Into It (Or Not)

The Pre-Session Me

I was the DM/GM/CK/TK/Ref for our Monday Night Gaming Group as the guys adventured in the Montporte dungeon. On a typical Monday night, I am simply a player, which affords me the luxury of showing up to the session tired, grumpy, stressed, etc. When that happens, I can hang back a bit until the session gets going--and then I am ready to jump in with both hands on my axe. By the end of the session, I always find myself relaxed and ready to face the rest of the week. But that is my experience as a player.

However, when I am in the GM seat, my mood and energy level sets the tone for the session. Unfortunately, I went into our Monday night session like I had just been smacked around by a bunch of level-sucking undead. I am the CEO of a nonprofit that operates with significant federal funding and this is not a fun time to being counting on the U.S. government to make reasoned decisions. So, that brings a bit of stress to the workday. On top of that, I had been grant writing like crazy, cranking out reports, working on a bunch of sensitive negotiations with other agencies, keeping things going while some key staff deal with family medical issues, traveling out of state to speak at a conference, running a major fundraising event, and getting over a bad case of the flu as an added bonus.

So I went into the session surly and ill-prepared (which only worsened my mood). And, lo and behold, it was an okay session...maybe even a bit better than okay. Nothing to write home about but the guys brought some game to the virtual table top and turned it into a good time for all of us.