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The Coal GM (or How I Learned to Stop Being a Perfectionist GM)

As Stargazer points out, being a GM can be stressful, but it often is a combination of players wanting to be entertained and a perfectionist GM that brings about this tortured artist syndrome.  There was a time in the beginning of my most recent phase of GMing that I, too, was a perfectionist GM, trying to make sure that every element of the game was perfect, from the detailed description and notes surrounding NPCs to intricate plots to having the perfect miniature for every monster, cyharacter, and NPC.  I even had special props I would bring in.

Then life got busy.  I have 4 daughters and a wife.  I have a full time job.  I have other hobbies.  A week or two came and went with me having no time to prep for a game.  And the world didn't come to an end:  the game was fun, the players enjoyed everything, and I just made up stuff on the fly.  Then I realized all my intricate plots points, clues, detailed NPCs were being lost on players that really didn't pay attention to most of it anyway.  What made the game were the situations -- comical, epic, challenging.  And so my focus changed.  Every week was going to build up.  Every week was a challenge of prep.  Instead in my thinking hours of the day I just had to figure out how to one-up myself.

Then I really started to change my prep.  I didn't need anything detailed.  Copy and print a few stats.  Adapt stats from existing sources like the NPC blocks in the Core Pathfinder Book.  Use the online PRD to pull stat blocks.  Pull standard trap stats and spin them.

The new challenges were different.  How DO you run a battle with 70 goblins?  And now this week, I am running a battle with two armies of over 400.  And prep?  A few stat blocks, some lists, and a few maps, and we are good to go.  It's about the coal, the raw material, and not about polishing and pressuring everything into a diamond.
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