Stress

Did you know that stress isn't meant to be our natural state? It's true. I'd never really thought about it until very recently, but stress is meant to be a response to a predatory threat. It's meant to hop you up on the biochemicals you need to get away from that threat so you can go back to your regular, full-time happy existence. Unfortunately that has not been the norm for most Americans for some time. We work jobs that provide us with oodles of extra stress. This is stress that can gradually kill you over time. Our bodies weren't really designed to be in a constant state of stress.

Believe it or not roleplaying games can also be stressful but they shouldn't be. Game masters in particular are under a great deal of pressure to produce entertainment, sometimes on the fly. Players too stress over rules, the death of characters and other things, even the accumulation of fictional wealth and power. This too is not the natural state of things in roleplaying games. If you're a game master and you're stressed all the time, take a step back and remember why you started playing in the first place. The reasons will be different for everyone, but since we're talking about a game, then entertainment is surely at the forefront of those reasons. If you're not enjoying your task as game master, if you're stressed all the time then consider how you can make things easier on yourself, so that you enjoy the game as much as everyone else.

Perhaps you spend a solid week prepping only to have your content devoured in just a session or two, beginning the cycle all over again. Consider whether using some published material, in whole or in part will put you more at ease and allow you to focus on your own enjoyment. Preparation seems to a great source of stress from all my online readings. Recall that you're not being chased by a predator, take a deep breath and try not to stress over what's meant to be enjoyable. Some game masters actually enjoy preparation.

Doing things to "lubricate" the moving parts of your game can be a big help too. Getting organized is a great game master and player stress reliever. I've seen players rewrite their messy, eraser worn character sheets after a year of play, finding a sort of zen in doing so. Organizing notebooks, nonplayer characters and other materials prior to play can also give you a boost of confidence that you'll be able to find things you weren't able to find last session. Also, reread those rules that become sticking points during the game. I personally enjoy making dungeon tiles and special effects that take some of the pain out of staging interesting combat zones. The point is, we should all try find a strategy that works and remember not to stress over what is still essentially a game.