Quote:
Originally Posted by Madmaxneo
Many times my players have asked me what year it is. The first time this happened I had to look it up in my game session notes (which are rare and usually hard to find). At times they have asked me what season it is. I usually go with whatever season is current.
Just the other day I was asked about seasonal holidays (they are on the calendar) and I gave a generic answer. But I will probably forget by the time it becomes current.
I have been told I am a good GM, but my players don't notice the flaws I see all the time.
Like my horrible lack of keeping world game time.
I can barely wait for the day they finally add the calendar system. There is so much I need to add and tweak once it is in place.
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Honestly, I think you answered the big question surrounding calendars yourself here. In most games (certainly not all), the players want to know the year/season/month for flavor. They really are NOT exacting about that stuff. And they won't even notice if you mess something up, especially in regards to dates. Why? Because they aren't paying close enough attention. The flavor is for the game session at hand, not usually an issue of continuity or precision for timing of events. Yes, there ARE exceptions - I'm just talking about the frequent case.
So, while the GM agonizes over all sorts of little details, the players don't even notice! This is why calendars are often vastly more important to GMs than the players of those same GMs.
My recommendation is to not sweat the details that the players don't care about. I used to be like you, worrying over all sorts of little minutiae. Then a friend - and excellent GM - told me to re-think how I do things. After making the switch, it's made running games a LOT more fun and a LOT less stressful. I also think I've become a much better GM in the process. And I first GM'd a game 38 years ago, so it was many years before this wisdom was imparted to me and I finally saw the light.
Hopefully, this little bit of wisdom is helpful to someone else. I'm just passing it on from someone wiser than I.