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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old One" data-source="post: 1571802" data-attributes="member: 83">Tortoise beat me to it...sorta!DL -I typed out a great response and then had to chase after Little Old One and the computer locked up.  I am glad Tortoise (Rowan) dropped in to comment from a PC's perspective...but I will try to give you a bit of a broader view...(1) With the Faded Glory Campaign, I have tried to present a dynamic, living, breathing setting that the players can really become invested in.  I will leave it the players to comment on whether or not I am succeeding, but this means that events, once set into motion, will proceed along a certain timeline unless the PCs (via action or inaction) otherwise affect the plot line.  Within the 2-4 "major" plot lines active currently, there are probably close to 20 additional plot lines that the PCs have encountered.  Some of these are tied directly to the PC's backgrounds (such as Rose's lover Asralla and Quintus's history with Abigail and Ned).  Some arise from the PC's decision to take one road over another (such as the side-trek on the way to Oar with Scarnose the Gnoll and Drusilla).  Still others might be complete red herrings that have absolutely no involvement with any main plot line, but might interest a particular PC for one reason or another.The "matrix"-style campaign means that there is a lot for both the players and the DM to keep up with.  It also means that there are many "dangling" plot lines that may never be resolved!  Just take a look at Page 1 of the SH for a reminder on some that are still "out there".  I know that some of the players and/or their PCs do get a bit frustrated at the lack of resolution on some fronts...but I do throw a tremendous amount of information at them...then let them decide what to do with, or about, what they discover.(2) It is my world, but it is the PCs story.  This means no rail-roading of the PCs.  They really do have pretty much complete free will within the confines of the big, wide world.  This often means they head off in a direction or on a tangent I didn't expect.  When this happens, I examine the other plot lines that are in motion, decide how they would logically advance, see if there are any 3rd parties that might act upon that particular plot line and move them forward accordingly.  It also means that I have some work to do in determining how the PC actions (or inactions) along the new tangent, will play out.  While this makes mucho work for said DM, our playing frequency (about 10x per year) makes this doable with my limited time.(3) The PCs are not monolithic.  This means that the PCs do not all share a burning drive to all accomplish the same goal along the same timeline.  This is particularly true with the introduction of Cragen, the Walking Legend.  But all the other PCs...Rowan, Rose, Quintus, Sextus and one to be introduced soon...have goals and desires either developed from their background or developed during play.  Some of these goals are in moderate conflict with others and it is interesting to see how the PCs sort it out.This very long-winded answer gets us back to your initial question.  Was the trip to Oar "worth it"?  It did expose the PCs to additional world elements, made them some friends, made them some enemies, allowed them to discover more about the Cult of Ashai and exposed them to some distant Imperial elements.  The trip also allowed, apparently, the mysterious "R" and her cohorts to advance their plans relatively unheeded...ultimately leading to the assault on Glynden.I will leave it Tortoise and the other PCs to say whether or not the trip was worth it...I think it us up for serious debate...but it was the PCs choice and the world continued to rotate while they made the journey.  Some of the seeds planted on the trip to and from Oar may well bear fruit (both sweet and sour) for the PCs down the road (well..."may" is probably an understatement <insert evil DM laugh>).In closing, this is the most involved, complicated and challenging campaign I have run in my now 23 years of playing this game.  I am enjoying it and I hope that the players are as well...whadda ya say, folks <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />!~ Old One</blockquote>

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