Comments on: Campaign Weariness: Ending a campaign before its time

By: ChattyDM

ChattyDM — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:17:43 +0000

You know, I’ve never cracked open a Dark Sun book yet. I heard about it a lot during the ‘one setting a month’ (I jest) craze of 2e but I’ve never explored it. Something about the 1e/2e psionic mechanics turned me off.

If you tire of your campaigns, I suggest that you start the next one at the same level your PCs are. This whole ‘we gotta do 1st to 30th with one PC’ is not a requirement of the system. While Epic in scope, it deprives players of enjoying the widest possible D&D experience.

But hey, even the D&D designers are doing it for their home game, so I may be alone barking at the fence.

By: Hailstop

Hailstop — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:06:47 +0000

I find that my attention span running campaigns runs about 18 months. In my 2e days I found that this ADHD usually resulted in switching campaign worlds (Mystara to Forgotten Realms to Dark Sun to Torg ….)

It’s been almost that long and I’m tiring a bit. That said the players are enjoying it and want to take it to Level 30.

I’m currently about to wrap up some plot lines, especially with the two remaining characters from Level 1. However, four out of the six players have switched characters and one of the original characters attached the Hand of Vecna so his days are numbered.

I do have a vague plan to go to Level 30 but I’m thinking it’s going to be something or a re-start. I suppose it’ll be a mini campaign for Epic and thinking of it that way will give more enthusiasm.

Besides….Dark Sun doesn’t come out till next summer.

By: Colmarr

Colmarr — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:04:17 +0000

Youch! I can’t imagine being a DM for that long straight. I hope you’ve gotten a chance to be a player somewhere (often) along the way!

By: ChattyDM

ChattyDM — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:07:03 +0000

So what levels are your PC? 7th?

By: Aramax

Aramax — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:11:38 +0000

well my lil’ D&D game has just entered it’s 28th year so I have no idea what you guys are talking about

By: Noumenon

Noumenon — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:15:41 +0000

If Joss Whedon can do it… so can we!

You’re going to make a brilliant campaign that ends with it being canceled by Fox?

By: ChattyDM

ChattyDM — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:18:54 +0000

@Doomdreamer: Why do I have a picture of a WereFox, wearing an Armani suit coming in the encounter and saying “Sorry guys, this show has been canceled and will be replaced with “Wife Swap 4: Medusas and Harpies”?

By: Doomdreamer

Doomdreamer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:12 +0000

@everyone whose game fizzles
Fizzling is the reason I tend to make my games more episodic, keeps the stories compact and interesting. I always start myself and the players off on blank slates, filling in backstories and flavor where it would enhance the story and not worrying about it otherwise. And any time the game gets “boring” I have a guy burst through the door or wrap up the story. I have players who constantly want to make new characters so this becomes quite a challenge, but rewarding in the end.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:28:01 +0000

extremely helpful, i’m about to wrap up my 2nd campaign mainly because it has seriously fizzled in my books (the mechanics of my system have broken after three years of expansion) but my players have kept asking to continue the story. This weekend will be the last or second last session, so this post has been very well timed and helpful.

Thanks again Chatty

Scott

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:22:05 +0000

I’m one for creating a big over arcing story (I also start with what I think my ending will be) with some key touch points and then weaving character and sub-plots in along the way.
I think the key is not to be precious about your story but go with the flow and if a sub-plot gets left along the way or a key character to the story leaves well thats life. Their story goes on we just don’t get to see it.
Its the same with the ending if during the journey the destination changes… well it is a shared story… thats the breaks.
I do like the idea of little vignettes showing the impact the characters had on the world. I think I’ll steal that

By: Doomdreamer

Doomdreamer — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:50:27 +0000

Wow, I feel out of place. I write a Story after I know the ending, so I can thread plots that weave the same picture. Then I keep the Arcs short (Like 8 – 10 sessions) and let loose ends dangle, so I have material for the next campaign. Like when I run Whitewolf: the Noun, I pick a major theme, then a major story, then throw all my side stories as spins on the same theme so they can orbit the plot so to speak. But I always know the end so if my players decide to offroad on the story, I can, because I know the central theme and what I want to tell them. Rarely, however, do I have a “main” badguy.

By: Colmarr

Colmarr — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:46:23 +0000

My 3.5 campaign died suddenly when I moved cities

Ironically, some of the players asked me to continue DMing it online but I wasn’t really interested. Then 4e came out and fired me up again – so now we’re playing a campaign online…
Colmarr´s last blog ..SSTL 33: A Dark Communion

By: callin

callin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:00:09 +0000

What burns me up?
There have been a number of different reasons for different campaigns.
-Disinterest on my part. There have been times I ran a campaign in a system I do not enjoy, but my players did. I love Shadowrun the game, but dislike running it. Each adventure ends up either not challenging the players or killing them all, there is no middle ground; or at least not one I have been able to find. So eventually the game ends.
-Disinterest on the players part. I come up with super-awesome ideas that the players just don’t get into. As a DM I feed off the players enthusiasm and interest. If that is lacking then I lose interest as well. Part of me requires the players enthusiasm.
-Candle on both ends. I have a tendency to overbook myself. Running two campaigns, while going to school and running a guild in WoW. I find my time pulled in too many directions. I find myself not putting in the work to make the adventures interesting for the players. I start to run things just to run something, anything. Then I realize the sad state of the campaign and I let it fizzle.
callin´s last blog ..Dead Characters

By: Wyatt

Wyatt — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:43:30 +0000

Phil: Pretty much all cases for me were “I love your game but real life’s getting in the way” and my players pretty much told me in those exact words. One was going to college, another was swamped with schoolwork she seemed to not be doing all that well on and needed time off to concentrate on it, etc. Nowadays we do play by posts and (soon) play-by-wave which are less time commitments but back then we played weekly at scheduled times, and we couldn’t keep that up.
Wyatt´s last blog ..The Clouded Palace: Part 1

By: Tio Nitro

Tio Nitro — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:09:28 +0000

I always plan the ending of my campaign sessions ahead, in order to build a crescendo, to increase the drama and the weigh of the choices the PCs will face. But when I sense the players are getting tired of a campaign, I turn everything upside down, bringing in some nasty villain, a catastrophe or something that energizes the players again, and after that,I usually plot some great ending to wrap things up and start a new game. We often vary game systems, setting and genre from a campaign to another to avoid this kind of weariness.
Tio Nitro´s last blog ..NitroCast 10 – Como colocar mistérios nas suas aventuras de RPG![NitroDungeon - Podcast]

By: Alex Schroeder

Alex Schroeder — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:55:23 +0000

I ended a campaign at the end of an adventure and had a little far future scene for every character. The statue of the paladin in the Palace of the East Wind on the third level of Celestia, a grandfather explaining to a kid how Kubo the protector was the greatest shadow dancer ever and made a lord of shadows and therefore the kid should never be afraid of shadows, the dragon born arena where the school of the spiked chain is honored, etc.
Alex Schroeder´s last blog ..Power Distribution in Society

By: ChattyDM

ChattyDM — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:35:55 +0000

@Bart: GM Enthusiasm plays a huge role in maintaining a Campaign. In fact how to deal with lack of enthusiasm is one of the reasons why I wrote this. But having the campaign go south is a good cause for fizzling.

@Greg White: That is very true. Or if campaigns share worlds like mine, unresolved plot threads can be brought back as something else entirely.

Almost makes me wish that the Dungeon actually wins in tomorrow’s game…

By: Greg White

Greg White — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:30:25 +0000

don’t lament the unresolved loose ends. you will likely find a time in your new campaign when not all of your players are available, or you feel like a small break from it. that is when you dip back into the old campaign with a one shot to explore some more.

i find this especially interesting when you do it from different character perspectives, perhaps reveal to the players at the end of the one shot that they were in the role of allies of the previous campaigns antagonist. or they take on the role of a significant NPC.

By: Bartoneus

Bartoneus — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:18:37 +0000

Phil: my previous games fizzled because they were at college and either winter or summer break came up, but I will honestly admit neither of them was going how I wanted so that was definitely a certain factor in them.
Bartoneus´s last blog ..Are You Watching Venture Brothers Yet?

By: ChattyDM

ChattyDM — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:12:04 +0000

@Dave & Yan: I do have a thing for continuity. It’s like I feel compelled to unify all my roleplaying career in some sort of Asimovesque effort to create a linear timeline.

That’s why I’m thinking, for the first time in 10 years, to create a new Fantasy world so I’m unburdened with any elements of my 26 years of playing in the same home brewed setting.