Cliffhangers

[fusangite]

An interesting thing came up in the far too long thread about the minor meltdown in Ambrus's campaign that pointed out to me yet another way that gamers are dissimilar where I previously thought them similar.

One of the things I like doing as a GM is to have cliffhanger episodes where, just as the session is ending, the characters are presented with an unexpected defeat, setback or challenge over which they can spend the next week stewing and scheming (in the case of Ambrus's thread it was the loss of an artifact they had to repair and return to the gods). But it turns out that this is not to everyone's taste; so I thought I would make a poll about it.

 

[VirtualWizard]

If they provide incentive to keep playing, cliffhangers are great. When I run, I try to arrange for a challenging cliffhanger at the end of a session. Also, I try to avoid end of session setbacks or defeats because they put a negative slant on the game. Positive and/or challenging endings typically lead to continued interest the game.

As a player, I dislike ending a game session with a defeat or a setback. I have seen these types of game session endings sap the morale of the players. Too many setbacks or defeats usually results in players leaving the game. If it is not fun, why continue playing? Game sessions that end with a challenging cliffhanger entice me to play the next session.

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

A setback that, in the long view, might seem relatively minor feels like a big deal when there's nothing to be done about. "And Bethran has lost his arm to the Toll Witch's first attack in the surprise round, so he'll have to weild that axe in the other hand I guess. Now she'll move the other 60 feet to you, Jendi, with rage and joy flaring in her expression. Oh, look at the time. Well, let's leave it there for tonight. Gotta get some rest y'know. See y'all next time!" This gives me a chance to worry the players without cutting too deeply into their PC's.

On the other hand, a big challenge presented as a cliffhanger is great if it's one that can be worked through strategically, because the players have the entire intervening time before the next session to plan how they will respond. "Alright, Maxsef, you've got the trap disabled and should have about thirty seconds to unlock the vault door before it resets. Daevon, you hear boots on the cobblestones and the voice of Sgt. Tamarthane, of the city guard. Sounds like he's headed your way. And, with that I think we'll just call it a night, and you guys can work on this for next week. Good luck."

I like cliffhangers as long as they're used judiciously. If every session I ran or played in ended that way, it would get old pretty quickly. I think the key is to only use cliffhangers to heighten dramatic suspense. If you can't do that, just push through to a natural stopping point.

 

[Black Spiral Dancer]

I voted "other".

Cliffhangers are like any other tool in a DM's tool box; it has a place in D&D, but it shouldn't be used every session.

 

[JVisgaitis]

I just beat Halo 2. Cliffhangers are awful, unless done really well. I voted other as I think cliffhangers could be cool (a la Empire Strikes Back).

 

[Crothian]

I like cliff hangers. But sometimes the players just don't want to stop. I ran an 8 hour session a few years back and I planned and had it end on a cliff hanger. The players were so into the game at the time they didn't want to stop, they wanted resolution so we played another 8 hours and ended the game around 10 am the next day. It was tiring but a lot of fun.

 

[Jdvn1]

Mmm, I love me my cliffhangers.

Can't use them all the time, of course, but when you time it right and build it up right...

Mm mm.

Tasty.

 

[jollyninja]

i'm running a L5R d20 game and at the end of the last session, the players were exiled from the empire. and i do stuff like that quite a bit of the time, half the party dead, horrific defeats to powerful creatures ect. they hate me but they keep showing up every week and often tell me it's their favorite game they are playing in. i guess they like cliffhangers too.

 

[shilsen]

Mmm, I love me my cliffhangers.

Can't use them all the time, of course, but when you time it right and build it up right...

Mm mm.

Tasty.

Yup, yup, yup. And that's true for me as both DM and player.

 

[exile]

Cliffhangers and Campaign Pacing

I don't DM often, but I did just wrap up a story arc that ran through the month of October (4 sessions). I made a point of using Cliffhanger endings for some of the sessions (mostly because one DM/GM that I played with in the past used them to great effect and I thought my players would enjoy them. So, the four sessiosn wrapped like this.

Session 1: After much planning as to how to silently kill two goblin sentries before an alarm could be raised, the party managed to kill one of said goblins; the other fled into the lair crying alarm. The more combat oriented PCs pursued at a run. End Session 1.

Session 2: After fighting their way through much of said goblin lair, the party faced the bugbear king of the lair. The party dealt significant damage to said bugbear, and he fled deeper into the caves. The party pursued to find the bugbear in his "harem" cave surrounded by goblinwomen and young (who the bugbear called on to fight for him). The cliffhanger though was that chained in the center of the lair, beset by goblin children was the lost love of one of the PCs. End Session 2.

Session 3: The PCs had just fought their way through the outer defenses of an orc lair, consisting chiefly of orc women. Some of the weaker types (a sorcerer and a rogue) were trapped in front of the portculli separating them and a hoarde of orc warriors from the rest of their party. End Session 3.

Session 4: Having fought their way through said orc lair in pursuit of their ultimate goal, the party faced and defeated the power behind the orc chieftain (not to mention the chieftain himself), an elderly orc called Kingmaker, only to find that the object of their pursuit had been passed on through a magical portal. The party returned to twon to regroup and research said portal. End session 4.

So my questions are, what kinds of cliffhangers have you all used in the past? How often do you use them? What other kinds of endings do you like for any session?

Chad