How To Overcome The Summer Slump
Some insight & solutions for people not joining your games
Here it comes. The long dry spell of the summer break.
People are going outside, sneezing their lungs out from the pollen plague, and finding out they don’t fit into the same clothes they used to. That’s tragic - but still more tragic is that your game listings don’t fit like they used to. That’s why I’m back again for your dose of reality in the pro GMing scene.
Based on my conversations with other pro GMs, my personal experience, and just - you know - paying attention… I have a reasonable schedule that you can expect for your great success. It ultimately comes down to being prepared for the down months and scaling up during the boom months.
The Basic Annual Schedule
BOOM MONTHS WINTER: January - May
I will attribute this to people being sick of their families and getting back into their regular schedules with college or work once again. There has been enough “off time” to grow the desire for clicky clacks.
DOWN TIME SUMMER: June - August
Unfortunately, not many of us in the pro GMing sphere can compete with Tinder or family vacations.
BOOM MONTHS FALL: September - October
Back from summer vacations and back into a regular schedule at college/work, the joins are now back at the table.
DOWN TIME WINTER: November - December
From Thanksgiving to New Years, since the majority of our player base is North American based, we should carefully consider the American holiday schedule for our planning.
How To Keep What You Got
For every “Down Time” month it’s a good idea to have 2 different things prepared for your players who are sticking around.
The Short Campaign
This can be a game that is meant to be short-term like HEART or a short campaign like Foundry VTT’s The Demon Queen Awakens that can take up 3-4 sessions while you wait for half of your party to return. Sometimes you’ll have new players check out your community in the meantime and stick around for that campaign when it picks up again, or another game!
The One Shots
Specifically if you have a history of folks who are very bad about communication and cancel last minute - but you want to keep your valued customers happy with a diversion, I recommend investing in some One Shots at DriveThru RPG or another third party publisher like Kobold Press.
Prep these in your downtime and just have them in the wings waiting for cancellations. Unfortunately, you still have to be paid - and an hour before session isn’t the best time to try to pull a hat trick out.
The Method
In closing, it’s best to recognize that you only have so much time to devote to your pro GMing business. You have to invest in what works and be efficient. I always say that pro GMing is a better part-time job than a full-time because of how up and down the freelancing market can be.
If your chips are down in the summer: Keep experimenting with new things you have been wanting to try but could not because you had a full plate. You might find you can steadily grow an audience for the types of games you’re really passionate for, instead of “having to run the popular stuff”.
The Plug
I have some new campaigns that I’d like to fill now that my life isn’t consumed by the Kickstarter. They are:
5e, Call of the Netherdeep Saturdays 3pm PT
If you’d like to support me and my work, I always appreciate a pre-order for Vineyard RPG, too.
