It’s easy to feel a bit disappointed with how a session went. We feel anxious when we forget to mention something or stumble over words or have to pause to check notes. We plan these grand combat or roleplay encounters only for them to be 60% as cool as we thought they would be.
It happens. Imposter syndrome is normal, no matter how experienced we may be.
Even so, I would like to offer some tips on dealing with imposter syndrome:
- Remember that your players don’t know if something turns out differently than you expected. Unused materials can always be repurposed for later.
- It’s easy to judge a session based on your expectations, but the results are what matters. Your players probably still had a great time and had a lot of fun moments, Even if a session wasn’t perfect, it can still be pretty good.
- If there are areas you felt were lacking, the good news is you can continue to practice and focus on those areas (growth mindset!)
- Gather feedback from your players on how things went. It’s possible you’ve been stressing about things your players don’t mind at all.
- Remember that DMing is a challenging and complex beast. Be gracious to yourself!
Let me know what other ways you combat imposter syndrome!
