What normally happens after a TPK?

[Daijin]

When a team (4 teams of 22 total) is TPK'd, they are reborn at level 1.

They are dreamers from Earth, and can always be reborn again and again till they move on or die on Earth.

When the team that is TPK'd returns and is reborn, time jumps from 2 weeks to 1 year dreamtime. All teams jump forward in time. (This has sometimes brought up arguments between teams).


Been doing it this way for 30 years now.

 

[tuxgeo]

Interesting. The only assumption seems to be that campaign = mission/story/quest, not campaign = adventures in a setting. Very narrow view, that.

Oy. The Forgotten Realms is one, single "setting." Do all of the adventures ever played in that setting constitute one, single, unequivocal "campaign?"
As I understand it, thousands (I'm pulling this number out of a hat) of different DMs have created their own, unique campaigns set in the Realms; and the outcomes for one DM's campaign might well (and probably do) contradict the outcomes of another DM's campaign in the same setting -- yet they are all "adventures in a setting," so must be the same "campaign" if your second equivalency is correct.
Typically (if I understand the word correctly), a "campaign" is adventures in a setting based on some given set of background material, including specific starting locale and beginning situation and plot hooks and NPCs.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Immediately after a TPK (and sometimes during) we play "The Blame Game."

 

[Raven Crowking]

I find myself surprised that a little more than half of the respondents simply start something new. What do you do with the work you have put into the current setting?


RC

 

[awesomeocalypse]

A TPK ends the campaign, always. The world might continue, but that story is over.

 

[Rechan]

I find myself surprised that a little more than half of the respondents simply start something new. What do you do with the work you have put into the current setting?

Setting is different than campaign.

A campaign is a series of adventures within a setting. If a group playing in Eberron has a TPK, that doesn't mean they'll just stop playing Eberron. If they like Eberron enough, then they'll just play a different set of PCs doing something different in Eberron. Same idea for a homebrew.

But myself, I typically do entirely different settings. For me, the game usually doesn't last 3 months at most before it ends. And it's very rare that I play more than one game with the same group. If I tried to do the same thing every time I'd drive myself nuts. (Although to be fair, I'm now ATTEMPTING the same campaign for the 3rd time, with a 3rd completely different group).

All the work I did gets tossed into the garbage.

 

[Raven Crowking]

All the work I did gets tossed into the garbage.

 

[pawsplay]

It really depends, doesn't it? I've let multi-session arcs end in glorious defeat in battle, and I've kept episodic campaigns going with new PCs because the situation lended itself to a new group of PCs tackling it.

 

[Rechan]

In the garbage is a little bit of an overstatement. I mean, I remember the stuff. But it's hard to reuse because it's fairly specialized. Either because the stuff was focused on the PCs, or because the campaign's specific circumstance are hard to repeat. Let me show you my DMing history.

Game 1: Standard adventuring group wandering FR-like homebrew. Internet group. Lasted 1 1/2 years. Campaign lost steam. Played with group but not as DM.

Game 2: Superheroes in Champions campaign setting. Internet group. Lasted 6-8 months. DM buckled under weight of HERO system, ability to contend with one PC. Played with same group but not as DM.

Game 3: Detectives running an agency in Sharn. Game lasted 3 months. Internet group, players couldn't stay reliable/dedicated. Never played with the group again.

Game 4: Motley crew of Sharn PCs. Internet group. First adventure: module that forced PCs to work together. Afterwards the game fell apart as PCs motivations and personalities conflicted. Never played with group again.

Game 5: Group going into demon-infested desert to clean out a community on the edge of the water. Eberron game, internet group. Lasted a month. Player/DM interest waned. Never played with the same group again.

Game 6: Colony game. Face to face group. Game lasted 6-8 months, then DM stick was offered to pass around. Gaming group fragmented soon after. Never played with same group again.

Game 7: Wandering gypsy con artists. Face to face. Game lasted 4 months. Designed to be a short campaign from the onset. Never played with group again.

Game 8: KotS. Internet group. Lasted about 3-4 months. DM had to bow out of group due to RL complications; DM stick was handed off. Played with 2 PCs from this group again.

Game 9: Casual game with 2 players wandering around. Internet. Lasted 3 sessions. Waning interest and RL complications. 2 players from game #5.

Game 10: Group seeking to save the world. Homebrew setting. Lasted a few months. Internet. RL complications and other flaws caused end of game. 2 players from game 7.

Game 11: Colony game. Face to face group. Game lasted 1 session. Group and DM had different tastes/assumptions in gaming. Never played with group again.

Game 12: Colony game. Yet to start. Same group from game 9.

Now, I have used the same adventure (tailored slightly) for groups 1 and 3. I'm obviously trying to use the same campaign for groups 6, 11 and 12. I could try to use a few things from games 1 and 9, but aside from that, what went on just does not "track". Everything else has either existed in a different world, or the setting just doesn't work with it.

Also it varies so much because I'll ask "What game do YOU want to play in?" and build the campaign around their answers and preferred style (games 3*, 7 and 8*). Or I've created several ideas and presented them to the group, asking which appeals to them the most (game 6 and 8) . Although with the last two groups I've decided I want to run That campaign.

*Amusingly enough, I was actually recruited or volunteered to run these games after player(s) decided they wanted to play that ahead of time.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Let me show you my DMing history.

I am very, very sorry.

Me, I reuse just about everything. Even if it needs a new coat of paint. Once a feature is in the campaign milieu, I get to use it again in some form or another.


RC