Do you use deadlines in your campaign?

[Mesh Hong]

My whole campaign world is constantly progressing as various factions maneouvre against each other. I have major and minor NPCs who all have plans and ambitions and are all up to something whether the PCs get involved or not. This pushes the campaign towards end game.

The PCs have their own agendas and goal that slots into the main plot (i.e. their plot). Everything they do has reprocussions on the world (sometimes massively) so their own actions sometimes force dramatic or time related deadlines as adversaries react or try to out maneouvre them.

As for the main plot, it has always had some sort of vague dramatic or time related deadline. Plot NPCs will sometimes remind them of it if that NPC wants to give them a nudge in a particular direction.

Plots are like a ticking time bomb in a sealed box. If you don't open it up to see how long you have left then will it go off? and if it does, will you notice?

 

[Ahnehnois]

If there's a deadline, I have to keep track of time. I'd rather not do that.

 

[Jhaelen]

Well, my campaign uses an overall timeline that basically details what would happen when, if the pcs didn't exist or do anything to oppose the overarching threat. It's not an entirely fixed timeline, though. I've made several adjustments to it when I realized, certain things simply weren't feasible in the amount of time I had originally planned for.

If they're hanging around in a city for weeks, e.g. waiting for someone to enchant magic items for them, their opposition will have more time to build up defenses.

So, on the adventure level their current (relative) position in the timeline sometimes influences the difficulty of their encounters. Likewise, adventure locations tend to be somewhat dynamic, so if they're camping too long after combat to replenish all their spells or to level up, something will come along to smash the party.

There are usually certain important events that will always trigger when the pcs arrive, though.

So, yeah, I'm using both methods.

 

[Nymrohd]

On my campaigns one of my bigger notes that the PCs never get to see is the Timeline. Certainly there are some static events in the timeline; some things will happen regardless of PC action barring extraordinary circumstances. Many could be interpreted as deadlines but I see them mostly as branching points. I take it as a rule to always give them some partial credit; unless they fail big, their actions will have at least some effect. Honestly it looks a lot like the system described in Heroes of Battle (the one they used on some of the later 3.5 adventures). Sometimes they are aware of deadlines and coming events, sometimes they are not; yet past experience has already given them a sense of urgency. Do not overdo deadlines though. While urgency forcing their hand is nice once in a while, if you make it constant, even with partial credits, it will feel like you are pressing the pace too much and it might detract from the experience.

 

[fjw70]

I use time limits if it makes sense for the plot. Right now I am running a customized KotS and if the players don't reach the portal in time then it will open and destroy Winterhaven. I haven't told them there is a time limit, but if they don't waste time then it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[karlindel]

It depends on the campaign, but I often use deadlines in some form. If nothing else, plot elements that the players don't deal with will move forward after a certain amount of time.

I do like to have things occur at dramatically appropriate times, but only within a time window that makes sense. If the party takes too long, they will find the evil mastermind has finished his work and abandoned his lab. If they arrive on the night they know he is planning a world ending ritual, they will probably arrive just before he begins the ritual or just before he can complete it, although I will make allowances for creative ideas or resources expended to get there more quickly.

 

[MerricB]

Interesting spread of poll results.

Cheers!

 

[Lanefan]

If I put any sort of hard time deadline on a mission my crew would miss it big, every time. They burn up time as if it was kindling.

Best example: I converted Keep on the Shadowfell and ran it...the module sort of assumes (but never defines) a deadline, that being when Kalarel finishes his ritual; and also sort-of assumes the party will take maybe 2 days at most to get to Kalarel once having entered his temple.

My crew took (real-world equivalent) about 3 months.

They went back to town for various reasons about 6 times after entering the temple; town was 6 days away so each was a 12-day round trip ignoring any time actually spent in town doing stuff.

That said, I'll still occasionally put a hard deadline on a mission and see what they do with it.

Lanefan

 

[firesnakearies]

Time-related deadlines often constrain the number of times that the PCs can refresh resources (resting to regain spells/powers and recover hit points). Time-related deadlines can thus emphasize the more strategic elements of a game (should the PCs rest now, or can they risk one more fight?), and push the PCs to go as far as they can before they rest.

IMO, dramatic deadlines are only meaningful if they also impose a constraint. If the PCs arrive in the nick of time and proceed to take down the BBEG in an otherwise ordinary fight, you might as well have them arrive five minutes or even an hour earlier. Arriving in the nick of time should mean that something bad is going to happen unless the PCs stop it almost immediately. So, dramatic deadlines effectively become time-related deadlines too, but the deadline is measured in terms of rounds instead of hours or days. Dramatic deadlines used in this manner limit the number of actions that the PCs may take, and this emphasizes the more tactical elements of the game. The PCs have to ensure that each action that they take counts.

This is a brilliant post, and illustrates exactly what's awesome about deadlines. For these exact reasons, I like to try to work in deadlines whenever I can. I don't end up using them super-often, but I definitely want to use them more, because I love these kind of situations that make strategic or tactical considerations more important, interesting, and tense.

 

[lutecius]

Time-related deadlines often constrain the number of times that the PCs can refresh resources (resting to regain spells/powers and recover hit points). Time-related deadlines can thus emphasize the more strategic elements of a game (should the PCs rest now, or can they risk one more fight?), and push the PCs to go as far as they can before they rest.

this is how we use deadlines most of the time. this is also why the "15 minute adventuring day" was never really an issue for my groups.

it's not so much that the players fail the quest if they rest, it's that when they step into a dungeon or start investigating, they set things in motion.
I'm not anal about the time they take to disarm a trap or end a fight but resting almost always has consequences. it generally means that when the PCs get back to the action, the bad guys will be prepared for them or will have left town.

as for "dramatic deadlines", I use them as little as possible. I know i hate them as a player because they feel cheap and artificial, like things will turn out a certain way regardless of the adventurers' actions.