barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Barsoom is gone. Long live Barsoom.
WAAAAAYYYY back in 1998, I started thinking about starting up a campaign. A friend of mine had suggested HE start up a game, and after waiting for him to start it for a few months, I decided to start up one of my own. I had a lot of ideas sitting around from previous campaigns I'd run (or NOT run) over the years, and I pretty much threw them all into a pot, slapped together a map and got things going.
The first adventure started up BEFORE D&D 3rd Edition came out, and I didn't want to buy any books, so I made up my own game system, based on vague memories of the old Victory Games' James Bond Roleplaying Game. I gathered together a few friends and we were off.
The first game we had a murder, a tavern brawl and cranky women NPCs (cranky women NPCs have been a recurring theme on Barsoom) (as have murders and brawls, come to think of it).
Some players dropped out (one moved to Tokyo, another to Duncan), some dropped in, and over the years it became more and more clear what sort of story we were telling: gritty dark fantastical pulp adventure horror with philosophical overtones. It became clear that dark forces were at work: ancient long-forgotten goddesses returning to scour the world clean of life, foul entities intent on enslaving the human race, power-hungry sorcerers experimenting with torturous magicks, and accountants with long memories and powerful friends.
Our heroes discovered that despite my assurances to the contrary, there was magic at work upon the surface of Barsoom, they found themselves in strange places with even stranger allies, and over the years we built up a solid collection of great "remember when" moments.
And last night it all came to an end.
Last night was the last session of my Barsoom campaign.
Six years. 120+ sessions.
They saved the day. I always knew they would.
So now what? I'm reasonably certain that I'll soon be suffering from PCD (Post-Campaign Depression), once it really sinks in that Barsoom is finally over. Even though I WANT it to be over. I don't want to run Barsoom anymore. The limitations of the setting have been made clear to me, and it just got too unweildy to stay on top of.
Anyone else suffer from PCD? Any tips or tricks on how to avoid it? Or should I just embrace, suffer and pass through this necessary period of my life?
WAAAAAYYYY back in 1998, I started thinking about starting up a campaign. A friend of mine had suggested HE start up a game, and after waiting for him to start it for a few months, I decided to start up one of my own. I had a lot of ideas sitting around from previous campaigns I'd run (or NOT run) over the years, and I pretty much threw them all into a pot, slapped together a map and got things going.
The first adventure started up BEFORE D&D 3rd Edition came out, and I didn't want to buy any books, so I made up my own game system, based on vague memories of the old Victory Games' James Bond Roleplaying Game. I gathered together a few friends and we were off.
The first game we had a murder, a tavern brawl and cranky women NPCs (cranky women NPCs have been a recurring theme on Barsoom) (as have murders and brawls, come to think of it).
Some players dropped out (one moved to Tokyo, another to Duncan), some dropped in, and over the years it became more and more clear what sort of story we were telling: gritty dark fantastical pulp adventure horror with philosophical overtones. It became clear that dark forces were at work: ancient long-forgotten goddesses returning to scour the world clean of life, foul entities intent on enslaving the human race, power-hungry sorcerers experimenting with torturous magicks, and accountants with long memories and powerful friends.
Our heroes discovered that despite my assurances to the contrary, there was magic at work upon the surface of Barsoom, they found themselves in strange places with even stranger allies, and over the years we built up a solid collection of great "remember when" moments.
And last night it all came to an end.
Last night was the last session of my Barsoom campaign.
Six years. 120+ sessions.
They saved the day. I always knew they would.
So now what? I'm reasonably certain that I'll soon be suffering from PCD (Post-Campaign Depression), once it really sinks in that Barsoom is finally over. Even though I WANT it to be over. I don't want to run Barsoom anymore. The limitations of the setting have been made clear to me, and it just got too unweildy to stay on top of.
Anyone else suffer from PCD? Any tips or tricks on how to avoid it? Or should I just embrace, suffer and pass through this necessary period of my life?
