1/ It's interesting how much the success of my current #ttrpg campaign is related to managing the psychology around it.

I realise this sounds a tad dramatic, as I ain't preparing for the Olympics or anything.

But it is true.

2/ I am what many people like to call an introverted extrovert. It's a bollocks term just to differentiate people from being an introvert.

In truth I am an introvert it's as simple as that, my ability to not look like one is based on a bedrock of how an introvert works.

3/ What this means is it takes a lot of energy for me to do presentations, speak in front of people, register in large groups, perform, etc. I can do it. When I focus on it I am damned good at it due to the whole storytelling thing but it's tiring and two things are always true.

4/ First, these things are based on a bedrock of confidence and my confidence is intrinsically linked to knowledge. Not crazy encyclopedic knowledge. I can do things to know enough 'fast' but the extroverted characteristics are on a bedrock of knowledge which begets confidence.

5/ Second, it needs to be controlled. Not crazy person controlled or micro-managed but it needs certain tolerance and exposure dials set. A lot of this is focused on avoiding the campaign becoming a commitment I resent.

Because I exorcise such things for my mental health.

6/ So while a lot went into the current #trrpg #WerewolfAccelerated campaign to get certain at the table outcomes from it a number of things also went into it to control my psychology around these things.

7/ First, since I couldn't or shouldn't plot it in advance I structured it in advance. This structure meant I knew what I was commiting to. The closest thing to a plan to navigate by.

It's extended in good ways but remained a good tool to moderate my commitment.

8/ I've not been afraid to acknowledge when I was in danger of loosing the 'bedrock of confidence from knowledge' in retrospect this is why we have a seasonal break and a S1 and S2.

9/ The campaign had morphed to the extent I was in the middle at the point originally thought I'd be at the end in terms of session count and blundering into it would have broken the 'knowledge confidence' so I chose to take the time to ponder it.

10/ I think the third psychological reason it works is the make-up of the gaming group now just makes all this stuff easier. We accept breaks. We realise we do have a sort of campaign length that seems to remain true. It just feels more open.

11/ I'd also say playing begets running, which may also be a factor in our campaign lengths, as there is nothing more likely to make someone want to run a #trrpg campaign than playing in a good one so switching things around is good.

++ I have bookmarked this thread so if the break turns out to be a mistake I can tell people to ignore it.