What makes a good campaign?

[The Souljourner]

So I have been getting kind of bored with D&D lately... in general, I still like playing, but it just seems like it's not as fun as it used to be. So it got me to thinking about old campaigns and how fun they were, and why they were fun.

One thing I can think of is a recurring big bad evil guy. There's nothing that gets a party together quite like hatred One of the campaigns I'm in currently is Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, and while there is an ultimate goal, and even someone whose name we have seen associated with the center of things... we've never seen this evil guy, we've never heard stories of the evil things he's done... it's totally impersonal. We're fighting against an idea, and it makes it such that there isn't much personal investment in the cause.

Contrast that to a campaign that ended in January. There was a recurring bad guy who kept popping in and out of adventures, foiling our plans and generally messing with us. This was a guy we could hate, a face to put on the dartboard, if you will. It united us.

So what else makes a good campaign? One you'll remember for years instead of going "Oh... yeah, I remember that... you were a fighter or something, right?"

-The Souljourner

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

What is a good campaign? To crush your players, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!

However, a close second would be....

1) A bad guy, not necessarily reoccuring. The players can have contact with the BBG, but I'm not a fan of them actually meeting him until much later on. Why?

DM: You see the Evil Lord Ev'illord. He sneers at you and says --
PLAYER 1: I roll initiative!
PLAYER 2: Me too! Ohhh! Look! I got an 87.

The bad guy should be left in the background.

2) A coherent setting. It doesn't have to make sense (c.f. FR, DR), but it does have to obey its own rules.

3) Segue. Adventures should have transition from one to another. If the players keep getting sent on "missions" they're going to get bored.

4) Ninjas. Everything is better with ninjas.

... just my two cents.

 

[diaglo]

memorable events as well as memorable characters.

that we all had/are having fun.

a good story line.

something new for each session.

 

[shilsen]

To crush your PCs, see them TPKed before you, and hear the lamentation of their players

Okay, for a more serious answer, here are some things that matter to me personally as a player (and which I strive for as a DM):

1) The impression that my character's actions have some impact on the larger world around him. At the same time, I don't want the feeling that the entire campaign world revolves around the PCs and has no other existence (see next point).

2) A sense of verisimilitude (not same as "reality") and consistency, and the existence of a world that goes about its business while the PCs do theirs.

3) Memorable NPCs. A memorable recurring BBEG, as Souljourner mentioned, can be a great asset to a campaign, but every NPC who doesn't matter directly to the storyline shouldn't be a flat pasteboard character either.

 

[Voadam]

2) A coherent setting. It doesn't have to make sense (c.f. FR, DR), but it does have to obey its own rules.

4) Ninjas. Everything is better with ninjas.

... just my two cents.

What campaign setting is DR?

I disagree with 4 it is pirates that make everything better. Arrhhh.

 

[Wombat]

Very different things for very different groups...

My current group wants lots of character interaction and very little combat; my previous group was more combat-heavy.

Most want memorable NPCs, but not all.

Essentially, this question can only be answered on a group-by-group basis.

 

[shilsen]

What is a good campaign? To crush your players, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!

Oh, bugger!

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

What campaign setting is DR?

Dragonrance.

I play with Scooby Doo.

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

Oh, bugger!

Hey, great minds think alike! Besides, your "TPK" made it funnier.

 

[Nellisir]

I disagree with 4 it is pirates that make everything better. Arrhhh.

Heh. I'm thinking about a short-run campaign with pirates. And ninjas. And eunuch sorcerers. And zombies.

It'll be the betterest campaign on the block!

(It'll have beholders, too)

Nell.