New Campaign Season Starts TODAY!

[barsoomcore]

So I took a HUGE break from my primary campaign Barsoom and today we start in again on Season Four. This campaign has been running for... um... five years, I think? Since about a year before 3rd edition came out, anyway. There's still one PC kicking around the group who was there on the first day (and two players) -- that PC is 13th level and everyone else in the group is 12th.

I started dividing the campaign into "Seasons" after getting to really figure out what TV shows were doing (mostly from watching Buffy and Xena obsessively), and why it worked. So now Barsoom runs in Seasons that are typically 25-35 sessions long, with a little break in between. It lets me build things up to a good, satisfying climax without having to "complete" my campaign's arcing stories. And then I get a break to recharge my creative batteries. It works really well.

Anyway, I wondered what other tricks DMs of long-running campaigns use to avoid burnout and campaign implosion. Share!

 

[Hjorimir]

For me, it is a matter of pacing. I only run my Saturday game once a month, but it is a long session (about 10 hours) and I run my Monday night game every other week (about 5 hours each).

I used to run about twice as much. But that started to burn me out and impact quality of the game. At times I wish I ran more often still though because after all is said and done, I like DMing.

Good luck on your next season.

 

[Desdichado]

Yeah, unfortunately, we only seem to be able to get together about once a month. I've got a long way to go before I burn out at that rate.

And when I do, I'll probably just do something else for a while and put DARK●HERITAGE on the back burner for a while.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Interesting idea, Barsoom. So you play weekly?

 

[Desdichado]

So, does this mean you're gonna put in a big push to get your Story Hour up to date before you get too far into this next season?

 

[Piratecat]

I'm at 12 years and running; Sagiro's game is at 9 years. Both of us keep the game going by instituting distinct plot arcs that provide a sense of closure regarding certain challenges, quests, etc. In addition, by having the actions of the PCs change the world around them they become eager to adventure more and institute more change. I'm really pleased by how well it's working; people are having fun, and I'm not running out of plot.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

The 'season' thing is really good. I think I have been doing that in my campaigns without actually calling them 'seasons.' Since I mostly run supers games (mostly) I probably have something more along the lines of issues/story runs.

Since I am starting an Iron Kingdoms campaign in about 6 weeks I will se if I can adopt the 'season' idea.