Burnt Out

So, I've been on holiday for the past two weeks, during which I've given barely a thought to gaming. I've not even updated the character sheets or done any prep work for the game tomorrow, which probably wasn't the best idea ever.

I've been feeling something of a malaise as regards gaming for some time now, and most particularly for the past month. Basically, I'm burnt out. I've felt this way before, and it inevitably passes, but for the moment it just sucks. As far as I can tell, there are two main reasons:

• The current campaign just isn't what I'd hoped for. Such is life - sometimes, things just don't work. But when a player dropped out recently, that was a massive hammer-blow to my remaining enthusiasm for the campaign.
• The edition-change sucks. During the changeover to 4e I felt something similar, in that D&D has just left me behind, but this time it's somehow worse - not only does 5e leave me cold (and increasingly so as time goes on), but the lack of solid information is a constant irritant. It really shouldn't get to me, but it does.

One thing I have been thinking about over the past two weeks is a general de-stressing and de-cluttering of my life. I'll probably post something on that on the other blog in a while, but as far as RPGs are concerned, what that means is:

Campaigns

"Star Wars: Imperial Fist" is now rapidly heading to its end. There are three sessions now scheduled to come to that end, but I'm actually wondering if I can bring that forward - could we cover everything in one or, more likely, two sessions?

After that, I have no plans to start up a new campaign. "Black Crusade: Hand of Corruption" is off the list (as with everything else "Black Crusade" related), and it hasn't been replaced by anything. At some point, I may have a great idea for a campaign, and then it will be time to start building again, but for now, it's time to take a long break.

One-shots

I've also dropped my commitment to one of the two scheduled one-shot games for this year (September, to be precise). The annual "Christmas Game" remains scheduled, and I do still plan to run it, but the other is under reconsideration.

My intention here is to run one-shots (or three-shot weeknight games) as inspiration strikes for the next little while. However, my intention is also to avoid any long-term commitments - if I have an idea then I'll set it up, schedule the sessions, and run the game pretty much right away. This structure of planning one-shots a year in advance is unhelpful.

Playing

This is unchanged. I hope to play in the occasional game on the occasional weekend, with a specific hope to complete the current "Numenera" arc, and perhaps play some more "Gumshoe" is that becomes available. But I won't be joining a regular campaign, for the same reason I won't be starting one of my own - for now, I'm looking to de-clutter.

Nutshell, and this blog

Nutshell is basically dead. Every so often I tinker with a few bits and pieces, but the whole is probably never coming together. I bet that's a shock. (It's also not really a change so much as the reality of the thing.)

I'll keep this blog going on a fairly irregular basis - if I have something to post then I'll post it. Most likely, though, the next flurry of activity will come when I get an idea for a one-shot that I want to prep. That, or the updates of the crew of Betty to the "Firefly RPG" when that releases.