Game Day: What should my goals be?

[Psion]

I'm looking for general ideas here vice specific ideas, so I didn't post this in plots.

My players are feeling the gaming hunger coming on, not being satisfied by the 4-6 hour sessions I run every Friday. One of them has proposed that we pick a weekend and game Friday AND all day Saturday.

If we do this, I am going to have to plan ahead. But other than the obvious "use the day to advance my story arcs & situations", what type of goals/checkboxes would you recommend for a DM to acheive during a weekend gaming sabbatical?

For example, I have been milking off of a few neutral and allied NPCs for a while now; I am thinking I should use this opportunity to introduce 4 new major NPCs.

Of course, one or two bang-up battles are a must, possibly one that alters the kilter of the campaign in a telling way.

Perhaps the chance to finally kill a longstanding party nemesis.

A transition into a new villain or new stage of confrontation with an existing villain.

Any other hurdles I should work on?

 

[Lord Pendragon]

All the things you've mentioned are really great ideas! One thing I try for in a long gaming session is to have several kinds of mood throughout the run. For instance, I might work to have any or all of the following:

A dramatic confrontation.
A comic relief scene.
A shocking event.
A mysterious occurance.
etc.
etc.

I think long sessions can start to drag on if you're in the same situation for too long, even a good situation. Break up the tone every now and then, and it stays fresh.

 

[Henry]

This is your chance to do your campaign's version of "sweeps week."

Find one of your juicest plot threads, and expound upon it. Reveal some major secret of your campaign world, in a fashion where they WON'T want to leave the table at the end. This is the time to reveal that Darth Vader is Luke's father, so to speak.

You could create a situation where one player (or two) is shouldered with the responsibility to make a large personal sacrifice to save something important (perhaps another party member, or their home town, or even a loved one). The sacrifice need not be their lives, of course, but something dear to them - a magic item, or a personal property. They don't have to make the sacrifice, but it is a chance for some true heroism.

This sounds strange, but I've always wanted a chance to sacrifice my character to save something large, such as a war effort, or a country, or even several lives at once. However, our DM keeps coming up with reasons why I don't have to sacrifice myself. Bummer!

 

[Psion]

Hmmm... that's good food for thought everyone... but of course it makes me dwell on specific ideas. I'm going to post a more specific thread in the plots forum

Re: comic releif. Probably not a bad idea. However, I resist anything that will make the game itself a joke. Any ideas of stuff I can do WITHIN the game that might be a bit of fun without shattering SOD? A wild spellcasting NPC, perhaps? The tired old mischevious fairy routine?

Anyways, I was thinking examine the specific issues of my campaign might be helpful, so I posted an appropriate thread in the plot forum:

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5143

 

[Mark]

I think the most important thing you can do is to determine what the players perceive as their goals, give them the opportunities to achieve those goals, and present enough material along the way for them to create more goals for furture games. It sounds very generic but it appears from your post that you might not be considering that factor as high on the priority list as I feel it needs to be. Just my two cents and it might well be that you are assuming that as a given. Take no offense, please, if I am way off base in my estimation of things. *shrug*

 

[Psion]

I think the most important thing you can do is to determine what the players perceive as their goals, give them the opportunities to achieve those goals,

Well that is part of the difficulty I have right now... the campaign can go in several directions right now, but two of the major possibilities will require a lot of planning (i.e., both involve creating a superficial take on each of two campaign settings, an ice age setting and a psuedo-asian setting) and I would like to have a better idea of which direction they are headed. I should probably know after next game.

At any rate, this thread isn't so much about what I should do (that's the thread I linked to in the plot forum) but what my goals should be.

It sounds very generic but it appears from your post that you might not be considering that factor as high on the priority list as I feel it needs to be.

I'm not sure what you mean.

 

[Mark]

Well that is part of the difficulty I have right now... the campaign can go in several directions right now, but two of the major possibilities will require a lot of planning (i.e., both involve creating a superficial take on each of two campaign settings, an ice age setting and a psuedo-asian setting) and I would like to have a better idea of which direction they are headed. I should probably know after next game.

Is that the "big" game, or one before it?

At any rate, this thread isn't so much about what I should do (that's the thread I linked to in the plot forum) but what my goals should be.

I'll try to check that out.

I'm not sure what you mean.

The comment was directed at the post I made, as being too generic to be much help. Please, disregard it, as I now understand what you were trying to ask.

 

[Shallown]

Have a pounder ready...

What's a pounder you ask.

It is a situation or event that shakes up the characters and wakes up the players. When you run a long session it is good to have something to blast everyone awake and give a second wind to them.

Of course an attack or fight is the easiest route but you can do several other things. Murder some one.. and no that's not an attack since there is no response time given it just happens, could be off or on screen but it has to goad the players into immediate action. I prefer natural disasters. A house fire, A heavy rain and flood or mudsilde etc. this lets players think, use old items spells new ways, forces them to react and make moral choices, etc...

I like to have several ready in case (or for when) the game lulls.

Just an idea.

 

[Ciaran]

Of course an attack or fight is the easiest route but you can do several other things. Murder some one.. and no that's not an attack since there is no response time given it just happens, could be off or on screen but it has to goad the players into immediate action. I prefer natural disasters. A house fire, A heavy rain and flood or mudsilde etc. this lets players think, use old items spells new ways, forces them to react and make moral choices, etc...

Good thoughts. Ideally though, if you really want to shake the players up you need to do something more than something eventful. You'll want something that shakes up the game world as they know it. As Henry says, you're looking for an "I am your father" moment. This is where you reveal that the kindly NPC mentor is, in fact, their evil nemesis in disguise, using the PCs as pawns in some grand scheme. Or, alternately, their evil nemesis kills the kindly NPC mentor, revealing just how dependent on him the PCs really were, and forcing them to find new sources of information and aid.

Perhaps it's time for some tension in the setting background to explosively resolve itself. Has the recurring necromancer been building up his undead legions in recent months? Time for them to invade! Have diplomatic troubles been brewing between the PC's kingdom and a neighboring nation? Time for them to go to war. Did a PC commit a crime before joining the party? Time for the law to catch up with him. Has the party been indispensable to the local government? Award 'em all with knighthoods, and wait until they've accepted the honor before spelling out the responsibilities they're now saddled with.

The important thing is to make it clear that the world has a life of its own. Surprise your players. Give them something to talk about!

- Eric