Campaign newsletter: advice?

[Valesin]

I picked up the Roleplaying Tips compilation some time ago (in the heady rush of my new computer and DSL) but I never looked at it until this weekend. I have been DMing the same group for about 8 years now and didn't feel like I needed any advice on how to keep the game going.

Recently I decided to start DMing a second group of people (strangers) in order to expand my horizons. This group isn't made up of people who are all friends outside of gaming and meets 2x a month rather than weekly. While trying to come up with a good method of staying in touch and keep people focused on the game, I came across the RPTips advice about a 'campaign newsletter.' Since my new group shares a messageboard that sounded like a perfect plan.

Until I tried to write one and it just seemed...dumb. Not the idea, just my execution thereof. So I was wondering: do any people out there use a 'campaign newsletter' or some such similar method of staying in touch, giving a synopsis, etc? And if you do, are they online where I could see some? Or could you email me a couple? Or post them here?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Crothian]

We use the message boards to talk about the game and take care of little things between sessions. For instance buying of equpment, talking to unimportant NPCs, general discussions on what to do next; it all happens on the boards so we can spend more time at the gaming table doing the more important things.

However, if you don't have someone in the group that starts the conversations and gets people talking the boards sit there empty and unused.

For the Newsletter, when I did this I summed up the adventure,. Fleshed out some encounters and bits of info, and presented options for the players to talk about.

 

[Valesin]

We use the message boards to talk about the game and take care of little things between sessions. For instance buying of equpment, talking to unimportant NPCs, general discussions on what to do next; it all happens on the boards so we can spend more time at the gaming table doing the more important things.

However, if you don't have someone in the group that starts the conversations and gets people talking the boards sit there empty and unused.

For the Newsletter, when I did this I summed up the adventure,. Fleshed out some encounters and bits of info, and presented options for the players to talk about.

Thanks. My other (much more experienced) group handles all that very effectively via email. But this new group has seemed resistant to both email and posting. I thought if I had a 'catchy' newsletter type posting it might inspire them a little bit.

 

[Crothian]

Make the news letter entertaining. It might destroy the feel of the campaign if you go too silly but you can make it sound less serious and more fun. Give a silly play by play of the combats, make the misses a little more rediculus then they actually where, poke fun at the PCs and NPCs. It might work to draw out more conversation.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

You really just need:

What happend in the last game.
What the current plot is.

If you have any house rules, keep them all in one post if possible. Editing the post, renaming the thread to reflect the current date, and bumping the post up is enough to keep them informed. Same thing with your campaign information. If the elves just got destroyed by a giant space taco or something, just update the elf post to reflect that. You just need to keep the information organized so its easy for them to catch up.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Adventure highlights - recap of prior game

Reactions to adventures - this is the made up stuff, little made up things based around the actions performed by the adventures

Rumors and news for the game.

 

[Valesin]

Thanks everyone, some really good advice there.

But does no one have an actual example?

 

[Hand of Evil]

Thanks everyone, some really good advice there.

But does no one have an actual example?

]
I will see if I can find one, most were on my old PC and I did not save them but may have something somewhere.

 

[Farrigan]

I have about 5 or 6 of my newsletters I can email you, my pirate campaign!!
for some odd reason, i can't see your email--- must be my cheap login.

 

[Andre]

Thanks everyone, some really good advice there.

But does no one have an actual example?

I can send you several examples - what email address do you want me to use?