Have "mature" players lost their imagination?

[Minty23185Fresh]

As I recently posted in another thread, I will drop into 60-hood this year. I have been a DnD fan since the early 80's but there have been long periods of hiatus, for career. Now I find myself back into RPG with all the enthusiasm of that 20+ year old of years ago. One thing that might be missing though is imagination. Has maturity beat it out of me? At 20+, world building was simply natural: drawing maps, placing dungeons and volumns of description poured out of me. Now I'm unsure as to how to even start. The canned campaigns: Adventurers League, Abyss and Princes are saviors as I try to find that elusive muse that I have misplaced.

Last night I was fortunate enough to sit at the other side of the virtual table at a game my son is GMing. The other chairs were occupied by his peers, all 20+'s. I was definitely the old, odd man out. However, they were stuck, in a miserable situation, trying no where avenues of attack. The old guy had an epiphany and a suggestion. Was it wisdom or did she grant me a kiss on the cheek? I prefer to believe I'm rekindling the flame of imagination. I can't wait for the full embrace.

(As I reread this, please be assured I am not implying any age group is immature. Maturity, in its context here, is a four letter word!)

[JohnD]

Interesting question. I tend to believe that making it through the day-to-day beat down that is life drives some of that spark and imagination out of us. There's a lot in life that seems designed to discourage imagination IMO. Gaming is a great way to keep yourself from falling into the abyss.

I know for me it's a "use it or loose it" situation; I've DMed almost exclusively (I'm probably over a 100:1 ratio between sessions DMed vs sessions as a player in my lifetime) and I find that when I come back to it after taking a bit of a break, the first session feels strained and disjointed for me, but by the second session things are running smoothly.

[tfoxsail]

I am absolutely in the same boat, although I am a mere 47 years to your 60. The daily grind, stress, family duties, etc...are certainly different now than they were when I was a teen (mom and dad to take care of it all...only real stress was school), and in my twenties, even though at that time I was in the military. Things just weren't as 'serious' to me as they are now. heck, I went in for my annual physical the other week and I fretted over what my doc might find for two weeks prior. I never used to do that. After having two friends die of cancer in the past year, It just weighs heavier and hits home more now than ever.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are all like Peter Pan in the movie "Hook"...some of the kid is slowly eaten away, and what you don't use, fades. Just like muscles, I believe that imagination and creativity needs to be fed and exercised regularly for peak performance. How many times have we seen creative people who made movies that were blockbusters in their youth, only to fizzle out as they got older? The good news is that the reverse has also held true...the flower of creativity blooms in someone of age, and when it does, all those years of life experience and wisdom explode into something wonderful! It is that kind of moment that I believe you will have again, as long as you keep on exercising that creative need.

[ddavison]

I find that I am most creative when I begin reading other setting books. I like to borrow some ideas and concepts and find it easier to add a new 30-40% of my own content in as opposed to building everything from scratch. Sometimes I read something clever, but don't end up using any of it; however, just reading it starts the creative process for me and I end up doing a whole new thing that I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't read that original piece.

[tfoxsail]

I find that I am most creative when I begin reading other setting books. I like to borrow some ideas and concepts and find it easier to add a new 30-40% of my own content in as opposed to building everything from scratch. Sometimes I read something clever, but don't end up using any of it; however, just reading it starts the creative process for me and I end up doing a whole new thing that I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't read that original piece.

Agreed! I have been doing similar recently. Right now I am DMing the Lost Mine module, and may break off into Princes of the Apocalypse after that, but ultimately I want to head into my homebrew world. Reading lots of material along the way certainly helps getting the creative juices flowing!

[MartianKat]

I agree with some of the earlier posters that sometimes life situations just seem to drain the creative batteries. I find that working up character histories seems to give me a kickstart. It could do the same for you as a GM maybe by creating NPCs for future use.

[damned]

In PbtA games (like Dungeon World and Apocalypse World) the GM asks the players questions at various stages of the game and these answers become part of the story - I think it greatly helps ease GM load (it also adds to it too though!) as the players throw some great answers into the mix. It also invests the players a bit more into the story.

[Mask_of_winter]

Yes, reading other settings AND systems help a lot. For D&D players, I recommend taking a look at Dungeon World. E
ven though I have my go-to system I read and try out a lot of different rpgs. While I prefer systems with a sturdy foundation, more progressive and indie games have opened up a whole new world for me. I find elements in those systems that I bring to my more conservative game. Giving player agency like Damned mentioned is a great way to get inspired as a GM. We have this belief that the GM must decide everything that goes on in the world except for the player-character lives. Once you surrender a bit of that narrative control to the players you find out that 3,4,5,6 brains working together can create a truly epic and immersive experience for everybody.

[tfoxsail]

In PbtA games (like Dungeon World and Apocalypse World) the GM asks the players questions at various stages of the game and these answers become part of the story - I think it greatly helps ease GM load (it also adds to it too though!) as the players throw some great answers into the mix. It also invests the players a bit more into the story.

A universe evolves through those who inhabit it...NOT through the creator.

'Nuff said! :D

[kane280484]

It's video games and Hollywood. You get everything served on a plate nowadays, people read less, your brain gets more & more lazy, your imagination is not necessary anymore. When I was a kid (I was born 1984 in a communist state) there even weren't much in TV, not to mention other things like vifeo games so all the time we sparked our imagination. I bet kids nowadays just don't need it anymore.

At my time I had to pretend to be a knight or a cowboy, but now I just open a video game and there it is, somebody else imagined it for me.

[Ken L]

Read books, they keep your mind fresh and are a source of new ideas. Generally exposing yourself to media will do that; but reading tickles your imagination more and is a mental exercise in scene creation as you often need to construct them to make sense of the story.

[Patou]

I believe I am also a bit in the same boat. Was DMing 2nd Edition for a very long time. I only started DMing 3.5 because our group had lost our good friend and DM, and thus the players asked me to take over. The problem was after investing so much time and money in practically all the books for 2E that I lost my ''ummff'' to create. I have a whole world made and all that stuff. Currently I am DMing in The Sword Coast for the first time in 27 years and running my players through Tyranny of Dragons. I am adding my experience to add flare and adding all the missing elements to maps with my Campaign Cartographer software.

At 43 years old I've decided to give up on a billiards room make the ultimate man cave and to come out to what my passion is; DMing & Role playing. I spend my money here on Fantasy Grounds, purchased about 20+ symbol sets, and also started buying the books again for 5E. (I play locally with a group of six players using a projector).

I don't know if I will ever DM in my world again but I haven't had this much fun DMing D&D since my days in college. Now i am waiting to see where Fantasy Grounds is going before I start creating a bunch of stories and converting my material(2E and my own stuff) into accessories via FG. The idea of investing a lot of money again to something that will all change in a few years has be a bit worried. Maybe that is why my flame for creation has gone out.

By the way awesome forum conversation idea & this community is awesome.

[chanceboon]

I think a lot of it has to do with the 'been there-done that' mentality. I've been GM'ing for almost 30 years now and have run so many scenarios that it's difficult to put through anything that I haven't done before, so it all seemed stale to me...then I realized that the folks that I've been Gm'ing for this time weren't there 30 years ago and the plot, while it may be the same as one I've used before, is new to them...and their reactions and attitudes toward the scenario may lead the group in a different direction than the original group...and frequently does just that!

In other words, my group inspires my creativity.

[Minty23185Fresh]

There is great advice and many excellent suggestions in all of the responses to my original post. I suppose the overriding theme here is: we all have lapses of imagination and self doubt as to whether or not it will return. Be receptive to any possible source of inspiration. Imagination doesn't always just come to you, but with a little work it wil return.

Thanks to all who read and especially those who responded to this thread. Keep dreaming!

[MartianKat]

You're absolutely right. Sometimes we just lose it. Hopefully you've found some tips that will help you through future creative blocks. I know I did. Good luck!

K.

~Meow~

[dmkevin]

Great point!

[Octavious]

I think innovation and imagination sometimes comes as you need it.. you know .. "necessity is the mother of invention" I don't think anyone ever looses imagination if you had it before it's just you haven't practiced it for a while . It is always there just need something to give it a kick start.. I'm in my 60's myself and find running thought experiments of any scenario you encounter always brings out your innovation and imagination.. always..

[Galach]

Well, I couldn’t agree more with the argument that the problem is not maturity rather than the struggle of everyday life. Maybe I am one of the “youngest” person around this particular thread, at my 35 years of life, but I suffer from the exact same problem.

I have started to play D&D very young, when I was 11 years old, back in 1991. I have learned to read in English all by myself just to have access to more D&D books (I am Brazilian, by the way). That time my only concerns were the math grades at high school. Even working part-time my whole adolescence to help my mother and siblings (my father died when I was 7), I produced hundreds of pages worth of material – surely, a bit shallow and obvious, but some of that ideas were the base of great campaigns.

Then adult life kicked in. I started my Bachelor’s degree in History, left my Mom’s home to start my own, got a real job (not on my academic field, sadly, but a good job), with real responsibilities, schedules and deadlines, and a lot of bills to pay. I got married. Then promoted, which came with more money, but much more workload and stress.

With that, almost all my imagination died out. I simply don’t have time and energy to produce something or to ruminate on something like world building in an everyday basis like I did in the past. I still have a lot of ideas and often write them down in a notebook, but I just don’t have the impetus to move them forward anymore.

But the most curious thing is that I discovered that, like Stephen King stated in his book “On Writing”, jobs that require thinking, rather than physical work (like my own job) are the worst enemy of creative process. I had discovered that on my last vacation (a 30 days off work period), when I had done anything that I was not feeling like doing.

I woke up late every day, I slept late every day, I played a lot of my video games, and I read 5 D&D 5th ed. adventures, because I was very interested in starting to play again. My mind was blowing with ideas and I started to write again, and I was writing good material because of, well, my maturity.

Sadly, it that idyllic time endured just until I came back to work. It is a crap, but real, adult life sucks. True, you can buy a nice PC, or a PS4, drink your beer and watch your favorite shows whenever you want, but it dries out creativity. It drains out your soul. Now, I am always looking for a way to a change of heart – and profession – so I can came back to real life, with my mind and imagination at full speed. But that isn’t simple, and right now, sometimes it isn’t even possible.

[Nylanfs]

Which is why dishwashers are some of the most interesting people to talk to, if you want some deep philosophy talk to one that is doing that by choice. :)

[MartianKat]

But the most curious thing is that I discovered that, like Stephen King stated in his book “On Writing”, jobs that require thinking, rather than physical work (like my own job) are the worst enemy of creative process. I had discovered that on my last vacation (a 30 days off work period), when I had done anything that I was not feeling like doing.


This part of your post made me wonder. My job isn't physically demanding, but it can be mentally draining. Maybe this could be the cause of some of my writer's block. When I'm on a long vacation and I can just sit at home and relax, all kinds of ideas pop, but when I'm having a rough time at work, forget it. The brakes are on.

~Meow~

[Sorontar]

Yup I find real life at the moment is just a drain on my oomph - rather than doing it all from scratch I have taken pre-made adventures and used any creative spark I could muster to find a fun way to link them all together. The pieces of the puzzle are created by others but I slot it all together :)

[bigfisch1019]

I'm 40 and most my players are early 40's. We have epic adventures steeped in imagination. The main difference between gaming now and gaming when I was in my early teens and 20's is the complexity of our campaigns with economies, politics, and intrigue. So less hack and slash, more RP.

[Galach]

Which is why dishwashers are some of the most interesting people to talk to, if you want some deep philosophy talk to one that is doing that by choice. :)

In the same book (On Writing), SK says that one of his most productive time in his life was when he was working on a laundry/wash-house, and one of the worst, when he was working as a teacher.

I, myself, aspire to leave the IT/Corporative life to settle down on camp, in a nice loghouse, to plant some vegetables and rise some chickens for meat and eggs. All I would need is a average internet connection, so I can use my FG and play RP Games when my friends can't pass by to stay the weekend... lol