What mods would I make to sustain a long-term campaign?

[Oni]

Here is an idea (based off another failed idea) that might give a more organic feel to the progression of the game (in that the better you get at something the longer it take for you to make another significant advance in skill level) and slow down the advancement rate.

take a look at the standard progression of levels form 1-20 and then set down a precentage next to it. The higher level the lower the percentage. That is how much xp they get from from the xp given. For instance at first level they might earn 100% (to help get them over that initial fragile hump) and then at 7 level they may be earning 65% of the xp given, and then by 13 level they may be down to 45% of xp given.

While the standard progression might slow down a little as you get to higher levels, this will make it much more pronounced. Warning, this is just off the top of my head so I've no clue how it would pan out in practise.

 

[Sammael99]

Salut aNenuphar !

Thanks muchly.

What is the effect of limiting prestige classes? Are there certain classes that either imbalance or destroy parties?

With regards to limiting magic and treasure: should I pace the acquisition at the same fraction as EPs? Or would a 'very' low magic campaign be a better choice for long-term? (We're not very good with artifacts anyway - the last time we got ahold of the Wand of Orcus we annihilated the entire campaign world.... We apologized for it, of course....)

A lot of good ideas have been mentioned already. Toning down xps would be one, but only if you play regularly. In my Terres Anciennes campaign (see below), wa have been playing a little under two years and the PCs are Lvl 8 roughly. But we only play 4-hours every two weeks if even that. Giving the PCs less xp than what allows them to level every two months roughly would be frustrating to them.

Also, I agree fully with the idea of confronting them to weaker opponents as they grow in power. That's also a way of making them feel their own growth in power, so it contributes to suspension of disbelief.

Finally, I have designed a number of house rules for my campaign, some of which are "flavour" (like clerics and druids being spontaneous casters), some of which are safeguards. You will find that as levels get higher, the power of spellcasters can seriously unbalance your setting. When your 9th lvl mage can toats pretty much every ruler in your kingdom with one spell, how do you explain that he doesn't ?

These are questions you need to ask yourself before you start since it's a lot harder to do half-way through without frustrating the players.

Same goes for PrCs : I'm not talking about balance but about how they fit into your campaign. A lot of PrCs have a strong flavour that may not be OK for your campaign. One of the players in Les Terres Anciennes wanted to become a Dragon Disciple. That PrC makes you mutate into a giant half-dragon as you go up in levels. Do I want a guy like that running around in towns and villages ? Nope. So it's not there.

Finally, for a little bit of pimping, since you speak French, check out my story hour (link in my signature) and you will find all the campaign logs for the last two years plus all the house rules and comments on balance. Feel free to contribute. Feel free to plunder ideas also !

 

[Kyramus]

9

Another few things to take into account.

1) When pc's die and get raised from the dead, they loose a level.
2) certain undead creatures that bestow negative levels as part of their attacks, instead of allowing the fortitude save, just remove the fortitude save and let the negative level stay. gives the characters a longer way to get levels back and causes the game to prolong longer.
3) Enervation and energy drain. Both spells temporarily bestow negative energy levels. Leave energy drain as level 9 to remove 2d4 levels perm, only a wish can return these levels. Enervation permanently removes 1d4 levels and can be removed by limited wish or wish. Because of the permanent nature of energy drain, I suggest bringing enervation from level 4 to level 6.
4) Watch the alignment of each character, if they do not role play the character the right way, decrease XP. The PC's can always decide to change alignment, but a LG running around breaking the law shouldn't get exp for the kills that he does while doing so. I'd say he would get maybe 10% of the xp for those encounters. It gives more roleplaying for the players since they get to make "mistakes" as they grow into their character.
5) Make sure each character has a deity that they worship. IF the character does something that is against that deity's ethos, then deduce xp award for it. Clerics and Paladins would probably loose their powers til they atone or do penance, but the rest of the group would need some sort of penalty as well. A ranger of Solonor Thelandira that decides to capitalize more on his melee weapons and never use his bow, would make him frown. If the ranger then never use tracking and the hunting instinct, he would frown more. If the ranger went hunting and killed the Alpha male of the pack instead of the law of the wild which is the old and the rogue animals, the ranger might find that he doesn't gain any more exp until he makes peace with Solonor. (that's just an example)

Hope that helps some more in .... slowing down the players for a long frequent game.

 

[Kilmore]

I agree that expanding the time spent in role-playing interactions with NPC and such is the best way to slow down XP gain AND still provide character interaction. Introduce more romance, politics, and diversions, run more games based on mysteries, investigations, and travel. Make stops at shops, inns, and taverns more interesting and involving, having more options for the players.

Run about one good fight a night unless the party is actually in a high risk situation where they'll encounter more. It's possible that your characters may get so involved in roleplaying that they deal with the planned encounter without resorting to violence... that's happened to me before.

These ideas may not appeal to many players, especially if you let things bog down to the point where your players are just playing a sword and sorcery soap opera or the mage spends an hour haggling over cabbage, but give it a try and let us know how it goes.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

I agree that expanding the time spent in role-playing interactions with NPC and such is the best way to slow down XP gain AND still provide character interaction.

I agree (as well as the cabbage sentiment, although anything special or unique should be bought "in-game", as "special" is defined within your game).

I've found also that there is no universal answer. I run four groups, and one is so immersed in politics and intrigue that I've actually doubled the experience awards in order to keep progression at more than once a year (real time!!!). One other game I've bumped it slightly upwards, while the other two are at "standard" amounts.