succeed, and peril on your heroes IMMENSE by this point, then there is no doubt the campaign may be lacking in enthusiasm. And there shouldn’t be anything to phone-in because the events of the world are pressing and demanding everyone’s attention to seek a resolution. In other words, you should be at a stage where both you and the players literally, pee your pants, cannot wait to play to find out how the immense pressure gets resolved. If that’s not where you are in terms of developing your story and running your game, then I am sorry to say that you may be the cause of your dilemma.

Frequently when something in my game isn’t going right, I am the person to blame for the issue. And for games to finish on a high note, I generally find you need high drama, which means struggle for your heroes: pressure, peril, high stakes, excitement, danger, and wonder. With that in place, everyone will be yearning for a resolution. Is there a fight set up with the big bad in some exotic locale? If you look at The Garden of Eden, fighting a swarminoid god-computer on the moon to prevent all human life from being destroyed is one example.

Finally, if you put those high stakes events in motion and get players rolling dice as quickly as possible, I can almost guarantee you will have a killer session.

#3

My mantra for when my headspace gets out of whack is to get back to the basics. Do some inner-thinking and remember the core things that get you excited and the aspects of this (and any) hobby that you love. Then when you figure that out, find a project that really highlights those aspects and go to town. Getting back to the things that I personally find fulfilling makes it easier for me to prep, sit-down, and have a good time with friends.

You’ll never be in the wrong if you simplify things down into the basics of D.E.W. (Danger, Energy, and Wonder), whatever that means to you.

P.S. You can also just search for any piece of advice from @Alex and keep that in your back pocket. He’s the coach that puts his hand on our shoulder and encourages us to just get out there.

#4

Thanks so much for the advice!
Honestly yeah I can see where I’ve gone wrong with enthusiasm.

The campaign we’ve been playing has been quite linear encounter to encounter with all the big story changing decisions happening at the end of a session. Through healthy conversation and asking for critique and criticisms from the players I know they enjoy this pattern of play.

The problem for me however is that I normally end up front loading exposition at the start of the session to tie the events of the last session to the next one. Last session, and in this most recent abortive session, this has manifested in the form of an “exposition npc”.
Exposition ain’t fun for anyone but sometimes it needs to get done and I’m not a good enough actor to make it feel natural lol.
So for the sake of gameplay and story coherency, an npc taking the party in for a 5min mission briefing is a necessary evil in this case but I think this is what killed my enthusiasm.
I essentially had planned out a script to read from and it just felt soulless.

I think you’re right when you say NPC’s are mainly good when they fade into the background, and I’m not the kind of DM who wants to or even is able to perform an entertaining NPC character.
Your critiques have got me thinking about creative solutions to this problem and I’m feeling that spark of problem solving that can become something greater if nurtured. Particularly, bringing the players into the planning process. Bringing the players into the mission creation process and letting decide how the mission gets done instead of how the mission gets finished.
It seems like a no brainer to think of but such is GM tunnel vision.
Almost all of the players in this particular game have very little rpg experience and it’s my mistake for taking their enjoyment of the flow of our sessions to overrule alternative methods of planning and running.

So thank you so much for your advice, it’s really helped me put into perspective the issue and I think I see a good way out of it! :grin: :metal:

#5

Honestly, yeah going back to basics is really helping how I think.

The core parts of this hobby that I really draw enjoyment from is just the banter and chaos of the party and my problem is putting myself in the way of that with a barrier of pre-game exposition that’s just not fun for anyone.

So, I think the best way forward is just to cut out all that exposition and make it interactive. I need to involve danger and energy and wonder in the planning. It’s not about dumping story on em before the dice rolling gets underway, the conversation should involve dice rolling and engagement. That seems like the logical application of the aspect of the game that makes it so unique.

It seems really obvious now but in the fervor of planning and replanning the core encounters of the session, I left behind the set up and hastily planned some shaky exposition foundations.

Thanks so much for your advice man it’s got me to pick myself up and get back in the game!
And you were right about Alex’s advice too! You’ve both been a massive help and I’m very thankful for your thoughtful replies!! :heart: :grin:

#6

Time to thrust events on these players! Dangerous, wondrous forces have now aligned against them, and they are here, now! There‘a no time to think!! The end of the world is upon them!!

If that doesn’t get them moving, nothing will.

#7

The jitters never go away, my dude. I’ve been a GM for about 35 years and I get the pre-game jitters before every single game whether I’m the GM or a player. I have the jitters right now for tonight’s game. :grimacing:
Like Alex said, it means you care and that you’re invested. Use that nervous energy at the table, turn the jitters into fuel. You got this, dude.

#8

Brewing a warm cup of tea about ten minutes until showtime works well for me!

I also find it helpful to allow a few minutes of hang out time before the game actually starts, this seems to settle the nerves a bit before things kick off.

#9

Nathan,

I’m terms of exposition, since we all have the web these days, I just start the day of the session off with a email or text to everyone about where the story is. I try to make it like a little piece of creative writing, not just a ‘recap’

For example, I was doing a Call of Cthulhu campaign, so I’d write these articles from a conspiracy theory tabloid that got the facts wrong, but reminded everyone what was happening. Sometimes they’d include clues and stuff too. Then everyone is ready to go when they sit down.

#10

That’s a really good idea.
It makes sense from a storytelling perspective too I might have to give that a go… :thinking:
I’m hoping they’ll want to play a 5e campaign after the current one, I can envision a magical news bulletin or something that delivers them their weekly update.
Thanks for the advice :grinning:

#11

Tea is the answer to every problem I find :laughing:
The pre-game convo is always good too but I find with pre-game jitters I tend to stall and stay in the convo instead of launching into the game which is something I’ve observed in my friends when they DM too.
It’s a difficult balance I guess :man_shrugging:
Thanks for the advice though!
I appreciate it :grin:

#12

It’s good to know I’m not alone here then :laughing:
Thanks for the kind words and advice!
I’m harnessing the goodwill from these posts and funneling it into my next game haha

#13

I’ve used dreams a lot too. They’re resting after a series of encounters and someone calls for help in a dream.

#14

I always get jitters at the start of a session. What I’ve taken to doing is starting with the players in mind. By that, I mean I basically ask one of the players what their character is up to then riff of that. My GM style is very improv with a framework of what I want to see the characters experience, so I start with them and weave in the story as the banter picks up.

#15

Nathan!!!

Players won’t kill you! And they won’t Eat you! If anything not having the time to tell the full story is the problem.

Enthusiasm is hard!

There has been great advice here! You have the world set, your players know what’s up…for the most part.

Fake some enthusiasm…I know you can bring it!! Then betray the crap out of the players and put them in a hole soooo deep all they can do to survive is beat the big Bad!!!
At least from their perspective!

If the jitters ar wrapping it up?!? Giant explosions and or lightning bolts worked for LoveCraft!!!

#16

Honestly I endeavor to be more like that as a GM, I just suck at improv!
That is a good tip though I’m gonna try loosen up my planning for the next campaign I run and see how it goes.

#17

Hey Paxx!
All this advice is giving me the enthusiasm I need so with any luck I won’t need to fake it haha
Thanks for cheering me on I’m gonna try channel some of that energy you brought to the game, make em really question their reality and the explosions and lightning bolts will drive that along too hahaha

#18

“I just suck at improv!”

Few people are GOOD at improv, but we can all get better. So fret not!
Some things that I do before each game is add at least two to three new postings to tbe bulletin board and I do a 10 things about Greyhawk; a list of a few things that apply to the players and a few that give them more context and background about my Greyhawk.
Lastly I start each session with a lesson from Battlestar Galactica; “Previously in the land of Wurms & ravens…” sometimes a player will jump in a recap what happened last session. This tells you what stuck with them and Sometimes I cover it and can use it to refocus to a story I’m more prepared for.

#19

Been away for a bit, but I would like to say, “You do NOT suck at improv.” You actually do it everyday. Like, I highly doubt you exist in a scripted environment short of the “How’s it going?” “Fine.” It’s twisting it into an RP perspective is all. One of the best resources on improv I’ve read is “Play Unsafe.” The three core points I took from it were : Be boring, be obvious and say yes, and.

I feel that, too often, people are searching for that huge, amazing response to one particular situation when, really, just do exactly what should happen next. PC punches some dude? Some dude punches back. PC takes a contract on some dude? Some dude sends goons. PC stops Big Bad? Big Bad comes back harder. The responses should be believable, in my opinion, it’s the situations that evolve that become memorable.

Using the PC contract example, obviously, the players will say, “How did Some Dude find out?” And I would say, “That’s a really good question. Who would give PC away?” Then the players are like, “I bet it was that jerk from the tavern,” and I take notes… The players tell ME where to go. I honestly just run the puppets from behind the curtain and let them fuel their own fire.

#20

It’s the planning and recapping I can handle but I always find I flounder in the face of my players sheer unpredictability!
For example, the players came face to face with the fallen angel Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies, and being faced down with his horrifying aura, one of the players decided he needed to defect to save his life. He offered the blood of his comrades so that his life would be spared and in my dumfoundedness I just acted as if he was so below the fallen angel that he was totally ignored and the fight went ahead as normal (with some light and friendly pvp haha). Reflecting on that I should have riffed off the players plans but instead I took the most boring route in favour of my planned out encounter.