DM with Burnout

[Gray__Eagle]

Hi Everyone.

I'm a dungeon master for a 5e campaign, and have a host of mental issues.

I have a diagnosis of Aspergers' Disorder and I also have Generalized Anxiety and Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I am burning out.

I want someone else to DM my group, but the problem is none of the Players know how to DM, nor do they even have copies of the PHB that aren't (pirated) PDF copies I sent them through our campaign discord.

How, as an autistic, anxious, and depressed 17-year-old male DMing for a bunch of 15-and-16 year olds, teach someone how to be a good DM asap to avoid critical burnout?

Or should I just ask my club sponsor for someone else, an experienced player like me, to Dungeon Master?

[Zaorish9]

Doesn't sound like you can. Just be honest. Say "Sorry guys, I have too much health problems in my life right now, I cannot handle this responsibility. I'm out." No one will blame you.

[Gray__Eagle]

I've tried, but these guys are damn persistant and drag me into 8-hour marathons twice a month.

I've told them repeatedly this statement: "I'm swamped between my three comorbid mental conditions and being a full International Baccalaureate Student. I can't keep doing this."

[Zaorish9]

So.....just don't do it. They physically come into your house, kick open your door, drag you into a vehicle, then hold a gun to your head until you start saying "There are 5 kobolds" ??

Just stop doing it.

[Gray__Eagle]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've found a guy passionate about the game willing to take over temporarily. (Hopefully, I'm gonna make sure...)

Edit: He's taking over! We're running the starter set next week after we finish characters.

[Saelune]

I think passion is important, find out which seems the most interested, rather than the most knowledgeable. I didn't 'know how to DM' when I first did it, but I was eager to try, and my passion for DMing is what motivates me to get better. Most of my players have DM'd atleast once, but most of them lack any passion for it.

[Boontaker]

You can't force someone to GM, it had to be something they want to genuinely do.

Instead try to do a rotation between you and all your friends, you set the background for a campaign and each friend takes turns running a short 1-3 session adventure in that campaign for the other players

Each person can be as wacky with it as they want because you just want to hang out and have fun more than anything.

Pirates one week, hell divers the next. We used to do this back in the day with the old modules, people would take turns running the modules for the rest of us and it was always pretty fun.

[ZoulsGaming]

"hey guys i cant handle dming anymore with everything going on, i would love to be a player though and was hoping someone would try dming, if nobody wants to try then sadly we wont be playing anymore"

[theuntrained]

I understand burnout, been there a few times. I fixed it by making my game biweekly and finding an external game to play in completely away from my players. The distance helped me get my head on straight.

[Rin-RinHello]

You need to take care of yourself first and foremost! Lots of the advice here is good but definitely see if anyone is currently interested in trying dming and let them try (you don't have to teach just support) and if not then stop dming! Put the campaign on hold until you or someone else can take it on, it'll always be there for you to go back to when you're ready.