How Big is the Big Picture?

[Arnwyn]

In your campaigns, how big does the 'big picture' tend to be? Do the things your pcs get involved with affect their town, their country, their continent, their entire world? The multiverse itself?

Yes to all that - it starts small, and as the PCs increase in level the picture keeps getting bigger.

Although, as Crothian mentions, much of it is player-dependent - it's up to them and how far they want to take their characters. Historically, it has generally only gone up to the "country/kingdom" level.

 

[shaylon]

Pretty big! As a player in a campaign I can pretty much do anything. Currently we are moving city to city making a name for ourself but we are headed for the big time!

-Shay

 

[werk]

IMC the big picture is pretty big, but not all encompassing. I'd call it regional.

 

[Galethorn]

Well, for my semi-regular fantasy campaign, the PCs are just starting to get involved in things that will rock the foundations of a smallish nation, which may (or may not) lead to something intimately tied to the fate of a region about the size of western europe.

For the near-future mini-campaign I'm starting tomorrow, the PCs are going to be caught up in the invasion of their homeland. They'll just be trying to survive for a while, but might end up joining the resistance, in which case all sorts of things could happen.

 

[Mercule]

My current campaign involves bits of history stretching back to before the creation of humans, and the implications of various pacts the gods have made -- and what happens when a new god rises that is essentially free of the restraints of other gods.

The PCs just don't know it, yet.

 

[jgsugden]

It depends on the campaign. Some are designed to be stand alone adventures, with little, if any, continuing storyline between adventures. These campaigns tend to be very 'local' in scope, with the actions of the PCs having little, if any, effect on the rest of the world.

Other campaigns, however, are epic in design, with each session having some connection to larger storylines. In my current epic campaign, the PCs very first adventure foreshadows the penultimate battle for the campaign, a battle I expect to take place at epic levels. The actions of the PCs have already turned the fortune of entire nations, and some of the plotlines they are involved in will shape the entire future of my campaign world.