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Campaign Master: Finish Existing Campaigns
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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 8661796" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>I would start by considering how many sessions you have, how likely they are to actually happen, and how flexible that number is - what you need to do for "6 sessions exactly" is different from "6 but we can go to 8 if needed", or "6, but probably only 4".</p><p></p><p>Also work out the minimum set of things that <em>must</em> happen to get you to a satisfactory end point, and a second list of things that would be <em>nice to have</em>. For instance, you probably 'need' to have a big showdown with the latest BBEG, and you may well have a pet NPC that the party loves dealing with and you'd like one last meeting.</p><p></p><p>Then it's a matter of dividing things up: try to block out a bunch of material for each of your remaining sessions, with an intended start point, likely events, and expected end point. Each session you get further into the future, you need to get more vague about things, because you just have less control. Also, try to slot the "nice to haves" as late in the sequence as possible, so you have things to drop.</p><p></p><p>Then watch as your players happily trash your carefully-laid plans. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>And that's more or less it. A few other pieces of advice:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Make very sure you have less "must have" material than you think the time allows for. If you have too much, you <em>really</em> need to drop some.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Conversely, make sure you have more "nice to have" material than you think you need to fill any gaps. Bear in mind that this is stuff that may happen, but by definition it's nice to have. So if two sessions from the end you happen to be running ahead, it's good to have some stuff to slot in.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Drop <em>everything</em> that isn't essential to what you're doing. It's absolutely fine to announce "six months later...", or skip over the minutiae of a largely uneventful journey, omit a shopping scene, or whatever else. The players probably won't even notice, and they certainly won't remember. (I don't necessarily advise doing that in 'normal' play, since sometimes it has a place. But when time is short, cut mercilessly.)</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 8661796, member: 22424"] I would start by considering how many sessions you have, how likely they are to actually happen, and how flexible that number is - what you need to do for "6 sessions exactly" is different from "6 but we can go to 8 if needed", or "6, but probably only 4". Also work out the minimum set of things that [I]must[/I] happen to get you to a satisfactory end point, and a second list of things that would be [I]nice to have[/I]. For instance, you probably 'need' to have a big showdown with the latest BBEG, and you may well have a pet NPC that the party loves dealing with and you'd like one last meeting. Then it's a matter of dividing things up: try to block out a bunch of material for each of your remaining sessions, with an intended start point, likely events, and expected end point. Each session you get further into the future, you need to get more vague about things, because you just have less control. Also, try to slot the "nice to haves" as late in the sequence as possible, so you have things to drop. Then watch as your players happily trash your carefully-laid plans. :) And that's more or less it. A few other pieces of advice: [LIST] [*]Make very sure you have less "must have" material than you think the time allows for. If you have too much, you [I]really[/I] need to drop some. [*]Conversely, make sure you have more "nice to have" material than you think you need to fill any gaps. Bear in mind that this is stuff that may happen, but by definition it's nice to have. So if two sessions from the end you happen to be running ahead, it's good to have some stuff to slot in. [*]Drop [I]everything[/I] that isn't essential to what you're doing. It's absolutely fine to announce "six months later...", or skip over the minutiae of a largely uneventful journey, omit a shopping scene, or whatever else. The players probably won't even notice, and they certainly won't remember. (I don't necessarily advise doing that in 'normal' play, since sometimes it has a place. But when time is short, cut mercilessly.) [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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