As I hinted in my last game report, I feel the urge to move on from our Primal Dungeon/City Within campaign. At 15 sessions so far, this has been the longest Mini-campaign I’ve played since we started 4e. While I think the setting is ripe for more adventures, I feel like creating/exploring a new micro-setting and new themes.
I know that ‘wanting to move on’ is a feeling that many DMs have. I also noticed that ending a campaign (as opposed to abandoning it) is a lot harder than starting one.
But hey! If Joss Whedon can do it… so can we!
So I thought I’d share my experience in crash-ending my current campaign and maybe we can discuss other ways you did it in your own.
Pick your loose ends.
A campaign that needs to end unexpectedly will have a very large number of loose ends. It is my belief that trying to tie them all will likely lead to the campaign ending on a whimper where Players will see their suspension of disbelief stretched beyond tolerance so that all plots end up explained and closed.
You want to avoid the Battlestar Galactica Finale Syndrome 🙂 (i.e. some loose threads we tied so sloppily it arguably unraveled most of what made the show good)
I believe you should focus on a few plots, the one that are the most important in the campaign and close those off. The number of plots and loose ends to address should be directly related to the number of sessions you and your group are willing to play before moving on.
For example, in my Primal/Within campaign, I want to finish the campaign within the next 2 sessions. Out of all the loose ends, plotlines and meta-challenges, I chose the following:
- What will happen to the Sentient Dungeon after the players are done raiding the Overmind’s Castle? (The Overmind is a Mindflayer villain working for the Dungeon)
- What is the Master’s true plan? (The Master is a unseen Mastermind who’s been hindering/helping the party for a few sessions now…)
- I want to play out my D&D as Mouseguard experiment to the end, including playing a mapless dungeon crawl in the Overmind’s Castle.
I estimate that I can likely do this in two 3-hour sessions. I also started planning it backwards (starting with the final confrontations) so that should the player decide to cut things short, I can fast forward to the last scenes.
What about the Players?
Your loose ends are important, but it’s not all about your story (in fact it stops being the DM’s story the moment you play your first session, but that’s another post). You also need to check with your players to see if there are plot or backstory elements they would like to address before campaign’s end. Now of course, this can’t be something that will stretch the moribund campaign more than necessary. Like your own loose ends, the players will have to choose and suggest a few. It’s likely that you can only fit one or two for the whole party.
Here’s a hint: try to address those of your Storytelling and Casual players (as defined by Robin Laws’ various texts on the subject). The Storytellers will appreciate that you went out of your way to explore, one last time, what their character can do in the story. The Casual Players, especially if they have attempted to participate in a few storylines, will feel rewarded for their efforts. The others can take care of themselves…
In our case I picked the following:
- Reveal the true identity of Fangs, Eric’s Shifter Warden
- Develop, one last time, the relationship between Corwin (Halfing Sorcerer) and the Sentient Dungeon
- Address Mike’s (Invoker) goal in bringing back the influence of the gods to the denizen of the Dungeon.
Thus I get closure and so will the players.
Go for Epic
The standard model for RPG campaign seems to to have them start on a bang and end on a whimper. People grow bored, the gaming group enters stagnation and the campaign is often abandoned.
If you decide to end your campaing before its planned time, I suggest that you go all out. Go back to your initial feeling about the campaign and recover the spark that drove it. Try to have that spark be the driving element of your last adventure and weave it everywhere into it.
In Primal/Within, the campaign was born around the idea that a Primordial was imprisoned deep under the earth. Followers of the Primordial started building a gigantic dungeon all around it. The gods responded by influencing a few dwarves to go in the Dungeon and build a City inside the dungeon to combat it’s growth and create a stalemate.
So if I want to make a finale of that campaign I want to capture the coolness we felt when we pictured a Sentient Dungeon and a divine prophecy driven city. So I need to place elements of what made us want to play this campaign in that last adventure: the anger of the Dungeon seeing its plans foiled, the possible influence of the prophecy the PCs, the likely consequences of the PCs failing.
One of them will likely be a direct confrontation with the Dungeon itself. One that I’m very looking forward to.
So there you have it. Chatty’s instant campaign wrap up kit.
You turn now…
How do you deal with campaigns on the wane? Any tips and tricks you want to share with us?
I actually let my first two D&D games completely fissle, but they also weren’t planned endings – scheduling did them in. I don’t believe my current campaign will be ending anytime soon, the PCs are level 11 and I’m hoping to go all the way up to 30, but for ending chapters I try to apply everything you mentioned above because the open threads are the roots for the next chapter!
The grand finale is definitely the way to go, and wrapping up every plotline is often hard if not impossible to do. I try to tie off the major ones and let the minor ones just be “another mystery”.
I recently ended a 3.5 campaign by having the Characters actually take part (very unwillingly) in the event that brough Bane back to the Realms. [REALLY long backstory].
Suffice it to say when the Characters managed to survive an event like that, anything else that could have happened to them would have been anti-climactic. The campaign ended with the Characters exiling themselves to neutral territory (ie. Sigil), hoping to avoid divine wrath and settling in by starting new identities.
But it was a great way to end a campaign that lasted over 50 months.
I am actually wrapping one up this weekend. Things had gotten a little out of hand, I’ve discovered some more things I want to do as a DM, the players love the campaign though and want to see it finished. Enter time travel (something I was planning on anyways) and epic level . . . then it is on to the next campaign! Yeah!
Good stuff, and nice points about appeasing each character. I will have to double check to make sure I do that.
Most of my campaigns fizzle out, usually due to me burning out.
However, one campaign I ran for 11 years (real time, playing once a week) ended on an epic fight with the evil villain who they had released to wreak havoc upon the world 10 years earlier. The players wouldn’t let the campaign end, so we just kept playing thereafter, but it didn’t have the same snap and soon fizzled therafter.
For another campaign I wrote up specific ways the campaign could end. One way was to reach level 20 and defeated the evil villain. However, it was possible to end it earlier if the players 1) turned against each other (giving into their evil demonic side) 2) total party wipe. It ended when one player sold out the party to the enemy.
One suggestion is to end on a high note, but consider bringing it back. Go off and run another game or campaign, but realize you can always come back to the same campaign later. There is a comfort and nostalgia for playing in a world already played in.
.-= callin´s last blog ..Dead Characters =-.
Most of my campaigns tend to get screwed on scheduling, but the one I did manage to maintain momentum on from beginning to end had a very epic ending…of course then I screwed it up by trying for a sequel. But my players never get bored with my campaigns so I guess I got a miracle group. Even the ones that got messed around kept their interest.
I can’t really offer much advice because the campaigns that crumble for me were always about the schedule, and there’s really not much you can do about that, when you have a tight-knit group and half can’t make it, it’s difficult (and I didn’t feel like) finding 3 more complete strangers to fill in.
.-= Wyatt´s last blog ..Monsters of Eden: Antagonists =-.
It seems as though I must disagree with you, oh Chatty one!
Specifically this part:
I’m big on finales, and I have no problems with trying to tie up all the loose ends that are important to the players. (If you’ll be continuing on in roughly the same world or story, that’s another matter.) Assuming it is a grand and true finale… throw as much stuff at your players as they want to hear. Backstories, big reveals, all that good stuff is what I live for as a DM and in games I play in. To me, those define the essence of the finale: turn all those plot hooks that have been sown through the previous sessions and use them to fuel the ending. I certainly agree with “Go for epic”, and you’ll have plenty to work with at that point.
One thing I am curious about along these lines, what plot hooks are you specifically ignoring for your finale?
BTW, the odd thing is, I’m OK with leaving a sense of mystery at the end of other media. But for a campaign, I think everything should be on the table by the end, or at least have the pieces there to put together (or shared by the DM over a few drinks later.)
.-= Dave T. Game´s last blog ..Are You Watching Venture Brothers Yet? =-.
I’ve only ever fizzled stuff out. My players keep coming back, so either they’re totally D&D starved, or they’re willing to put up with my wavering enthusiasms (or both.) The material in the 4e DMG2 about campaign arcs has been pretty intriguing, and I’m trying to take it to heart so that my current campaign has a real ending to it.
Another “fizzler” here: every campaign I’ve ever run has ended in a less-than-desirable fashion (understatement here), some due to scheduling conflicts, some due to the release of other entertainment options that drew everyone away from the game sessions, but most because I realized the phrase “jumped the shark” strongly applied to my efforts, after which point my ability to muster the enthusiasm to continue rapidly dwindled into nonexistence.
It’s almost enough to make me swear off large-scale “epic” campaigns in favor of shorter ones that can be completed in 6-8 good sessions. It’s better to run a short game that you’re enthused about, than a long one you come to loathe.
The good news is that my players are always interested in my next new game/campaign/whatever, so I must be doing at least something right.
.-= silent stone´s last blog ..Hecatonchires: A NaNoWriMo Project =-.
@Dave: Phil as a thing with continuity… With only a couple of exception we’ve always played in the same world. Which means that any unresolved hook could be used later in a multitude of ways.
That being when is there a true final? Ok guys I’m through, once this campaign is done I’ll never ever DM again. Even then somebody else could take upon itself to take the story from their and explore what could happen 50 years later when the seal that the hero had restore finally break by the work of the evil overlord kid they slew which never mention nor though by the original DM.
I think the point here is do not obsess over trying to close all of the hooks IN game. Close the big obvious one and those that player are invested in and let the others be. When the game is over you can talk about what you had in mind or whatever it’s up to you.
@Bart, Wyatt and others: I see that scheduling is a big issue. Do you think they were truly ‘I love your game but real-life intrudes’ or are they from players who let the game slip in their priority lists. I sometime wonder if ‘scheduling issues” aren’t masking other issues (like players disliking the game or, ahem, DMIng issues).
But this is a hard subject to discuss rationally without falling into self-criticism and player blame. Still, I wonder what causes campaign fizzling (other than gamer ADHD)
@Callin: What burns you up? I too usually end campaign for burnout reasons… but that’s usually because the story has reached a point where I don’t recognize myself in it anymore or because it’s too complicated to my tastes (like I feel we painted ourselves in a story corner).
@Dave: How dare you question me? 🙂 In response to your argument, do you feel you can close all threads with such short notice. My core assumption is that you go from ‘I feel like playing something else’ to ‘we concluded this campaign in a short notice (like a month or 2).
As for my game: I must say that I will likely hit most of my major plot points (if only during the final narrative). I’m dropping out a major thing which is ‘What will happen to the City’ and ‘What will happen to the trapped goddess’ although both of these may come up during the unplanned scenes the players will drive.
@Anarkeith and @Silent: Again, I wonder why your campaigns fizzle thus. Since your players want to come back… I’d explore what really happens with an open mind (and a thick skin). I heavily suggest trying short campaigns… they work in so many other games… and it works in mine.
@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.
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? =-.
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.
@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… 🙂
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 =-.
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] =-.
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 =-.
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 =-.
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 =-.
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.
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 😀
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
@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.
@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”?
😀
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?
well my lil’ D&D game has just entered it’s 28th year so I have no idea what you guys are talking about 😉
So what levels are your PC? 7th? 😉
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!
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. 🙂
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.