A campaign with revolving players...

[Asmor]

Note that this isn't a convention-related topic at all, but I suspect that much convention advice might be applicable here.

I'm thinking about running a D&D game for the game club at my college... However, due to the nature of college, it's kind of hard to ensure that everyone's always got the time for it... Especially since I'm looking at Thursday nights. Tests, papers, homework, etc can all be expected...

Now, what I'm considering first of all is a queue/waiting list. We start promptly at 5 pm, and if there's more people than there are slots the people highest on the queue get priority. You'd get on the queue by emailing me or talking to me, and it's first come, first serve.

If someone who's high enough to have a "guaranteed" slot ever misses a session without giving notice, or misses two sessions in a month with notice, they're bumped to the end of the queue. I.e. if I have a four-player game, this applies only to the highest 4 people in the queue.

Now, I'm considering just going with pre-made characters, which I'll manage. If people show up regularly they get first dibs on the character they played last week. This way I can make sure the party's always well-balanced, and can keep the story going since it's always the same 4 characters, just different players.

Of course, that's less than ideal since one of the best parts of D&D is getting to have your own character, tailored to you.

Another idea is I might have each character have several "options" which can change each session... I.e. if Jon's playing Regdar, he might take the Regdar sword & board fighter sheet. Next week, he's not there, and Patty's playing Regdar. She decides to use the Regdar TWF ranger sheet. So basically, I'd have a martial character, a roguish character, an arcane character and a divine character. They'd be the same character story-wise, but might have different abilities depending on what the person playing them chooses. Morthos might be a warlock one week and a warmage the next.

So... How does this sound? Anyone do anything like this before, or have any tips?

 

[jdrakeh]

Honestly, I'd still have players create their own characters. The key to making rotating players work isn't placing constraints on character ceation but, rather, changing how the game itself is structured. . .

First and foremost, linear story arcs are right out unless they can be resolved in the space of a single session. If a linear story arc spills over to another session and, suddenly, a player key to the plot is absent -- well, it pretty much kills the game dead. Adventures need to be structured so that the focus can be shifted off of them as needed without negatively impacting the overall campaign. You should always be able to 'cut away' from a story arc and come back to resolve it at a later date.

Second, the traditional 'party' paradigm is right out. You need something more akin to the cast of a television serial (e.g., Law & Order) where characters can rotate in and out per episode without any ill effect overall. Basing the game on an entire mercenary company or contingent of city guards works well, in my experience. The idea is that if the player of Character X isn't present for a given game, you can shift the focus to a new story arc that doesn't involve them but that is still about the 'ensemble cast' of the campaign.

Really, watch a lot of serialized television -- crime procedurals seem to be the best option. They'll give you good ideas of how to structure short, dramatic, story arcs around a rotating cast of characters. If only one player shows up? Not a problem, run a one-shot just for them, showcasing their PC for the evening. If none of the reglar players show up, but you get a handfull of interested newcomers? Not an issue. Run a side-trek just for them set in the same 'universe' as the main campaign.

Television can, contrary to popular belief, be a very useful tool in roleplaying.

 

[Asmor]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention... Another reason I like the idea of pre-gens is that many of the players are likely new to D&D, having either never played or played only once or twice. They almost certainly won't have their own books. So I couldn't expect them to create characters on their own...

I've got a busy schedule and wouldn't be able to get there until just before the game started, so if I help people make characters then that's going to directly cut into playtime.

 

[jdrakeh]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention... Another reason I like the idea of pre-gens is that many of the players are likely new to D&D, having either never played or played only once or twice. They almost certainly won't have their own books. So I couldn't expect them to create characters on their own...

In that case, go with pre-gens -- but make a mountain of them (20 or so). This way you have more than enough PCs for new arrivals to rotate into or for regular players to assume when their regular characters are tied up in another story arc that has to be put on hold for a session due to an unplanned player absence.

 

[WSmith]

I agree. Linear based adventures should be avoided for site-based adventures. I know not everyone likes it, but B2 Keep on the Borderlands is an excellent example of a site-based adventure.

The party can venture to the caves, clear a few out, and return to the keep for some R&R, ending the gaming session for this week. Next week, if 2 of the 4 current players cannot make it, but 2-3 others can, their new characters can venture off with the other original 2 to clear out some caves, and return to the keep for healing and rest at the end of that session. In the third week, if everyone can attend, no one has really missed stuff that is vital to the overall adventure when they were gone.

 

[Asmor]

It sounds like you're suggesting a dungeon-heavy campaign? What the heck, man, what do you think this is, Tunnels & Trolls? This is Dungeons & Dragons-- no dungeons allowed.

 

[WSmith]

It sounds like you're suggesting a dungeon-heavy campaign? What the heck, man, what do you think this is, Tunnels & Trolls? This is Dungeons & Dragons-- no dungeons allowed.

That was a good laugh that came at the perfect time that I needed one.