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When the story doesn't come...
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<blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 4856012" data-attributes="member: 3586"><p>I like my campaigns to be about something. Well, perhaps more correctly, I like them to have <em>shape</em>. The campaigns I've enjoyed running the most have had strong villains, the PCs (mostly) aware of their place in the world, and one event following another to form a greater tapestry that, at the end of the campaign, is a great story.</p><p></p><p>I'd like to emphasize that I'm not talking about railroading. Many of the best events of these campaigns have been entirely player-driven. When a player mistakes a slaver for a slave and "rescues" her... only to be betrayed by her a year of real time later - you can't plan that. All you can do is take advantage of the opportunities your players give you.</p><p></p><p>The trouble starts - and is well underway in my current homebrew - when the opportunities aren't coming.</p><p></p><p>It's a combination of hopping plotlines (I'm confused as to which one we're on at the moment - oh wait, it's the African Tigers one) - some weak PC personalities, and general DM fatigue.</p><p></p><p>The annoying thing is that there are actually some really strong elements to the campaign. One of the PCs has a great history which ties back to earlier campaigns and provides a lot of good character-building roleplay. Another PC turned evil and is now an NPC that I'm using to drive a few story elements. A good nemesis is hard to come by, and Archibald is doing the job superbly.</p><p></p><p>So, I'm not quite ready to give up on the campaign yet, but I really need to sit down and look at where it's going.</p><p></p><p>Things like...</p><p></p><p>...what are the goals of the PCs?</p><p>...what are the goals of the villains?</p><p>...heck, who <em>are</em> the villains?</p><p>...and can we have some connected adventures rather than "adventure of the week"? (Hopefully, yes, if I can get a few hours to sit down and write them!)</p><p></p><p>Argh! The campaign began quite strongly, exploring Castle Zagyg. Then the rights to CZ went walkabout and I've been improvising a lot since then. Still, I've been running campaigns in this world for over a decade. I should be able to get some inspiration from past games!</p><p></p><p>Cheers!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MerricB, post: 4856012, member: 3586"] I like my campaigns to be about something. Well, perhaps more correctly, I like them to have [i]shape[/i]. The campaigns I've enjoyed running the most have had strong villains, the PCs (mostly) aware of their place in the world, and one event following another to form a greater tapestry that, at the end of the campaign, is a great story. I'd like to emphasize that I'm not talking about railroading. Many of the best events of these campaigns have been entirely player-driven. When a player mistakes a slaver for a slave and "rescues" her... only to be betrayed by her a year of real time later - you can't plan that. All you can do is take advantage of the opportunities your players give you. The trouble starts - and is well underway in my current homebrew - when the opportunities aren't coming. It's a combination of hopping plotlines (I'm confused as to which one we're on at the moment - oh wait, it's the African Tigers one) - some weak PC personalities, and general DM fatigue. The annoying thing is that there are actually some really strong elements to the campaign. One of the PCs has a great history which ties back to earlier campaigns and provides a lot of good character-building roleplay. Another PC turned evil and is now an NPC that I'm using to drive a few story elements. A good nemesis is hard to come by, and Archibald is doing the job superbly. So, I'm not quite ready to give up on the campaign yet, but I really need to sit down and look at where it's going. Things like... ...what are the goals of the PCs? ...what are the goals of the villains? ...heck, who [i]are[/i] the villains? ...and can we have some connected adventures rather than "adventure of the week"? (Hopefully, yes, if I can get a few hours to sit down and write them!) Argh! The campaign began quite strongly, exploring Castle Zagyg. Then the rights to CZ went walkabout and I've been improvising a lot since then. Still, I've been running campaigns in this world for over a decade. I should be able to get some inspiration from past games! Cheers! [/QUOTE]
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