I love it when a Campaign Arc comes together

[fba827]

either you have to be good at planning (and have players that don't veer too much from what you expect and/or tell them), or you have to be good on the fly.

one possible compromise between the two extremes -- make a list of clues that you want to pepper in at random times.

leave them fairly "in the background" but give them a mention as you describe areas. ie pretend one of your clues is "the weather starts to act up" and then when the PCs get to a town add in a random clue from your list. "you enter the woodland town, it starts to rain a little but the canopy of the trees provides some shelter as you move through to find the elven mayor that you seek ..." (just giving a slight nod to the clue hidden amongst more pressing info).

and then with time as you want the event to be closer then start giving more focus to the severity of the clue ("the rain is picking up and it's not even the rainy season, several townsfolk scrurry off to the shelter of their homes.")

 

[Rechan]

What three things? I 'Just Say No' to filler game time. Not that I'm saying your games specifically is filler since I obviously don't play in it and all. But my gaming mantra is to get to the good stuff now. Don't wait. Otherwise you're just feeding a self-fulfilling problem (never getting to cool stuff before the game ends).

I"m trying to say that if I have 20 things I want to do, I can't do all 20 things at the same time, now can I?

 

[Lanefan]

What three things? I 'Just Say No' to filler game time. Not that I'm saying your games specifically is filler since I obviously don't play in it and all. But my gaming mantra is to get to the good stuff now. Don't wait. Otherwise you're just feeding a self-fulfilling problem (never getting to cool stuff before the game ends).

The game ending too soon is only a self-fulfilling problem if you keep level advancement at the designed speed (for 1-3-4e) instead of slowing it down.

Assume at start that your campaign will last at least 5 years. Then do what's required to the system to make that a reality. Once done, you now have time to spin and weave a much richer series of tales than you would have had before.

Lanefan

 

[vagabundo]

I'd keep things simple, but I know my players have a poor attention span. I do need to keep things relevant and blunt. So no Machiavellian plots or Byzantine story threads.

But you know your players and their capabilities; so tailor your game for them. I wouldn't wait too long to get to the good stuff. Make sure the cool things happen every sessions.

My last game in Thunderspire I threw a Beholder at the party in the Chamber of Eyes. Afterward one of my players said, "So that's why they call it the Chamber of Eyes, doh". I laughed to myself, knowing what I knew.

 

[Jack99]

How do you handle campaign/plot pacing? How do you juggle it, not knowing if it will last a few months or a few years?

By trial and error!

For instance, let's say you have multiple story arcs, very big themes, and various plots in your campaign. How do you know when to start them, when to drop the hints in, and when to stay your hand? How many is too much? Or not enough?

I usually fill in the level-dependent stuff first, then those things that do not depend on the players having a certain level into the holes. That way, there are always some story arcs running.

I usually start the first one at level 1, at latest level 2. The rest follow according to how it fits each individual arc. If there is no time issue on the story-arc, then go right ahead. The sooner the better IMO and IME. For example, if you do not have a time limit on how long Melora can evade the Wild Hunt, then shoot it off. Hell, have the campaign start with an unusual thunderstorm. If the players never get to the level where they receive more concrete clues and begin to understand what is happening, then you can always use the hook in another campaign.

For instance, the game I'm running right now, I have a lot of stuff I want to do, and a lot of big things giong on. This is the first campaign I'm actually looking very far ahead, wanting to do a lot of BIG things (the longest game I've ran has only lasted a year and a half). The PCs are just 2nd level though.

How many plots should you introduce at one time? Should you bother foreshadowing before a plot?

Its about knowing your players. Some love it, some wont care. Most seem to enjoy some sort of foreshadowing. I use it heavily.

I want to start slipping in the foreshadowing/clues to the bigger picture, but my fear is that the players will either: 1) Get bogged down/frustrated under the multiple threads that don't seem to tie together, 2) Get lost or chase the beginning of something when it's not related to the current arc, merely foreshadowing or hints, or 3) Forget, not become interested, or get bored with it.

Again, depends on your players - but in general most player groups can handle more if done right. Lots of DM's complaining about players not picking up their hints and such.. well IMO, it has more to do with the DM than with the players

How do you handle starting integrating an arc, in terms of timeline? "If I begin plan E now, then I only have (Insert) in-game time to let it run its course; otherwise, it wouldn't make sense waiting for the next piece".

Flexibility. Also at higher levels, magic will allow players to handle multiple story arcs at the same time, as travel time becomes a thing of the past. Things can easily be more compressed. Which makes it easier to plot arcs - you just make sure you insert a certain amount of downtime in between. Ie, push the next arc a couple of weeks or months, in order to make sure the players have enough time to finish whatever they are doing. And then you can always say: "Next time we play, 5 weeks have gone by. You have the time to scribe, craft or build, or whatever you want to. It will be handled over email before next session"

And how do you contain yourself, resisting getting to the cool stuff in your pocket? Especially if you don't know how long the game may last?

I rarely do so. I just reuse the plots I throw out, unless they have started to get to the bottom of things.

 

[Snoweel]

I find it's easier to retcon/rewrite.

Me too.

One of the joys of DMing, for me, is paving the road in front of the PCs.

Because I like to keep my campaign prep modular, I can invent (or more likely, steal) metaplot and threat elements with the confidence that the players won't miss them - because they can't miss them.

The story requires that an NPC ally of the PCs has close links to the cult they're opposed to? No problem. It could be anyone. After all, what the PCs think they know about someone is just that - what they think they know.

Obviously this requires reshuffling my background fluff on the fly but that's one of the things I love about DMing.

This whole modular prep thing is what made me give up sandbox world-building. I got sick of the players missing stuff that I really wanted them to encounter so after a while I just started filing the serial numbers off and putting that cool stuff in front of them anyway. If the players never know that the desert pyramid in the east was originally a jungle ziggurat in the west then there's no harm done.

Of course this puts the onus on me to retcon all the setting links that no longer fit (before the players find out) but as I've said three times in this post already, that's all part of the fun.

 

[Snoweel]

Lots of DM's complaining about players not picking up their hints and such.. well IMO, it has more to do with the DM than with the players

Definitely. Too many DMs don't understand how little of what they know about the gameworld is coming through in their descriptions.

 

[Rechan]

Assume at start that your campaign will last at least 5 years.

5 years!?!

I can't count the number of games and groups I've seen disintegrate within three months.

The longest game I've ever been in lasted 2 years, and those were dear people whom I spent a lot of time with online. I can't imagine a game ever lasting 5 years. This is just a game I recruited online - I don't know the players that well.

Who the hell are you people playing with that you can count on them being reliable for years?

 

[Hjorimir]

5 years!?!

I can't count the number of games and groups I've seen disintegrate within three months.

The longest game I've ever been in lasted 2 years, and those were dear people whom I spent a lot of time with online. I can't imagine a game ever lasting 5 years. This is just a game I recruited online - I don't know the players that well.

Who the hell are you people playing with that you can count on them being reliable for years?

My wife, family members, and friends I've known so long that I just count decades instead of years. Very reliable in my experience.

 

[Piratecat]

But my gaming mantra is to get to the good stuff now. Don't wait. Otherwise you're just feeding a self-fulfilling problem (never getting to cool stuff before the game ends).

This is awesome advice. There's always more good stuff once the current good stuff is revealed! This is also the way to develop long term campaigns; when the good stuff happens early and often, people want to keep showing up to see what happens next and to find out how they've changed the world.

The trick to long term plot arcs is to throw out a freakin' ass-ton of plot hooks, and wait to see what the players bite on. then develop those ones and let the others lie fallow for now. Later, figure out how the ignored plot lines may have changed over time, and drop more plot hooks to see if they've become any more interesting to your players.

I also throw out different types of plot hooks that all lead back to the same plot. the players might grab the political lead, or the mystery investigation, or the way that involves a lot of fights; either way, they do what's most fun for them and I still get to use my bad guys and plot lines.