This coming Sunday is my last Iron Heroes session for the year. Yes, its only just the beginning of December, but as my gaming group does each year, we take a hiatus from our gaming during the busy holiday season. It is a time honored tradition in our gaming group, dating back to some time in the mid-90’s. It is a time that has some mixed emotions: relief, inspiration, and a little anxiety. It is also a time to slow down and take stock of my campaign and do some much needed future planning.

In today’s article, I will discuss how to put your game on a holiday hiatus, what to do with your time off, and how to come back from hiatus when its all over.

Establishing The Hiatus

For my gaming group, we put our gaming on hiatus in early December so that we free up time during the holidays. As Christmas approaches we all see an increase in family commitments, even more so in the past few years, as our entire gaming group is now married, and several of us have small children. There are holiday parties at work, with friends, and with family. There is shopping to be done and vacations to be taken. This is not a time when gaming is a priority for our group. So, years ago we established the holiday hiatus, where all of our campaigns are put on hold, and we put our gaming on the back burner while we spend time with our families.

Establishing a hiatus can be a tricky thing. The first thing you need to do is set the start date and end date for the hiatus. A hiatus should not be a nebulous time; that will only make people anxious. Rather, pick a start date so that you set your campaign up for taking some time off. Make sure you have an end date picked out, so that your group knows when you will be returning to the table and can plan their schedules accordingly. If you don’t set an end date before your hiatus, you are going to be calling around to get the group back to the table, and you run the risk of the hiatus extending too long, as people may have made other commitments.

Not everyone is going to be excited about the idea of a holiday hiatus. Some players (and some GMs) get anxious when there are long gaps in playing. They think that the time off will kill any momentum of the campaign, and you won’t be coming back after the break. Other gamers do not have an increase in holiday activities and do not see why other members of the group need the time off. In establishing a hiatus, you need to address both of these concerns with your group. For the anxious player, you need to do some reassuring that the game is going to survive the time off. There are several techniques as a GM you can employ to help this along. They include:

• End On A Cliffhanger– One sure-fired way to get them to come back is to structure your last session before the hiatus to be a cliffhanger. After months of tracking the Crimson Stalker, they kick open the door to his secret chamber and…..well come back next year to find out. While this will upset some of your players, others will love the anticipation that will build up during the time off. For all of them, it will certainly provide a reason to come back to the table when the hiatus is over.
• Give Them Homework– Ask your players to do some work on the campaign during the time off. Perhaps you want to give them another round of 20 questions. This year, for my Iron Heroes campaign, my players will be reading the Fields of Blood d20 supplement by Eden Studios in preparation for the mass combat that is coming up in the campaign next year.
• Metagame– During hiatus use email to conduct some PC to NPC or PC to PC conversations that you may not have had the time to do during your regular sessions. The conversations will keep the heroes focused on their characters and keep them engaged in the campaign. This technique does not work too well with the cliffhanger, so use one or other other.

The next issue you may have to deal with are the players who do not have the external commitments that have necessitated the hiatus. These guys may resent taking the time off and resist the idea of a hiatus. Dealing with them is going to be tricky. The best way to do it is to make your case for why some of you need the time off. If there are several members of your group who want to do something during the hiatus, then encourage them to either run a side game or play card games, board games, etc. What you want to stress is that your game is starting back up after the hiatus, and for them not to get overly invested in any side game while the group is on hiatus, otherwise you run the risk of losing some players and possibly damaging your campaign. You know the members of your group best, so trust your instincts when dealing with them.

What To Do With Your Hiatus

Now that you have established your hiatus, you have a few weeks off from your game. That does not mean you need to box up your notebooks and rulebooks until next year. There are plenty of activities that you can do at home, away from the group that will strengthen your campaign. Here are some suggestions:

• Brainstorm New Plot Lines–With the game frozen in time, you have a great opportunity to think of what plots you would like to lay out in the upcoming year. Sit with a glass of eggnog and your notebook and start brainstorming.
• Read A New Source Book– Now that your obligations for writing are on hold, you can take some time and dig into that new source book you picked up at GenCon (or under the Christmas tree) but haven’t had the time to read, let alone get integrated into your game.
• Make Up Some NPCs– Take some time and write up some stat blocks for some new NPCs. Perhaps design a new monster or two to spring on the group next year.
• Inventory Your Campaign– Re-read your old session notes and look for any loose ends that you have left unresolved. Often in a the course of a campaign, you start a plot, but because of the unpredictability of your players, you never got the resolved. Dig up a few of those dormant plot lines and bring them out next year.
• Work On Your GMing Skills– With this time off, you can work on improving your GMing skills. Perhaps you would want to read Robin’s Laws Of Good Gamemastering. Perhaps you would like to learn some mapping software and make a better map of your campaign world.

You may also want to just relax. If you have been on the verge of GM Burnout, the hiatus is a great time to put your campaign away and switch your focus. Getting some distance from your campaign often helps improve your opinion of it. The time away will let you cool down and will also build a desire to get back to the table as the weeks go by.

In either case, what you want to avoid is regretting your time off from playing. The hiatus is not a gaming punishment. It should be a time you look forward to, because of the way you will be spending it. Either it is a time to tidy up your campaign, or it’s time to rest and recharge. But it should be something that you look forward to doing.

How To Come Back After Hiatus

As the hiatus starts to wind down, you will need to wake your gaming group up from their hibernation. The best way to do this is to start early with some gentile reminders of when the next game is coming up. Confirm with all the players that the date is still good. Get some chatter about your gaming going either online or in person, to start to raise awareness of your upcoming game. You may want to post an online recap, of the past few sessions before the hiatus as a way to drum up the excitement in your players.

I often use the week before hiatus ends, to start some metagaming with the players. In a way, these NPC to PC conversations are like GM stretching. They get my creativity sparked, and they get the players back into their characters.

On the night you start playing again, start early and slowly. If your group has not seen each other in a few weeks, there is going to be a considerable amount of chatter as they meet up. Plus, there is the inevitable rolling out of the new gear that everyone got during the holidays. So, plan your return session with some slack time built in for socializing. Perhaps open your session up with a shared meal, so that everyone can get their socializing in during the meal. Once the socializing dies down, make sure you deliver a solid game to your players, rewarding them for taking the time off, and kicking off another year of great gaming.

The hiatus is a great way to balance external responsibilities during the holiday season with your normal gaming schedule. Your family will be thrilled to have more of you during the holidays, and you can take that time to do the things you need to do to ensure that your campaign has a great new year.

Does your group have a hiatus? What do you do during your hiatus?