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Can a once a month game work?

FATDRAGONGAMES

First Post
Our group is down to once per month. It is far easier for everyone to get kitchen passes once a month for a single, longer session than two shorter sessions. We usually get started around 4pm and go until after midnight. Some role playing can then be done between games via the internet.
 

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Jupp

Explorer
Does anyone play once a month?

Yep, we play once a month since 15 years

Does it work? How can I make it work and keep campaign continuity and some kind of overarching plot? Or should I not bother and just run short adventures that could be wrapped up in six or seven hours? Anything to keep in mind, advice, etc?

It works perfectly for us. And we do not do anything special when it comes to campaigns and plots. All we do is to assign a player each session to write a diary for the others so we are all up to date when the next session starts.

We've ran campaigns that did span 4+ years with a game session each month (i.e. the desert of desolation campaign) and we never had problems with loosing track or with players loosing interest. In fact more or less all players are in the group since day one.

A typical game session on a Friday evening starts at 1900 and goes until 1 or 2 AM. If we play on a Saturday we usually start at 1400 and will play at least until midnight, but ususally it get 0200 or later.

As an advice: Keep notes for yourself so you still remember the smaller details for the next game session. And assign one player to write down a small diary for the rest of the group. And make it clear that those notes are going to be the only hint the group will have once the next session starts. Then they will automatically start to write down the more important things so they remember it at a later date. And if not, then they will do after the first time the DM says: "Sorry, if your characters do not remember this then I cannot help you here. You have to find another way to get the information then". Well you can still give them a chance for a WIS check, but you really have to teach them to make notes.
 

DeusExMachina

First Post
My group plays every week, but we alternate between 2 campaigns usually, to keep DM's from having to spend too m,uch time every week on prep and to give DM's the chance to play as well. Personally I like DM'ing, but not every week, so this is what we came up with...
We don't have that much trouble keeping things apart, but then the guys who usually recap have rather good memory. A proper recap is important though to get back into things again...
Oh and we usually play for about 4-5 hours per session on saturday night...
 

slaguru

First Post
It can work (my current group has an erratic schedule but once a month seems like it will be the average). But I think it really depends on the players too. Do you think they will ENJOY an over-arching plot then by all means, do it that way. Or do you think they won't necessarily have the attention span for months at a time?

Random thoughts to consider that might help ...

1) Try and stop each session at an extended rest or, if not, then at a short rest and take good notes on stuff (like what dailies have been used, how many action points and surges remain for each player, hit points, conditions, etc).


2) Find a player (or two) that ENJOYS taking notes on a) NPCs and b) plot points, and see if they'll take the informal title of "NPC name note taker" and "plot point note taker" etc since they'll need to reference these notes a lot, esp for an interconnected campaign. Nothing fancy, just a place to keep track of names, major points, etc. Along similar lines, find a player to c) keep track of party treasure and dividing it up and keeping notes on where the "undivided" items (i.e. that strange mirror that emits evil radiation that you're hoping the local wizard can disenchant and then destroy) are - who is carrying it, etc... Special note -- Ideally, someone will naturally emerge and take this role(s) on their own without any word from you. It has less resentment if it was their own idea rather than a title that was given to them. So keep it rather casual if no one speaks up "hey, who is keeping track of the treasure" or "who remembers the name of the NPC you were supposed to deliver this too" etc.

3) Two days before the game session, consider sending an email recap of the last session. Nothing fancy, just a few lines or paragraph. That way, at the game table you can skim through the recap but you'll be able to spend more time on the current game session since everyone would have just read the recap a day or two before

4) If exp calculation takes ANY time at all, save it and send it as an email later. This way you won't spend game time doing calculations and you won't have players spending game time (or distracted) trying to level up characters

5) Schedules have a way of shifting, and the "social event that the child needs to go to at the last minute" often hinders "daddy's monthly game that he can do every month" so a week before (maybe when you send recaps) have a reminder about the day and time. By making it a reminder, it's also a passive rsvp since if it conflicts someone might remember to let you know. In a round about way, this helps on game day because no one is waiting for the player that won't show (past groups always had a habit of goofing off a lot until "that last person got there" often led to lots of wasted time until we realized that person wasn't coming at all)

6) Depending on your group's expectations for death/TPKs/etc , consider telling everyone to always have a back-up character ready (at least in basic ability scores, race, class) and keep that back-up character a level behind their main character (or whatever your rule is). Thus, if someone does have a character die, they can whip out their backup and use it as soon as there is a good spot to join in (as opposed to waiting to make it from scratch and then wait more to find a spot to join in)

....

I'm sure there are more things but that's what i can think of at the moment.

But, yeah, it really does come down to the players as to whether or not a campaign will work on that schedule.

You may want to consider starting the first two sessions as a way to test the waters... have the first two sessions some what connected, and see how glazed over everyone's eyes are when you try to get them to remember an NPC from the first session... ;)

Or just ask them what they _want_, they'll be more receptive to a campaign if they make a conscious decision that this is what they want.


Anyway, just my rambles



Just wanted to say they are fantastic points.
 

Maldin

First Post
Jeesh... I wish we could play once a month! We often go several months between games, and since we have multiple adventuring parties going (of a wide range of levels), there are often even longer breaks between running any one particular group of PCs (party breaks of over a year have occurred). We try to end on natural break points (although it doesn't always happen), and most importantly... the players take a fair amount of notes in a kind of campaign journal (spiral-bound notebook, so pages don't get lost or out of order) where we also keep all the maps they generate. A quick review of the notes tells us where they are, and all pertinent info they've learned about the current quest-at-hand.

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Loads of edition-independent Greyhawk goodness... maps, magic, mysteries, mechanics, and more!
 

Afrodyte

Explorer
Once a month would work fine for me, especially since I can enjoy being in 2 or 3 different games at the same time.

For me, personally, I need a more character-oriented style for that to work. Too much plot without a personal connection makes it hard for me to keep up or care what happens.
 

EricNoah

Adventurer
My games are typically about once a month (we might get a 2nd game in occasionally but it's rare). Our sessions are 3-4 hours each and we have 2-3 combats per session. It has taken (counts 'em...) 16 months for my players to go from just below 1st level to 5th level. It's deliberate -- I'm focusing on the low end in this campaign. I write a detailed campaign summary at the end of each session, which helps me and helps the players. I also run fairly short, simple adventures -- not too many twists in the plot -- which I think helps the players keep things straight.
 

EricNoah

Adventurer
I should add that I am also a player in a long-running RttToEE game that meets about 4 times a year for 6-7 hours at a shot. What a slog that has been -- the gaming itself is fine, but every time we sit down we have to recap the entire storyline because none of us (myself included) can remember what happened the last time. I find it very challenging to stay interested/motivated at a pace like that.
 

CastTiltowait

First Post
I'll chime in that I essentially do the once a month thing. We actually game (theoretically) every two weeks, but we alternate games. With real-life conflicts, we also have to skip many weeks. What everyone has said about recaps, taking notes, etc. is good advice. I don't know if it's been said before, but tell people their xp outside of the game session, and have them do all their leveling up book-keeping outside of game time (except for anything requiring rolls in case you want to watch their amazing "luck").

We've done this kind of thing now for years and it works out. Some of the less motivated gamers sometimes have to be reminded of who a particular NPC is, etc., but I think that'd happen even if we were playing every other day;)
 

LeaderDesslok

First Post
My group plays once a month, sometimes once every two or three months, thanks to marriages, kids, and biizarro work schedules. I use myth-weavers to as a way to keep track of everything that happens in our sessions, communicate with the group, and even play side adventures online. It has the added bons of online character sheets, so if anyone forgets theirs (or I just want to check their sheets to make sure everything is cool or to prep an adventure) we've always got a copy handy. Also a powerful dice roller. Take that DDI! ;)
 

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