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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lewpuls" data-source="post: 9547350" data-attributes="member: 30518">[ATTACH=full]391123[/ATTACH] <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bridge-forest-fantasy-trees-light-19513/" target="_blank">Picture courtesy of Pixabay.</a>We previously discussed the difference between <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/worlds-of-design-how-long-is-your-game-meant-to-be.709444/" target="_blank">three common ways of playing RPGs</a>; let's explore each in detail.<h3>One-Shots (One-Offs)</h3>This term may vary depending on your region: American tends to use “one shot” while Brits my more commonly refer to these games as “one-offs.” Most one-offs at a convention will have a prewritten module (not necessarily published), not requiring the GM to wing it. So the GM will be reading out descriptions of rooms and of NPCs, for example.A relatively small commercial module is often a one-shot. But commercial modules tend to come in bigger packages these days, a sequence (see below) rather than a one-shot. In most cases there will be a clear objective that can be achieved. It can be a mystery to be solved, for example, or a place to be captured, or a person to be rescued.At conventions you will sometimes see competitive one-offs; that is, several groups running through what are supposed to be identical adventures, with some kind of prize awarded to the most successful group. You might also see competitive adventures where the “best player” within the adventure gets a prize or recognition. I think of RPGs as the greatest cooperative games in the world, so the competition aspect isn’t very interesting to me, but I understand the appeal.Because one-shots are often designed to be self-contained, it can be jarring when players want to keep playing because they really enjoyed their character or the game. One-shots are not necessarily made for this, and that’s where their flaws become apparent. For example I played a one-shot of a dozen dwarves exploring “Dwarven Forge” (Erebor). At the point we should have bailed out (with lots of treasure), but many of the players preferred to keep going for the last scheduled half hour. The result? Several of the characters died when we found The Dragon and its breath (the few survivors fled).I’m not a fan of one-shots, but I suspect they are more common now. Partly that’s because storytelling can work well in this format. In fact I’d say it’s more suitable for storytelling than for competitive gaming.<h3>Sequence (Short Campaign)</h3>How often do characters used in one sequence transfer to another? If the sequence is designed to promote characters to maximum level, the answer is "rarely." More commonly, a sequence is an “adventure path” or a series of games played under one ruleset before players move on to another ruleset. While campaigns sometimes have more than one game master, sequences will almost always be a single GM.Sequences may be “schedule-bound”, that is, requiring a schedule that lets all participants turn up regularly to play. That’s due to the limited objective constantly being pursued. To put it another way, unlike campaigns, sequences have more scheduling flexibility.In the course of a years-long AD&D campaign I played in, a high-level magic-user unwisely drew from a Deck of Many Things and disappeared. A series of about 10 adventures was required to find and rescue him. This was a sequence within a much longer campaign. (And participants gained only one level.)<h3>(Long-running) Campaigns</h3>Campaigns often don’t have an end, they just keep going as long as the GM(s) is up for it. A campaign may be akin to an episodic TV series, with several seasons: there’s a big climax at the end of each season, but life goes on in the next season.It’s not unusual for players to have several characters in a true campaign. That’s partly because some of their characters may suffer permanent death. It also may be because there aren’t enough players to provide enough characters every session. So someone, maybe several someones, will play more than one character during the adventure.In any case, in a campaign the players ought to see that their characters have agency, that their characters’ actions make a difference to the setting and even to the world, that they are fundamentally changing something in some way. In comparison, sequences tend to guide adventurers toward a particular set of outcomes, and one-offs are focused on one objective.I suppose I should say that any kind of sequence or campaign uses the same rule-set throughout. If you like to keep changing rules, you are most unlikely to have a long campaign. Charles Dunwoody says in <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/long-term-campaign-building.687562/" target="_blank">Long Term Campaign Building</a>:I’d add that, if you are “finishing campaigns,” you may actually be running what I consider to be a sequence.The longer the campaign, the more likely that there will be “domain play." This occurs when individual characters become so powerful and have so many followers and friends that they become political heavyweights. This can involve economics and warfare, possibly with miniatures armies. If characters become too powerful then the GM may struggle to keep them in check, to prevent them from completely dominating the region. This is a reason why slow character advancement is typical of long campaigns.<h3>Choose Wisely</h3>These three modes of play are quite different both for GM and players. Some are likely to prefer one over another. My preference is for the long-running campaign. But some things can only be done in other modes (such as my Barroom Brawl).Your Turn: Which of these types of games are your favorite mode of play?</blockquote>

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