Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Loooong Campaigns...How Do You Do It?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 3066207" data-attributes="member: 9254"><p>My current campaign is 5 years and change old, I think. I started it about 3 months after 3e came out so you can do the math. I've run other moderately long running campaigns (~2-3 years long) but those had weekly game sessions (yay college) so there's probably the same amount of gaming hours. My previous games ran from 4th-ish to 18th-ish level (love the non-uniform XP charts of 2e) or were in other systems (Mage). </p><p></p><p>The game roughly keeps pace with the real world, with about 5 years of game time. We play every other weekend for ~6 hours or so and in that time they've gone from 1st level to 20th, which is admittedly a first for me. </p><p></p><p>How'd I do it? And how do I continue to do it? Well, I let the players set the pace. My original plan was a much faster campaign but the players were a bit more cautious, possibly due to the new edition. They wanted to be heroes but at 2nd level had no misconception that they should be charging into the Deep Dark Wood. They figured rogue bears and bandits were their speed so that's how we went for the first couple of levels. The only reason they were willing to follow a treasure map was that the "treasure" was for a lost dwarven citadel on a mountain that was otherwise surrounded by civilization. </p><p></p><p>Much of my plot design was learned from Michael Strazynski of B5 fame. He had these lovely, long plot arcs that were the result of many smaller plots, some of which had sub-plots of their own. (E.g. Series->Season->multi-episode plot->Episode) I went with a more hands-off approach where I tossed out plot hooks but didn't get upset if they didn't willingly impale themselves. I figured some plots would impale other wanna-be heroes or they'd roll onto their logical conclusion, which sometimes went from plot hook to plot harpoon. </p><p></p><p>I made lots of NPCs but didn't let myself have a favorite so I could kill them off if needed. The players picked their favorite NPCs (weird selections, really) and that had it's own impact on what advice the PCs could and did receive. I lucked out in that the players are willing to talk to NPCs as people rather than sources of jobs or potential victims but I think it helped that NPCs were rational; helping out the party when it was in their best interest or giving advice to their friends/heroes. </p><p></p><p>When they acted like heroes, they got treated as heroes. When they acted like greedy adventurers they were treated like mercenaries. And when they came back to those towns the locals acted like the times they did before, praising the heroes and buying drinks or watching the mercenaries hawkishly and magically running out of beer.</p><p></p><p>I strove to give them non-monetary treasures that were rational (rank in the militia was good as it let them ignore the gate-tax on armor, weapons, and mounts as well as gave them the option of requesting a military trial; access to libraries; finally lands and ranks in the military proper. They still have yet to be given Titles, though). This non-gold loot was something they had to think about, especially since I had the NPCs act like it was a good thing. They knew that "rank hath its privileges" but they had never really considered what those privileges were or how to leverage them. </p><p></p><p>I had to leave some plots in the dust and others took years (literally) before they bore fruit. I avoid having the larger plots hinge on any specific character as much as possible. Okay, some plots <strong>are</strong> character based but usually because they thrust themselves onto the plot harpoon up to the armpits and I think it's okay in those cases since the party can ignore the plot hook or tell the impaled player to wait until the party has no other demands on their time.</p><p></p><p>The other thing is the game evolved. It started out small, maybe a 50-mile radius. It has expanded but slowly. Over ~10 levels they explored about half the kingdom. At ~15 levels they became willing to cross the continent and at ~20 they were willing to cross oceans. (BTW: the transcontinental journey was at the behest of one PC and rather caught me by surprise. Nothing focuses the mind like having to familiarize myself with the rigors of long distance travel or the never-before-considered half-dozen different countries the party would be passing through)</p><p></p><p>The main thing is that the group has some semblance of control. Not total control, but the amount of control you would think a hero has when there's no horde at the gates or a dragon overhead. Their actions matter (sometimes far more than anyone would ever believe) and their decisions, good or ill, have consequences. I may have the most influence on the game but there's no debating the indelible marks they have left on my setting. Which means it is their setting too. That keeps their interest fresh and gives me the kinds of experiences that keep the game world from getting old and stale. </p><p></p><p>In truth, I've been close to boredom 2-3 times in this game and then the players shook everything up and made it alive again. So find good players, let their actions have an impact on the game, don't feel compelled to stick to your original plot, and have as much fun as possible.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kigmatzomat, post: 3066207, member: 9254"] My current campaign is 5 years and change old, I think. I started it about 3 months after 3e came out so you can do the math. I've run other moderately long running campaigns (~2-3 years long) but those had weekly game sessions (yay college) so there's probably the same amount of gaming hours. My previous games ran from 4th-ish to 18th-ish level (love the non-uniform XP charts of 2e) or were in other systems (Mage). The game roughly keeps pace with the real world, with about 5 years of game time. We play every other weekend for ~6 hours or so and in that time they've gone from 1st level to 20th, which is admittedly a first for me. How'd I do it? And how do I continue to do it? Well, I let the players set the pace. My original plan was a much faster campaign but the players were a bit more cautious, possibly due to the new edition. They wanted to be heroes but at 2nd level had no misconception that they should be charging into the Deep Dark Wood. They figured rogue bears and bandits were their speed so that's how we went for the first couple of levels. The only reason they were willing to follow a treasure map was that the "treasure" was for a lost dwarven citadel on a mountain that was otherwise surrounded by civilization. Much of my plot design was learned from Michael Strazynski of B5 fame. He had these lovely, long plot arcs that were the result of many smaller plots, some of which had sub-plots of their own. (E.g. Series->Season->multi-episode plot->Episode) I went with a more hands-off approach where I tossed out plot hooks but didn't get upset if they didn't willingly impale themselves. I figured some plots would impale other wanna-be heroes or they'd roll onto their logical conclusion, which sometimes went from plot hook to plot harpoon. I made lots of NPCs but didn't let myself have a favorite so I could kill them off if needed. The players picked their favorite NPCs (weird selections, really) and that had it's own impact on what advice the PCs could and did receive. I lucked out in that the players are willing to talk to NPCs as people rather than sources of jobs or potential victims but I think it helped that NPCs were rational; helping out the party when it was in their best interest or giving advice to their friends/heroes. When they acted like heroes, they got treated as heroes. When they acted like greedy adventurers they were treated like mercenaries. And when they came back to those towns the locals acted like the times they did before, praising the heroes and buying drinks or watching the mercenaries hawkishly and magically running out of beer. I strove to give them non-monetary treasures that were rational (rank in the militia was good as it let them ignore the gate-tax on armor, weapons, and mounts as well as gave them the option of requesting a military trial; access to libraries; finally lands and ranks in the military proper. They still have yet to be given Titles, though). This non-gold loot was something they had to think about, especially since I had the NPCs act like it was a good thing. They knew that "rank hath its privileges" but they had never really considered what those privileges were or how to leverage them. I had to leave some plots in the dust and others took years (literally) before they bore fruit. I avoid having the larger plots hinge on any specific character as much as possible. Okay, some plots [b]are[/b] character based but usually because they thrust themselves onto the plot harpoon up to the armpits and I think it's okay in those cases since the party can ignore the plot hook or tell the impaled player to wait until the party has no other demands on their time. The other thing is the game evolved. It started out small, maybe a 50-mile radius. It has expanded but slowly. Over ~10 levels they explored about half the kingdom. At ~15 levels they became willing to cross the continent and at ~20 they were willing to cross oceans. (BTW: the transcontinental journey was at the behest of one PC and rather caught me by surprise. Nothing focuses the mind like having to familiarize myself with the rigors of long distance travel or the never-before-considered half-dozen different countries the party would be passing through) The main thing is that the group has some semblance of control. Not total control, but the amount of control you would think a hero has when there's no horde at the gates or a dragon overhead. Their actions matter (sometimes far more than anyone would ever believe) and their decisions, good or ill, have consequences. I may have the most influence on the game but there's no debating the indelible marks they have left on my setting. Which means it is their setting too. That keeps their interest fresh and gives me the kinds of experiences that keep the game world from getting old and stale. In truth, I've been close to boredom 2-3 times in this game and then the players shook everything up and made it alive again. So find good players, let their actions have an impact on the game, don't feel compelled to stick to your original plot, and have as much fun as possible. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Loooong Campaigns...How Do You Do It?
Top