Nightcloak said:
* Impatiently taps foot waiting to hear how Wolf's new game is going *
D'oh! You were adressing me. I am flattered. I just missed this thread the last few times I was here. My computer was sorely out of date and slower than... well, anything. I had a 400mhz Celeron since 1999. Yesterday, I got my new 3.06ghz Pentium IV up and running. I can actually read the new posts at enworld in about half the time, believe it or not.
Okay, how is my game going? Here goes...
When my group imploded and I quit playing earlier this year (early spring I think), I put my campaign on hiatus and demanded players who wanted to play what I wanted to DM. I also insisted that my game not feel like an extension of my job (I am a high school teacher). No offense intended to any of you teens out there, but I was looking fro people closer to my age.
Out of the original 6 players (other than myself) I had at my table before things went south, 4 of them were teens, 3 of which I had taught previously. When I resumed gaming after about 2 months off, we picked up the same campaign where it left off. I started by reinviting a player that had been de-invited back in January due to some conflict. During my hiatus, I realized that we had, in our 4 or 5 year history de-invited 2 players and that both of them were due to conflicts with the player with whom I was now having the most trouble (prior to the hiatus). He was a munchkin rules-lawyer who wanted the game he wanted. Nothing else was acceptable. Unfortunately, everyone else at the table, even those 2 players he caused to be asked to leave (one of whom had come back long ago), loved him. When I reformed the group, I asked only gamers over 21 to return. Of course, this left me with only 3 players, one of whom is severely part-time (police officer/national guard) and another is 2/3 time (firefighter). I tried desparately to recruit other players, to no avail. Two of those 3 players advocated the return of the one who caused my hiatus in the first place and he begged to come back.
In my player search, I found another gamer online and added him to my game. He brought a friend from his other game 2 weeks later. Soon after they joined, the player who caused the hiatus decided to leave for the same reasons I stopped the game in the first place (humor level way out of control - funny thing is that he was way more out of control than the new guys were). Once he left, the game fixed itself. One of my players is of a deep immersion role-playing persuasion, while the rest are into the strategy aspect (both work for me) with lighter role-play. That player feels a little uncomfortable, but he has started a game of Vampire with the player who caused the hiatus and he gets his deep angsty role-play in that game.
So, the PC's are 7th-8th level now (they were 4th when we stopped). They have defeated a temple of Orcus and freed several hostages from the cult, as well as another from a band of Bugbear bandits. Things are going better than ever, though there have been a few rules disputes, everyone is pretty agreeable. I think this game has staying power, which is why I insisted on continuing the same campaign. I put a lot of work in I didn't want to see wasted. The party is about to go after another set of kidnappers, this time to rescue the daughter of a local merchant. I can't say more in case some of them are reading (not sure if they have found this place or not... if they have, they have been quiet) or not.
I have found throughout the years that one of the signs of a healthy game is a waiting list of people to join. I know that this is not always true, but when my game is at its best, I usually have players clamoring to join. I have 2 new players joining tomorrow, bringing me up to 7 players again. I will not go more than 8, as it is too difficult to manage.
So, Nightcloak, thanks for asking. Everything is great! I will post a compilation of my weekly campaign summaries is anyone is interested.
DM
