How do you like your campaigns - focused or freeform?

[Raven Crowking]

Honestly though, I never want a completely freeform game, where my character blindly lucks into scenarios that grant him his fondest wishes ("Well what do you know, I'm now the King! Funny world, innit?")

Why would this be more likely in a freeform game than in a planned game? I've seen planned games where characters are intended to become kings or whatnot; I've never seen this in a freeform game....at least, not one with players over the age of 7......

 

[Drowbane]

I voted 8, and I'm running Age of Worms!

 

[CarlZog]

I'm a 3. If the players really work at developing their characters in the beginning, then it's really interesting to see where they choose to go with them. To me, that freedom is a big part of the attraction of running a campaign.

If you're going freeform, you have to be more prepared than a DM with a planned-out pair of railroad tracks, because you don't know which direction the players are going to run with the ball.

Absolutely true. You'll also discover that no matter how much prep you do, your players will choose some avenue that leaves you winging it for part of a session. So you have to be much more capable of being creative on the fly.

Carl

 

[Mallus]

Why would this be more likely in a freeform game than in a planned game? I've seen planned games where characters are intended to become kings or whatnot; I've never seen this in a freeform game....at least, not one with players over the age of 7......

In my hypothetical totally freeform game, the DM refrains from creating so much as his own opportunities for the PC's to use/exploit. Thus, every heroic (or antiheroic) thing that happens is inititiated by the players, with the DM following suit and creating suitable scenarios to facilitate their goals. In other words, the players pull the entire plot out of their collective butts. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The minute the DM begins creating and deploying circumstances for the PC's to respond to, its no longer 'completely freeform'. The DM is directing the action around his set of set of plot hooks. And that's what I prefer.

 

[Raven Crowking]

In my hypothetical totally freeform game, the DM refrains from creating so much as his own opportunities for the PC's to use/exploit. Thus, every heroic (or antiheroic) thing that happens is inititiated by the players, with the DM following suit and creating suitable scenarios to facilitate their goals. In other words, the players pull the entire plot out of their collective butts. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The minute the DM begins creating and deploying circumstances for the PC's to respond to, its no longer 'completely freeform'. The DM is directing the action around his set of set of plot hooks. And that's what I prefer.

That would be a, what, -5 (?) in the scale Quasqueton is using here?

 

[Plane Sailing]

I enjoy running and playing in campaigns which are in the 8-10 range.

Unfortunately the current DM likes running in the 0-1 range. We're about 10th level and still scrabbling around trying to find things to do, I get a little frustrated that there are no great quests, no great work to be done in that campaign world!

 

[the Jester]

Why would this be more likely in a freeform game than in a planned game? I've seen planned games where characters are intended to become kings or whatnot; I've never seen this in a freeform game....at least, not one with players over the age of 7......

My game is largely free-form, and there's a pc "god-king" in the setting; of course, the game has run since 2e, and gone from 1st level to as high as 28th since about 1992, with multiple parties at varying locations and times. Yet they all tie together, in one way or another.

And, yeah, we've got a god-king; a bishop; a baron; a thane; and more. None of it especially planned in advance- the god-king sought out power on his own, weaseling his way into a barony first and then working his way upwards, for example... so it can happen.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I enjoy running and playing in campaigns which are in the 8-10 range.

Unfortunately the current DM likes running in the 0-1 range. We're about 10th level and still scrabbling around trying to find things to do, I get a little frustrated that there are no great quests, no great work to be done in that campaign world!

Yuck. You gotta have NPCs with agendas to hook into or foil or whatever, at the very least, along with interesting ruins and such to go get into trouble with, even if there's no forward march of history happening in the world.

 

[CarlZog]

Unfortunately the current DM likes running in the 0-1 range. We're about 10th level and still scrabbling around trying to find things to do, I get a little frustrated that there are no great quests, no great work to be done in that campaign world!

The unfortunate part here is not that your DM is operating in the 0-1 range, but that he's providing sufficient opportunities for you to explore. Or perhaps he has, and -- not knowing it -- you inadvertently declined the opportunity.

That's another of the tough parts of a freeform game: Like the real world, you want players to take some personal responsibility for their PCs "lives", not sit around waiting for something to happen. But, as a DM, you also have to present opportunities worth pursuing without necessarily knowing in advance where they'll lead. As in real life, it's often the simplest little inocuous opportunities that end up yielding the greatest return in the long run.

Carl

 

[blargney the second]

I voted 5 for campaigns, but 7 for adventures. I like the big picture to be freeform with some underlying themes, and adventures that explore those themes in more detail.