Blog Carnival – January 2014 – Transitions

Babbling at the Counter #26 – Pen and Paper

Blog Carnival – January 2014 – Transitions

I was reading this month’s Carnival description at Hereticwerks when I stumbled upon this suggestion: “Are you going to take your first turn as a GM, or step back and be a player for a while?” and something made Click! inside my head. I was afraid of leaving the GM chair and becoming a player.

You see, the player’s at my group have started GMing more frequently. After taking charge of a few sessions, they got more comfortable with the idea. And now, I’m facing a few one shots and campaign plans where I’m nowhere near the head of the table. And I don’t like it.

I can’t seem to place the root of this discomfort. It could be I don’t like giving up all the “control” being the GM gives you over the story. Or it may be that I’m afraid they won’t ask me to go back to that chair. It could be that my characters tend to be kind of weak at fighting (and we are fighting a bit more now). Or, most probably, I just don’t like change.

This is what happened in my group, but it could have been anything. A new player changing the group’s dynamic. A setting change that makes some character archetype obsolete. Having to give up the GM chair. Etc, etc. Groups make a lot of transitions, and as soon as I find a way to deal with them, I’ll let you know.

- The Storeman