The Tenets of GM Mastery

[Barak]

Toon could be done, if all your players are on the same mindset. How many episodes of RoadRunner is there? And Toon games can be more varied than Roadrunner...

Call of Chtulu, however, becomes D&D with somewhat underpowered characters, if it runs longer than 2-3 games.. Which, to my mind, is missing the boat.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Call of Chtulu, however, becomes D&D with somewhat underpowered characters, if it runs longer than 2-3 games.. Which, to my mind, is missing the boat.

Not really. CoC is know for its world-spanning campaigns - Spawn of Azathoth, Beyond the Mountains of Madness, and, of course, the truly great Masks of Nyarlathotep. All of these - and many others - run for much longer than 2-3 sessions. I played in "Beyond the Mountains of Madness" in a campaign that went on for most of a year. It really built the tension for the grand finale, which was pretty horrific. Especially for my PC.

 

[Barak]

Not really. CoC is know for its world-spanning campaigns - Spawn of Azathoth, Beyond the Mountains of Madness, and, of course, the truly great Masks of Nyarlathotep. All of these - and many others - run for much longer than 2-3 sessions. I played in "Beyond the Mountains of Madness" in a campaign that went on for most of a year. It really built the tension for the grand finale, which was pretty horrific. Especially for my PC.

Well yeah. By "game" I meant more the equivalent of modules, not necessarly sessions. That could go over a long time. Say the equivalent of bringing PCs to 9th-10th level.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Toon would work, if there was a reason to continue it (i.e. not a series of unconnected Looney Tunes shorts). It'd be a great system for running Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, for instance.

 

[Barak]

The Toon version of D&D (forgot the name) would easily work as a continuing campaign. Not that I'd want to run it for much longer than the Call of Chtulu campaign I mention earlier.

 

[Umbran]

And following from that last thought, any role-playing game must be an ongoing, continuing activity in order for its full potential as a means of entertainment to be realized.... If the effort that goes into playing is not to be wasted, the play must extend over a long period of time so that the effort invested can realize a return.

Methinks Mr. Gygax does not share many folks' appreciation of the well-done one-shot game. His loss.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Methinks Mr. Gygax does not share many folks' appreciation of the well-done one-shot game. His loss.

Gygax has changed his views on many aspects of gaming over the years. I'd be curious as to how we would comment on this passage now.

 

[Chimera]

Oh, I dunno. I played in a CoC game that ran for about a year or so after I joined, and it had been running for a while before that. I recall four distinct 'adventures', plus a couple of smaller side-plots or short stories.

The trick is that you don't fight the bad things if you don't have to, you don't let plots reach fruition if you have any way to spoil them before they hatch. (And I was quite good at spoiling plans.)

It ain't "d20 Modern meets D&D" when played long term, or it doesn't go long term.

In the end, my character was the only survivor. Everyone else died or went completely insane. And that was only because I realized what was up and ran for it at the beginning of the final scene, not looking back.

Yup,

I survived Call of Cthulhu.

 

[Mycanid]

Toon for more than one session eh?

Well if the GM and the players can do it all the power to them.

Our group tried once. Once. And it was the pre-gen module thing of the toon olympics (I won the javelin toss)....

It was fun for us once only.

Did I mention we only played it once ever? Yes. Okay....

 

[Quasqueton]

The Tenets of GM Mastery

From Role-Playing Mastery, by Gary Gygax

Tenet #2

The individual campaign is an interpretative extension of the game it is based on, aimed at activity by a small group.

Tenet #3

The creative interpretation of a campaign must remain within the scope and spirit of the game.

Tenet #4

The campaign is constantly undergoing modification through game master and player interaction.

Tenet #5

The role of game master is that of an active neutral with duty first to the campaign, then the group, and then the game.

Tenet #6

The game master serves best when he enables players to participate actively to their fullest.

Tenet #7

Total mastery of a game system is desirable for game master and players alike.

Quasqueton